Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #503
Design The Party, Not The Characters
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
Design The Party, Not The Characters
Game Master Tips & Tricks
- Spicing Up Competitions
- How Do You Use Dice In Ways Beyond System Rules?
- Instilling Common Sense Into Players
- RPG Manager Software
- City Tips
A Brief Word From Johnn
Thanks For The Dropbox Referrals
Last issue I asked you to signup for Dropbox for free online
file backup and storage because my Roleplaying Tips account
was running out of space. Thanks so much to the readers who
installed Dropbox, giving me a bump in space:
Markus V., Brandon Blackmoor, Nick D., Christian L., Brian
B., Rich S., Chris S., Antti H., Michael S., Colin R.,
Charles M., Ben S., Malcolm N., Aimee M., Jess B., Darren
H., George F., Mark B., Culix, Patrick Irwin, Alan J, James
C, B D.
While we are on the topic, stop right now and back up your
gaming files!
Planescape: Torment Re-Released
I do not know how I missed this computer RPG when it came
out, because I was all over the gold box games and Baldur's
Gate series. GOG.com has released it again though, and I
grabbed my copy last week for ten bucks.
Here's the scoop from GOG.com:
Planescape: Torment is extremely story-driven, meaning you
can solve most problems through talking, if you wish, and
will only rarely be required to get violent. Of course, you
can opt to bulldoze your way through the story, too. With
tons of great dialogue, vivid and memorable characters,
superb music and an absolutely enthralling story set in the
acclaimed Planescape multiverse, gamers can expect a gaming
experience that they will never forget. It is simply the
"god tier" of role-playing games and if you're a fan of the
genre, then it is your duty to play it!
The game comes for only $9.99, DRM-free, fully compatible
with XP, Vista and 7, plus has loads of free goodies like
soundtrack, artworks, wallpapers and even the 'Planescape:
Torment' book by Chris Avellone and Colin McComb!
You can get it via my affiliate link.
Or go to GOG.com directly if you prefer. I plan on using the
game to inspire my Pathfinder campaign, which has several
outsider factions as enemies of the PCs, including demons,
devils and githyanki.
Have You Grabbed The City Encounters PDF Yet?
Did you get the download link for all the fantasy encounter
seeds and hooks from the recent city encounters contest?
I put them into a PDF and you can get it here: City Encounters [PDF]
Get some gaming done this week!
Cheers,
Johnn Four,
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Facebook
Twitter
Friendfeed
StumbleUpon
Campaign Mastery
Return to Contents
Reader Tip Request: Reader Tip Request: Halloween Ideas, Western Ideas
I volunteered to run a Halloween one-shot for my gaming
group this year for the first time. On top of that, I agreed
to make it an old west setting, which I never done before.
Is there anything special you would do to help create the
feel of the Old West?
Anything new or cool you would do for a Halloween adventure?
Angela R.
Send your tips for Angela to johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Return to Contents
Are You a Good Witch, or a Bad Witch?
Hex your enemies...and their little dogs, too! Advanced
Feats: The Witch's Brew stirs together 30 feats and builds
for the new Witch class in Pathfinder RPG.
Build your Arch-Witch, White Witch or Wicked Witch today --
get Advanced Feats: The Witch's Brew.
Return to Contents
Design The Party, Not The Characters
.By Mark Moncrieff
When a new player joins my group and we are beginning a
campaign I'll say, "Okay, let's start designing the party."
I can see the new guy looking at the other players as if I'm
mad.
Much of what I'm about to write will seem like heresy. But
it works and has enhanced every campaign I've run since I
started using this.
In most campaigns, the players design their characters and
the GM must find a way to fit the party together. Sometimes,
the characters are so different it just doesn't work. Here
is my answer to that problem.
Design the party, then design the characters.
1. Example Campaign
For the process to work the GM must do what he's famous for
- prep work. What type of campaign does he have planned? Not
just what world or genre, but what type of adventures can
the players expect to play in. Hack n' Slash, investigative,
swashbuckling, espionage?
