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Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #12
Top 5 Ways To Use Encounters To Build A Compelling Campaign
Contents:
A Brief Word From Johnn
Last week, in Issue #11, I wrote my top 5 ways to tweak
encounters so that they become more exciting, entertaining
and memorable. I have just put a page up on the
RoleplayingTips.com web site that provides examples of each
tip for you to use on-the-fly during your sessions.
The page is free and you may print, copy or redistribute at
your leisure.
I've got one request for you though: please send me your
examples! I'll add all examples to the page so that everyone
benefits from a growing library of encounter add-ons--a
great resource for all gamemasters. Please visit the page
at: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/encounters.asp
In my opinion, encounters are the building blocks of your
campaign so we're going to focus on them again this issue.
The better your encounters are, the better your whole
campaign will become!
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Top 5 Ways To Use Encounters To Build A Compelling Campaign
Encounters are like pieces of a grand jigsaw puzzle that you
build with your players over time into a story. Imagine
then, if some of the pieces didn't fit? What if some of the
pieces were missing entirely? How would your puzzle turn out
if all the pieces were round? Or how strong would the puzzle
be if all the pieces were square?
To thoroughly kill this poor puzzle metaphor now, I believe
our job as game masters is to give our players a complete
set of well-fitting, high quality, very colourful, very
interesting pieces so that they may build a wondrous and
unforgettable puzzle.
If we liken encounters to puzzle pieces then, an encounter's
purpose is equivalent to a puzzle piece's shape. Here are
five ways to make the most interesting and best possible
encounter "shapes":
- Plot development. Have the encounter move the story
forward. Not only from your perspective as the GM, but also
from your players' perspectives. They must *feel* that
something was accomplished and that they have moved closer
towards their goal.
- World development. Use the encounter to explore a
significant aspect of the characters' world--either on a
local or global level. Over a period of time your world will
come alive for you and your players by consistently turning
over rocks and exploring what's underneath during
encounters.
- Character development. Focus the encounter on one or more
characters so that the players learn more about them, or so
that the character(s) improve in some way.
- NPC development. Not all encounters concerning the bad
guys need involve combat or narrow escapes. How about a
visit with the evil wizard's mom? Seriously though, you can
use encounters to reveal motivations, histories, weaknesses
and other interesting stuff about the characters' allies and
foes.
- Break the mood. "When you see 'em yawn make'em roll
initiative" I always say! It's good to break things up for
variety's sake. If you're playing a serious story, try an
encounter about compassion. For combat intensive sessions
try some dry-witted parley with a few friendly NPCs.
Bonus Tip:
- Try making some encounters fulfill more than one purpose.
That will help build a truly exciting puzzle!
Have more fun at every game!
Johnn Four
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