Roleplaying Tips

• This Week's Tips Summarized
• A Brief Word From Johnn
• 7 Tips For Roleplaying Encounter Locations
• Readers' Tips Of The Week

1. Give The Location An Attitude
2. Add A Secret
3. Make The Encounter Chime With The Location
4. Add Objects To The Scene & Interact With Them
5. Add NPCs To The Scene & Interact With Them
6. Think Z-Axis
7. Huge List Of Roleplaying Locations

1. NPC Moods
   From: Rick Friedman
2. RPG Sound Mixer
   From: Bluemagician The Sorcerer
3. Dealing With Spotlight Requests
   From: Garry Stahl
4. Metric Movement Rates
   From: Paul Simmons

Return to Contents

Return to Contents

Return to Contents

1. Give The Location An Attitude
   
   You're either in design mode before the game or winging-it mode during the game and you've picked your spot for an encounter. It might be on a pier, in an empty church, or in the furnace room of a hospital. What now?
   
   It's important to try and make every encounter location distinct and interesting. The players will be more attentive to the game and their PCs' surroundings. You'll be helping them envision the setting and get into character better.
   
   While detailing a location's contents and inhabitants well is important (see tips below), they don't always help make a setting unique. What happens if the PCs visit the same place multiple times? The same old objects and NPCs will probably be there and each encounter in that place will seem less distinct and unique.
   
   The solution is to add some attitude. Before the encounter begins, decide on a mood, disposition, or bias for the setting, and make it different each time an encounter takes place in the same location. This way, even if the location is the same, it will have a different feel to it and the players' perceptions of it will change.
   
   Example encounter location attitudes:
   
   
   • Friendly
   • Hostile
   • Happy
   • Sad
   • Miserable
   • Malicious
   • Lucky
   • Mischievous
   • Romantic
   • Merry
   • Weary
   • Fearful
   • Casual
   
   
   Once you've picked an attitude, slant the encounter's various elements to suit the mood. This is where your creativity and joy of design comes into play. It's a puzzle. For example, how could you make your next encounter location sad?
   
   Some ideas:
   
   
   • Someone has recently died and the NPCs in the area are wearing black arm bands and are sad themselves
   • The sky is overcast
   • The air is stale and still
   • It's quiet
   • Anything that's moving is doing so slowly, without purpose or urgency
   • The location is cast in shadow
   • Flowers and other plants seem wilted
   • Buildings seem in disrepair
   • Sad music is being played somewhere nearby
   • A dog is yelping and crying nearby
   
   
   The PCs return in a couple of days and you decide the location now has a merry attitude:
   
   
   • The period of mourning has ended, the black arm bands are off
   • A small street party is taking place
   • Laughter and cheer can be heard from a tavern
   • Children and pets are running around, playing games
   • The sun is bright and warm
   • Plants are perky
   • The buildings seem taller and straighter
   • Merry music from a small band has people dancing in the street
   
   
   It's important that the NPCs in your roleplaying encounter react to the attitude you've created. This acknowledges the difference and draws the players' attention to the attitude. It will also queue the players to roleplay and react to the attitude as well, which is one of the main points of the exercise.
   
   Adding attitude not only makes encounter locations different and interesting, but makes encounter types different and interesting as well. Imagine a hostage negotiation in the scenarios above. Each roleplaying encounter would feel, and possibly play, differently because of the changed mood of the location.
   
   In many cases, you're dealing with a change of perception and a bit of poetic license. Today, the cracks in the walls seem discoloured and ugly; yesterday, they looked like they formed a happy face. As long as you don't mislead the PCs, they'll appreciate the special touches that adding attitude brings.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

2. Add A Secret
   
   Add a mysterious or unknown element to each encounter location. The secret doesn't need to come into play or even be directly observed by the PCs. It just needs to be there as subtext and used as an interesting encounter element that subtly flavours your roleplaying.
   
   As with NPCs and plot secrets, location secrets can help you in other ways, such as by spawning side-plots, acting as hooks, or adding a wow factor to a future session when the secret is revealed to the players.
   
