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 May 27, 2018 18:31:57 GMT -8
Hrrrmmm...
I don't feel that "play to find out" means the MC should show up with no prep, or that they can't prepare things. I interpret it to mean "don't preplan what's going to happen."
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Post by Monkeyfun Dave on May 27, 2018 22:10:34 GMT -8
Hi. Here's my experience and opinion.
When writing PbtA adventures, (and I've written a few), it's important to understand the difference between "prep" and the Fiction. Good prep allows a GM to have material that can be utilized where the Fiction takes the overall narrative. Fronts, for example, are basic prep, but whether they get used or how, that's determined and guided by what the Fiction has dictated up to that point. Personally speaking, I always try to have each Front contain multiple options available based on how the Fiction has developed, providing suggestions for a GM to use a Front tongue in cheek, in a gritty format or something completely out of the ordinary. But if the Fiction has already developed a specific narrative, then the prep cannot force the Fiction into a contrary direction. That's a mistaken opinion made a little too flippantly by PbtA critics - they like to suggest they can add random details as the moment suits them. This is wrong - it's additional details based on the constructed and agreed upon fiction by player and GM alike, not for the sake of change itself.
When I write a PbtA adventure, I usually provide three different directions I can foresee how the Fiction can go, with three additional options per direction. But these are always framed as options and never the end all be all. Ultimately I provide this information because I want to provide the GM with tools that help shape the narrative to a satisfying conclusion. When I read "play to find out", it literally means play to find out what the Fiction is or will be because I genuinely don't know until we get there. But I like to believe my role as a GM is to help the players get to the next scene if you will, using the tools I have available. And thius for what I write, I try to provide the best tools for,the GM to accomplish that goal.
Thanks.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on May 28, 2018 8:43:37 GMT -8
All good advice crew. I think what I'm experiencing is fairly "noob" status as a PbtA GM. I've run maybe a dozen sessions and never a solid campaign...that's what we're looking at now. I will gladly be back to mine the collective Loon Consciousness soon.
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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 May 28, 2018 17:04:12 GMT -8
All good advice crew. I think what I'm experiencing is fairly "noob" status as a PbtA GM. I've run maybe a dozen sessions and never a solid campaign...that's what we're looking at now. I will gladly be back to mine the collective Loon Consciousness soon. Oooh. Watcha running there D.T.?
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on May 28, 2018 17:20:42 GMT -8
Going back to where all this Hippy Game Curious started...DUNGEONWORLD! Its such a solid hit with my family and friends that are thespian types, RPG new, and very very weird and creative. The Cleric Fixio is a follower of the "Golden Member" a religious order that will only heal others if they put a coin into their "donation box" which is basically fanny pack they wear as a belt buckle. The churches prayers involve stacking their donated coins into very tall columns. Those that have the biggest "stacks" achieve the highest levels of enlightenment. The barbarian calls them The Money Cocks. Priceless. The Elven wizard Shoehorn detects magic through a mix of divination and interpretive dance. The Barbarian Krelik is a gender neutral runaway noble whose bottomless appetites, their mighty thews and high society just didn't mix well. The Ranger Ryloth secretly wants to tear down all of civilization and return it to the wild. And the biggest baddest of them all is a cold blooded mercenary who's only weakness is the quest for birth mother. Oh and she's the halfling. Fucking love Dungeonworld. I will relay more over here at HER REIGN OF FIRE once Session 1 happens...
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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 May 28, 2018 18:44:09 GMT -8
Going back to where it all this Hippy Game Curious started...DUNGEONWORLD! Its such a solid hit with my family and friends that are thespian types, RPG new, and very very weird and creative. Awww yeah!
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Post by Stu Venable on May 29, 2018 19:44:31 GMT -8
Hi. Here's my experience and opinion. When writing PbtA adventures, (and I've written a few), it's important to understand the difference between "prep" and the Fiction. Good prep allows a GM to have material that can be utilized where the Fiction takes the overall narrative. Fronts, for example, are basic prep, but whether they get used or how, that's determined and guided by what the Fiction has dictated up to that point. Personally speaking, I always try to have each Front contain multiple options available based on how the Fiction has developed, providing suggestions for a GM to use a Front tongue in cheek, in a gritty format or something completely out of the ordinary. But if the Fiction has already developed a specific narrative, then the prep cannot force the Fiction into a contrary direction. That's a mistaken opinion made a little too flippantly by PbtA critics - they like to suggest they can add random details as the moment suits them. This is wrong - it's additional details based on the constructed and agreed upon fiction by player and GM alike, not for the sake of change itself. When I write a PbtA adventure, I usually provide three different directions I can foresee how the Fiction can go, with three additional options per direction. But these are always framed as options and never the end all be all. Ultimately I provide this information because I want to provide the GM with tools that help shape the narrative to a satisfying conclusion. When I read "play to find out", it literally means play to find out what the Fiction is or will be because I genuinely don't know until we get there. But I like to believe my role as a GM is to help the players get to the next scene if you will, using the tools I have available. And thius for what I write, I try to provide the best tools for,the GM to accomplish that goal. Thanks. And any good adventure should be written with this mindset. This is my biggest problem with DnD modules. They don't take the party's left turns into account. I would hope that, someday, most adventures will be written with a play-to-find-out mindset, rather than a hidebound "this is how the adventure will go" mindset.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on May 30, 2018 7:41:03 GMT -8
The campaigns being put out by Pelgrane Press with Ken HIte and Robin Laws really embrace the concept of letting the players make the scenario their own. I think if you built a module with the Happy Jacks philosophy of "creating problems not solutions" as your core it will be infinitely more playable and player inclusive. Monkeyfun Dave Cruise Ship of the Damned does this pretty eloquently I could see playing that 3-4 times through with different groups achieving very different play experiences. My core RPG experience is playing from modules. Its only been in the last ten years or so that I started creating games out of whole cloth. There's a definite experience of "making it through" a published scenario that I've found many players and GMs to find highly rewarding. Not just a dungeon crawl but letting players be a part of an ongoing story and affect it for good or ill.
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Post by Monkeyfun Dave on May 30, 2018 17:51:06 GMT -8
The campaigns being put out by Pelgrane Press with Ken HIte and Robin Laws really embrace the concept of letting the players make the scenario their own. I think if you built a module with the Happy Jacks philosophy of "creating problems not solutions" as your core it will be infinitely more playable and player inclusive. Monkeyfun Dave Cruise Ship of the Damned does this pretty eloquently I could see playing that 3-4 times through with different groups achieving very different play experiences. My core RPG experience is playing from modules. Its only been in the last ten years or so that I started creating games out of whole cloth. There's a definite experience of "making it through" a published scenario that I've found many players and GMs to find highly rewarding. Not just a dungeon crawl but letting players be a part of an ongoing story and affect it for good or ill. Tell a friend. :-) Tell two.
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fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on May 30, 2018 23:22:30 GMT -8
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on May 31, 2018 17:56:40 GMT -8
Well there goes that fist full of dollars...thanks.
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Post by Monkeyfun Dave on Jun 11, 2018 10:28:56 GMT -8
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jun 12, 2018 19:30:53 GMT -8
^^^^Further Promotions of the Shameless^^^^
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