Make NPCs people

Just a quick note today.  This is a follow up to some of the good gamemastering tips from earlier.

Spend the time to make NPCs seem like people and not cardboard cut outs.  It makes the game that much more realistic and helps with suspension of reality.

The simplest way to do so is to give the NPC a quirk.  It helps define the NPC to the players.  Still its overused.  After the ninth barkeep that twitches/stutters/is annoying when he talks it gets old.  How about something a little more detailed?

How about the man who always seems cold?  Keeps turning up the heat or wears furs in the summer?  Seems to always have pinkeye or a cough?  Make identifying marks those that only marginally involve the players but is still noticeable and attention getting.

When to montage actions and time

Sometimes you just need to let time pass.  Like when you have players who like to shop.  Unless the majority of your group is into that don't spend three hours doing it.  Save it for inbetween times or offline where its not in the way.

Of course if that's the focus of your story then roll with it.

Do the same for travel and even some times for fighting if the situation is right.  Gauge the mood and don't be afraid to tie something with a cinematic montage.  Pull the players in to make it stick.

Listening to players

A GM should listen to their players.  Not obviously, and not in the "I'll hear everything you want to say to me" kind of way either.  Listen nonetheless, though.  Of course, when I state this I mean to drop some eaves, of course.  Players will chat and in that chatting is where you will find some very important things.

Players, given the chance will tell you everything they want to do, their hopes, dreams and desires, for their characters and for them too.  You can use it to turn the game and so can they too, if you are not careful.  Players who catch on to what you are doing, and yes, they will catch on if they've any sense may seek to abuse it.  That is when you play the game of balance -- to make sure the game is turned and moves the direction you want it to go.

Simple advice but important if it fits your game philosophy.  Some GMs run a game like a leader runs a military unit: they are in charge and none shall say otherwise.  If this is your style, think of the players' chatting as asked for advice: you'll find pearls of wisdom you'll like within it.  If you are more involvled with your players then its a welcome sign that will point the way to success.

Bad guy speeches and monologues

Oh I used to be bad about doing this.  See enough hollywood and you would think its the norm.  Life, though is much gritter.  While I have npcs brag once and awhile I omit the monologues.

I encourage you to do the same.  Players don't want to hear it.

How Not to overload the game through plots

Probably my worst vice.  I like a vast possibility of actions and tend to provide the same for players.  The problem is keeping track of them - both for the player and the GM. 

Of course its more than just flooding your group with quests.  It's also about knowing when to hammer the players with all that they have going on and when not to hammer the players.

In fact I'll provide an example to illustrate.  At one point a group in the past, had been chasing a spy Master for the king.  During the pursuit I threw a number of random and scripted obstacles in their path.  The downside to this was I overwhelmed the reason why they were chasing the spy master in the first place.  The chase scene that should have taken a game or 2 stretched to 10 and then was never finished.

The point was I overwhelmed the original base reason.  You can add too much if you're not careful.  It's a matter of balance.

Hinting and building suspense

Sometimes as a Gm you will want to roll something out or present a situation whose intent is to cause an impasse.  Or a situation where you know the players cannot the challenge but you need to include it for story reasons.  Sometimes it's not so much a situation - its an it.

A good example of this would be when my players opened up a rift in time and space.  I described something large and powerful coming through the rift.  The players had no chance against it, but it's inclusion in the game was necessary for the story.  I put hints and lots of foreshadowing to make this clear to the players.  In fact they were so captivated with the description, that they quite literally listened as I described the creature exiting the rift.  1 of them caught on that it wasn't here to be nice and play friendly with them.  He got the rest to run.  My point in describing this is to show that giving hints and foreshadowing can be a useful tactic when presenting situations or in this case something, that should be avoided and not fought.

The key in doing this is to make sure that you do not present the situation in a way that frustrates the players.  A sense of escape, avoidance or that they could attempt to tackle the problem should exist even if it's not true.  The goal as previously discussed is to present a series of options for the players to take that end in a result that you want.  At the same time preserving the players sense of freedom to choose the option that they want.

In this case I wanted them to confront the creature coming out of the rift.  What I did not want them to do is to try to fight it.  By using voices of people in the game, NPCs, I was able to communicate that it was unbeatable, at least to physical combat, and had to be confronted another way.  This led the players to where I wanted them to go and let them think of creative ways to overcome it.  Additionally I was heavy handed in foreshadowing that it was something that could only be handled through a device other than combat.

