Five Ways to Improve Your Game
A few days ago, Yax wrote on article on several ways to improve a DnD game.
Remove every distraction possible. It’s universally agreed upon that distractions and disruptions in any game not only makes the game less enjoyable by itself, but also removes people from the game and causing the quality of the game to suffer for a time after the distraction/disruption ends. Turn off cell phones, shut down instant messaging clients, and hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door if needed.
Whenever any situation comes up in the game where you feel something has provoked a character, or you would like it to, ask the player to share the reaction with the group. This encourages character immersion and does a lot to set the mood by having players describe how their characters feel.
If the party splits up, if at all possible, keep everyone at the table, or at least in the same room. Making players stop playing for a time in the middle of a session breaks the flow of everything, and results in boredom. If possible, have the players stay in the room so that they can listen. You may also want to consider having a small project for them, such as having them write up notes about the game, or write a character journal entry relating to something. A small reward for the player encourages them to do this, and doesn’t remove them from the game.
Exaggerate NPC characteristics. I don’t mean you should do this to a ridiculous degree, but times where I have exaggerated NPC characteristics to make them particularly noticeable, annoying or endearing, my players have never thought I was exaggerating the characteristics. It may seem over the top when presented, but rarely when it is received - especially if you don’t happen to be an actor.
Recognize that the story being told may well be bigger than the characters which the game focuses on. By making this apparent to your players while keeping the main focus on them, you add a lot to the feeling that they are making a difference, and that what their characters do actually matters.
Starting An Adventure: Part Three
In my last two articles, I discussed gathering the group and preparation time before an adventure. Today, I’ll conclude with getting the players involved.
One of the best games I’ve run, as far as role-playing encounters are concerned, was a game in which the party was returning to a town which happened to be the home town of one of the wizard. The wizard’s father, also a wizard, still lived in town, in a sizable house. Needing both a place to rest and eat as well as information, the party went to visit the wizard’s father, seeking both.
I never told them the encounter was going to be role-playing heavy, but from the moment they entered the house I only spoke as the father or the GM directed actions, describing environments, etc. When the players tried to jump ahead of the father’s questioning and being caught up, he would interrupt them firmly but nicely and continue along with what he wanted to talk about. This forced the players to role-play with him a bit.
This encounter wound up lasting nearly two hours, for the duration of it everyone being in character nearly a hundred percent of the time, simply focusing on dialogue and characterization. There was more character development in that session, and more fun role-playing all squeezed into those two hours than I could have possibly expected before the start of the session. (This encounter also had the added bonus of added impact when the father was later assassinated.)
The lesson I took from this session was that to get players involved, it must be made clear to them, either implicitly or explicitly, that it is in their interest to get involved and participate. As soon as players begin to respond and get involved, it is important to reward that behavior immediately, at least at first, to help cement that it is the proper thing to do and it will make the game more enjoyable for everyone.
Another simple way to get your group involved is to ask them directly what they and their characters want. If you are lucky enough to get usable responses, design the adventure/campaign with these responses in mind. If your players were honest and intelligible, you’ve probably built in an irresistable hook.
How do you get players involved?
Starting An Adventure: Part Two
Yesterday, in response to a question by Streetline in the StumbleUpon roleplaying forums I discussed gathering the group at the start of an adventure. Today, I’ll continue with preparation time.
Most of my campaigns are designed and run in a non-linear fashion so as to give PCs as much freedom as desired in directing the story. As a result, my preparation time is split into two categories: Campaign Preparation, and Adventure Preparation.
Campaign preparation is almost entirely comprised of becoming familiar with the rules, setting, and world that the campaign will be taking place in. Keeping things open-ended and providing the players with a lot of freedom means I need to be at least familiar with everything. While the rules and circumstances don’t need to be memorized, I need to understand them well enough that a quick scan will provide me with everything I need.
The rest of campaign preparation is spent talking to the players, and finding out what kind of campaign they want to play, and what kind of characters they’re likely to play, backgrounds they’re considering for them, and general goals/directions for the characters. This can all change later on, but it puts me on the same wavelength as my players, and helps me make better use of my prep time by focusing it on what will be relevant to the players.