   Examples of location secrets:
   
   
   • The area is used by the underworld as a base for illegal activities
   • A very important NPC lives nearby
   • It's the secret base of a villain yet to be encountered
   • A crime is being committed nearby
   • Something important is buried right beneath the PCs' feet
   • The residents worship an evil god
   • The residents are loyal to a crime boss
   • A serial killer is terrorizing the area
   • An evil mage has a lab nearby
   • Fugitives are hiding nearby
   
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

3. Make The Encounter Chime With The Location
   
   Look for opportunities to make the location you've picked synergize with what's happening in the encounter. For example, if the PCs are investigating some stolen jewelry and they're interrogating a petty thief in an alley, you might take up the theme of "theft" and flavour the setting with it. A young hooligan might steal an apple across the street and a cheeky flight from the merchant ensues. Perhaps a dark cloud passes overhead, stealing the light and darkening the shadows of the alley. Perhaps some kids are playing piggy-in-the-middle in the street.
   
   If you know what kind of roleplaying will take place and you still have the opportunity to pick the location, choose a setting that matches the anticipated mood or nature of the encounter. If it's going to be a clash of wits, for example, you might set the encounter in a library:
   
   

   As the PCs try to verbally outmanoeuvre their foe, the NPC draws out various scrolls and books from the shelves to accentuate his points.
   
   "As the bold, yet misguided, philosopher, Armedes, wrote [taps book in his hand in a condescending manner], just because something could have happened, might have happened, probably have happened, that doesn't mean it *did* happen. [Sigh.]
   
   In fact, there is often little relationship between the potential of an event happening, such as the crime you are accusing me of, and the actual occurrence of said event!
   
   Good old Armedes [puts book back on shelf]. It's too bad he was hung for making false accusations against the King."

   
   
   This tip works well in conjunction with giving locations attitude. You can set-up a double-whammy of location type and attitude adjustment to lend the place great mood, symbolic props, and poignant atmosphere.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

4. Add Objects To The Scene & Interact With Them
   
   If nature abhors a vacuum, so do encounters. Flesh out a location by filling it up with objects. The added details that objects provide help bring encounters to life. The objects themselves also make great props to help you and your players roleplay.
   
   Adding stuff is where many GMs get stuck, especially if they're winging it. It can also be a time-consuming design task. When fleshing out your next location, try these techniques:
   
   
   • Mentally envision the area. This seems like a no-brainer, but it's often poorly done, and therefore yields poor results. What happens is that we get stuck in left-brain, analytical mode. You are presented with a location and you logically try to brainstorm a list of possible contents.
     
     Instead, if you graphically try to imagine what the area or place looks like, all sorts of details can come to mind that a brainstorm list might not get. Start with picturing the structure or boundaries of the area. Then fill in the lighting. Then entrances and exits. The think of what the purpose of the area is and what kinds of things would be around that would serve this purpose. Picture furniture, tools, machinery, decoration, and storage.
     
     One of the big benefits of envisioning a location instead of just listing its contents is that you can usually instantly summon the picture during a session and describe it to the players with greater speed and ease than finding and reciting off of a list.
     
     This is also an activity you can perform while driving, standing in line, etc. During a session, while winging-it, it often just takes a few moments to conjure up an image before you start the encounter.
     
     
   • Find a picture. Use magazines, books, or the internet to find a visual of your location. Then note the scene's contents and make a an inventory from there. If the genre and details are close, you can simply use the picture during the session. Just be prepared to answer all the "what's this?" questions you'll get!
     
     
   • Have a player describe the scene. Players usually have less going on than you will and can spare a few brain cycles to ponder what contents the location would have. Once the player in done her description, you add in any other important items as required.
     
     It's often effective to give the player a couple minutes' advance notice so they can properly ponder what the location holds. When the encounter starts, you might say, "Ok, I'm going to take a couple minute pause to get my notes in order. Bob, I'm going to ask you to describe the scene for us, including some details about what's lying around and what furniture and other things are present."
   
   
   Once you've filled the area up with stuff, be sure to interact with it. Don't have the NPCs stay rooted to their starting positions as they parley with the PCs. Have them pour themselves a drink, peer out a window, summon the shoe shine boy, or pick up the fire poker and wave it around. This will encourage the players to do the same and will bring the location to life.
   