I do the exact same thing in other situations.  For example the other night I was not as prepared as I normally am.  In fact I had only detailed out a portion of the area the players were gaming in.  To prevent the players from going to the areas I had not detailed I completely ignore the fact they were not done and instead referenced them often in game.  I made them seem mundane and more the same that they had already seen.  I also made sure that the general flow the game pointed away from them.  When the players went towards these areas I used encounters, situations and NPCs to steer them into areas that I had detailed.

The key is to do this without clueing in your players what you doing. They have no idea what you have or have not ready.  Presenting an even open front that says you are completely prepared keeps them from finding out.  As a rule I lock out very few locations in my game.  In fact players can go anywhere even if they shouldn't go there.  I make it very clear that I do not as the game master scale encounters to their power level.  Instead I put the world together and then let it run.  It is full of things more powerful and less powerful than the players.  Common sense and hints from the game master usually keep players from places they should not go.

Variety and Interest

In the late 1970's when I first started gaming and opened up my first Arduin Grimoire, I stumbled across something unique in my world perspective.  It had a series of charts that provided small (and sometimes large) impacts to game play.  Most were little more than an edge here and an edge there but they all added to game play.  It was my first experience with putting some bite behind the colorful backgrounds I envisioned for my characters.

Who hasn't desired to emulate a character from a book or movie and found their chosen system to fall short?  In those days my system was add&arduin, usually mixed as the two were heavily dependent on one another.  It fell short, powerfully so.

Still that thought never left me and I went on to further in my games experiments on how to implement the idea without overwhelming the mechanics or roleplay.

In the end, after 30 years of game play I have found the best way was to build in colorful options to allow the player to create something unique each time.  Sometimes it would be cultural or social and other times it would be via some unique ability that only they could do.

In fact, my gaming history and the hundreds of players I have gamed with have provided a rich panoply of choices for people to select from.  Not to mentioned played tribute to the characters that birthed those unique backgrounds.

It provided the means to make this idea bear fruit.  The fact that they do not seek to convey superpowers or replicate abilities built elsewhere is their strength.  Just like how they revolve around a role playing idea stimulates the mind and player.

People are the glue

In life people are the glue.  They are the element that bonds not only other people together but places, events, objects and so forth.  Its interaction with people that drives the decisions we make.

So why do we frequently discard this component when we game?  We should employ it in the same fashion to connect and influence the characters.  It makes the suspension of belief that much easier and the influence we wield more organic when we use motivations of this nature.  Think about:

Rivalries
Friendships
Sorrows
Patriotism
Curiosity

And more as reasons for motivation.  For why characters would get involved, travel, challenge a dungeon, overthrow a king or defy the gods.

When NOT to play

More of an observation than philosophy but important still.  As the GM its wise to know when you should allow a game to continue or even convene that evening.  Where allowing it maybe cause more harm to your game or to your players. 

Its a tough situation to judge but very important.  Say when most of your players have to work early the next morning or as when we were kids,  when someone's dad was going to tear them a new one for gaming.  As in when a night is going downhill because of people's lives.

That's when you step back and shoot for another day.

Thoughts on dishonesty

Sometimes as GMs we are dishonest in what we say or give to players.  When its an outcome you've decided (see previous posts on the topic) then fine but when you are doing it to coddle your players or yourself, its another story.

A GM that never challenges their players or gives into players to save their feelings or to keep them from leaving is failing as a GM. 

You've got to put it out there even if it upsets them.  Killing their character might be a great intro into an otherworldly or ghost campaign.  Lead to something cool or a cinematic revival.

Do yourself and your players a favor and be honest. 

Why talking about games makes them better

Its in the title:  talking about your game sessions makes them better.  You confused?  Understand why I say that?  Well, lets talk about it!

Okay so now I've gotten that spasmatic stupidity out if my system lets get to the root of things.  When you jaw about your games especially with your group though really any gamer willing to give you feedback will do.

As you layout your game you are talking about your GM style as well and your ability to appeal to people.  I'm sure you've had folks give you the "wow, that's cool" and "oh, I would hate that!" Kinds of feedback.  Those are indicators of how well you are appealing to an audience wider than your group.so pay attention.  At the same time weigh everything accordingly.  Some feedback may not be worth it due to the person involved.  Either way take the good with the bad and see how your game stands up to scrutiny.

