I have been running Madness at Gardmore Abbey for a diverse player group. They just completed the Crypt section, which is the only straightforward dungeon in the module.
Warning: The initial part of this post has some mild spoilers for that one part of the module. Nothing I say will ruin it for you, but just in case, I'll let you know where to skip to if you really hate spoilers.
A blog for practical advice, turn-key resources, tips, and examples of how to run a roleplaying game.
January 18, 2013
January 11, 2013
LARP Prep
LARP Prep
Manifesto
Regardless
of how much plot has been written,
Your goal in
preparing for your LARP is
A
story outline is not enough.
Structured
opportunities
Generally, 1 hour of prep time is
sufficient
Different Styles: Slight
Variations
In an adventure style game,
In an Elysium style game
Between-Game
Activity (BGA) responses
In Adventure style LARP,
In Elysium style LARP,
LARP Prep
Manifesto
Different Styles: Slight
Variations
January 4, 2013
Try Something New
This is going to be an eclectic post.
First, I want to share RPG.net's 2012 Year in Review. In it, they explain how D&D had its worst year since 1975, and Pathfinder isn't doing so well either, especially in traditional sales. Yet, there is a bright side for gaming: 20 different RPGs made over $100,000 on kickstarter (technically 19 since two of them were for the Pathfinder MMO), and three RPG related kickstarters made over a million bucks.
I want to describe a contingency envelope. This is a technique I learned from the LARPA crowd. It's astonishing how simple and versatile it is.
A contingency envelope is an envelope given to a player not as an in-game prop but a piece of out of game information. The envelope is labeled with the contingency that triggers the player to open it, for instance:
"If asked" contingencies allow the GM to make player-characters into NPCs. The envelope must contain seemingly innocuous information that even a paranoid character would not feel was important, but in the context of another player's character's plot, it is. For instance, in an Elizabethan occult LARP, a faction of PCs may be trying to learn where John Dee is summoning angels tonight. The contingency envelope may say "This morning, you saw John Dee's ornate carriage, with his bizarre glyph on it as usual, leaving Richmond upon Thames for the countryside. This is not interesting or unusual, and though you remember it, it is just one of many mundane things that you observed in London today." Several such clues could be seeded through the game.
GM announcement contingencies allow the GM to trigger subtle events or specific information to be released secretly, without a specific time. For instance, the GM of a Vampire LARP could be running a plot where an infernalist poses as an anarch and builds a faction of malcontents who oppose the Sheriff, providing them a secure base of operations, free resources such as Transportation influence to get around the city without the Sheriff observing, etc. Then when he is ready to topple the tower, as it were, he could pass out "Contingency A" envelopes to all of the characters with Auspex, containing the words "The character the GM is pointing at smells like brimstone." Then the GM can point at the infernalist and quietly say "Contingency A" to a player instead of shouting out secret information to the the entire game and diverting everyone's attention.
Object contingency envelopes are meant to stay with the object. Unlike personal ones, the players must return the contents to the envelope and keep the envelope with/on the object, so that other characters eligible to open it can do so, given the chance.
Gatekeeper envelopes are object envelopes that can only be opened by players whose characters have specific traits. For instance, the GM could put spray painted graffiti on the wall (use roll paper or silly string) with an envelope that says "Malkavian Characters Only" inside which is the secret meaning of the graffiti, within the Malkavian Madness Network. Or the GM could put a laptop computer in play (using an actual laptop as the prop) with "Open if you attempt to crack the password on this computer and have Computer skill of 4 or higher" on an envelope. Inside the envelope is the password to get into the computer, if the character attempts to hack it. You can use these envelopes for locked doors ("Open if your character is carrying lockpicks and has Larceny 2+, or no lockpicks and Larceny 5"), clues at crime scenes ("Open if your character has Search 3 or higher") stuff in foreign languages ("Open if your character speaks French").
The benefits of contingency envelopes are saving GM time and cast, and reducing GM-system access time:
First, I want to share RPG.net's 2012 Year in Review. In it, they explain how D&D had its worst year since 1975, and Pathfinder isn't doing so well either, especially in traditional sales. Yet, there is a bright side for gaming: 20 different RPGs made over $100,000 on kickstarter (technically 19 since two of them were for the Pathfinder MMO), and three RPG related kickstarters made over a million bucks.
