First Session Quick Recap & Consequences

So, I'm a bit late on this one...been an odd week.

I ran my first session last week and according to all reports thus far, everyone liked it. Lots more investigation and detective work and less combat, so they had to work it in character. Was a bit sluggish at first, but they got what they needed to get and had a nasty run-in with some automated defenses and finished up feeling like they had missed something big and important.

This brings me to a topic that is near and dear to my heart: Consequences.

The best thing about running a game, is that you have control over setting, mood, and the obstacles that get in your Players' way. Consequences are all about which obstacles the Players decide to interface with. This is a very important process in gaming. Many GM's try to write a script that the characters will fumble along and get to the end. I should know, I used to be one. writing adventures like that take away the "adventure" of it and it starts to feel like a nose ring and rope. End result: no one has fun.

What I write now is a general concept of where I want things to be at the end, some ideas of what kinds of actions and investigative work the Players should do to get answers, and then I let them run with it. Now that is simplistic, I also make up preliminary visual aids, maps, create NPC stats, all sorts of things to be ready for the session, but as far as storyline goes, I try to keep it loose so the Players can explore and I can better react. Consequences come in when the Players make choices that have a dramatic effect (or could) on the session. Case in point from last week...

We had two suspects being eyed by the Players equally but they couldnt seem to get enough to pin the second one though their guts told them he was the guy. So, two of them decided to try to access a restricted deck and gain access to the person's quarters (Note: suspect was the #4 in charge of the space station and was very good at setting up security on his room). They managed a clean ride to the restricted deck, but got caught trying to cut their way into his quarters and almost derailed the investigation. The roleplaying that happened was nothing special but it was sincere...both players acquiesced to the guards and didn't put up a fight. They explained what they were doing there and why they were trying to break in. The honesty worked well and won over the NPC and he gave them entry. Now, had they decided to resist arrest or act like assclowns, things might have been very different.

Another example from many years ago. I was in a Shadowrun game where I was the computer guy. I did a one-off solo run for some quick cash. My GM made it a challenge but I got the data they requested and took off with my payment. Two sessions later, when the whole group was present, that list of information I had pulled up ended up being a list of potential kidnap victims for a grotesque experiment. What's worse, I knew it too. God awful feeling, especially because when I realized where they had gotten the data, we were about to get shot at buy a lot of people.

Both examples show that the playing creates actions in the game world that necessitate reactions. It should be no different than in the real world...it helps build realism and safety in the environment which often brings players out more in character. If you don't, you may find that the players lose sight of the fact that they are beholden to the laws of the world you have made for them.

First run as GM in a decade

Just a quick blur here about running games...even the best GM's have a bit of nerves about them when they are about to run a session...Don't let them tell you different. I haven't run a game in at least 10 years and I am anxious to get it running to see what happens with this group. I still have a few things to finish up and print out, but all in all I am pretty much ready to roll. Expect an entry later this week on the first session and PC/GM interactions.

Do you want my stuff?

So, with the advent of having more time to write, I have been writing. Funny how that works, right? I have been cranking out lots of ideas for my Dark Heresy group. What I may do is start creating basic starts to adventures or adventure arcs and package them up. I will keep them fast and furious and add any tweaks I put in as I use them in my group's games. Any thoughts?

Creating within defined space..

So, just a quick blurb tonight on working within a pre-defined universe.

I am currently about to take over my group's GM-ing duties in the Dark Heresy universe. For those who haven't heard of it, it is a newer game based in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K world. If you haven't heard of that, here's the brief synopsis of the universe:

Take the late Middle Ages to very early Renaissance period in Europe, transpose it into space with lasers, plasma weaponry, and a very grim outlook on life. Add in a dash of very "real" Daemon fighting and manifestation and you have a world made for conflict.

The characters you play in this game are low-level flunkies for an Inquisitor...yes, they have a group of people who burn others at the stake, purge planets, and hunt for heresy too (I did say the Middle Ages/Renaissance period). It's really quite lovely and makes for a pretty exciting game...thus far, our party has had a knack for biting off more than it can chew and then shooting each other inadvertently trying to remedy the first problem.

