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Post by Stu Venable on Nov 11, 2013 15:04:44 GMT -8
And my mouth?
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Post by inflatus on Nov 11, 2013 15:21:32 GMT -8
What do you do when a player at your table has no experience with the setting you're playing in and the setting is a HUGE part of the game? For example: This weekend I ran Gummi Bears as my JackerCon game. At least 3 of my players had little to no experience with the setting so some of the standard, given, parts of the setting were not something they knew about. Like say... what Gummi Berry juice does. I found it difficult, but not game ruining, to deal with. I'd like to hear your thoughts. "Gummi Bears. Bouncing here and there and everywhere. High adventure that's beyond compare. They are the Gummi Bears." Loved the show. Not a big fan of Cubbi though. I kind of wanted to kick him in the gut. Only if I saw him in person. I don't think there is anything you can do if they don't know the setting, especially with something like this. There is just no time to convey why you thought it was a cool idea for an adventure. It is a cool idea by the way. If you had a few days before the adventure you could have made them watch some episodes. Maybe even got a discussion in about the show. This was your "secret" game right? The only thing I can think of for next time is get some players you know well. You can still keep it secret but gauge their knowledge well before hand. --- kicks Cubbi in the gut! -----
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maxinstuff
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 11, 2013 18:51:50 GMT -8
I find this difficult to masturbate to.
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SirGuido
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Post by SirGuido on Nov 11, 2013 19:08:57 GMT -8
What do you do when a player at your table has no experience with the setting you're playing in and the setting is a HUGE part of the game? For example: This weekend I ran Gummi Bears as my JackerCon game. At least 3 of my players had little to no experience with the setting so some of the standard, given, parts of the setting were not something they knew about. Like say... what Gummi Berry juice does. I found it difficult, but not game ruining, to deal with. I'd like to hear your thoughts. "Gummi Bears. Bouncing here and there and everywhere. High adventure that's beyond compare. They are the Gummi Bears." Loved the show. Not a big fan of Cubbi though. I kind of wanted to kick him in the gut. Only if I saw him in person. I don't think there is anything you can do if they don't know the setting, especially with something like this. There is just no time to convey why you thought it was a cool idea for an adventure. It is a cool idea by the way. If you had a few days before the adventure you could have made them watch some episodes. Maybe even got a discussion in about the show. This was your "secret" game right? The only thing I can think of for next time is get some players you know well. You can still keep it secret but gauge their knowledge well before hand. --- kicks Cubbi in the gut! ----- Yeah it was my "secret" game. For two reasons I kept it secret. #1 I wanted to play the song as part of the big reveal. #2. i didn't think anyone would sign up if I told them up front.
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tomes
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Post by tomes on Nov 11, 2013 22:04:24 GMT -8
Hmm... my advice would'a been to reveal this stuff up front. E.g. Mook ran a D&D Cartoon game last Strategicon. Everyone at the table knew what they were getting in to, to one extent or another, so it was all copacetic. I don't think there is anything you could do about springing this surprise on people, except for maybe showing them the cartoon opening (that would answer what gummi berry juice does, at a minimum).
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D.T. Pints
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Post by D.T. Pints on Nov 12, 2013 9:06:30 GMT -8
Yeah a big Ha! Ha! Play this you fuckers (in the most endearing sense) is for people you at least sorta know. I play L5R with Sir Guido and we have safe words so I knew that whatever he sprung on us it would be fun. I'd be less likely to sign up with GM X with a mystery game...unless that was actually the GMs name 'cuz I'd be all over that. On further review I just might become GM X and where a mask next Jackercon....*runs off to the sewing room*
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Post by jazzisblues on Nov 12, 2013 9:48:35 GMT -8
I tend to take the view that the basic nature of the game should be readily discernible from the description of the game but I will keep something to be revealed by the story.
Probably the best example of this is my "In Conflict Bound" game where the characters were AI's each embedded in their own starship. The description of the game gave indication that the characters were held in slavery by an evil empire as it were but not what their exact nature was. Then to pick their characters I gave the players symbols that identified each one. It wasn't until after they picked their characters and started reading the character sheets that they discovered the nature of the characters. This worked with mixed results, and was honestly not as impactive as I imagined it being at least with some of the players.
JiB
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Post by Kainguru on Nov 12, 2013 10:01:14 GMT -8
Yeah a big Ha! Ha! Play this you fuckers (in the most endearing sense) is for people you at least sorta know. I play L5R with Sir Guido and we have safe words so I knew that whatever he sprung on us it would be fun. I'd be less likely to sign up with GM X with a mystery game...unless that was actually the GMs name 'cuz I'd be all over that. On further review I just might become GM X and where a mask next Jackercon....*runs off to the sewing room* GIMP!!!!!!!!!!! *pointing* Aaron
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Post by goodmush on Nov 21, 2013 10:35:23 GMT -8
Lately I have been listening to shows about running a horror Game, such as Call of Cthulhu. But seeing a review on the Realms of Cthulhu for Savage Worlds and how it can mix the flavors of horror and pulp action. So it started me thinking on the finer points of pacing and feel of a pulp style adventure. Now having many examples of this style throughout the old radio shows and movies such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, Indiana Jones (Raiders of The Lost Arc) & The Mummy. While trying to transfer the sweet life blood that is the greatness of these titles to RPGs, but keeping that horror element has over-taxed my brain. So my topic suggestion would be how to run a pulp action horror game without it channeling the spirit of Scooby Doo.
