Since last session had the climactic event of Searza taking control of the continent Soraka and vowing to take over the world, it's been decided to end the Dawn of Worlds sessions so we can start with Age of Heroes. However, some people still had some plans they wanted to enact.
I sent out a message to everyone saying that this climactic event has suitably set the stage for RPing within it. To make any last reactions to it on a setting sized scale, everyone has 20 points to spend using the third age costs. However, these can only be spent on actions that wouldn't require a lot of RPing (so no battles). Everyone will email these to me and once I have all of them I'll mold them into a last "turn," then begin the task of writing a history for the setting.
Well, that's not entirely true. I still need to find out information about the various gods, such as what they inspire, how their followers behave, and what some of the minor gods within their own pantheon are.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Drama in the Age of Heroes!
After a couple of failed attempts at meeting, we finally had another session. However, this one was the smallest yet with only The Grave Keeper, Xasthura, Talamour, and Soraka being present. Visour had previous planned out a number of actions and given the directions to Talamour's player who enacted those directives.
A lot of "little" things happened this session that don't really seem to qualify as highlights such as the Dark Reach weaponizing their psychic abilities, or the Zet forming a collective intelligence. However, there were a few big things.
Highlights:
-Searza (the bitter Viashino warlord who was recently defeated in the mountains after destroying Spear) travels in disguise as a member of a pacifist order beyond the wall and into Githkin lands. He then bought a ship and traveled to the City of the Lost. This city was created by the pilgrims trying to get into Zaun (Soraka's domain and a place of great learning) who had been unable to reach the gate. It had recently been taken over by the Githkin military and the pilgrims were oppressed. Searza led the pilgrims in escaping by stealing as many ships as possible and fleeing for the Gates of Zaun (A huge spire rising out of the ocean). About 25% of those who fled managed to make it to the Gates and were allowed entry into Zaun. Searza and his followers learn a great deal in Zaun, mostly about how to better wage war.
-Soraka uses his power over knowledge to remove the skills from the Dead that they had from before they were reanimated. He did this because the souls within the Dead had all the knowledge from their bodies' previous lives while the souls themselves were essentially newborn. Thus they hadn't earned that knowledge.
-Hearing about Blade Point's destruction the young Stonemyn King, Ignis of Boulder Town, raises two armies to crush the Dead located outside of his city. The Dead, however, do not fight back and are crushed while purposefully dying as traumatically as possible putting doubt in the hearts of the Stonemyn. Zillian (an avatar who spreads word of Zaun) tries to rally their spirits with an inspiring speech and is somewhat successful. Shortly thereafter the Stonemyn Dead rise and instead of congregating outside of Boulder Town they return to their previous homes to seek guidance. Although the bodies are the same, the families quickly learn that these are blank slates with no real personalities yet developed. They teach them and befriend them. Unsure of what to make of these Dead, Ignis asks He Who Yet Lives (an avatar of The Grave Keeper and leader of the Sandmyn) to come to Boulder Town to study these Dead. He Who Yet Lives discovers that these Dead are no different from the ones that attacked Blade Point including their ability to swap bodies with another soul. This meant that the friendly Dead that Boulder Town knew could be instantly replaced by the same types of souls who had destroyed Blade Point. He realizes that he could break this connection, but that the Dead's personalities would be erased once more because of Soraka's curse on the Dead. He Who Yet Lives puts the question to the people, asking them if they will allow him to break the connection and remove the possibility of a Dead army appearing inside the city, or if they would rather keep the friends they've made and risk the chance that they could all become a threat. Ultimately 63% of the population choose to keep the Dead as they are. He Who Yet Lives leaves the city saddened and fearful of what might happen. He then forms an order of necromancers whose mandate is to raise any and all dead they find so that it will be a soulless undead and cannot become one of Visour's Dead.
-Visour puts a spell upon the continent of Soraka so that anyone killed in violence rises as a Dead, though not with a direct connection to Visour.
-The Flamekin (lava men who turn to stone when away from heat) form a group who try to complete trials in order to dive into a mystical volcano in the hopes of gaining the artifact within it. Eventually one succeeds and they decide to create the Kasa Games in celebration. Zillian takes note of this and spreads word of it to all the races that he has visited.
-Rozir, the right hand man of Lizer (the wielder of the Ferrous Shield which itself is an avatar of Talamour), feels that Lizer has been acting against his usually peaceful ways for several of the previous decades. Having known Lizer for hundreds of years he worries that the leader of Foundry is being manipulated. He leaves and meets up with his brother Searza after the warlord returns from Zaun. Searza reclaims his place in control of the Searzan mountains and begins to eliminate those who had wronged him in the past. Gadock Tige (Leader of the Githkin and his longest foe), Merai (his daughter turned against him), Tristana (another Githkin general), and Lizer (who had mocked his violent ways) are all assassinated one by one. Lizer being the last is replaced on his throne in Foundry by Searza who claims the Ferrous Shield has chosen him to unite all of Soraka under his rule. He then travels with Rozir to the Dead encampment to speak with the newly returned Merai, Tristana, and Gadock Tige. All three (being avatars) were able to fight their way out of The Keeping Place to regain their old bodies, however, Gadock Tige had a hard battle returning and his mind is fractured. All three pledge loyalty to Searza's new empire of Soraka.
A lot of "little" things happened this session that don't really seem to qualify as highlights such as the Dark Reach weaponizing their psychic abilities, or the Zet forming a collective intelligence. However, there were a few big things.
Highlights:
-Searza (the bitter Viashino warlord who was recently defeated in the mountains after destroying Spear) travels in disguise as a member of a pacifist order beyond the wall and into Githkin lands. He then bought a ship and traveled to the City of the Lost. This city was created by the pilgrims trying to get into Zaun (Soraka's domain and a place of great learning) who had been unable to reach the gate. It had recently been taken over by the Githkin military and the pilgrims were oppressed. Searza led the pilgrims in escaping by stealing as many ships as possible and fleeing for the Gates of Zaun (A huge spire rising out of the ocean). About 25% of those who fled managed to make it to the Gates and were allowed entry into Zaun. Searza and his followers learn a great deal in Zaun, mostly about how to better wage war.
-Soraka uses his power over knowledge to remove the skills from the Dead that they had from before they were reanimated. He did this because the souls within the Dead had all the knowledge from their bodies' previous lives while the souls themselves were essentially newborn. Thus they hadn't earned that knowledge.
-Hearing about Blade Point's destruction the young Stonemyn King, Ignis of Boulder Town, raises two armies to crush the Dead located outside of his city. The Dead, however, do not fight back and are crushed while purposefully dying as traumatically as possible putting doubt in the hearts of the Stonemyn. Zillian (an avatar who spreads word of Zaun) tries to rally their spirits with an inspiring speech and is somewhat successful. Shortly thereafter the Stonemyn Dead rise and instead of congregating outside of Boulder Town they return to their previous homes to seek guidance. Although the bodies are the same, the families quickly learn that these are blank slates with no real personalities yet developed. They teach them and befriend them. Unsure of what to make of these Dead, Ignis asks He Who Yet Lives (an avatar of The Grave Keeper and leader of the Sandmyn) to come to Boulder Town to study these Dead. He Who Yet Lives discovers that these Dead are no different from the ones that attacked Blade Point including their ability to swap bodies with another soul. This meant that the friendly Dead that Boulder Town knew could be instantly replaced by the same types of souls who had destroyed Blade Point. He realizes that he could break this connection, but that the Dead's personalities would be erased once more because of Soraka's curse on the Dead. He Who Yet Lives puts the question to the people, asking them if they will allow him to break the connection and remove the possibility of a Dead army appearing inside the city, or if they would rather keep the friends they've made and risk the chance that they could all become a threat. Ultimately 63% of the population choose to keep the Dead as they are. He Who Yet Lives leaves the city saddened and fearful of what might happen. He then forms an order of necromancers whose mandate is to raise any and all dead they find so that it will be a soulless undead and cannot become one of Visour's Dead.
-Visour puts a spell upon the continent of Soraka so that anyone killed in violence rises as a Dead, though not with a direct connection to Visour.
-The Flamekin (lava men who turn to stone when away from heat) form a group who try to complete trials in order to dive into a mystical volcano in the hopes of gaining the artifact within it. Eventually one succeeds and they decide to create the Kasa Games in celebration. Zillian takes note of this and spreads word of it to all the races that he has visited.