   Feel free to have the props act upon the NPCs and PCs too! Have something fall (not dangerously though), something operate, something move or make a noise. Have something break, spill, or work exceptionally well.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

5. Add NPCs To The Scene & Interact With Them
   
   We know it's going to be a roleplaying encounter, so there's going to be at least one NPC, be it a person, intelligent magic item, smart beast, or what have you. However, when possible, add more NPCs to your locations. Encounters hate being lonely!
   
   The purpose is to flesh out the encounter with things to interact with or talk about. Non-essential NPCs are great fuel for adding flavour and enhancing the roleplaying. Often, their mere presence helps the players feel like there's a vibrant world out there. It's ironic, but quite often dungeon encounters have more people and creatures in them than roleplaying ones do. :)
   
   Example background NPCs:
   
   
   • Servants
   • Guests
   • Agents
   • Visitors
   • Family
   • Passersby
   • Customers
   • Spies
   • Attendants
   • Girl/boyfriends
   • Curiosity seekers
   • Eavesdroppers
   • Contractors
   • Assistants
   • Employees
   • Slaves
   • Employers
   • Managers
   • Friends
   
   
   If your genre allows it, think of some unusual NPCs to spice things up--just beware of their distraction potential though.
   
   
   • Smart pets
   • Aliens
   • Ambassador
   • Familiar or charmed animal
   • Intelligent magic item
   • Animated furniture
   • Avatar
   • Automated machinery
   • Magical presence (i.e. wizard eye)
   • Holographic presence
   
   
   Adding NPCs also creates more witnesses. You can use this as a defensive or offensive GMing tactic. For example, it would be harder to for the barbarian commit a spontaneous attack/murder in a stadium full of sports fans than it would if the encounter took place beneath a bridge. To be on the offensive, and to create greater challenge, prying eyes and straining ears can make some types of roleplaying encounters more interesting for the PCs. Witnesses, and "filler" NPCs in general, are a great GM tool, so use them generously.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

6. Think Z-Axis
   
   Don't forget to think in three dimensions when considering the encounter location. Think left, right, up, and down. Believe it or not, your roleplaying encounters could suffer from the same toe-to-toe syndrome that your combat encounters might!
   
   Instead of the PCs and NPC(s) always standing or sitting close together and chatting, separate them and place them in all three dimensions. Put the NPC up on a ladder as he's painting a room or looking for a book. Place the non-player character in the tiny cellar or up in the loft. Have the PCs straining their necks as they stand speaking with the mounted guard.
   
   In your next encounter, try to add stairs, ladders, elevators, a dais, a pit, a cellar, a platform, and so on. Have the NPC(s) move around during the encounter so that they move through the location's varied space to further drive home the impression of dimension.
   
   Add in some range and suddenly you have many more options and opportunities for bringing roleplaying encounters to life. Think waaaay up, and deeeep down. Think what's a few dozen yards to the north, east, west, and south. What's happening in the area around the ground zero point of the encounter?
   
   For example:
   
   
   • What events are occurring nearby?
   • Have NPCs "go for a walk" so that the encounter takes place on the move, further adding dimension to the location.
   • What sounds and sights from nearby might impinge upon the encounter location?
   
   
   Try to avoid adding too many distractions to a location, but it wouldn't hurt for every third encounter or so to have motion or be impacted by something else nearby in mid- roleplay.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

7. Huge List Of Roleplaying Locations
   
   Following is a nice, long list of location ideas for your upcoming roleplaying encounters. These should act as kernels to which you add attitude, secrets, objects, NPCs, and dimension. Thanks to everyone again for their submissions!
   