The best example I can give is my current campaign. It is
set in Middle Earth during the Kin-Strife, about 1500 years
before the Lord of the Rings story takes place, using the
Decipher system. I told the players that most of their
adventures will be diplomatic and espionage, so focus on
social and knowledge skills - but who can tell when things
will turn violent, so be prepared.
I also gave them a rundown of the first adventure. They were
to be a nobleman and his retinue who were the chaperones of
a senior noble who was one of many suitors for a princess's
hand. However, their real mission was to steal incriminating
documents and get them to safety.
The GM doesn't need to have anything except the first
adventure worked out, because no one can predict the future,
especially in a roleplaying game.
So what information do I make sure I supply the players
with?
- The Setting (Middle Earth)
- The Location (Gondor during the Kin-Strife)
- The System (Decipher)
- The Type of Adventures (Diplomatic/Espionage)
- The First Adventure (Complicated but not absurd)
- The Party
Here's where the GM gets to sit back and let the players
take the lead. The GM should only lead if the players are
stuck. The group should decide two things:
- On this mission what would be the best character types to
have in the party?
- What type of specialty, if any, will these characters
need?
We are not dealing with the personality of the characters at
this point, just their important skills.
I had four players, but I was looking for new gamers, so I
asked my players to design a six member party. I also needed
the party to include a nobleman and his retinue. I wouldn't
normally be that precise, but as a group we had decided on
the setting, and it's my job to work out most of the rest.
They decided their six member party would consist of:
- A Nobleman with status and mostly social and leadership
skills
- A Knight of Belfalas with status and mostly leadership and
combat skills
- A Loremaster (Scholar) with knowledge skills and contacts
- A Herald with a whole different set of knowledge skills as
well as contacts
- A Burglar, I mean Servant, with skills in, well both those
things and again more contacts
- A Soldier with combat and intimidation skills
The Loremaster could optionally know magic, but the group
decided they wanted more knowledge skills, so this party has
no magic user. So far in the campaign, that's been a good
choice. Because of the information I gave them at the start,
they had confidence they could make that decision.
2. Compromise
It is important that everyone agree on, or at least accept,
the characters within the party. If one player insisted on a
Lion Tamer but others think it's a bad character for the
party, they might be right. It is now up to that player to
justify why a Lion Tamer would be a good fit for both the
campaign and the party.
It doesn't matter if the party is designed two or three
times, because in the end you will come up with a party the
group wants, not just the group they accepted. If that
happens, it won't work.
Allow players to disagree with each other, but always
remember they should be disagreeing about the characters,
not each other. In my group majority rules; it's a good
rule.
Players can get stuck on titles. "So it's a ranger campaign.
Well, everyone can be rangers!" In theory that will work. So
will, "You can have any colour you want as long as it's
black." The problem is it's also dull.
A way around this is to think of different ways of saying
the same thing, in this case, ranger. For example forester,
backwoodsmen, hunter, trapper, mountaineer, guide.
The great thing here is, because the players are the ones
who design the party, they have already started to think and
act like a party without even trying.
3. Pick Characters
The players should now have a very good idea of the
campaign, the type of adventures and the first mission. They
should also now know what type of characters will be in the
party.
Until the entire party has been decided on, no character
should be assigned to any particular player. That stops
anyone from insisting, "But I always play a Lion Tamer!"
Once the party is formed, allow players to pick the
character they want. If there is any dispute, you can
discuss with the whole group who would fit the character
better. If that doesn't work you can use a dice duel. Each
player gets a die and whoever rolls higher gets the
character.
4. Final Overview
The campaign briefing, party design and character design
normally takes about two sessions for my group. It's the
GM's job to keep things on track and make the final
decision.
If players give you a party of a Fighter, Lion Tamer and
Burlesque Dancer for your Hack n' Slash dungeon crawl, don't
be scared to just say no. The same goes for any other
combination you think will not fit into your campaign.