-Rozir, the right hand man of Lizer (the wielder of the Ferrous Shield which itself is an avatar of Talamour), feels that Lizer has been acting against his usually peaceful ways for several of the previous decades. Having known Lizer for hundreds of years he worries that the leader of Foundry is being manipulated. He leaves and meets up with his brother Searza after the warlord returns from Zaun. Searza reclaims his place in control of the Searzan mountains and begins to eliminate those who had wronged him in the past. Gadock Tige (Leader of the Githkin and his longest foe), Merai (his daughter turned against him), Tristana (another Githkin general), and Lizer (who had mocked his violent ways) are all assassinated one by one. Lizer being the last is replaced on his throne in Foundry by Searza who claims the Ferrous Shield has chosen him to unite all of Soraka under his rule. He then travels with Rozir to the Dead encampment to speak with the newly returned Merai, Tristana, and Gadock Tige. All three (being avatars) were able to fight their way out of The Keeping Place to regain their old bodies, however, Gadock Tige had a hard battle returning and his mind is fractured. All three pledge loyalty to Searza's new empire of Soraka.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Continuity and Being Proactive
I've realized from running my current sci-fi RPG that the game style and setting drastically affect the options available to the PCs.
Previous games I've run and have played in have been very episodic and the setting has been vague at best. What these traits mean for the players is that they are never entirely sure how to behave in or what they can do in the setting. The GM may have a good idea of the world and can give a quick response to the players, but without the kind of instance access that the GM has to that information they can't really plan well for the future since they don't know if building a digital computer would work in the steampunk setting, or if summoning a demon for information will get them arrested.
So that means that the setting must be made clear to everyone. No doubt this will require regular updates to whatever setting document exists for the group as new questions get asked and new ideas pop up. However, it's not the sole responsibility of the GM to make the world clear to the players, they have to put effort in as well. I've made two setting that were quite fleshed out with setting documents that were about 14 pages. I understand that it's a lot to read for a game, but if the players want to have the ability to be more than reactive, they have to put in some work.
The style of the game also has an impact on the players' ability to be proactive. In an episodic game the PCs can never be entirely sure what is going to happen next. The next session's villain may not be the same one they are facing now, their current location may become irrelevant, and they may not have the same resources available to them that they did previously. Additionally the feel of the game may change drastically with certain "episodes." The session recording that I posted a couple weeks back was of a particularly silly session, that, while fun to play, was entirely out of the norm for the dark, investigation heavy game that we were playing. This is important because it helps the players determine what are possible situations that they may face in the near future.
Previous games I've run and have played in have been very episodic and the setting has been vague at best. What these traits mean for the players is that they are never entirely sure how to behave in or what they can do in the setting. The GM may have a good idea of the world and can give a quick response to the players, but without the kind of instance access that the GM has to that information they can't really plan well for the future since they don't know if building a digital computer would work in the steampunk setting, or if summoning a demon for information will get them arrested.
So that means that the setting must be made clear to everyone. No doubt this will require regular updates to whatever setting document exists for the group as new questions get asked and new ideas pop up. However, it's not the sole responsibility of the GM to make the world clear to the players, they have to put effort in as well. I've made two setting that were quite fleshed out with setting documents that were about 14 pages. I understand that it's a lot to read for a game, but if the players want to have the ability to be more than reactive, they have to put in some work.
The style of the game also has an impact on the players' ability to be proactive. In an episodic game the PCs can never be entirely sure what is going to happen next. The next session's villain may not be the same one they are facing now, their current location may become irrelevant, and they may not have the same resources available to them that they did previously. Additionally the feel of the game may change drastically with certain "episodes." The session recording that I posted a couple weeks back was of a particularly silly session, that, while fun to play, was entirely out of the norm for the dark, investigation heavy game that we were playing. This is important because it helps the players determine what are possible situations that they may face in the near future.
Monday, May 31, 2010
The Third Age at Last
Once again there were missing players, this time Aramandia, The Sleeping One, and The Great Migrant. We had two more rounds of the Second Age so that everyone could finish up their business with it, and then finally moved onto the Third.
Highlights:
-9 armies of the Dead sent by Visour form around the Sandmyn city of Blade Point. The living within are worried and send a representative to liaise with them. The Dead demand control of the city and, more importantly, the gate to The Keeping Place (realm of The Grave Keeper and prison for evil souls) within. The living refuse this, and flee the city in their airships, but not before sealing the gate with powerful magic. In frustration the Dead destroy the city and salt its oasis. The Grave Keeper sends a sandstorm in revenge, and obliterates all the Dead. The Grave Keeper also decides that Visour will no longer judge the souls of those who lived, instead Aramandia, The Grave Keeper, and Soraka will judge the souls together. The refugees decide to create a floating city held aloft by magic and their knowledge of aerodynamics. The news of the Dead armies spreads and many other civilizations begin arming themselves, including a defense pact between the Treemyn (humans that live in the woods) and the Ulver (tree climbing wolves).
-The Githkin and Viashino officially become a united civilization. This leads to some intermarriage and the Giathkino mixed people appear. Many are persecuted and killed. Visour sends the Dead armies to crush the city (Plantation) where most of the murders are occurring. Githkin armies come from another city (Spear) in defense of Plantation. A great battle ensues with the Githkin eventually losing. Visour gives the city to the Giathkino who rename it Kindred.
-While the armies of Spear are away, a bitter Viashino warlord captures the city. The Githkin grand general heads to the city with overwhelming force. The Viashino flatten the city and kill all of the inhabitants, then flee back to their mountains. The Githkin pursue them, and end up routing them despite a hard fought battle.
-The Mer (fish/frog people) meet the Ulver and learn ocean navigation from them. They then use this knowledge to sail down the river that splits the continent Ulveron. They encounter the Xungi (sentient fungus) and together create organic power armour for the Mer.
I want to have only one more session because they world does not need to be sorted out before we start RPing in it. There is so much going on that any number of story seeds could be sown.
Highlights:
-9 armies of the Dead sent by Visour form around the Sandmyn city of Blade Point. The living within are worried and send a representative to liaise with them. The Dead demand control of the city and, more importantly, the gate to The Keeping Place (realm of The Grave Keeper and prison for evil souls) within. The living refuse this, and flee the city in their airships, but not before sealing the gate with powerful magic. In frustration the Dead destroy the city and salt its oasis. The Grave Keeper sends a sandstorm in revenge, and obliterates all the Dead. The Grave Keeper also decides that Visour will no longer judge the souls of those who lived, instead Aramandia, The Grave Keeper, and Soraka will judge the souls together. The refugees decide to create a floating city held aloft by magic and their knowledge of aerodynamics. The news of the Dead armies spreads and many other civilizations begin arming themselves, including a defense pact between the Treemyn (humans that live in the woods) and the Ulver (tree climbing wolves).
-The Githkin and Viashino officially become a united civilization. This leads to some intermarriage and the Giathkino mixed people appear. Many are persecuted and killed. Visour sends the Dead armies to crush the city (Plantation) where most of the murders are occurring. Githkin armies come from another city (Spear) in defense of Plantation. A great battle ensues with the Githkin eventually losing. Visour gives the city to the Giathkino who rename it Kindred.
-While the armies of Spear are away, a bitter Viashino warlord captures the city. The Githkin grand general heads to the city with overwhelming force. The Viashino flatten the city and kill all of the inhabitants, then flee back to their mountains. The Githkin pursue them, and end up routing them despite a hard fought battle.
-The Mer (fish/frog people) meet the Ulver and learn ocean navigation from them. They then use this knowledge to sail down the river that splits the continent Ulveron. They encounter the Xungi (sentient fungus) and together create organic power armour for the Mer.
I want to have only one more session because they world does not need to be sorted out before we start RPing in it. There is so much going on that any number of story seeds could be sown.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
More Second Age
After a break last week we continued on with the Age of Heroes. However, two players were missing, and one arrived late and had to leave early. Thus, the only constant gods were Talamour, Visour, The Sleeping One, Sorakka, and The Grave Keeper, while Aramandia made an appearance.
Surprisingly even though there were two players missing we got through fewer turns than we did in the previous session when everyone was present. This wasn't bad though because the cause was a great deal of role playing between players.
Again we stayed within the second age. I had been hoping to move to the third age or at least get close because I am itching to start planning for the campaign even though I am having fun. Part of that fun was being able to enact the majority of the things I had been planning for awhile including destroying the telepathic internet of the Githkin.
This session's highlights:
-The cold war between the Githkin (long armed telepathic dwarves) and the Viashino (lizardmen) grows with an arms race. Eventually it comes to a head when The Grave Keeper has an earthquake make the Viashino lands in the mountains unsafe, and destroys the giant wall that separated the Githkin and the Viashino. However, the Githkin and Viashino do not go to war, and instead many Viashino settle in the Southern parts of their shared continent, while the Githkin remain in the central area.