Contingency Envelopes
Next, I feel like I need to share some practical advice for LARP GMs. I mentioned several GM techniques in the post titled Giving Back a while ago, and I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss one of them in detail, so that other LARP GMs can use it.I want to describe a contingency envelope. This is a technique I learned from the LARPA crowd. It's astonishing how simple and versatile it is.
A contingency envelope is an envelope given to a player not as an in-game prop but a piece of out of game information. The envelope is labeled with the contingency that triggers the player to open it, for instance:
Open at 10:15pm.
Open if asked about John Dee.
Open if a GM says "Contingency A"
Open if you hear someone speak Russian
Open if you are a MalkavianTime-based contingencies allow GMs to create events that only a few players are aware of, without doing anything to break the flow of the action. For instance, the envelope "Open at 10:15pm" could be part of a intrigue-filled LARP about intelligence analysts commanding field agents. The paper inside could say "You receive a text message on your secure phone from your field operative: 'WE HAVE A MOLE. COVER BLOWN. GOING DARK.'" Meanwhile one player would get a message "Your agent texts you on your burner phone 'The anthill has been kicked.'." All of a sudden a few players in the game would be tipped off to the presence of a mole, and the mole, who spent the whole night setting a patsy up to appear to be the real mole, is watching the chaos unfold.
"If asked" contingencies allow the GM to make player-characters into NPCs. The envelope must contain seemingly innocuous information that even a paranoid character would not feel was important, but in the context of another player's character's plot, it is. For instance, in an Elizabethan occult LARP, a faction of PCs may be trying to learn where John Dee is summoning angels tonight. The contingency envelope may say "This morning, you saw John Dee's ornate carriage, with his bizarre glyph on it as usual, leaving Richmond upon Thames for the countryside. This is not interesting or unusual, and though you remember it, it is just one of many mundane things that you observed in London today." Several such clues could be seeded through the game.
GM announcement contingencies allow the GM to trigger subtle events or specific information to be released secretly, without a specific time. For instance, the GM of a Vampire LARP could be running a plot where an infernalist poses as an anarch and builds a faction of malcontents who oppose the Sheriff, providing them a secure base of operations, free resources such as Transportation influence to get around the city without the Sheriff observing, etc. Then when he is ready to topple the tower, as it were, he could pass out "Contingency A" envelopes to all of the characters with Auspex, containing the words "The character the GM is pointing at smells like brimstone." Then the GM can point at the infernalist and quietly say "Contingency A" to a player instead of shouting out secret information to the the entire game and diverting everyone's attention.
Object contingency envelopes are meant to stay with the object. Unlike personal ones, the players must return the contents to the envelope and keep the envelope with/on the object, so that other characters eligible to open it can do so, given the chance.
Gatekeeper envelopes are object envelopes that can only be opened by players whose characters have specific traits. For instance, the GM could put spray painted graffiti on the wall (use roll paper or silly string) with an envelope that says "Malkavian Characters Only" inside which is the secret meaning of the graffiti, within the Malkavian Madness Network. Or the GM could put a laptop computer in play (using an actual laptop as the prop) with "Open if you attempt to crack the password on this computer and have Computer skill of 4 or higher" on an envelope. Inside the envelope is the password to get into the computer, if the character attempts to hack it. You can use these envelopes for locked doors ("Open if your character is carrying lockpicks and has Larceny 2+, or no lockpicks and Larceny 5"), clues at crime scenes ("Open if your character has Search 3 or higher") stuff in foreign languages ("Open if your character speaks French").
Benefits
The benefits of contingency envelopes are saving GM time and cast, and reducing GM-system access time:
- The GM does not need to recruit cast for NPCs if he has PCs ask other PCs for information as part of an investigation scene.
- The GM does not need to run an investigation scene himself. He can just send the players off to do it.
- The investigation scene does not leave the game space, and the investigators get to stay available for roleplay with the other characters. In fact, they have to manage their time carefully, balancing their investigation with other pressing business.
- In an Adventure style game, this forces one faction to "share" their plot -- if four PCs are on a John Dee plot, and they ask 12 other PCs about John Dee, it gives 12 other players a chance to try to get in on their plot by offering to help investigate, or asking more questions back.
- In an Adventure style game, the GM can use object contingencies to minimize the amount of time he spends using the system. Instead of a note that says "Locked, see GM" on a door, the GM can leave the envelope to handle the system. Even worse than the note, I can imagine players lining up to start a virtual space scene "Hey, GM, we want to break into the chapel."