   
   1. A dog (or fantasy creature) pound
   2. Abandoned mine
   3. Abandoned Victorian hospital
   4. Abandoned/active distillery
   5. Aboard a ship
   6. Aboard an airship
   7. Airport
   8. Alternate plane or dimension
   9. Amphitheatre
   10. Amusement park
   11. An AA Meeting
   12. Ancient caves beneath the sewer systems
   13. Animal fight
   14. Anniversary party
   15. Antique wine-cellar
   16. Anywhere where the power is cut
   17. Apothecary shop
   18. Archery contest
   19. Army Camp
   20. Around the office water-cooler
   21. Art gallery
   22. Atomic test observation bunker
   23. Attic
   24. Auction block square
   25. Auction house
   26. Awards ceremony
   27. Back room in a carpet salesman's shop
   28. Back stairs
   29. Backstage at a play or opera
   30. Balcony
   31. Bar
   32. Base of an active volcano
   33. Base of an ancient triumphal arch
   34. Basement
   35. Bathhouse
   36. Bathysphere
   37. Beach
   38. Behind a hedge along the side of the road
   39. Behind the barn
   40. Behind the smithy
   41. Bell tower
   42. Below a bridge
   43. Below gallows
   44. Beside a statue
   45. Beside jugglers
   46. Birthday party
   47. Birthing
   48. Blind Man's House
   49. Boiler Room
   50. Box seats at the theatre or opera
   51. Boxing match
   52. Branches of a giant tree
   53. Brewery
   54. Bridge
   55. Bridge deck of the ship
   56. Bridge pylon at water level
   57. Bridge service platform
   58. Brothel
   59. Burned tower
   60. Burning windmill at night
   61. Bustling bazaar
   62. Cabin in the woods
   63. Canal
   64. Candy factory
   65. Car chop shop
   66. Car race
   67. Cargo hold of a starship while in orbit
   68. Carriage
   69. Casino
   70. Castle laundry
   71. Cave while the ship sits off shore
   72. Caverns under an iceberg
   73. Cellar
   74. Cemetery
   75. Children's Playground
   76. Church
   77. Church/shrine
   78. Circus Wagon
   79. City's abandoned mines
   80. City baths
   81. City battlements
   82. City gates
   83. City or castle wall
   84. Classy penthouse
   85. Cliff overlooking a canyon
   86. Cliff overlooking a great waterfall
   87. Cloister of a monastery where the monks are sworn to silence
   88. Cloister of a nunnery where you are not a nun or even a woman
   89. Cockpit
   90. Coffee house
   91. College campus
   92. Coliseum
   93. Common table in a crowded inn
   94. Company board meeting
   95. Confessional at a church
   96. Construction site
   97. Corn fields just before harvest
   98. Coronation
   99. Courtroom
   100. Covered wagon
   101. Creepy, deserted windmill at night
   102. Crime lord's furnished house
   103. Crossroads
   104. Crossroads in farmland
   105. Crossroads in wilderness
   106. Dark corner of the tavern
   107. Death-house
   108. Demolition derby
   109. Deserted island
   110. Deserted space station
   111. Dining car on a train
   112. Dining room of a well-to-do merchant by invitation
   113. Doctor's office
   114. Dog kennel
   115. Dog race
   116. Dojo
   117. Dormant volcano
   118. Dressing room (or prop room)
   119. During a public speech
   120. During a royal hunt
   121. Edge of a waterfall
   122. Elegant salon
   123. Embassy
   124. Fairgrounds
   125. Famous monument
   126. Farmer's field
   127. Ferry boat
   128. Ferry dock
   129. Fireworks factory
   130. Fish pond
   131. Floating inner tubes
   132. Flooded town
   133. Flying buttress of a cathedral
   134. Foggy graveyard
   135. Foggy street corner
   136. Food vendor's cart
   137. Football stadium at night
   138. Ford
   139. Fountain
   140. Foxhole
   141. Funeral
   142. Furniture shop
   143. Gallows
   144. Gallows tree
   145. Garden
   146. Garden of hot springs
   147. Gentleman's drawing room
   148. Ghost town
   149. Girlfriend's boudoir
   150. Go-carts
   151. Grain silo
   152. Graveyard at night
   153. Harem
   154. Haunted house
   155. Haunted woods
   156. Hayloft
   157. Hedge maze
   158. Hen coop
   159. High-rise building being wired for demolition
   160. Hobbit/halfling hole
   161. Hollow trunk of large tree
   162. Horse race
   163. Hot air balloon
   164. House built among the roots under an old tree
   165. House of mirrors
   166. In a dinghy
   167. In the box seating at an opera, musical, or ballet
