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Drama Moments
Drama moments are an aspect of a house rule that you’ve probably used or witnessed at least once in your gaming career, though you may not have known it.
Drama moments are those moments in a game where all the rules are thrown out or bent for a moment so that, in a moment of GM Fiat, the right thing can happen. Drama moments are often employed to match excellent role-playing, to ensure that the story continues on the right path or that the story ends on the right note and in general to ensure that the over-all enjoyment isn’t compromised.
Some examples of drama moments include:
- A character casting a spell they do not know or do not have access to
- A character taking extra actions
- A character shrugs off damage
- A character automatically accomplishes something that normally requires dice to be rolled
- A character over-comes a powerful magical effect
But why include drama moments when GM Fiat is generally considered a bad thing? Drama moments are not random or in place solely to gratify one individual - they serve the story and the communal enjoyment of the game.
If you’re not sure if a given situation is appropriate for a drama moment, ask yourself the following questions:
- If the wrong thing happens, can the game still be fun?
- Does it affect the entire group?
- Can the game/story continue if the wrong thing happens?
- Can they try again?
- If the wrong thing happens, does that prevent the right thing from happening later?
- Is the wrong thing primarily left up to chance?
If the answer to most or all of these questions is yes, then you’ve most likely encountered a drama moment where GM Fiat is acceptable.
Some things to keep in mind with drama moments:
Try not to let the player’s know it’s happening. By keeping it hidden, the players enjoy it more because it feels natural to them. If the situation would normally call for dice to be rolled, roll them behind your screen so that players cannot see them.
Make the players feel responsible. If you’re ensuring that an unlikely turn of events plays out in the game, present the players with something they can do to “improve the odds.” By doing so and having the players do this, they will not only feel more responsible for the events, but they will be more accepting of the unlikely turn of events because they “made [the events] likely.”
Have a reason handy as to how and why things worked differently. If the player accessed an unusual level of magical abilities, a new source of magical power that was tapped and run dry during the drama moment is sufficient to explain what happened. Similarly, outside intervention, luck, favor of the gods, adrenaline are all acceptable excuses.
Remember, the worst thing that can happen from a drama moment is the players trying to futilely to re-create the circumstances or accomplish the same phenomenal task.
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7 Responses to “Drama Moments”
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I wouldn’t bother hiding any moments of ignoring the rules, but I also don’t need to do it. Making the players actually responsible is the key.
The classic example is the need to find some hidden piece of plot. Some letters hidden in a study, say. Assuming the players are making their characters look for them (or some character’s personality or insincts in case of Burning Wheel make such searching automatic), I will tell the difficulty (search DC 20) to find the letters and the consequences of failure, which do not mean the letters are not found. Maybe an alarm or trap is triggered. Maybe someone sees the characters sneaking around. Either way, the consequences must both make the game go forward and be actually negative.
Likewise: A PC mage really needs to get something done and is greatly emotionally invested in the occasion (otherwise it is not dramatic). Burning an undead monster is a fine occasion. Roll dice: Success means a burninated undead monster, failure means scorched earth miles around, save for the mage, who is unconscious and unharmed in the middle of the destruction.
I prefer clarity and co-operation. YMMV.
Tommi’s last blog post..Prep for Burning vikings, plus spoilers
Here, Here! “Dramatic moments” are the only reason to play the game. Forget the rules and the dice, focus on what is important in the game. Killing the dragon is one thing, but a heroic sacrifice by a PC to make it happen is what the game is about!
Trask
There’s something to be said about using rules and dice that help focus on the important bits and create dramatic moments.
Tommi’s last blog post..Appeasing the giant?
On some certain occasion I will openly say I’m flaunting the rules because the moment is too dramatic. The player(s) involved in such cases are usually already so much in the moment that they react favorably top the call and for a very short time, a crunch heavy group like mine, achieves true story-telling…. (A large feat for us hyper rationals)
The Chatty DM’s last blog post..Mining Tropes for RPG Goodness: Fighting Depression with some Deep Pression!
Hmmm Dan? My last post is not the Trope one…
The Chatty DM’s last blog post..Adventure Prep: When the end of an era draws near
If there’s a delay in the feed updating it will reflect here when you post. Thanks for the heads-up - I’ll watch to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
That’s what I like. Passionate players with desire to make a true fantasy atmosphere. I wish there were more Dungeons and Dragons players in my country.
Chip’s last blog post..Welcome To My Tavern