- In an Ellysium style game or in a game with competitive/rivalry elements, players can't just ask questions straight! They have to work their way around to them subtly, so that the other players can't figure out what they're up to. Imagine if some PCs want John Dee dead and others want to find him and help him. Both are looking for him, and neither faction knows who is in what faction...
- The GM can run multiple simultaneous investigations, causing all the players to mill about for an hour, asking each other for information. Or he could run competing investigations (like the Elysium style example, above). Or he can run race-against-the-clock investigations combining time contingencies or scheduled events with "if asked."
Coming Next Week: a MANIFESTO for LARP GMs!
(Holy crap!)
January 2, 2013
Happy New Year
Happy new year, readers!
I realize I missed last Friday. I was playing stay at home dad during holiday week, so you get a Wednesday post this week instead. I think everyone who runs a game should have New Years Resolutions for their GMing. New Years is about saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new, so my resolutions are based on those concepts. Here are mine: Two endings, some continuation, and a beginning!
Do you have any New Years gaming resolutions? Commit to them publicly here!
I realize I missed last Friday. I was playing stay at home dad during holiday week, so you get a Wednesday post this week instead. I think everyone who runs a game should have New Years Resolutions for their GMing. New Years is about saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new, so my resolutions are based on those concepts. Here are mine: Two endings, some continuation, and a beginning!
1) This is hardly a resolution, as I would probably be strung up for failing to do it: I will finish up the half-decade-long D&D 3.5 campaign I've been running in a way that satisfies the players. Then never run 3.x again except maybe guest GMing or one-shots. The labor involved in designing encounters took too much time, and as levels increased I spent a greater proportion of my time on combat not because there was more combat, but because prepping it took longer and longer. The second last encounter sitting in my dropbox is 14 pages long, not counting the terrain (6 pages of printed map). The players in this campaign are great. The characters and stories have been spectacular. And the system was actually really good up to around level 6 or 7.
2) Conclude the story arc for my Vampire LARP character (it's an 80s game; ask me about it in comments below!). I can see where it may end, and I will leap down that path when it comes. If it doesn't come by the end of the year, I will retire him and then decide if I want to make a new character or not (and just NPC until the chronicle ends).
3) Continue, continue, continue! I will continue trying new games. Exposure to new systems is key to staying up to date as a gamer; and exposure to new GMs is key to your success as a GM. Also, I will continue and probably complete the long format Madness at Gardmore Abbey runthrough I've started. Finally, I will continue playing all the tabletop games I'm playing. Specifically, I resolve to keep better notes in them. Now I have an iPad, I will try to type up session notes and email them to the other players or keep them in OneNote if I don't feel like tidying them up.
4) Begin, begin, begin! I will begin playing a new world of darkness LARP, run by people I know and trust to put on a good show, though they're new to some LARP logistics. But part of citizenship in a community is helping, and while I don't think I will contribute anything to their story (they totally have that covered!) I may be able to help them with logistics, if they want. I will also begin playing the Pathfinder game that follows after my 3.5 game ends, and I have put a lot of effort into making sure my character fits the GM's idea of the game's themes and direction, and will be mechanically fun to play. Finally I will start another long-format all-day-long 4e D&D game, with different players, is I can convince my wife to let me out of kid responsibilities for a Saturday every other month.
Do you have any New Years gaming resolutions? Commit to them publicly here!
December 21, 2012
The Scout Motto
"Be Prepared" is the scout motto, and it's just as valuable a motto for the game table as the Appalachian Trail. Even GMs who run their games extemporaneously, you'll find, have done quite a lot of preparation.
I accrue paper. I write up handouts to keep the players from asking questions about things they should have written down. I build props -- especially props of anything written. I draw pictures and maps, and download graphics off the internet for handouts. I learned from a fellow GM that if you show the players a photo of a person who you think looks like your NPC, that NPC sticks in their heads a lot better. "Oh, it's that detective who looks like Wesley Snipes."
I also organize things. I use folders, baggies, and tupperware to sort handouts, stats, maps, tokens, map tiles, etc. Obviously D&D has a lot more junk than other games, so for a game like Vampire, I don't need the baggies and tupperware. I'm naturally somewhat disorganized, being an ENTP on the Myers-Briggs scale; so I also tend to lose stuff a lot, even despite this effort; though I think my job has been making me better at it.
I know GMs who are very different from me as well.
