This is exactly the sort of thing I like. Games with extremely unusual control harnesses with narrative power really distributed around the table. That's good business.
One thing I am a little unclear on is exactly how much of that narrative power really is distributed around the table. The oppositional traits that have to be individually powered is cool stuff, but how much of "being a GM" is each Antagonist expected to do in each Chapter? Is it just introducing scenes and pacing? Resolution seems to be entirely handled in a distributed manner; is my perception right there?
And what of the Protagonist? He can become the GM for a scene, but what kind of actual influence or narrative introduction does he have over that scene?
If anything, a couple of examples might go a long way here.
My goal with these articles is not to provide a comprehensive review of the game but to highlight the things I think are really interesting. In this case it's the Light/Darkness and the theme "claiming" for lack of a better word. So, yeah, I kind of glossed over a deep dive in the scene framing mechanisms. But I'll go into it here since you asked.
The text refers to the GM responsibility as The Storyteller. So the main Storyteller for the Chapter is the Antagonist player the Protagonist is going to take down this session. At the start of each scene The Storyeller is supposed to layout four things.
The Goal: This is the thing I mention in the article about deciding if the scene is about Character Development or Further The Protagonit's Revenge Plans. I did call this one out because I think it's relevant to my point about not rushing things with the game. The Storyteller has the responsibility of making sure we spend time with the characters and not just watching the Protagonist dish out violence scene after scene.
On-Stage Characters: The Storyteller decides what characters are going to be present. The Protagonist and Antagonists if present are always played by their owners. But any Supporting Characters can be assigned to any player whose main is not in the scene. (There's a third class of character called Extras who are so minor anyone can temporarily play one at any time).
The Subject: This is basically the situation. So The Storyteller can say something like, "This scene is about Joe and Bob arguing about that debt he owes him."
The Frame: And finally the when and where this scene is taking place. So, the Storyteller might say, "On an airplane trip between L.A. and San Francisco." And players are not really supposed to break that Frame. In other words, no one should say, "As soon a we land, I..." because the frame was defined on the plane, in flight.
And the expectation is that these parameters won't change except as fallout from a Confrontation. That's why even The Storyteller has to spend white dice to significantly alter the parameters of the scene as laid out from the start.
So, the reason The Protagonist would want to become The Storyteller for a scene is because they have something they really want to play out. One of the primary reasons given is to frame a flashback. But it's also useful if The Protagonist really wants to setup some specific moment, like reuniting with a lost child or something.
Sure, The Protagonist player could just ask the current Storyteller to do that and I don't think anything will break. But it's a nice little contribution to the White Die economy for the Protagonist to pay for it.