Old games make great backstory

This will seem obvious to some but use your old games for back story and to flesh out your world.  In the course of your sessions you are likely to generate hundreds if not more nonplayer characters.   Use them to your advantage and to fill out your world.  They are part of the background that makes the world seem real.

Not to mention history, locale, myths and more.  Soak it up and use it.  It eases the GM burden and also pays tribute to those valiant souls who braved your games and left their mark.

Old school mentality

An interesting concept and part of a conversation I was recently in.  The conversation started out more of a old school versus new and how old school.gaming was better than newer games.  I disputed the fact. 

First better is completely relative - better for you is not necessarily better for me.  Secondly the core of almost every debate I have heard on this topic really revolves around complexity.  Games from the 60s and 70s were products of their time.  In general the density and complexity we see in more modern games is born from our adaptation to technology.

If you look at and poll games created over the last few decades you'll see a rise in complexity, both in how the rules work mechanically and the situations they address.  Some see this as limiting and yearn for simpler days.  Which is fine.  Not all the changes are good or comfortable. 

Games are a reflection of the general populace, at least the popular ones.  We've gotten more complex and capable of handling information.  Is it any wonder our games have followed?

Murmur

Ever sit in a busy restaurant?   Looked around?  Or just paid attention to the background hum of voices and noise?

You get scraps and bits of conversation and sound mixed with peoples' movements.  Its the murmur and its what lends authenticity to where you are.  Sit in a quiet restaurant and it seems emptier and odd.  Why bring it up?

Well so often the worlds we build for players lack this backdrop.  That missing element makes it feel fake and hollow.  Fitting it in is critical.  Now I'm not much of a "how" guy at least not for this blog.  Its about the philosophy and thought of gaming after all.  But I will say that the world is your oyster and you should plumb its depths accordingly.  Pull from it the info you need to provide that backdrop.

Your players should never hang on your every word or scribbled note.  Give them things that mean nothing.  Throw out info in chunks steady streams and make sure to starve them once in a while.  Make them filter info and make more true decisions.  It allows you to build good stories and for them to make mistakes.

Value of the Unexpected

Allow for the unexpected.  Prepare for it if you will.  Which may seem odd say because how can you prepare.for.something that's unexpected?

My answer is easy.  You just have to understand what that means.  Allowing for the unexpected means letting things you have not planned for and potentially are unprepared for influence your game.  Let something wild or unpredictable enter the equation.

It adds spice to life and to your games.  Prepare by understanding it can occur and have a process to mitigate or enhance the path it takes.

I love examples.  So let me give one.

I have at times put the fate of the fame night in a players hand.  Let them drive the bus as they say in today's parlance.  Sometimes in part sometimes in full.  Whether they pull me to the side or send notes, I let them call the shots.  It was eye opening and continues to be whenever I do it.

Another example is when I completely let the players drive game direction, modifying the story on the fly to meet whatever they want.  It makes for a twisted strange path and I've yet to have a group that did not prefer a moderating hand.

Plotting it just right

Its funny how you arrange your game sessions to match your players.  It really never hits me until I run games for strangers then it smacks me in the face.  I've been lucky to draw to me players with a desire to be bold, different and Complex with the characters they play.  This has led to me creating equally detail and multi-layered adventures to thank you.

Taking that down a notch always startles when it shouldn't.  Its like I forget that not everyone plays at that level.  Its okay though.  The game easily supports it.  Its me that needs the adjustment.

This all came to light when I was putting together a beta group to test s module I had written.  I was trying hard to stay within bounds of the module as where my players when we realized hours had elapsed and we hadn't progressed into the module a single bit.  Everyone was just having a good time showing off their characters oddities and interesting stories and we completely lost track of why we were there.

It was fun and we got on track but it struck me, nonetheless.

So lesson of the day, I guess to keep such things in mind.

Easy plotting

I've been asked numerous times how to build plots.  After all you can only go bowling for orcs so many times before it gets boring.  Just like looking for that ever lost piece of something, the girl/noble/valuable thing that gets kidnapped or stolen; or the worst used plot of all, which is the do it for coin since the gm has no other hook to get you involved.

So let me provide an easy bit of advice.  Your simplest and most accessible source of plots is your newspaper, online or paper.  People do the damnest things.  And it gets reported usually in lavish detail.  If you take the idea of the story it can form the genesis of a plot in your world.

An unpopular war, for instance.  Or, economic issues.  Scandals.  Ufos if you want.

Take your pick and cast them in the clothes of your world.