Some GMs scribble relationship maps on scrap paper, make song playlists for their NPCs, or write short stories about them. If you've designed a game about NPCs working against each other, it may actually be more valuable to write stories about them to get their quirks, personalities, motives, and mannerisms clear and cemented in your head than to write out stats, draw maps of potential battle zones, give them equipment, etc. Far better, I think. I mean, you can ad-lib stats, too, right?
What this says to me is that not only do we GMs have a personal prep strategy; we also tend to vary it based on the game. Like all things we do, we should be intentional about it. So think about what your game is about. That should tell you the things you need to be ready for the most:
(Note: When designing a whole campaign, this strategy can help you pick a system!)
Is the game about daring adventure? Then preparing skill DCs and combat stats is important. You need the players to feel that sense of danger and you need to offer them risky strategies that really pay off, and that takes some real work.
Is the game about intrigue and scheming? Then you need to get into the heads of your NPCs. Maybe you write short stories, or write letters and prop notes in their voice. Maybe you spend time finding pictures of people who look like them on a google image search. Maybe you design a villain based on a Bond villain and rent the film to get the mannerisms right.
So how about you?
What's your preferred prep strategy?
Have you ever found yourself using a very different strategy because the game called for it?
I accrue paper. I write up handouts to keep the players from asking questions about things they should have written down. I build props -- especially props of anything written. I draw pictures and maps, and download graphics off the internet for handouts. I learned from a fellow GM that if you show the players a photo of a person who you think looks like your NPC, that NPC sticks in their heads a lot better. "Oh, it's that detective who looks like Wesley Snipes."
I also organize things. I use folders, baggies, and tupperware to sort handouts, stats, maps, tokens, map tiles, etc. Obviously D&D has a lot more junk than other games, so for a game like Vampire, I don't need the baggies and tupperware. I'm naturally somewhat disorganized, being an ENTP on the Myers-Briggs scale; so I also tend to lose stuff a lot, even despite this effort; though I think my job has been making me better at it.
I know GMs who are very different from me as well.
Some GMs scribble relationship maps on scrap paper, make song playlists for their NPCs, or write short stories about them. If you've designed a game about NPCs working against each other, it may actually be more valuable to write stories about them to get their quirks, personalities, motives, and mannerisms clear and cemented in your head than to write out stats, draw maps of potential battle zones, give them equipment, etc. Far better, I think. I mean, you can ad-lib stats, too, right?
What this says to me is that not only do we GMs have a personal prep strategy; we also tend to vary it based on the game. Like all things we do, we should be intentional about it. So think about what your game is about. That should tell you the things you need to be ready for the most:
(Note: When designing a whole campaign, this strategy can help you pick a system!)
Is the game about daring adventure? Then preparing skill DCs and combat stats is important. You need the players to feel that sense of danger and you need to offer them risky strategies that really pay off, and that takes some real work.
Is the game about intrigue and scheming? Then you need to get into the heads of your NPCs. Maybe you write short stories, or write letters and prop notes in their voice. Maybe you spend time finding pictures of people who look like them on a google image search. Maybe you design a villain based on a Bond villain and rent the film to get the mannerisms right.
So how about you?
What's your preferred prep strategy?
Have you ever found yourself using a very different strategy because the game called for it?
December 10, 2012
Conceptual White Space
So you're trying to flesh out the setting of your game. Maybe you're just trying to describe a sleek, futuristic office building that your Shadowrunners are breaking into. Maybe you're trying to describe the barony that your medieval fantasy heroes are travelling through to stop some bandits. Maybe you're describing a ruin that your pulp heroes have discovered in Axis-fortified North Africa.
I'm going to give you some quick tools to build verisimilitude with a high degree of efficiency. That is, with these tips, you can make the setting feel rich and real without writing volumes; or if you're inclined to write volumes, you can still use these tips to make every word tell a story.
I'm going to give you some quick tools to build verisimilitude with a high degree of efficiency. That is, with these tips, you can make the setting feel rich and real without writing volumes; or if you're inclined to write volumes, you can still use these tips to make every word tell a story.
December 5, 2012
The Maltese Falcon
Hooks and character motivations are powerful things. I want to use The Maltese Falcon to describe the difference, since that's what it's about.
This post has spoilers for an 82 year old story.
Go watch or read The Maltese Falcon if you haven't -- it's short and won't take long -- then come back!
A lot of GMs use cliched adventure game tropes such as fetch quests, bug hunts, boss fights, dungeon crawls, matryoshka doll quests, and isolation scenarios. These cliches are great!
Wait, what?
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