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maxinstuff
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Post by maxinstuff on Nov 21, 2013 14:40:08 GMT -8
Lately I have been listening to shows about running a horror Game, such as Call of Cthulhu. But seeing a review on the Realms of Cthulhu for Savage Worlds and how it can mix the flavors of horror and pulp action. So it started me thinking on the finer points of pacing and feel of a pulp style adventure. Now having many examples of this style throughout the old radio shows and movies such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, Indiana Jones (Raiders of The Lost Arc) & The Mummy. While trying to transfer the sweet life blood that is the greatness of these titles to RPGs, but keeping that horror element has over-taxed my brain. So my topic suggestion would be how to run a pulp action horror game without it channeling the spirit of Scooby Doo. Easy - you do two things in SW: Use the guts rules. No bennies. EDIT: I'm unfamiliar with realms of cthulu.
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sdJasper
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Post by sdJasper on Nov 21, 2013 15:53:18 GMT -8
In show 1103 there were a couple of stories that could be interpreted as GM/Player play style mismatch, or you might call them GM failure (not trying to pick fights here, just calling this out).
I think this might be an interesting show topic. As a GM of twenty plus years, I tend to think that if one person at the table is not having fun, I am doing something wrong. I am not giving that player what he/she wants from the game.
Listening to some stories, makes me think that there are others that don't see the roll of GM as "Entertainer". Sure you want to get something out of the game too... and if the players only want to kill and you want to RP, then there is going to be some issues, but isn't the goal to find a middle ground? Find out what the players want out of the game and give it to them (in the most fun and entertaining way for everyone)?
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D.T. Pints
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Post by D.T. Pints on Nov 21, 2013 22:43:56 GMT -8
Lately I have been listening to shows about running a horror Game, such as Call of Cthulhu. But seeing a review on the Realms of Cthulhu for Savage Worlds and how it can mix the flavors of horror and pulp action. So it started me thinking on the finer points of pacing and feel of a pulp style adventure. Now having many examples of this style throughout the old radio shows and movies such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, Indiana Jones (Raiders of The Lost Arc) & The Mummy. While trying to transfer the sweet life blood that is the greatness of these titles to RPGs, but keeping that horror element has over-taxed my brain. So my topic suggestion would be how to run a pulp action horror game without it channeling the spirit of Scooby Doo. The biggest thing about running a horror game in my opinion is player buy in. If they want to crack dick jokes the whole time and really don't make much of an effort to immerse themselves in the game (although the GM better be doing some quality immersion) then it just won't work. Games where everyone has a different backstory/levels of information/experiences are best for this. No one perceives the unfolding story in the same way because each player knows something the others do not. In my opinion this is something online G+ games can do very well.
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Post by goodmush on Nov 22, 2013 7:53:45 GMT -8
D.T. Pints A thought on player buy in, it is important to any game not just for horror games. It is like the foundation that the rest of the game builds upon, no matter what style were playing in. But it might be said that if we're sitting down to play a game that we are aggreeing to at least some buy in to the game. The issue of player immersion has been brought up before and is in some cases the holy grail that GMs seek. Sadly this remains solely in the realm of the player. While GMs can do their best by using description and props, it nonetheless remains the choice of the player. Which leads me to humor in horror games or players cracking jokes (bad transition) it is bound to happen. Humor is a method to release the tension that "should" be building during the game. The sad thing about this is if the humor becomes too prominent in the game the higher risk of ScoobyDoo-ism. So if your going for a Cthulhu game humor should be kept to a minimum or used sparingly but there are methods that the GM can use to bring the game back into focus. But what I am after is not running a horror game persay but a pulp game with horror elements. As a horror game is hard to do right and it does not mix well with my group. So a pulp game fit better with their play style while I, as the GM, wish for more horror-ish type encounters.
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D.T. Pints
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Post by D.T. Pints on Nov 22, 2013 9:11:19 GMT -8
This^^! Absolutely agree. Horror even in pulp is about players losing power/agency/ability to effectively act in a given situation. Your example of the Mummy: horrific things certainly happen to characters in that film and yet Brendan Fraiser (what's he doing these days?!?) cracks jokes through the whole thing. I've found that if players are not interested in playing the Call of Cthulhu than perhaps coming at them sideways with what appears to be more of a pulp flavored game. Then as they get more boisterous with that theme sneak increasingly more horrific scenes into the game. If they are engaged in a story and are loving their characters than horror will have an impact. If they are playing characters they honestly could give two shits about than they will also be much less likely to be engaged when their character is in danger of being devoured by scarab beetles.
So save those scenes of mind shattering terror for when they are really enjoying the characters and the game.
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Post by goodmush on Nov 22, 2013 12:55:37 GMT -8
I do agree that horrific things do happen in the movie. But using The Mummy as an example, I would have to disagree about the characters being reduced in power/agency/ability. (here forth referred to as PAA) The characters never really lost their potency during the movie. While guns did not affect or slow down the main antagonist. The characters were then forced to alter the way they approached the problem, but against the minions the old ways still worked. Allowing them to shine with what they knew worked. (Car chase & gun fights) Now this being a more pulp style movie this is fine. But in a horror game I would still say that you do not want to reduce the PAA of characters and still allows all types of actions. With the cost of failure being set higher. It has been my experience that a character that repeatedly fails at actions or is not able to attempt things stops being fun. In a Call of Cthulhu game the investigators are still able to perform actions and complete tasks. The consequence of those will be damaging to the characters. But the PAA remains intact. That's the difference between the two styles. So what I am trying to do keeps the pacing of a pulp style story,and have the horror elements as well like a delicious cake of death. So the differences between to two is the pacing and the effectiveness of character action.
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