The same applies to characters. Look them over, and if
something doesn't fit ask the player to change it, or in
extreme cases, ask them to redesign the character.
In the end, you will have a more detailed campaign and the
players will have contributed to that by designing the
party, instead of just designing individual characters. Your
players have helped build a part of the campaign, something
they normally never get the chance to do.
I guess what I'm saying is, it's best to do the maintenance
on your car before you start on your 1000km road trip. It's
much more likely to get you home again if you treat it right
at the start.
5. Additional Resources
Here are some related links and resources you might consider
checking out:
* * *
Comment from Johnn:
This issue is the second part in a series about assembling
parties and kicking off campaigns.
The series is inspired by my new ebook, Filling the Empty
Chair, which shows you over 50 ways, online and offline, to
find great new players.
Check it out:
Filling the Empty Chair
.
Return to Contents
Visit the Biggest Dungeon on the Internet
Monte Cook, whose design credits include 3rd Edition D&D,
Ptolus, Arcana Evolved, and 20+ years of other products,
presents dungeonaday.com, a subscription-based website where
he's building a hyperlinked, extremely detailed campaign for
you, one encounter at a time.
Dragon's Delve is a challenging old-school megadungeon with
a vast history and extensive background, but DMs can also
use the modular encounters to spice up their own adventures.
Every weekday he presents a new encounter, plus the site
offers maps, handouts, DM tips, behind the scenes articles,
and more. Join now and instantly get 8 unique dungeon
levels, a mysterious island, a demon-filled tower, and a
haunted keep (over 300 encounters) as well as the new
ongoing material.
www.dungeonaday.com
Return to Contents
The Art of Delegating
By Anita Letendre aka Blond Goth Girl or Blond Gamer Girl
on many forums
When game mastering for large groups, several articles
online suggest delegating jobs to the players to make it
easier on the GM and increase player involvement. Here are
some jobs that I created.
Scribe
Someone who keeps detailed notes on the session and posts
them electronically within one week of the game. Separately,
they email the GM a Word copy of it. A typical session is
about two pages worth of notes. This would be worth 1 xp per
session per 500 words. A typical session runs 1000 words.
[Comment from Johnn: we've been experimenting with Google
Docs as a collaborative way to record session notes. It has
been working great.
Each session someone creates a new doc and invites the other
group members. A couple of players have laptops, and I use a
laptop while GMing.
Google Docs allow multiple people to edit a document at the
same time. You can see what others are writing, in real
time.
With two or more people taking session notes, they tend to
be detailed and complete. I know I tend to forget noting
things while GMing because I am busy with other things. This
method helps capture stuff I miss.]
Quartermaster
The person who tracks equipment, including the stats of the
equipment the team owns and what those stats mean.
Individuals will still be required to track their personal
equipment, but the Quartermaster can help them if they need
it.
This is one point per session attended since the need will
fluctuate from great to nil at times. Whoever gets
Quartermaster can't have the Scribe position.
Contact Manager
This person tracks all the NPC contacts the team meets to
include the person on the team that has the primary
relationship with that NPC. They will detail the specialties
and skills this person has, their loyalty rating, location
and other pertinent information.
This is worth 1 xp per session attended. This position does
not rotate.
Accountant
This person tracks the team's money and the other players.
It may sound like more work than it really is, but this has
to be done in a spreadsheet.
This is worth 1 xp per session attended. This position does
not rotate.
Concierge
This should be rotating. This position involves coordinating
snacks, and if necessary, instruct folks on what to bring.
The concierge will be responsible for coordinating clean-up
and ensuring the gaming area gets back to its original
state. They don't have to do all the clean-up, just direct
it. The position can combine with others.
1 xp per session.
Return to Contents
Readers Respond: One-On-One Games
In RPT#483 James S. asks readers for tips on running a few
encounters with each player solo as pre-campaign setups.
Here's how you responded:
From Chris 'Frogg' B.
I find most of my one-on-one adventures are best done
improvised. Also, if something in the character's past had
happen recently, have it happen in the prologue.
