Quality Encounters: Part IV

Seeing how I've covered so much so far, it seems appropriate to put a plug in for a few more critical elements. 

In this case, on how to build suspense.  Of course, doing so is all about building anticipation for your players.  Offer hints but avoid giving complete answers.  Give them something to worry about, to encourage them to seek out more or do more to find out where events are culminating.  You can also puzzle them, stirring their minds with something that keeps nagging at them until they can't stand it.

Of course, nothing I've said is any good without examples so let me drop a couple at you.  A classic example of hinting is to do so from the very beginning, giving them little tidbits, perhaps nonsense at first (to them) but hints nevertheless of something to come.  Then, as the night (or several sessions) develops, drop more and more hints.  When players ask, as they will when they realize you are doing something, tell them nothing at key times while feeding them misinformation or more hints.  Make them mad with trying to figure out what is going on.  For instance I started a game session with a particular word segueing it into nearly every conversation.  It wasn't anything strange, the word "red", but I used it on a 20 minute cycle, making sure I included it in whatever I was saying.  Subtly at first then more and more jarringly as the night progressed.  The players figured out something was up about an hour in (they caught me eying the clock to be truthful) but didn't figure out until 3 hours later when it was drying them crazy trying to puzzle out what I was doing.  In the end they realized they were stuck in a dream sequence and the word was part of the background chant voiced by several people in the real world trying to free them!  Madness, but fun madness nevertheless.

Another fun method is to use the classic puzzle or riddle to hook your players.  No need for an example there, I suppose, though I'd add that using bits of the players' histories usually is a nice tough that gets them interested.

A close favorite to the first one is the idea of an intriguing question.  Its a common theme in fiction, used to hook the reader with a question that digs at them.  Usually I give this in the form of "something isn't what it seems to be".  Additionally, I pose it through hard to control story elements to force the players via their characters to really stretch to find the answers.

Deception is another fun means.  Unusual situations, a sense of desperation or impending doom, and varying pacing also contribute to good suspense.  Ending on a cliffhanger, when you can swing it, is, of all things perhaps among the best of ways to build eagerness for the next game.

Of course, everything, and I mean everything, depends on your delivery.  Poor delivery can ruin everything if you are not careful.