Adventure preparation is what I do before every session. This is where I draw maps, roll up NPCs, prepare stats for creatures they are likely to encounter, and any other preparation that seems necessary for the upcoming session. I also make a point of reviewing any likely points that the players are likely to deviate from what I have prepared, and alternate paths that they are likely to take.
On average, I spend about one hour preparing for every four hours of gaming. This can change depending on how intense the session will be, how much is being recycled from the past, and how divergent the players have been.
I will conclude next time with getting players involved.
Starting An Adventure: Part One
Streetline from StumbleUpon recently posed a great question in the roleplaying forums: How do you start an adventure? How much prep time (if any) goes into your campaigns and plots? How do you get players involved and roleplaying?
I suggest everyone take a look at that thread, if just to read CastorQuinn’s response, which is thorough and thoughtful.
My personal favorite method of gathering PCs together in a group is the idea of a pre-existing relationship or friendship. The “He’s my brother” logic creates the kind of tight bond that is ideal for most adventuring games. Which brings me to the main issue of getting everything started.
In adventuring games, it is ideal to get the game started quickly, with a certain level of trust and cooperation in the group implied, simply for the purposes of getting things done, and making sure the group stays together for the most part, despite various forces driving them in different directions.
In some games, this kind of relationship is the exact opposite of what is desired. The Paranoia RPG, for instance, hopes to create a feeling of strain and distrust between the party members, who are encouraged to keep potentially deadly secrets from eachother, constantly expecting a betrayal.
In story driven games, a cohesive party often isn’t appropriate for the course of the game and the story. The players may not all be on one side, or they may be parts of competing sects/factions within a larger unifying force, such as many of White Wolf’s Vampire games.
One shot adventures are another story all-together. The group is only, supposedly, together for this one adventure or event, so fate or employment become much more acceptible motivations for working together.
Generally, my favored method of getting characters together at the start of a game is to let the players decide. In all but the most linear of games, or those following the patterns of Paranoia, I allow the players to discuss their concepts as much as desired prior to the game. I feed them information on the starting region and what kind of campaign they are going to participate in, and let them figure out how they belong together.
Generally, the players seem to come up with a good idea, which engages their characters quickly and provides background and/or plot hooks for me to use.
Tomorrow, I’ll discuss prep time and getting players involved.
Organizing Old Game Material
Martin over at Treasure Tables brought up the topic of organizing old game material on Saturday, and I thought I’d share a few of my methods.
If a PC dies, I take the character sheet and put it into a folder which is dedicated to collecting PC information after that PC’s death. I started doing this after a number of characters were returned to play sometime after their death due to various circumstances, some resurrected as themselves, and some as bad guys. The original information was always missing, however. Additionally, being able to look at the characters that participated in an adventure can help fill in many blanks which might exist.
All of my old notes get transcribed and saved on my computer, to make sure that they are not lost and are easy to edit. Once a set of notes becomes about a month old, I go back, and copy whatever information still seems relevant into the master notes file, which I used for quick references.
During particularly long campaigns, I will release some of my notes to my players, especially my limited notes about what they believed and experienced first hand during the game. This allows the players to be sure that they are remembering things as they happened, and they have an additional source of notes to refer to. Releasing the notes as a meta-reward has worked well for me in the past.
Why I Feel Betrayed
Thanks to Yax at DungeonMastering.com for the original alert.
In 1974, TSR released the initial set of Dungeons and Dragons. This original version featured four races and three classes, and was in many ways crippled if you were not a Chainmail player.
In 1979 the rules were revised, and ADnD was released in it’s first incarnation, and closely resembled the later released Second Edition ADnD, and contained play very similar to later d20 versions of the game.
In 1985, the boxed set was released. This contained rules which were in many ways different from that of previous editions, and while somewhat simpler, also covered a far greater range of rules, including play beyond Level 36, and Godhood/Immortality.