From BertrĂ¡M
Go read Dogs in the Vineyard. Character creation directly
incorporates a "level 0" encounter that somehow shaped the
character. It also has a snazzy mechanic where words use the
same resolution mechanic as bullets.
From mrmike65
Create and run an NPC for the character to adventure with.
Then use this NPC in the main campaign. This will help
create a power base (ally with history) for the character.
You could even use the same NPC in a few (or all!) of the
one-on-one adventures.
Use the one-on-one adventures as seeds for the campaign.
Run the one-on-one adventures as an interactive story
between you and the player. Take turns telling parts of the
story. This could net you some new ideas to use in the
campaign, and the player then has a vested interest in the
upcoming campaign. Also, it will be rewarding to the players
when they see you have used their ideas in the campaign they
are playing in. "Hey! I know that tavern! My character was
in there just last month and he ran into _______, who still
owes me 50 credits!"
For building the one-on-one adventures, you can use the
formula: character background + campaign NPC + campaign
location/event.
If you use the interactive story method, you can safely put
away the dice since you and the player will be working
together to create the story. Bonus: you won't have to spend
a lot of time writing the one-on-one adventures for the same
reason.
From Cyrus
Give them a setup and stimulus. Let them describe what they
are doing, tell them the feedback. Think of it as
cooperative storytelling via email. This is easier to work
into any schedule than face to face time.
Game Master Tips & Tricks
Have some GM advice you'd like to share? E-mail it to johnn@roleplayingtips.com - thanks!
1. Spicing Up Competitions
From Sonja Johnson
re: Roleplaying Tips Issue #335
One option to make obstacle courses more fun is to require
everyone to be unarmored - or if you wanted to go ancient
Greek style, contestants must compete naked or nearly naked.
While this eliminates armor check penalties, making it
easier for the fighter to make the Climb checks, it also
removes any ability bonus gear like Gloves of Dexterity.
This also offers a roleplaying opportunity. After all, being
next thing to naked in front of a crowd of hollering and
hooting spectators might be no sweat for the bard in the
party, but what about the cleric? Or perhaps the fighter
discovers she has terrible stage fright, or feels incredibly
nervous without her gear? Not all adventurers are built
around an ego as resilient as steel!
Having the obstacle course combine with a maze is another
great idea - and I'll do you one better. Add in
transformations. The idea being that two contestants run the
course at the same time - and as the course progresses, they
find themselves predator and prey.
This is obviously going to be a magical effect, but since
any contestant is a willing participant, simple
transformation spells shouldn't be too tricky to set up.
Just say "you pass the zone marker and you're transformed."
At this point, whoever is in the lead at that first marker
becomes a prey animal - let's go with flying animals for an
example. So, Flynn the Swift is now a chimney swift - and
Allara the Quick, who got a bad start and was just a bit
behind him, is now a hawk.
The idea here is to either pass your competition up, gaining
in the race, or tag him. So now the contestants can choose a
strategy based around the transformations (into random
animals) or the transformation points.
Return to Contents
2. How Do You Use Dice In Ways Beyond System Rules?
From cra2
- I've got weather dice I roll at the beginning of
every in-game day to remind me to set the scene and
describe the sights, sounds, smells (and weather) the PCs
experience. I even roll a d8 directional die at the same
time so I can say what direction the wind's blowing.
- I have a set of mood dice that show a smiley face, sad
face, surprised face, etc. I LOVE to use these to help me
improve what random mood the NPC might be in when the PCs
walk in.
What the PCs say and do will alter that mood, but having a
handful of mood dice helps me instantly create a visual
atmosphere. "As you enter, the Mayor seems to be chastising
one of his underlings who appears ashamed. Nearby, the
sheriff looks scared - an emotion you thought he didn't
possess, until now. What do you guys do?"
- I use dice as mooks in combat. If the party is surrounded
by minions with 8 hit points each, I'll put out a swarm of
d8s with "8" showing. As the minions take damage, I just
flip the die to show the remaining hit points. Instant,
visual, paperless tracking the whole table benefits from.