But I digress...So far, there isn't a lot of source material for the RPG out on the market. However, I used to be a GW employee and have been immersed in their hobby for 15 years. So, I know a few things about the universe. So, I come in loaded with outside data that I can throw in (two of the other players have this as well, so will be fun for them). This is the trick to making something unique.

Most pre-made adventures are designed to have a mix of investigation, intrigue, and fighting, because no game survives without conflict/combat. The part that kills me (usually) is the delivery of such masterpieces...almost always read verbatim from the text and with generally no real life of their own. Some groups go from pre-made adventure to pre-made adventure like this...Lord knows we did when we started out. But there is another way to do it...

Those who know me know I come from a theater background and that I view RPG's as a small community improv theater group. The GM has to be an equal (if not more versatile) player in the game in order to sell it and even more so with something pre-packaged. Give NPC's subtle differences or accents to start, change your physical demeanor when you speak as different people, ad-lib the text you see in the adventure to get the meaning across but filter it through you! Those are just basic concepts...the best option is to go at it yourself.

Now, generating your own material takes some commitment and dedication and a good command of the universe that you and your buddies are playing in. There are some steps I use for doing it though and I'll run through these quickly:

• Read the game source material - This gives you the scope that the game creators saw and how they envision you interacting with it.
• Read any fiction/Watch any movies in that world - Books usually help since films/TV aren't always available. Where you have both, DO BOTH! Every sense you activate with the material gives you more command of the material.
• Revisit your favorite things - There are certain thnigs that have resonated for you in the past... a martial arts movie from 1974, a section of Pride and Prejudice, a painting of Salvador Dali's. Where you find connection points is where you bring something new to the game. I have found it funny that in most gaming groups I have had in 30 years of playing somehow manages to get quotes from The Princess Bride in there.
• Listen to your players - The man who ran my game in Japan was a master at this. Since I was his closest target (we lived three train stops away), he often picked my brain for what I was thinking and where I was going with his story in my head. I think some of the meanest runs we had came from my own thoughts...Rat Bastard!
  

By adding as much material into the mix, you enable your brain to pick things out both while planning and while in-game to make the experience very emotionally connected and aid your players into "the zone." At all times during the creative process, be sure to write down main ideas and any supporting thoughts (e.g. clues for an investigation, ways for PC's to achieve the goals, etc). Nothing you write down is bad or useless...I return to themes that creep up in my thought process more than once even if I have previously given it no voice yet. The nice part is that you have the information available to you to extrapolate and add on to. I'll give you my example...

For Dark Heresy there are only three sourcebooks out...I have them and have scanned through all of them and read most of them cover to cover. There are also three series of books from the Black Library about the Inquisition and its agents (two by Dan Abnett and one by Ian Watson, all worth reading) which I have read. I am an avid GW wargames player and have followed the 40K rules and lore for fifteen years. So, my process begins with finding the villains I want...the seed of evil they must root out, and then formulate a plan to manifest it in the sector of space they are inhabiting. My love of martial arts, action movies, Call of Cthulhu, and classic sci-fi have already started finding homes in the first adventure I am scripting. Once it's finished and has been run for my players, I'll likely post it here as a doc. More on this later...

Introduction

So happy this name wasn't taken already...kind of surprised too!

I am calling this blog Maker of Worlds because I wish to focus in on two areas of the game world that only video game designers, fiction writers, and turbo-nutters like me care about: Making a world you play in believable. Now, this may seem like an odd topic for a blog, but I want to look at this concept through both my main gaming loves, role-playing and wargaming.

For role-playing, this will take on the concepts of GM-ing and all the detail needed to bring material written by other people alive for your players. It will likely delve into preparation, plotlines, seeding material for the future, and a range of other topics that if forgotten will often drive a good campaign (or a good GM) into the dirt. If I get really ambitious, I may do something on starting from scratch, but we shall see.

For wargaming, this is the hobby itself...painting, modeling, converting and most especially terrain building. Nothing says bring game than week after week of books for hills and bottles for rock columns. I will try to provide step by step guidelines for certain projects either with pics or video where appropriate and where I have time.

As with all of my gaming material, if there is a topic you'd like to see covered, please let me know and I will try to cover it myself or find someone who is able to do so.