   168. In the midst of a procession through town
   169. Inactive volcano
   170. Initiation rite
   171. Inside a clock tower
   172. Inside of a stone circle
   173. Internet cafe
   174. Island from whence none have returned
   175. Island in a river
   176. Isolated cave
   177. Isolated lodge
   178. Jail
   179. Jewellery shop
   180. Jousting tourney
   181. King's bed chambers
   182. Kitchen
   183. Lady's garden
   184. Lady's parlor
   185. Land-mine riddled former battlefield
   186. Levitating together
   187. Library
   188. Lighthouse
   189. Limousine
   190. Lingerie modeling session
   191. Lion cage
   192. Livery stable
   193. Magic carpet
   194. Market square
   195. Market/bazaar
   196. Mayday (spring) festival
   197. Meadow
   198. Middle of a ring of flames
   199. Military training facility
   200. Mill
   201. Miser's House
   202. Missile test range
   203. Monastery/family burial crypt
   204. Moor
   205. Mountain top
   206. Movie/TV show production set
   207. Museum
   208. Night club
   209. Noble's personal well room
   210. Noble's quarters lit only by a few candles and a crackling fire
   211. Nuclear power facility
   212. Old battlefield
   213. Old burned-out church
   214. Old castle ruins
   215. Old marooned ship
   216. Only inhabited house in a ghost town
   217. Orphanage
   218. Outdoor festival/carnival
   219. Pantry
   220. Parent's House
   221. Park
   222. Pavilion or gazebo
   223. Peak of ghost hill
   224. Pier
   225. Pig wallow
   226. Pirate cave while pirates are away
   227. Place of worship
   228. Playhouse, backstage
   229. Playhouse, in the audience
   230. Pocket dimension
   231. Police interrogation room
   232. Political or religious rally
   233. Pony express station
   234. Prison
   235. Private gardens
   236. Private meeting hall inside an inn or tavern
   237. Privy/jakes/bathroom
   238. Public baths
   239. Public park
   240. Public square
   241. Puppet show
   242. Quarry
   243. Queen's bed chambers
   244. Quicksand pool
   245. Racetrack
   246. Radio sound booth
   247. Rafters of a great hall
   248. Rented coach/wagon
   249. Restaurant with violinist playing at the table
   250. Rich party
   251. Rickety bridge over a deep ravine
   252. Rifle range
   253. Ring of monolithic stones whose centre is a mirror-like pool
   254. River bank
   255. River/ocean dock
   256. Roadhouse outside town
   257. Roadside shrine
   258. Roller coaster
   259. Rooftop
   260. Royal garden party
   261. Ruined farmhouse
   262. Sauna/bathhouse
   263. Scribe's shop
   264. Secluded clearing in the woods
   265. Secret society dressing room
   266. Sedan
   267. Seedy hotel room
   268. Sewer tunnel
   269. Shaman Hut
   270. Ship's bilge
   271. Ship's crows nest
   272. Shipwreck
   273. Shuttle launch platform just before launch
   274. Side of the road just outside of town
   275. Skeleton of an extinct great beast
   276. Slave market
   277. Sleazy back alley
   278. Small desert island
   279. Small, secluded island just off the coast of a major city
   280. Smuggler's cove
   281. Snowed-in cabin
   282. Soundproof booth
   283. Spa
   284. Space station
   285. Space walk
   286. Sport team dressing room
   287. Sporting arena
   288. Stable
   289. Stock exchange
   290. Storm cellar
   291. Street corner
   292. Street festival
   293. Surprise party
   294. Swimming pool
   295. Tea house
   296. Temple
   297. Theatre, empty
   298. Theatre, full
   299. Theme park ride
   300. Tidal pool
   301. Tightrope
   302. Tobacco drying barn
   303. Top of a desert butte
   304. Top of a tower that has just been hit by a catapult/cannon
   305. Torture chamber
   306. Tower
   307. Town well
   308. Tree house
   309. Tribal mound
   310. Truck pull rally
   311. UN chambers
   312. Under a bridge
   313. Under the bleachers
   314. Underwater cave
   315. Upper floor of skyscraper under construction
   316. Vault of a bank
   317. Video game, anime, or comic book convention
   318. Village square
   319. Warehouse
   320. Water park with an adjoining go-kart track
   321. Waterfall
   322. Well
   323. Windmill
   324. Wine cellar
   325. World's fair
   326. Wrestling Ring
   327. XXX theatre
   328. Zoo

