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Picking Up On Player Cues and Expectations
My first attempt to run a persistent game was at college in Texas. I ran Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons for a group of students I had met during orientation, and three sessions into the campaign, they led a contingent of Dwarfs against an invading force of Orcs, Goblins, Ogres, and Trolls. This battle would mark the fruition of the efforts of the PCs thus far, and the opening battle of what would become a large scale war.
One of the fighters from the PCs party charged forward, attacking the front line of goblins. The fighter slashed his way through, downing two goblins in process, with the Dwarfs closing in immediately behind him, each downing another goblin. When I announced:
“Okay, the fighter downed two goblins, and the Dwarfs each took another, for a total of NINE dead goblins. Good first round, guys.” the players barely reacted, and I was baffled. This continued until half-way through the battle when one of the players called a time out.
“Listen, our old Dungeon Master always gave us kill descriptions. Whenever something died, he would pause combat long enough to explain exactly how, and if anyone was reacting to it. I think we’ll enjoy the game a lot more if you could do that for us.” This was the best thing he could have said: He explained what I could do to help them enjoy the game more, and he did so in a constructive and positive way.
Armed with this knowledge, I began describing deaths in new ways I knew would give my players the reward they asked for. I would now describe an orc being killed by a critical hit on a charge attack with something like, “He raises his axe to meet you on your charge, but a last second burst of speed on your part takes him by surprise as you drive your sword into his heart, a look of disbelief and anger fading from his eyes as his body goes limp.”
The change on the part of my players? They were now standing around the table, too excited to remain in their seats. They cheered and groaned as the battle turned. Having told me what kinds of descriptions they wanted, they were able to cue me more easily with what they wanted to happen. They described their actions in more detail, describing the look and feel their character gave off as they did it. My descriptions and interpretations of events were able to change to build on theirs.
Unfortunately, player cues and expectations aren’t always expressed as clearly and directly as they were for me that night. While direct communication with players about this sort of thing is always good, it isn’t always appropriate, especially in the middle of a session. What can you do if you find yourself in the middle of a session, but unsure what it is your players want?
Get excited. When you get excited and put that kind of energy into the game, your players will mimic it. Excited players are more animated and more involved, which means they’ll have many more opportunities to cue you, consciously or unconsciously, about what they want.
Put the ball in their court. Whether it is in a combat situation, or a role-playing encounter, forcing your players to not only take action, but react to something, will give you a strong idea of what they want. Make sure that they have several choices, and that they’re aware of what they are in general, but be careful not to limit what they can do or how they can react here.
Have an NPC ask them. A trusted NPC works best in this situation, or at least one trusted enough that the players will talk to whoever you choose. Simply having a bartender ask the PCs what they think about the events going on around them can yield useful information.
Have the players provide descriptions. A PC manages to get a kill, or successfully use a skill in a significant way, and they deserve to see their vision of it played out. After the general results and circumstances have been established around an event, have a player provide the actual description for the results. This also provides you an opportunity to learn how they see things in general, and look for patterns which you can use.
Does anyone else know of methods to elicit and pick up on player cues?
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