- I use a variety of dice for in-character gambling games.
I always have dice games (of chance) going on in the back of
the tavern. And even in the middle of a dungeon, if a couple
of players are separated from the party and have to wait
while a scene resolves, they might pick up some dice and
gamble coppers with each other to kill time.
- Believe it or not, often I use dice instead of my dry-
erase markers on the battle mat. Most combat environments
just need a general indication of where the boundaries are.
So, if the PCs enter a large, rectangular room, I'll just
put four d6's (of the same color) about where the corners of
the room are.
Then I'll put a different colored d6 wherever the exit(s)
are, and maybe even a third color indicating where the
pillars are.
90% of the time, that's all the scene requires and it's 90%
faster than drawing/erasing every wall and door on the mat.
Even in an irregular environment, like a circular grassy
clearing, I just throw some d6's out to indicate the general
borders of the clearing and let the players' minds fill in
the lines between.
- I don't know anyone who doesn't keep a couple of d20's
set aside as turn counters for spell duration and such. Will
the bomb go off in 14 rounds? Set a d20 out in view with the
14 showing. Every turn, flip the die over to the appropriate
number. A visual countdown makes things tense for the
players.
- I use some d6's as height indicators for most indoors
(and some outdoors) situations. For example, if a PC climbs
20' up the wall, I'll put a large d6 under the miniature,
with the '2' facing up. When the PC climbs another 10', we
turn the d6 so the 3 is facing up.
My friend has dice that stack well, and he just puts a
number of d6's under the mini equal to the height of the PC
(divided by 10). So if you're 40' up the wall, he puts you
atop four d6's.
[Comment from Johnn: great list, cra2! Readers, do you have
other uses for dice at your table? If so, drop me a note. johnn@roleplayingtips.com ]
Return to Contents
3. Instilling Common Sense Into Players
From Justin Tyree
re: Roleplaying Tips Issue #483
When should a party run away and when should they stand
ground? We look at heroic fantasy games like D&D and
frequently retain the romantic notion that the hero always
prevails.
Before romantic literature from the Middle Ages, the Greeks
provided us with tragic tales wherein the hero doesn't
always prevail. In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey we follow
Odysseus and his exploits during and after the war against
Troy. Throughout the Odyssey, Odysseus is ravaged by
obstacles and basically whines about his poor, hopeless
fortune, and how the gods and everything else in the world
is working against him.
Odysseus did not become heroic until the end of the epic.
Although Odysseus did prevail over every force that
attempted to see to his failure or demise, he did so at
great loss, both by loss of companions or in some cases
sanity.
Heroic success comes at a price, and usually that price is
the loss of friends and family. Keeping to the theme of
death, we also have religious stories from every faith
depicting stories of martyrs.
It's important for a party of PCs to recognize its limits,
and death is the perfect way to remind players of those
limits. Heroes die all the time. Just because you didn't
succeed in slaying the dragon doesn't mean you didn't die a
hero's death. As a GM of 15 years, I've come to realize the
threat of death is required in every game for it to remain
adventurous. Adventure is meaningless if it's easy or if
just anyone can do it and survive.
It's difficult but possible for GMs to instill the fear of
death to their players without actually killing them. Ways
to do such include:
- Wearing a party down with a difficult encounter so
everyone escapes with little life left
- Throw players up against a foe impossible to defeat by
conventional means (hacking/slashing), requiring them to
think outside the box as a group
- Invoke climate or terrain dynamics that can cause death,
such as a tilting platform that if a certain skill check
isn't made means plummeting into a lava pit, or avoiding the
collapse of nearby building.
These courses of action are limited in the number of times
employed within a given campaign or group of players,
because eventually they will catch on and figure they cannot
die, even if they get close. In such cases it's a good idea
for a GM to bite the bullet and kill a player. Not on
purpose, of course. It's never good protocol for a GM to
purposely kill any player; however, it never hurts to not
pull punches during an encounter to keep the party in check.