-The Orcana (drunken gambling whale people) city of Casino rises from the water due to stored energy within it and begins to float amongst the magnetic storms of that area of the ocean. The Orcana that were trapped eventually change into humanoid whales with battery organs in place of dorsal fins, and they rename the city Casinon. They then regain their lost knowledge of electrical engineering.
-Some Mer (frog people) climb up the giant tree Hybrassil and begin looking for a seed. They decide that the seeds are likely within the bodies of the Pixies who live in the tree's branches, and begin vivisecting them. They eventually find a seed, but the seed's pollen causes beautiful flowers to burst forth from their chests killing them. Eventually they adapt and the flowers no longer burst forth fatally but wait until the Mer have died.
-An avatar appears amongst the Marungus (economically knowledgeable psychic octopus people) and begins using his economic power to benefit himself. He creates a secret cabal of manipulators and a personal army. The Sleeping One is not amused and curses the avatar to hear all speech as gibberish and anyone he psychically touches looses the ability to speak comprehensibly as well. However, he works around this and starts issuing orders in writing, and begins to spread the influence of his cabal amongst other races.
-The meteorite sent down by Xasthura, and colonized by the Sandmyn (desert dwelling humans), rises as an avatar of the Grave Keeper with the city of Sky's Bounty resting on his shoulders. Tomb That Walks heads West creating the Step Lakes in the plains and the Glass Road in the desert. The sight of him inspires some Zet (palm sized sentient sand fleas) to train themselves to be bigger and stronger. These Zet eventually grow to 5 feet tall and cal themselves Unzut. However, the Zet outnumber them and soon enslave the Unzut for hard labour.
Hopefully next session will see us moving on to the third age. The second age is supposed to be about developing the civilizations, and the third is about interactions, but the interactions always seem to start in the second. We should move on.
Surprisingly even though there were two players missing we got through fewer turns than we did in the previous session when everyone was present. This wasn't bad though because the cause was a great deal of role playing between players.
Again we stayed within the second age. I had been hoping to move to the third age or at least get close because I am itching to start planning for the campaign even though I am having fun. Part of that fun was being able to enact the majority of the things I had been planning for awhile including destroying the telepathic internet of the Githkin.
This session's highlights:
-The cold war between the Githkin (long armed telepathic dwarves) and the Viashino (lizardmen) grows with an arms race. Eventually it comes to a head when The Grave Keeper has an earthquake make the Viashino lands in the mountains unsafe, and destroys the giant wall that separated the Githkin and the Viashino. However, the Githkin and Viashino do not go to war, and instead many Viashino settle in the Southern parts of their shared continent, while the Githkin remain in the central area.
-The Orcana (drunken gambling whale people) city of Casino rises from the water due to stored energy within it and begins to float amongst the magnetic storms of that area of the ocean. The Orcana that were trapped eventually change into humanoid whales with battery organs in place of dorsal fins, and they rename the city Casinon. They then regain their lost knowledge of electrical engineering.
-Some Mer (frog people) climb up the giant tree Hybrassil and begin looking for a seed. They decide that the seeds are likely within the bodies of the Pixies who live in the tree's branches, and begin vivisecting them. They eventually find a seed, but the seed's pollen causes beautiful flowers to burst forth from their chests killing them. Eventually they adapt and the flowers no longer burst forth fatally but wait until the Mer have died.
-An avatar appears amongst the Marungus (economically knowledgeable psychic octopus people) and begins using his economic power to benefit himself. He creates a secret cabal of manipulators and a personal army. The Sleeping One is not amused and curses the avatar to hear all speech as gibberish and anyone he psychically touches looses the ability to speak comprehensibly as well. However, he works around this and starts issuing orders in writing, and begins to spread the influence of his cabal amongst other races.
-The meteorite sent down by Xasthura, and colonized by the Sandmyn (desert dwelling humans), rises as an avatar of the Grave Keeper with the city of Sky's Bounty resting on his shoulders. Tomb That Walks heads West creating the Step Lakes in the plains and the Glass Road in the desert. The sight of him inspires some Zet (palm sized sentient sand fleas) to train themselves to be bigger and stronger. These Zet eventually grow to 5 feet tall and cal themselves Unzut. However, the Zet outnumber them and soon enslave the Unzut for hard labour.
Hopefully next session will see us moving on to the third age. The second age is supposed to be about developing the civilizations, and the third is about interactions, but the interactions always seem to start in the second. We should move on.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Music and Role Playing
Using music during a session is one of the easiest ways of adding atmosphere to a session. Many people think about it or try it, but it doesn't work for everyone. The biggest problem is breaking the immersion of the game. When you go to see a movie, chances are you don't notice the music, but you can feel it's effect on the movie. Usually the music only becomes apparent when the director wants the audience to pay attention to it, and associate it with something, for instance The Imperial March.
Admittedly I'm still learning how to use music in my sessions, but I have picked up a couple rules.
1) DON'T use music that the players will recognize. It doesn't matter if you think it will fit, if even one of them will recognize it don't use it. This creates a small problem for picking music to use during sessions because if you want the music to be atmospheric the best places to find atmospheric music is in TV shows, movies, and video games. The obvious answer then is to use music from movies/TV shows/video games your players don't know or haven't heard. Youtube is a good resource for finding fitting music, just search for whatever kind of music you're looking for and try all the stuff that comes up.
2) DON'T use music with lyrics. This is related loosely to rule number 1) since (obviously) the vast majority of music is stuff that would be played on the radio (figuratively speaking) and thus, fairly well known. Additionally, if the lyrics are decipherable then the players may be distracted by trying to understand them. If the players are paying attention to the lyrics, they are paying less attention to the game.
3) DO try to create leitmotif. Leitmotif is the musical idea of associating a certain musical composition with a specific character, theme, situation, or place. The previously mentioned Imperial March is a perfect example, many people know it as Vader's Theme. There's also using leitmotif with a specific sound as opposed to a piece of music, such as the sound effects for lightsabers. To create leitmotif the GM must play the music/sound every time the character/situation/etc is "on screen" and perhaps a little louder the first time.
4) DO try to find the right volume for the music. This is tricky and depends on the group, the situation in game, the song, and the placement of the speakers. The music needs to be loud enough that it can be heard by everyone, but not so loud that it distracts from the game and breaks the immersion. If possible test it beforehand, but be prepared to adjust it throughout the session. Important to remember is that if you notice that everyone has gotten louder since the music has been put on that means they are talking over it, so don't turn the volume up if it can't be heard.
5) DON'T loop the music. The song should play once and be done with for that scene. It's ok to use it again later (particularly when using a leitmotif), but once per two scenes is probably plenty. Relatedly, if you use a playlist to sort your music, make sure to set it so that the playlist won't go to the next song on the list. I'd only make an exception to that if ALL the songs are fairly similar and would be less jarring without each other than the first one would be alone.
6) DON'T fiddle with the music player too much. The addition of music to the session should be as smooth as possible. Don't put the session on hold to adjust the volume, find the right song, or whatever. Keep your actions hidden. If the players notice you fooling about too much that'll distract them.
7) DO remember that you don't need music. It doesn't work for everyone, not everyone has the right equipment, and not everyone has the right ear for the music. Give it a try a couple times, ask your players what they thought of your use of the music, and if it doesn't work after the third or fourth time, leave it be.
Admittedly I'm still learning how to use music in my sessions, but I have picked up a couple rules.
1) DON'T use music that the players will recognize. It doesn't matter if you think it will fit, if even one of them will recognize it don't use it. This creates a small problem for picking music to use during sessions because if you want the music to be atmospheric the best places to find atmospheric music is in TV shows, movies, and video games. The obvious answer then is to use music from movies/TV shows/video games your players don't know or haven't heard. Youtube is a good resource for finding fitting music, just search for whatever kind of music you're looking for and try all the stuff that comes up.
2) DON'T use music with lyrics. This is related loosely to rule number 1) since (obviously) the vast majority of music is stuff that would be played on the radio (figuratively speaking) and thus, fairly well known. Additionally, if the lyrics are decipherable then the players may be distracted by trying to understand them. If the players are paying attention to the lyrics, they are paying less attention to the game.
3) DO try to create leitmotif. Leitmotif is the musical idea of associating a certain musical composition with a specific character, theme, situation, or place. The previously mentioned Imperial March is a perfect example, many people know it as Vader's Theme. There's also using leitmotif with a specific sound as opposed to a piece of music, such as the sound effects for lightsabers. To create leitmotif the GM must play the music/sound every time the character/situation/etc is "on screen" and perhaps a little louder the first time.