Return to Contents

Return to Contents

1. NPC Moods
   From: Rick Friedman
   
   When most GMs create NPCs they assign them certain characteristics, such as extrovert/introvert, etc. We all know these.
   
   I've had many times where I'm staring at this and am scratching my head thinking...ok, what now?
   
   I figured if I could get deeper into what that NPC has been going through in his personal life, it might reflect in the way he interacts with the PCs. I've tried to keep it simple, but you can see how easily you can add modifiers, or other areas of influence.
   
   Basic areas of influence:
   
   
   • Money
   • Love
   • Luck
   • Health
   
   
   By rolling a die (10, 20, or 00, personal preference) you can see if they're having a good or bad day in that part of their life (or week, month, year).
   
   High rolls mean the NPC is doing well in that area, low not so good. It's hopefully straightforward and you can see where it may even lead to some fun side-quests.
   
   
   1. Hey, the innkeeper got some money (+Money) in from his new marriage (+Love), but is sick (-Health) and is willing to pay the PCs to travel to the next town and bring it back.
      
      
   2. A lot of NPCs are in bad health. Is there a plague in the works?
      
      
   3. A lot of good fortune: organized crime paying people to be quiet. A lot of bad fortune: extorting protection money.
   
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

2. RPG Sound Mixer (PC)
   From: Bluemagician The Sorcerer
   
   re: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=219#r10
   
   Hi Johnn,
   
   I've been reading your ezine for quite a while. As I find in almost every issue a worthwhile tip, I always wanted to return the favor one day. So, when I read the Reader's Tip about Winamp-Playlists I finally had my own tip. For there is a program out there for exactly that purpose: managing your music and sounds for roleplaying sessions. It's called RPG Soundmixer and a free demo can be found here:
   
   http://www.rpgsoundmixer.com
   
   It's a great and powerful program, and although the original program and website is German, most of it has been translated to English.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

3. Dealing With Spotlight Requests
   From: Garry Stahl
   
   Personally, I don't set up encounters with the characters in mind--unless the foe has the characters in mind. I simply construct the situation and let the characters bring what they have to bear against it.
   
   I used to get the complaint (always from the same people) "there is nothing for my character to do." Eventually, I had the epiphany that this was code for, "I'm not constantly the center of attention." I sat my group down and explained that it was not my responsibility to play their characters. They were responsible for applying their skills and ideas to the circumstances of my creation. That has been my functional doctrine since. Create the scenario and let the players decide how to apply the characters' abilities to solve it.
   
   The only thing I avoid is the one-solution problem unless the tools are right in front of the party. i.e. The one key will be around the bad guy's neck. It is up to them to get the tools, but the tools are presented and obtainable.
   
   

   Return to Contents

   ---

4. Metric Movement Rates
   From: Paul Simmons
   
   re: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue119.asp
   
   These are great. I will definitely be using this for my games. Here are some metric conversions:
   
   

   Creature Or Vehicle - Base Distance Moved Per 6 Seconds
   -------------------------------------------------------
   Insect, small flying (i.e. bumble bee) - 12 m.
   Insect, small walking (i.e. beetle) - 0.9 m.
   Insect, large flying (i.e. locust, giant bee) - 36 m.
   Insect, large walking - 1 m.
   Dog, small - 12 m.
   Dog, large - 12 m.
   Horse - 12 m.
   Human, small (i.e. gnome, dwarf, goblin) - 6 m.
   Human - 9 m.
   Tiger - 12 m.
   Elephant - 12 m.
   Tyrannosaurus Rex - 12 m.
   Bird, small (raven) - 12 m.
   Bird, medium (hawk) - 18m.
   Bird, large (osprey) - 18m.
   Bird, humongous (roc) - 24 m.
   

   
   
   

   Skateboard - 18 m.
   Rollerblades - 18 m.
   Bicycle - 24 m.
   Cart or wagon - 6 m.
   

   
   
   

   Rowboat - 4.5 m.
   Galley - 12 m.
   Schooner - 6 m.
   

   
   
   The Formula
   
   Metres per minute: Base Distance x 10
   
   Kilometres per hour: Base Distance x 3/5 or 0.6
   
   Kilometres per day: Base Distance x 2 2/15 or 2.13333^{*
   *} this could be rounded to a simple 2.1 or 2.2

Return to Contents