Interactive Cutscenes
Instead of a "movie" cutscene where all the players are spectators, make it interactive and have the players determine what happens in the cutscene.
Use sparingly so that players don't get used to playing other characters than their real one.
Index cards are used, for SCENE cards and ACTOR cards. Scene card has the place, what's going on, and the goal of the characters involved. It should also describe the significant characters involved, ie an Ogre raid on a town, it would specifically point out the ogre leader, an ogre shaman maybe, and maybe a leader in the town. Any additional roles will be "Ogre #3" or "Human Archer #5."
Let the players choose which actor to play. This way it lets the wizard player be a wizard (that they're comfortable as) or change it up and be a grunt.
On the Actor cards, have stats, equipment list, feats, etc. Essentially a quick stat block. Maybe also have a personality trait or two, something that the player can use to enhance the character in everyone's mind.
WHEN TO USE
In the Ogre attack example, a good time would be when the PCs are meeting a Guard Captain who is telling them about a recent Ogre attack. Cue flashback/cutscene. It should happen before details about the setting are known, so that whatever happens in the cutscene becomes the setting in the present time.
Some other examples of when to use:
• A merchant is telling the PCs how she barely escaped with her life after a kobold war party attacked her caravan.
• A bard in the local tavern sings about a legendary band of heroes.
• A noble tells you of how he managed to persuade a Dragon to spare him.
• A peasant tells the party a chilling story of how her town was reduced to ruins.
• One of the members of your party receives a dream or vision.
• The PCs find the remains of a skeleton or corpse, and then in a cutscene they learn exactly how that person met with their fate.
Other Ideas
• The actors can only use the stats/feats/spells on the actor card, so it becomes sort of like a puzzle. (Escape a dragon only by using Use Rope, a 10 foot pole, a needle and thread, and some ink?)
• Whatever happens, happens. Both the players and GM must keep true to the consequences.
• Players aren't necessarily going to win! The nice thing about a cutscene is it's a one-time deal. It might be a hopelessly doomed encounter, in which case they can all die and it's fine (like the Dream scene in Dragonlance.)
• Recurring scenes: Like in Kingdom Hearts, where we keep seeing glimpses of the evil villains and what they're doing. Obviously it doesn't work quite the same because evil plots can't be revealed, or else the players will have metagame knowledge. But they can still establish their personalities. In this case, having the same villain played by the same player established consistency, but having a villain played by different players each time allows for more and more personality growth and mannerisms to develop.
• Foreshadowing - classic TV strategy. Flashback: a mentor teaching a beguiler student (the PC) how to pick locks, and the student being unable to do so very well, and has to rely on magical tricks. The mentor chides the student for relying on magic. Present time: the beguiler has to pick a lock to save the party, and it's the same lock as he always failed to pick in the training, only with an antimagic field as well. Kind of like Drizzt's double crossdown move dual appearance. In this setup, the flashbacks can be used to drop hints as to how to beat the lock, or remember what the mentor said as a tip, etc.
Some Necessary Rules (using the Ogre/Town as example)
• The players can't just sabotage the scene, ie suiciding the ogres. No exp awarded. If the scene is played out properly, then exp is given, perhaps directly related to how realistically the actors are played. The ogres might fight amongst themselves, or one could kill the leader and take over, all this is fine as long as the MAIN goal is still carried out. (see next point).
• ANYTHING IN THE CUTSCENE IS FAIR GAME, AND EXPENDABLE. The actors, the setting, the relationships between actors...as long as the main, central goal (ogres attacking the town and are a legitimate threat) is executed, all else is gravy.
• NPCs and "Important" Things - they are fluid, and can change. If the captain of the guard was the one who initiated the cutscene, and he's also an actor in the cutscene and dies, well then the person the real party is talking to is the replacement captain. Needs improvisation skills.
• Metagame knowledge.