4) DO try to find the right volume for the music. This is tricky and depends on the group, the situation in game, the song, and the placement of the speakers. The music needs to be loud enough that it can be heard by everyone, but not so loud that it distracts from the game and breaks the immersion. If possible test it beforehand, but be prepared to adjust it throughout the session. Important to remember is that if you notice that everyone has gotten louder since the music has been put on that means they are talking over it, so don't turn the volume up if it can't be heard.
5) DON'T loop the music. The song should play once and be done with for that scene. It's ok to use it again later (particularly when using a leitmotif), but once per two scenes is probably plenty. Relatedly, if you use a playlist to sort your music, make sure to set it so that the playlist won't go to the next song on the list. I'd only make an exception to that if ALL the songs are fairly similar and would be less jarring without each other than the first one would be alone.
6) DON'T fiddle with the music player too much. The addition of music to the session should be as smooth as possible. Don't put the session on hold to adjust the volume, find the right song, or whatever. Keep your actions hidden. If the players notice you fooling about too much that'll distract them.
7) DO remember that you don't need music. It doesn't work for everyone, not everyone has the right equipment, and not everyone has the right ear for the music. Give it a try a couple times, ask your players what they thought of your use of the music, and if it doesn't work after the third or fourth time, leave it be.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Continuing the Age of Heroes
Super late post because I've been busy with life. ANYWAY.
We continued where we left off, two turns into the second age. We also added two new players, the previously missing one who is now The Sleeping One, and a new player who is playing The Great Migrant, god of pestilence, community, and vice.
We stayed within the Second Age this session, though we'll likely go to the third at the start of the next session. We only played 4 turns because the two added players slowed things done, plus everyone was getting more in character so there was a great deal of narration and RPing. This session went much better than the first.
Second Age Highlights:
-Visour creating sentient evil subraces of every race's walking dead. The Grave Keeper (myself) realizes she might be using souls that are supposed to go to him for this little project and gets pissed. However, it's talked out and the souls are new ones, not stolen from The Keeping Place nor Kaia. Still, why did the goddess of justice create a bunch of evil dead? Why is she gathering an evil dead avatar from each race on one particular island? I'm keeping an eye on them.
-The Great Migrant creates a race of whale like people that are obsessed with chance. They use games of chance to determine their position in life, though the ones in charge of the games remain in power because "the house always wins." The Orcana, as they are called, also can store electricity in their body but this in turn makes them inebriated. So there's a race of drunk lightning whales.
-The Sleeping One creates a giant writhing ball of tentacles in one of the few calm areas of water. This thing then spews forth good clairvoyant octopus men with a gift for economics. They eventually go out into the world to spread their knowledge.
-The Lizardmen and the long armed dwarves remain hostile with the conflict escalating. Soraka says that this is to make both races strong through war, Talamour says that they are strong IN war, but have no culture. He gives culture to the dwarves and they begin negotiations with the lizardmen. Soraka doesn't like this so he has the dwarves build a wall across their continent to keep out the lizard people. This leads to the only neutral city being built into the wall as a gate.
-The desert dwelling humans (who have a mastery of aerodynamics) notice that corpses create a gas that is lighter than air. They use this new found resource to create blimps. These corpse blimps are then used to explore further afield.
-The moon turns out to be an avatar of Xasthura, just like the sun. A piece falls off and crashes to the ground outside of a human town. The humans discover the meteorite has a forest and game animals, so they make a settlement atop it.
I'm looking forward to the next session, and I know everyone is scheming something. I certainly have my plans.
We continued where we left off, two turns into the second age. We also added two new players, the previously missing one who is now The Sleeping One, and a new player who is playing The Great Migrant, god of pestilence, community, and vice.
We stayed within the Second Age this session, though we'll likely go to the third at the start of the next session. We only played 4 turns because the two added players slowed things done, plus everyone was getting more in character so there was a great deal of narration and RPing. This session went much better than the first.
Second Age Highlights:
-Visour creating sentient evil subraces of every race's walking dead. The Grave Keeper (myself) realizes she might be using souls that are supposed to go to him for this little project and gets pissed. However, it's talked out and the souls are new ones, not stolen from The Keeping Place nor Kaia. Still, why did the goddess of justice create a bunch of evil dead? Why is she gathering an evil dead avatar from each race on one particular island? I'm keeping an eye on them.
-The Great Migrant creates a race of whale like people that are obsessed with chance. They use games of chance to determine their position in life, though the ones in charge of the games remain in power because "the house always wins." The Orcana, as they are called, also can store electricity in their body but this in turn makes them inebriated. So there's a race of drunk lightning whales.
-The Sleeping One creates a giant writhing ball of tentacles in one of the few calm areas of water. This thing then spews forth good clairvoyant octopus men with a gift for economics. They eventually go out into the world to spread their knowledge.
-The Lizardmen and the long armed dwarves remain hostile with the conflict escalating. Soraka says that this is to make both races strong through war, Talamour says that they are strong IN war, but have no culture. He gives culture to the dwarves and they begin negotiations with the lizardmen. Soraka doesn't like this so he has the dwarves build a wall across their continent to keep out the lizard people. This leads to the only neutral city being built into the wall as a gate.
-The desert dwelling humans (who have a mastery of aerodynamics) notice that corpses create a gas that is lighter than air. They use this new found resource to create blimps. These corpse blimps are then used to explore further afield.
-The moon turns out to be an avatar of Xasthura, just like the sun. A piece falls off and crashes to the ground outside of a human town. The humans discover the meteorite has a forest and game animals, so they make a settlement atop it.
I'm looking forward to the next session, and I know everyone is scheming something. I certainly have my plans.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Starting The Age of Heroes
I've finally started the Age of Heroes with my group. It's not the group I originally thought it would be, but it's been fun nonetheless. I didn't have the random domain draw that I originally planned, instead we took turns picking our domains. We didn't get through the entire setting creation process in one day however.
Dawn of Worlds is broken up into three ages. The first age is about creating the geography of the world by shaping land, terrain features, and climate. Other things such as creating races can be done, but they are discouraged through having a high point cost (each turn a player gets 3d6 points plus whatever they saved from the previous turn). The second age is about creating the races, and subraces. The third age is when the various civilizations are supposed to interact through technology, commerce, war, etc. Today, we had 3 rounds in the first age and 2 rounds in the second. Next weekend we will continue where we left off in the middle of the second age.
Here's some of the highlights.
The Pantheon:
Talamour – Change/Freedom/Chaos, Cities/Manufacturing, Lightning/Air
Aramandia – Love/Lust, Life/Healing, Glory/Hope
The Grave Keeper – Death, Luck/Fate/Trickery, Earth/Farming/Stone
Xasthura – Sun/Light, Moon/Darkness, Animals/Plants
Soraka – War/Tactics, Strength/Protection, Knowledge/Skill
Visour – Destruction/Murder, Fire/Hearth, Law/Resonsibility/Justice
The Sleeping One – Water/Ice/Sea, Wealth/Commerce/Greed, Travel/Commerce
There was supposed to be 6 players, but one of my friends woke up about 3 hours into the session due to a late night. Thus The Sleeping One became the god of leftover domains. I was playing The Grave Keeper.
First Age Highlights:
Lots of terrain building. Some of the more interesting terrains were geyser fields, magnetic storms, a giant tree growing out of the ocean, storm breathing sea serpents, an iceberg filled whirlpool, and several other terrifying bits of terrain. It became clear quickly that anyone interested in specializing in ships was going to have it rough.
The Grave Keeper made a realm where the evil souls go to be buried alive for eternity (with a pit in an oasis leading down to it), while Aramandia made a paradise like afterlife for the good souls. Visour made a judicial realm where said souls are judged. Soraka created a realm that was entirely an academy. The picture that Soraka's player drew to represent the realm looked like the gun space in The Matrix but with books. This lead to jokes about "Books. Lots of books." and "I know Calculus." Xasthura made the moon a realm that was also a paradise, and made the sun into an avatar.
Second Age Highlights:
Suddenly, race! Thousands of them. Most people had saved up a lot of points at the end of the first age because we weren't sure what else to do with them. So the first round saw the creation of 9 races and 1 subrace. The races were varied with a sentient fungus, tree wolves, evil sand fleas, evil fairies, mist people, mountain dwelling humans (the subrace being those that moved to the desert), short long-armed telepaths, lizardmen, and hairy humans that evolved from moles.
These races were accompanied by avatars (except the humans) and technological advancements. The mole people took up ship building and agriculture, the telepaths protected themselves from reptilian raiders, and the fleas learned gymnastics.
