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Post by chronovore on Dec 27, 2017 17:44:17 GMT -8
Recently the douchebaggards spoke about fast-forwarding in-game.
There's the camp of "Okay, day FIVE, (rolls) no encounter, you pass another day in the desert, and make another day's progress. Is the watch schedule the same for tonight?"
Then there's, "(rolls, rolls, rolls) Everything passes without problem for TWO DAYS… progress across the desert is smooth if tiring. On the third day, you hear a noise over a nearby hill…"
As one of the hosts put it, no-one ever wants to be in the car when driving from LA to Vegas, they just want to be in Vegas. Even so, the trip to Vegas is part of the collective group's memories and actions. To what level of detail is it worth it to explore the Truckstops-of-America diner's men's urinal adventure (side quest)? What about that one fruit stand?
MOREOVER, what about when the party isn't traveling, but skipping ahead in time?
I'm about to surge the FATE game I'm running ahead six months, now that they've completed a Major Milestone in the campaign.
How do YOU DOUCHEBAGS deal with running the game ahead?
Do you ask them how they're using their time, or assume it's life-as-usual unless something pops up?
Do you give them things to respond to? If so, at what level of detail do you query: yes/no, or a small sidebar of roleplaying?
Obligatory PS: I vary listening to the backlog with the current episodes, so I rarely remember if I've heard it in the most-recent podcast or some ancient one, so sorry if this is a better-served topic in the show's sub-forum.
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HyveMynd
Supporter
Dirty hippie, PbtA, Fate, & Cortex Prime <3er
Posts: 2,273
Preferred Game Systems: PbtA, Cortex Plus, Fate, Ubiquity
Currently Playing: Monsterhearts 2
Currently Running: The Sprawl
Favorite Species of Monkey: None
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Post by HyveMynd on Dec 27, 2017 18:40:38 GMT -8
About three weeks of in-game time passed between session one and two of our current game, then another four days between session two and three. Both times the MC simply asked us if our characters had gotten up to anything during that period, or if it had just been "business as usual" (school, jobs, etc.). For the most part everyone said their characters hadn't done much, or described short scenes that served as character development but didn't need MC adjudication.
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Post by chronovore on Dec 27, 2017 22:58:06 GMT -8
Neato. Thanks! That's a good start for me.
What if something, beyond the player-characters' direct influence, took place during that time? Let's say the city landscape changes non-catastrophically, with new construction, etc. Would there be a need to survey the players for a character-response?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2017 1:58:56 GMT -8
Maybe if it is going to have an impact on them. Generally I like to use leading questions based on what I know about the characters interests / backgrounds and the direction that the plot is going.
So for example say you have a very social character and want to introduce a new location to the game. With your mention of construction I might pose something like:
"That new skyscraper they've been working on for years finally opens and the basement is kitted out as the most exclusive club in town. You score tickets, what sort of impression do you make on the revelers?"
Depending upon the response from the player I might then narratively flesh out the scene, hint at a new attractive NPC that they spot around town a few times and foreshadow a new player in town.
I prefer to keep it to only a couple of questions per player and then do my best to ensure their responses are worked into the game later.
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Caroline
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 27
Preferred Game Systems: I can't make up my mind
Currently Playing: Star Wars Edge of the Empire, D&D 5E
Currently Running: Fate, and working on an occasional Masks game
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Post by Caroline on Dec 28, 2017 13:00:52 GMT -8
I think when fast forwarding a game and what to incorporate depends a lot on the time frame involved and the game. My gaming group is kinda large so depending on the time frame involved we just jump time and say things went about as normal. We currently are play on Friday nights and alternate between a Star Wars Campaign and a D&D 5E game. In the Star Wars game we are a Mercenary Company with a bar on Tattoine as our base. When we complete a job/mission we get a month before the next job/mission is provided so we can go on shopping trips, start upgrades on the base, spend time making things if we have the proper skills, etc we get a little more detailed and interactive when we've had a job take more than one session to complete so we are ending a little early but don't have time to get into the next job/mission. Occasionally our GM will say an NPC that some or all of the PC's have interacted with shows up for drinks at the bar and shenanigans may or may not ensue depending on time and inclination.
Also for the Star Wars game our GM setup that on sessions were we end a job/mission and have that month time we can submit up to 3 downtime actions so we can off screen make contact with an NPC, take a small bounty job (two of us are actual bounty hunters), get info on a specific char related thing, if we have extra obligation that isn't super complicated that we want to take care, basically little things that help bring out some of the details that the whole group doesn't necessarily know about the PC.
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Post by ericfromnj on Dec 28, 2017 17:20:19 GMT -8
I literally wave my hands and say “time passes.”
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Post by vyrrk on Dec 29, 2017 12:02:09 GMT -8
9 out of 10 times I just say "ok you arrive". I try and run most of my games like movies. Boring stuff happens off screen. I know some people don't like that, they want to haggle with the hotel guy or they like a spreadsheet to figure out rations... but it's not my type of game. If they are going to be traveling through some scary forest filled with things of nightmares, I may narrate some close encounters or I may roll a bunch behind my screen and tell them "it was close, but you evaded the monsters." No matter what the dice said.
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