In 1989, Second Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was released. This game featured a set of rules which would see refinement and additions over the years, but remain largely unchanged until 1995 when a series of Players Options books were released, greatly increasing the capabilities and possibilities of the game.
In 2000, Third Edition Dungeons and Dragons was released. This game feature a completely new set of rules, and used the d20 system. In many ways the feel and style of play greatly mirrored that of previous editions, despite the new simplified and unified mechanics.
In 2003, 3.5 Edition Dungeons and Dragons was released. This game was largely an update and replacement for the previous edition, fixing many problems with the previous edition, but making no substantive change in the flow or style of play.
Now, just months before Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons will be released, featuring a slightly less linear approach to character advancement and simplified rule structure, it has been announced that a modification and collection of rules and content from the current edition, 3.5, is being released in a Rules Compendium.
In 1997, just two years after the Players Options books had been released, TSR did the smartest thing I think they did before they were bought by Wizards of the Coast: They released a Wizard’s Spell Compendium, available in four thick volumes, which contained EVERY Wizard spell from every edition of Dragon, Dungeon, and Polyhedron magazine, as well as all official TSR publications, modules, and releases. The spells were all updated slightly to be congruent with the modern editions, but most survived with few changes. Simultaneously, they released a four volume version for Priests. Both these editions were cross-referenced and index thoroughly. Around the same time, boxed sets were released with a card based version of these books, each card containing the complete information regarding a spell, all categorized by spell level and put into alphabetical order.
They made it easy for players of their game to get the collection they needed, and they did this at the height of the game. In releasing this product now, Wizards of the Coast has managed to do the opposite to its consumers, who still clamor for an official Spell Compendium to be released.
I feel betrayed because, supplements aside, this Rules Compendium is the book I’ve wanted since the game was released. Where are the other compendiums? And why is this one being released only months before it becomes obsolete?
I feel betrayed because when I want to run a game of 3.5, I don’t want to have to carry a bookcase with me to feel like I can run a relatively complete game.
Making Battle Mats Easier and Faster
StupidRanger recently brought up the issue of Battle Mats, and I thought I would share an idea I recently had, and will be trying out at my next gaming session.
At the hardware store, you can find very thin, flexible lengths of chain. These generally sell for less than a dollar a foot (as I recall they were much cheaper than that several years ago), and come in sizes so thin and small that you can bend them into any shape desired, which they will remain in until moved.
These lengths of chain can be used to quickly set up borders on a battle mat, whether for buildings, rooms, roads, rivers, bridges, or even for a creature so large use of an actual miniature is laughable.
The main upsides to using chains (or anything similar) for this are that it is easier to set up the battle mat, and especially faster to change between scenes or what is shown on it. No more drawing and then erasing, with either pencil and eraser or wet erase markers and paper towels.
If you have a table which is jostled or moved regularly during game play, it may be wiser to use a slightly larger chain which won’t be disturbed so easily.
Has anyone else tried this?
Incorporating a New PC
Martin Ralya over at Treasure Tables brought up an interesting question today, How do you incorporate a new character into an existing campaign?
As I always encourage my players to role-play, I am almost always happy to let them sit around half the night as they get to know the new character. It provides a good chance for them to develop the character more fully, and it gives the other players a chance to get to know this new character, allowing for richer and easier role-playing to follow.
Sometimes, however, this just isn’t appropriate. Whether due to pacing issues, the PCs being about to embark on a harrowing quest which had built up a lot of excitement and anticipation, or players just not feeling up to spending the evening role-playing, another solution is needed.
The simplest and best solution I have found is to introduce the new PC as being a friend or family member of either the person who died or a survivor in the group. This makes the new PCs credibility easy to establish, without disrupting Suspension of Disbelief or stunting role-playing opportunities later on. Better yet, it lets the party continue onward as soon as they desire.
This method shouldn’t be hard for most people to accept. It provides role-playing opportunities for those who enjoy them, and allows them to skip arduous role-playing scenes for those who don’t.