Things really started to get interesting towards the end when Xasthura created a 500 year long solar eclipse while the desert dwelling humans build a fortress around the gate to the underworld. The reasoning being that they saw how balanced life and death were and decided to protect that balance while worshiping Aramandia and The Grave Keeper. Since they were the only ones worshiping The Grave Keeper, I created an event where the dead would rise from their graves to kill the living and let them know of the Grave Keeper. This happened right at the end of the game so the fallout from the walking dead appearing after the eclipse should be interesting.
So far everything has gone wonderfully (aside from my one friend not showing up) and I can't wait to finish and start RPing in the setting.
EDIT: I spoke with one of my players who is the resident expert on Dawn of Worlds. He said he was feeling fatigued from playing which never happens to him and he couldn't figure out why until later. He realized that until the very end there was no motivation behind the actions of the gods. All the terrain created was stuff that was either "needed" (such as rivers), or "cool" (like the magnetic storms). We were playing it as players rather than the gods we were supposed to be. I agree with his diagnosis. I think if I mention this next session this will be remedied.
Dawn of Worlds is broken up into three ages. The first age is about creating the geography of the world by shaping land, terrain features, and climate. Other things such as creating races can be done, but they are discouraged through having a high point cost (each turn a player gets 3d6 points plus whatever they saved from the previous turn). The second age is about creating the races, and subraces. The third age is when the various civilizations are supposed to interact through technology, commerce, war, etc. Today, we had 3 rounds in the first age and 2 rounds in the second. Next weekend we will continue where we left off in the middle of the second age.
Here's some of the highlights.
The Pantheon:
Talamour – Change/Freedom/Chaos, Cities/Manufacturing, Lightning/Air
Aramandia – Love/Lust, Life/Healing, Glory/Hope
The Grave Keeper – Death, Luck/Fate/Trickery, Earth/Farming/Stone
Xasthura – Sun/Light, Moon/Darkness, Animals/Plants
Soraka – War/Tactics, Strength/Protection, Knowledge/Skill
Visour – Destruction/Murder, Fire/Hearth, Law/Resonsibility/Justice
The Sleeping One – Water/Ice/Sea, Wealth/Commerce/Greed, Travel/Commerce
There was supposed to be 6 players, but one of my friends woke up about 3 hours into the session due to a late night. Thus The Sleeping One became the god of leftover domains. I was playing The Grave Keeper.
First Age Highlights:
Lots of terrain building. Some of the more interesting terrains were geyser fields, magnetic storms, a giant tree growing out of the ocean, storm breathing sea serpents, an iceberg filled whirlpool, and several other terrifying bits of terrain. It became clear quickly that anyone interested in specializing in ships was going to have it rough.
The Grave Keeper made a realm where the evil souls go to be buried alive for eternity (with a pit in an oasis leading down to it), while Aramandia made a paradise like afterlife for the good souls. Visour made a judicial realm where said souls are judged. Soraka created a realm that was entirely an academy. The picture that Soraka's player drew to represent the realm looked like the gun space in The Matrix but with books. This lead to jokes about "Books. Lots of books." and "I know Calculus." Xasthura made the moon a realm that was also a paradise, and made the sun into an avatar.
Second Age Highlights:
Suddenly, race! Thousands of them. Most people had saved up a lot of points at the end of the first age because we weren't sure what else to do with them. So the first round saw the creation of 9 races and 1 subrace. The races were varied with a sentient fungus, tree wolves, evil sand fleas, evil fairies, mist people, mountain dwelling humans (the subrace being those that moved to the desert), short long-armed telepaths, lizardmen, and hairy humans that evolved from moles.
These races were accompanied by avatars (except the humans) and technological advancements. The mole people took up ship building and agriculture, the telepaths protected themselves from reptilian raiders, and the fleas learned gymnastics.
Things really started to get interesting towards the end when Xasthura created a 500 year long solar eclipse while the desert dwelling humans build a fortress around the gate to the underworld. The reasoning being that they saw how balanced life and death were and decided to protect that balance while worshiping Aramandia and The Grave Keeper. Since they were the only ones worshiping The Grave Keeper, I created an event where the dead would rise from their graves to kill the living and let them know of the Grave Keeper. This happened right at the end of the game so the fallout from the walking dead appearing after the eclipse should be interesting.
So far everything has gone wonderfully (aside from my one friend not showing up) and I can't wait to finish and start RPing in the setting.
EDIT: I spoke with one of my players who is the resident expert on Dawn of Worlds. He said he was feeling fatigued from playing which never happens to him and he couldn't figure out why until later. He realized that until the very end there was no motivation behind the actions of the gods. All the terrain created was stuff that was either "needed" (such as rivers), or "cool" (like the magnetic storms). We were playing it as players rather than the gods we were supposed to be. I agree with his diagnosis. I think if I mention this next session this will be remedied.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Example Of My Style
I'll soon be heading out of the city for the weekend, so I decided to be a little lazy this week. The contents of this link is a recording of a session I ran in d20 Modern. The campaign was a homebrew steampunk setting called the 4th City with a fairly episodic feel, though with a continuous cast. Kind of like Star Trek's structure (aside from DS9). The party in this session consists of Ann Baker (a martial artist and detective who grew up as a sewer pirate, but is in fact the bastard child of a governor), Johnny Hobbes (a rather dim witted but good hearted body guard who grew up in the slums of the 4th City), and Nathaniel Warmbrunn (the only professor of anthropology in the 4th City and a bit of a scatter brain). If there are any other questions about what's in the recording, let me know and I'll answer them.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Rewarding Experience Points
Like many people who are table top gamers I started my experience with D&D. Having been the only thing I had played for a long time I essentially saw no faults with it. If you wanted to play an RPG you played D&D, whatever edition was the newest. My only other exposure to RPGs had been JRPGs such as Final Fantasy on the SNES, which of course were also largely influenced by D&D, and the SNES Shadowrun game (but I had no idea there was anything beyond that for years).
My only complaint in the early days was that D&D was a fantasy game. While I enjoy fantasy I'm a much bigger fan of soft sci-fi, super hero stories, and genre mash ups. So I started making my own rules based on D&D3e (not d20, D&D) to better fit whatever genre I was currently in love with. I didn't realize it then but this was part of a subconscious dislike of D&D's origin as a war game.
Since D&D started as a table top fantasy war game with narrative elements thrown in, to explain why the battles happened, it is unsurprising that there is such a large emphasis on combat. However, that emphasis ends up weakening the games narrative side. I'm sure some people will read this and start thinking that either I'm saying it's "rollplayer vs roleplayer" or that I don't have good players or some other thing because this is the internet and there's always someone unhappy. In short, I don't care how other groups have fun, so I'll talk about how my group has fun.
Anyway, the emphasis on combat affects the game's reward system. There are 3 types of reinforcement: positive (telling someone they are doing well), neutral (not saying anything), and negative (punishing them for their actions). In rules as written D&D3e when you role play you get neutral reinforcement; no gold, no xp, no magic items. When you fight you get positive reinforcement. If you suck at combat you get negative reinforcement; getting killed, getting less XP than others, feeling helpless.
With these negative reinforcement of sucking at combat it makes the changes in D&D4e understandable, though there is another way. The first game I played other than d20 was the Serenity RPG. One of my favourite things about that game was the plot point system which worked as such: at character creation you pick Assets and Complications for your character. The former gives you bonuses, the latter penalties. All have a mechanical effect but more important is how they define the character. During play you get plot point by playing to your characters flaws, completing party or personal goals, and doing neat stuff if your GM is generous. Plot points can be spent in game for bonuses on roles and to activate abilities. They are also used to buy new Skills and Assets, or get rid of Complications.
Since game sessions can be all kinds of mixed up, one of the best ways of figuring out how to award plot points is to talk to the players at the end of the session. I ask them why they think they deserve plot points, specifically WHY they had their characters act the way they did. Then I'd give them plot points based on how well they related their characters to their characters' Complications. I liked this so much I ported it over to d20.
This was very important because my group doesn't particularly like combat. To them it CAN be exciting, but it is a means to an end, not the end in itself. So there's only 1 or 2 short combats per session. I also want to help balance out the negative reinforcement of not being good in combat by changing role playing to having positive reinforcement. I take a lesson from my experiences with Serenity and reward XP for RPing. I do this by talking at the end of the session after awarding XP for combat and skill challenges. I ask each player in turn why they deserve RPing XP. For each reason they give me that shows they were acting in character as opposed to out of character I record them as having 1 "plot point". If a player kicked in the door because he heard his friends' screams on the other side they'd get a plot point, but if they did it because the player knew, but the character didn't, there would be no reward. After everyone has explained their reasoning for their actions I give every player an amount of XP depending on how many "plot points" they got. Typically I reward between 15 and 30 (depending on the character level) XP per plot point. Admittedly the reward is a bit arbitrary and takes some practice to find the right amount of XP to hand out, but it certainly works in encouraging players to RP more.
