I had a topic come up in the context of the Thursday night game that reinforced an element of character play that I had come across last time I played: character narration. To discuss this element I want to talk about the magic circle, framing and bleed. If you're not familiar with these topics, EmergentPlay has excellent discussions of all three topics: The Magic Circle , Frames , Bleed . Imagine when your gaming rituals start. Maybe you start by reviewing your character sheet before leaving for the game. Maybe you sit at the game table, trying to remember what happened last time. When I prepped for playing Crayla, my crass irreverant ranger, I would play certain songs, and even watch scenes of certain movies (the Alien movie with Sigourney Weaver playing basketball). Entering the magic circle of gaming often involves transforming our behavior into that of the character, getting into their head, their senses, their feelings, and the situat...