Sometimes even an accidental death is enough.
There's a fine line. If the players always fear death the
game becomes more stressful than entertaining. If the party
has no fear of death it becomes redundant and boring. So
where is the middle ground? The death of the party should
never be prominent in a campaign (unless you're playing a
game like Cthulhu, where it's part of the game structure).
Each player should consider their character's mortality,
thus making death at least a possibility, even if within the
deepest recess of a player's mind. This keeps the game
exciting.
I believe to create adventure you need risk, and just losing
items isn't enough. A fear of death should always exist
within every player's mind so they keep in touch with the
adventure. But sometimes death isn't the worst thing that
can happen.
Return to Contents
4. RPG Manager Software
From Flavio Roli, designer and developer of RPG Manager
I would like to bring to your attention an RPG software
utility I have developed called RPG Manager. RPG Manager
allows the creation of hexagonal world maps and square based
location maps, and lets you manage other aspect of RPG
(character sheets, equipment, spells, etc.).
www.rpgmanager.net
Return to Contents
5. City Tips
From Loz Newman
La Bible du Meneur de Jeu
How do you know when you've entered into a new
neighbourhood?
Each neighbourhood of the city has its own feel. There are
signs for all the senses that distinguish it from other
neighbourhoods.
Examples:
- Sights: dress codes, architectural quirks, body language,
colour choices.
- Sounds: artisan activity, an accent, animals (pets, riding
animals, etc), children playing.
- Smells: local cooking, artisans at work, bodily odors or
perfumes, the general level of cleanliness of the
neighbourhood.
These signs are created by a shared quality (be it positive
or negative!) of the neighbourhood's inhabitants, and they
often band together to cultivate its unique aspects. This
defines their territory, with all the implications:
- Boundaries
- Us against the outsiders
- Implied mutual assurance of support in times of difficulty
It might also allow them to spot outsiders (or potential
marks). Almost certainly there is an unspoken code of
conduct to followed, known only to those who have spent time
living there.
Smart NPCs try to blend or go for the "I'm so outstanding
that I'm your superior" look. Every neighbourhood will have
movers and shakers who are the arbiters of this code, and
who spread word about egregious violations that need to
punished (usually by shunning / denying service, but
sometimes by subtle harassment or outright denunciation to
the local law enforcement).
Minor violations might be tolerated, until too many are
accumulated. Then social penalties start accruing. See my
article Face Off - How To Get Your Group Emotionally
Involved:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=298
Almost certainly, each quarter is based around a specific
population group.
Either:
- A class based on professional activity (e.g. local makers
of some category of item, or the spouses of the local
garrison).
- A cultural grouping (e.g. immigrants from the same
country, or some social class such as the local lowest
class).
- A religious group.
- A service industry (e.g. the Foreigners Quarter, with its
hostels, dives and market places). This population will most
certainly try to adapt the neighbourhood to something they
feel comfortable with, especially immigrant groups.
This is what drives the feel of a neighbourhood. A
dysfunctional neighbourhood (e.g. dominated by an uncaring
criminal group, or lacking a fundamental resource such as
time or money or good will), will show signs of neglect for
any and all of the above aspects.
By including a few of the aspects and sensory cues above in
his initial description, a GM can rapidly set the scene with
a few verbal brush strokes. A pithy description will stay
longer the players' minds, and allow the GM to later build
up the shared mental image even further in ways specific to
the neighbourhood.
Return to Contents
Johnn Four's GM Guide Books
In addition to writing and publishing this e-zine, I have
written several GM tips and advice books to inspire your
games and to make GMing easier and fun:
How to design, map, and GM fresh encounters for RPG's most
popular locales. Includes campaign and NPC advice as well,
plus several generators and tables
Advice and tips for designing compelling holidays that not
only expand your game world but provide endless natural
encounter, adventure, and campaign hooks.
Critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning guide to
crafting, roleplaying, and GMing three dimensional NPCs for
any game system and genre. This book will make a difference
to your GMing.
Return to Contents