My only complaint in the early days was that D&D was a fantasy game. While I enjoy fantasy I'm a much bigger fan of soft sci-fi, super hero stories, and genre mash ups. So I started making my own rules based on D&D3e (not d20, D&D) to better fit whatever genre I was currently in love with. I didn't realize it then but this was part of a subconscious dislike of D&D's origin as a war game.
Since D&D started as a table top fantasy war game with narrative elements thrown in, to explain why the battles happened, it is unsurprising that there is such a large emphasis on combat. However, that emphasis ends up weakening the games narrative side. I'm sure some people will read this and start thinking that either I'm saying it's "rollplayer vs roleplayer" or that I don't have good players or some other thing because this is the internet and there's always someone unhappy. In short, I don't care how other groups have fun, so I'll talk about how my group has fun.
Anyway, the emphasis on combat affects the game's reward system. There are 3 types of reinforcement: positive (telling someone they are doing well), neutral (not saying anything), and negative (punishing them for their actions). In rules as written D&D3e when you role play you get neutral reinforcement; no gold, no xp, no magic items. When you fight you get positive reinforcement. If you suck at combat you get negative reinforcement; getting killed, getting less XP than others, feeling helpless.
With these negative reinforcement of sucking at combat it makes the changes in D&D4e understandable, though there is another way. The first game I played other than d20 was the Serenity RPG. One of my favourite things about that game was the plot point system which worked as such: at character creation you pick Assets and Complications for your character. The former gives you bonuses, the latter penalties. All have a mechanical effect but more important is how they define the character. During play you get plot point by playing to your characters flaws, completing party or personal goals, and doing neat stuff if your GM is generous. Plot points can be spent in game for bonuses on roles and to activate abilities. They are also used to buy new Skills and Assets, or get rid of Complications.
Since game sessions can be all kinds of mixed up, one of the best ways of figuring out how to award plot points is to talk to the players at the end of the session. I ask them why they think they deserve plot points, specifically WHY they had their characters act the way they did. Then I'd give them plot points based on how well they related their characters to their characters' Complications. I liked this so much I ported it over to d20.
This was very important because my group doesn't particularly like combat. To them it CAN be exciting, but it is a means to an end, not the end in itself. So there's only 1 or 2 short combats per session. I also want to help balance out the negative reinforcement of not being good in combat by changing role playing to having positive reinforcement. I take a lesson from my experiences with Serenity and reward XP for RPing. I do this by talking at the end of the session after awarding XP for combat and skill challenges. I ask each player in turn why they deserve RPing XP. For each reason they give me that shows they were acting in character as opposed to out of character I record them as having 1 "plot point". If a player kicked in the door because he heard his friends' screams on the other side they'd get a plot point, but if they did it because the player knew, but the character didn't, there would be no reward. After everyone has explained their reasoning for their actions I give every player an amount of XP depending on how many "plot points" they got. Typically I reward between 15 and 30 (depending on the character level) XP per plot point. Admittedly the reward is a bit arbitrary and takes some practice to find the right amount of XP to hand out, but it certainly works in encouraging players to RP more.
Friday, April 9, 2010
After the Session
The dragon's been slain, the princess returned to the kingdom, and the reward divided amongst the players. So now everyone goes home.
Not so fast.
Something that I do as a GM, that I think a lot of other GMs leave out, is asking for feedback. I'm not sure what it is about RPGs and their players that make communication so difficult. Perhaps it's that the stereotypical RPer is social inept and has difficulty expressing themselves in a proactive fashion. Perhaps the players don't want to upset the GM who put a lot of work into the session. Perhaps the players feel like their concerns will fall on deaf ears. Whatever the case may be, everyone is losing out when this step isn't taken.
I feel that there are 4 essential parts to this oft forgotten stage of a session. The first two are questions from the GM, and the second two are comments. Both sections are important.
First the GM should ask the players what they didn't like about the session and why. This can be anything; whether the players felt railroaded, a really boring fight, too much politics, etc. These are things that the GM should really try to remember to make the game more fun for everyone. Not to mention that a GM's job can often be thankless and hearing what went well can be a real ego boost (just don't let it go to your head).
Secondly, the GM should find out what the players DID like about the game. Were they impressed by the size of a battle, the magnificent bastard who tricked them, or the fact that they felt they really affected the story. Again, this is to make the game more fun for everyone.
However, a common pitfall with this part is just copying a situation in its entirety. For example, if the players really enjoyed a combat where they fought goblins while a hole in the floor slowly filled with water as part of a ritual to sacrifice the poor elven children in the hole who are screaming for help during the battle, the GM shouldn't just say "well, I'll just swap the kids for some farmers, and the goblins for some lizardmen next time."
No, the thing to do is to break it down. Was it the danger of falling into the hole, the timed nature of the battle, the swarm tactics of the goblins, the need to save the children, the moral dilemma of saving the children first or killing the goblins first, or a combination of any of the above. Chances are that the players liked specific aspects of the scene, as opposed to the scene as a whole. These ingredients that make up the scene are what the GM should try to simulate by taking the effect that the ingredient had and using it in another scene. If they liked the swarm tactics was it actually facing lots of easy to kill foes, or was it that the battle was more challenging because there were reduced movement options?
The third stage is when the GM gets to return the favour. The GM should start by telling each player something that s/he liked that the player did. Doesn't matter what it was, but preferably the comment should be something that relates to the player getting involved. For example "It was awesome when your berserker saved the little girl even though he could've attacked the goblin shaman." is better than "Nice job grabbing the objective and avoiding the decoy." Make the players feel a kinship with their characters. They should be proud for their characters achievements in addition to their own.
Lastly, the GM gets a little cathartic release by telling the players what they could improve. Don't just say what you didn't like, give them specific examples from the session, and what you think they could do to improve. For example "I think that it would have made more sense if your elf hating ranger had fought the goblin shaman instead of trying to save the children, even though you as a player knew that was the 'goal' of the scene." is better than "Stop metagaming, and roleplay already!"
This is done because everyone can use critiquing sometimes and most groups have a "problem" player who disrupts the fun of the game, whatever that fun may be. For one reason or another you may not want to get rid of the player or can't so you need to talk to them. What if they don't take criticism well? That's why you a) start with something you liked about what they did, b) give some criticism to everyone else as well, and c) accept criticism yourself.
With these four together, the game should improve for everyone involved, even "that guy."
Not so fast.
Something that I do as a GM, that I think a lot of other GMs leave out, is asking for feedback. I'm not sure what it is about RPGs and their players that make communication so difficult. Perhaps it's that the stereotypical RPer is social inept and has difficulty expressing themselves in a proactive fashion. Perhaps the players don't want to upset the GM who put a lot of work into the session. Perhaps the players feel like their concerns will fall on deaf ears. Whatever the case may be, everyone is losing out when this step isn't taken.
I feel that there are 4 essential parts to this oft forgotten stage of a session. The first two are questions from the GM, and the second two are comments. Both sections are important.
First the GM should ask the players what they didn't like about the session and why. This can be anything; whether the players felt railroaded, a really boring fight, too much politics, etc. These are things that the GM should really try to remember to make the game more fun for everyone. Not to mention that a GM's job can often be thankless and hearing what went well can be a real ego boost (just don't let it go to your head).
Secondly, the GM should find out what the players DID like about the game. Were they impressed by the size of a battle, the magnificent bastard who tricked them, or the fact that they felt they really affected the story. Again, this is to make the game more fun for everyone.
However, a common pitfall with this part is just copying a situation in its entirety. For example, if the players really enjoyed a combat where they fought goblins while a hole in the floor slowly filled with water as part of a ritual to sacrifice the poor elven children in the hole who are screaming for help during the battle, the GM shouldn't just say "well, I'll just swap the kids for some farmers, and the goblins for some lizardmen next time."
No, the thing to do is to break it down. Was it the danger of falling into the hole, the timed nature of the battle, the swarm tactics of the goblins, the need to save the children, the moral dilemma of saving the children first or killing the goblins first, or a combination of any of the above. Chances are that the players liked specific aspects of the scene, as opposed to the scene as a whole. These ingredients that make up the scene are what the GM should try to simulate by taking the effect that the ingredient had and using it in another scene. If they liked the swarm tactics was it actually facing lots of easy to kill foes, or was it that the battle was more challenging because there were reduced movement options?
The third stage is when the GM gets to return the favour. The GM should start by telling each player something that s/he liked that the player did. Doesn't matter what it was, but preferably the comment should be something that relates to the player getting involved. For example "It was awesome when your berserker saved the little girl even though he could've attacked the goblin shaman." is better than "Nice job grabbing the objective and avoiding the decoy." Make the players feel a kinship with their characters. They should be proud for their characters achievements in addition to their own.
Lastly, the GM gets a little cathartic release by telling the players what they could improve. Don't just say what you didn't like, give them specific examples from the session, and what you think they could do to improve. For example "I think that it would have made more sense if your elf hating ranger had fought the goblin shaman instead of trying to save the children, even though you as a player knew that was the 'goal' of the scene." is better than "Stop metagaming, and roleplay already!"
This is done because everyone can use critiquing sometimes and most groups have a "problem" player who disrupts the fun of the game, whatever that fun may be. For one reason or another you may not want to get rid of the player or can't so you need to talk to them. What if they don't take criticism well? That's why you a) start with something you liked about what they did, b) give some criticism to everyone else as well, and c) accept criticism yourself.
With these four together, the game should improve for everyone involved, even "that guy."
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Random Everything Tables and Narration
The Age of Heroes is still on the back burner for now due to school, so I'll be talking about something else today.
For a very long time I never understood the use of random encounters. Or more specifically all the little tables for everything that existed in D&D books.
Why should I roll on the "Random Dungeon Room Contents" chart when I can instead simply decide for myself?
If I roll a chest, why then roll on the "Random Dungeon Chest Contents" chart when I can instead use it for inspiration?
If I roll a magic item in the chest, why then roll on the "Random Magic Item" chart instead of purposefully picking something that could be helpful, but not game breaking?
And so on and so forth.
However, what I'm coming to realize is that my group and our play style is not the standard in the world of tabletop RPGs. We prefer games with a very strong narrative. For the story to be engaging we had to care about the characters. This meant that the characters had to have at least a little back story and that they had to survive long enough for the players to get into the skins of the characters.
On the other side of the game, the GM had to have an idea about where the players were going. This required knowing who, what, where, when, why, and how the PCs were going to be involved with encounters whether they be combat, social, or whatever. There would be a planned narrative arc with the assumption that while there would be deviations (because that's what PCs do best) the GM would be able to guide the players back to the story.
A quick aside, while some might consider this railroading, the choice of the word guide was purposeful. No one in my group ever resented being brought back "on track" so long as it wasn't ham-handedly done.
With my most recent game, I decided to try something out of the norm for myself. I was going to run a game that wasn't episodic. Prior to this my sessions have been largely self contained with a defined beginning middle and end, or the quest (as we called them) would be a couple sessions long. Between quests wasn't really enacted, players were asked what their characters had been up to in the days/weeks/months between quests and then stuff might have been rolled for, but usually it was largely characterful stuff that had little impact on the game directly.
I decided to break that tradition and run a campaign where every session started where the last one ended. So far there have been 4 sessions run in this style. The first two were planned to about my usual extent (about a page of notes, not including stats), but the form the game began to take in that second session was unlike anything I had seen myself.
One of my best players, Anthony, began to create his own goals beyond those that I presented as GM. While this isn't out of character for him, the other players following his lead and becoming proactive was a surprise. Quickly their situation became an incredibly complex one with various forms of intraparty conflict. The third and fourth sessions I didn't really write notes. I created some stats for things that they would likely encounter in the session, and I had 4-5 events that could happen with a sentence of description each. The players drove those sessions themselves. All I had to do was improvise everything that they might encounter.
And that's when I realized the use of all those tables. The players are currently on a 200m long starship crewed by the remains of the ship's reptilian crew following a fierce boarding action by human mercenaries. However, there are still a handful of humans on board (who are only semi-prisoners [long story]), and insectoid refugee/prisoners from a pirate ship that attacked are also on board.
While the players have not used a fine toothed comb on the ship (yet) they have gone into some rooms and talked with some NPCs that I had no details for. Anthony is trying to gain the trust of the humans and has been asking them about their histories to try and get to know them. I don't have a name for every NPC on board, and I certainly don't have a personality or history for all of them. If I have these random tables then I can figure out something on the spot if I can't improvise anything reasonable. I know I'll need these tables even more once they are no longer confined to the ship and can chase after whatever wild idea they come up with.
For a very long time I never understood the use of random encounters. Or more specifically all the little tables for everything that existed in D&D books.
Why should I roll on the "Random Dungeon Room Contents" chart when I can instead simply decide for myself?
If I roll a chest, why then roll on the "Random Dungeon Chest Contents" chart when I can instead use it for inspiration?
If I roll a magic item in the chest, why then roll on the "Random Magic Item" chart instead of purposefully picking something that could be helpful, but not game breaking?
And so on and so forth.
However, what I'm coming to realize is that my group and our play style is not the standard in the world of tabletop RPGs. We prefer games with a very strong narrative. For the story to be engaging we had to care about the characters. This meant that the characters had to have at least a little back story and that they had to survive long enough for the players to get into the skins of the characters.
On the other side of the game, the GM had to have an idea about where the players were going. This required knowing who, what, where, when, why, and how the PCs were going to be involved with encounters whether they be combat, social, or whatever. There would be a planned narrative arc with the assumption that while there would be deviations (because that's what PCs do best) the GM would be able to guide the players back to the story.
A quick aside, while some might consider this railroading, the choice of the word guide was purposeful. No one in my group ever resented being brought back "on track" so long as it wasn't ham-handedly done.
With my most recent game, I decided to try something out of the norm for myself. I was going to run a game that wasn't episodic. Prior to this my sessions have been largely self contained with a defined beginning middle and end, or the quest (as we called them) would be a couple sessions long. Between quests wasn't really enacted, players were asked what their characters had been up to in the days/weeks/months between quests and then stuff might have been rolled for, but usually it was largely characterful stuff that had little impact on the game directly.
I decided to break that tradition and run a campaign where every session started where the last one ended. So far there have been 4 sessions run in this style. The first two were planned to about my usual extent (about a page of notes, not including stats), but the form the game began to take in that second session was unlike anything I had seen myself.
One of my best players, Anthony, began to create his own goals beyond those that I presented as GM. While this isn't out of character for him, the other players following his lead and becoming proactive was a surprise. Quickly their situation became an incredibly complex one with various forms of intraparty conflict. The third and fourth sessions I didn't really write notes. I created some stats for things that they would likely encounter in the session, and I had 4-5 events that could happen with a sentence of description each. The players drove those sessions themselves. All I had to do was improvise everything that they might encounter.
And that's when I realized the use of all those tables. The players are currently on a 200m long starship crewed by the remains of the ship's reptilian crew following a fierce boarding action by human mercenaries. However, there are still a handful of humans on board (who are only semi-prisoners [long story]), and insectoid refugee/prisoners from a pirate ship that attacked are also on board.
While the players have not used a fine toothed comb on the ship (yet) they have gone into some rooms and talked with some NPCs that I had no details for. Anthony is trying to gain the trust of the humans and has been asking them about their histories to try and get to know them. I don't have a name for every NPC on board, and I certainly don't have a personality or history for all of them. If I have these random tables then I can figure out something on the spot if I can't improvise anything reasonable. I know I'll need these tables even more once they are no longer confined to the ship and can chase after whatever wild idea they come up with.
Friday, March 26, 2010
The Relationship Between The Game And The Rules
Well, my plans for the setting creation session have been put on hold for the near future. The majority of my players, and myself, are still in school so it's crunch time right now and everyone is buried under assignments. Just about everything is on hold.
Thus today shall be some of my musings on RPGs.
I like investigating various rule systems. This stems from my love of making rules. I love modifying rules so that they better represent what I'm trying to accomplish, and I don't fret too much about the balance of those rules. However, I'm getting off track.
My investigations have lead me to a number of rule sets that I enjoy and have run. My table top RPG history looks like this: 2e D&D, a variety of homebrews based on 2e D&D, 3e D&D, a number of homebrews based on 3e D&D, Serenity RPG, a long running homebrew based on Serenity, d20 Modern (combined with d20 Past AND Future), a Dark Heresy one shot, and finally BESM 3e. I've also read some of the rules for 2e Exalted, Fantasycraft, Vampire the Masquerade, Shadowrun 4e, and Spirit of the Century.
I've obviously tried a wide variety of games with a wide variety of players. Each player has had their own level of the knowledge of the rules, and each game has had its own level of detail. What I've found from play is that the games with more detail give the players more control than the GM (when there are players who know the details). For example, if the GM's made a big bad evil guy/gal (BBEG) and the GM has broken a few rules to make the battle more interesting (such as giving the BBEG abilities that don't exist in the rules or that they "shouldn't" have because of rules restrictions), and a player spots the broken rules, they may complain that the rules have been broken and make a big fuss about it. This could potentially ruin an entire campaign if it becomes a big enough issue, and at least will ruin the moment.
I have been on both sides of the GM screen and experienced the other side too: if I want to do something, say hold onto the mast of a ship as it rocks in a storm so that I don't fall down, and the GM tells me that it won't have any effect mechanically because there is no provision in the rules for such an action, then I'll feel like I've been cheated out of some fun.
So there's two causes of this problem, one is overly detailed rules, the other is "rules lawyers" (whether they are the GM or a player). The only real solution is to create a game where everyone has a similar idea of what constitutes fun. If that's doing awesome stuff whether or not the rules allow it, that's fine, or creating consistency through the rules, that's fine as well. Personally, I prefer the former to the latter, and I try to accommodate the players' desires unless I think it could set a house rules precedent that could bite me in the ass later. Fun is where it's at.
Thus today shall be some of my musings on RPGs.
I like investigating various rule systems. This stems from my love of making rules. I love modifying rules so that they better represent what I'm trying to accomplish, and I don't fret too much about the balance of those rules. However, I'm getting off track.
My investigations have lead me to a number of rule sets that I enjoy and have run. My table top RPG history looks like this: 2e D&D, a variety of homebrews based on 2e D&D, 3e D&D, a number of homebrews based on 3e D&D, Serenity RPG, a long running homebrew based on Serenity, d20 Modern (combined with d20 Past AND Future), a Dark Heresy one shot, and finally BESM 3e. I've also read some of the rules for 2e Exalted, Fantasycraft, Vampire the Masquerade, Shadowrun 4e, and Spirit of the Century.
I've obviously tried a wide variety of games with a wide variety of players. Each player has had their own level of the knowledge of the rules, and each game has had its own level of detail. What I've found from play is that the games with more detail give the players more control than the GM (when there are players who know the details). For example, if the GM's made a big bad evil guy/gal (BBEG) and the GM has broken a few rules to make the battle more interesting (such as giving the BBEG abilities that don't exist in the rules or that they "shouldn't" have because of rules restrictions), and a player spots the broken rules, they may complain that the rules have been broken and make a big fuss about it. This could potentially ruin an entire campaign if it becomes a big enough issue, and at least will ruin the moment.
I have been on both sides of the GM screen and experienced the other side too: if I want to do something, say hold onto the mast of a ship as it rocks in a storm so that I don't fall down, and the GM tells me that it won't have any effect mechanically because there is no provision in the rules for such an action, then I'll feel like I've been cheated out of some fun.
So there's two causes of this problem, one is overly detailed rules, the other is "rules lawyers" (whether they are the GM or a player). The only real solution is to create a game where everyone has a similar idea of what constitutes fun. If that's doing awesome stuff whether or not the rules allow it, that's fine, or creating consistency through the rules, that's fine as well. Personally, I prefer the former to the latter, and I try to accommodate the players' desires unless I think it could set a house rules precedent that could bite me in the ass later. Fun is where it's at.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
In The Beginning... There Were Cliches
The purpose of this blog is twofold. First I plan on using it to collect my random musings about role playing games. Second I plan on chronicling the RPs I'm involved with, primarily the Age of Heroes RP that I will begin on Saturday.
The Age of Heroes is a setting that has yet to be created. So far the idea is that it will be themed around the idea of epic heroes who serve in a world of meddling gods. A world where heroes are not just legends, they've been seen just two towns over. Or so you've heard. The Players will play characters who are either mortals raised high through their skill, the children of gods, powerful spirits, or even minor gods. Think Odysseus, Samson, or Gilgamesh.
The game's structure will be largely episodic, with each quest being one or two sessions long and contributing to the overall setting. I really want my players to have the feeling that they are changing the world. Additionally, the cast of each session will be changing. I've realized that I have at least 8 good players in my group, and there are more "fringe" players who I'd like to play with more. Thus, a rotating cast where each quest may have a different combination of involved heroes.
All this is getting ahead of myself, however, as the setting is not yet created. I plan on creating the setting with a group of the players using the Dawn of Worlds rules. Dawn of Worlds is a game where each player plays a god who is involved in the shaping of the world, starting with its geology, moving onto the creation of the inhabitants, and then having the inhabitants interacting. There is no way to "win," it's a game designed to build settings.
I'm not going to be playing it straight though. I'll be incorporating some house rules, mainly the idea of domains. I thought it would flesh out the pantheon better if each god had domains that they played towards. Each domain will have multiple aspects, an aspect being a related area of a domain that the player has a focus on. Whether they choose to focus on a single aspect, multiple aspects, or combine their aspects in an interesting way is up to them. The players will take turn drawing domains out of a hat until there are no domains left. They can then trade one domain to another player who is willing to part with a domain as well. Every action that a player takes that can be related to a domain of theirs (or one of their domains' aspects) will give them a benefit, either reducing the cost of the action or getting a bonus to a dice roll. The domains and their aspects are as follows:
1) Air/Lightning
2) Animals/Plants
3) Chaos/Freedom/Change
4) Creation (building)/Cities
5) Commerce/Wealth/Greed
6) Death
7) Destruction/Murder
8) Earth/Farming/Stone
9) Fire/Hearth
10) Glory/Hope
11) Knowledge/Skill
12) Law/Responsibility/Justice
13) Life/Healing
14) Love/Lust
15) Luck/Fate/Trickery
16) Moon/Darkness
17) Strength/Protection
18) Sun/Light
19) Travel/Communication
20) War/Tactics
21) Water/Ice/Sea
Hopefully playing such a session will cause the players to all have an investment in the setting. I plan on digitally recording the session and then paraphrasing it into a history of the setting. A possible arduous task. However, I have high hope for this game, and I think I'm up to the task.
The Age of Heroes is a setting that has yet to be created. So far the idea is that it will be themed around the idea of epic heroes who serve in a world of meddling gods. A world where heroes are not just legends, they've been seen just two towns over. Or so you've heard. The Players will play characters who are either mortals raised high through their skill, the children of gods, powerful spirits, or even minor gods. Think Odysseus, Samson, or Gilgamesh.
The game's structure will be largely episodic, with each quest being one or two sessions long and contributing to the overall setting. I really want my players to have the feeling that they are changing the world. Additionally, the cast of each session will be changing. I've realized that I have at least 8 good players in my group, and there are more "fringe" players who I'd like to play with more. Thus, a rotating cast where each quest may have a different combination of involved heroes.
All this is getting ahead of myself, however, as the setting is not yet created. I plan on creating the setting with a group of the players using the Dawn of Worlds rules. Dawn of Worlds is a game where each player plays a god who is involved in the shaping of the world, starting with its geology, moving onto the creation of the inhabitants, and then having the inhabitants interacting. There is no way to "win," it's a game designed to build settings.
I'm not going to be playing it straight though. I'll be incorporating some house rules, mainly the idea of domains. I thought it would flesh out the pantheon better if each god had domains that they played towards. Each domain will have multiple aspects, an aspect being a related area of a domain that the player has a focus on. Whether they choose to focus on a single aspect, multiple aspects, or combine their aspects in an interesting way is up to them. The players will take turn drawing domains out of a hat until there are no domains left. They can then trade one domain to another player who is willing to part with a domain as well. Every action that a player takes that can be related to a domain of theirs (or one of their domains' aspects) will give them a benefit, either reducing the cost of the action or getting a bonus to a dice roll. The domains and their aspects are as follows:
1) Air/Lightning
2) Animals/Plants
3) Chaos/Freedom/Change
4) Creation (building)/Cities
5) Commerce/Wealth/Greed
6) Death
7) Destruction/Murder
8) Earth/Farming/Stone
9) Fire/Hearth
10) Glory/Hope
11) Knowledge/Skill
12) Law/Responsibility/Justice
13) Life/Healing
14) Love/Lust
15) Luck/Fate/Trickery
16) Moon/Darkness
17) Strength/Protection
18) Sun/Light
19) Travel/Communication
20) War/Tactics
21) Water/Ice/Sea
Hopefully playing such a session will cause the players to all have an investment in the setting. I plan on digitally recording the session and then paraphrasing it into a history of the setting. A possible arduous task. However, I have high hope for this game, and I think I'm up to the task.
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