[Deathwatch] Making Final Sanction More Enjoyable
Mar 30, 2018 15:12:46 GMT -8
Post by GM Radio Rob on Mar 30, 2018 15:12:46 GMT -8
Today's scheduled session of Only In Death, my Deathwatch campaign with occasional aspirations of actual play podcasthood, didn't happen. I was a little off the ball with reminding my players, and one had a scheduling conflict while another's job (escape room host) suddenly got busy, so I postponed.
The thing is, I was actually glad. I've been procrastinating like crazy the past couple of weeks (although I'll admit work has been keeping me on the hop) and I've been thinking more about developing a town for Tales From The Loop than the next session of Only In Death. I even went through my usual, "Why am I even GMing this game?" down-spiral a bit.
The thing is... I'm sure there's a bloody entertaining game to be had. It also helps that I do like my players and their characters, I just often feel like I don't know what to throw at them - or that what I have sucks. I had a day off yesterday (and a good chunk of the day before); why did I spend the time between yard work re-watching Stranger Things instead of prepping for the session.
I want to try and fix that up. I want to feel Ready To Go (with some improv-related nerves) right before each session rather than "Oh, thank fuck I have another couple of weeks' breathing space."
What's happened so far?
I'm running my players, a squad of Space Marines, through the Final Sanction downloadable adventure. It's set in Lordsholm, capital city of the planet Avalos, afflicted by a Genestealer infestation and with a Tyranid swarm on the way. The Marines have two primary mission objectives: Get to the planetary Astropath to send a call for aid to the local Imperial fleet and kill the Broodlord of the infestation. If they can do this before sunrise (night had just fallen when they arrived), Avalos has a chance to be saved.
They've got past the landing encounter, Battle for the Chapel, and engaged a pack of four Genestealers (during which we learned how lethal Genestealers are in close combat) in an encounter I whipped together to make things a little more interesting. In the last couple of sessions, they made it to the PDF Base, destroyed the siege guns attacking its walls and killed the traitor PDF officer within.
What's coming up?
The players have two more potential encounters, an Imperial Store facility and the Spaceport, before they move onto the next district, the Magistria District, where they will encounter the Planetary Governor who can grant them access to the Astropath. The main incentive to engage in these objectives is to secure PDF Support Units whom they can use to make future combat encounters easier (one PDF Support Unit will engage one Rebel Horde). From my players' discussions, they're keen to secure the Stores and then move on to the Magistria District.
Problem: I Hate Dull Combat
Final Sanction has two regions that are combat heavy: The Portica (trans-shipment hub) and Callistria (residential / slum) Districts. Each has three firefights that the Kill-team can engage in.
The problem with the combats is that I don't give a shit about them. Each is mooks attempting to take an objective. I've already done that a couple of times in prior sessions and I don't care to do it again - it feels like grinding. A good part of my procrastination has been over map and encounter design for these mook fights, and those are my GM weak points.
I think the thing is, hordes as NPCs don't have much variety, especially not when you're using the same horde over and over again with only the Magnitude (the Horde's hit points, as well as potentially extra attacks and damage) changing. And that's essentially what the combats in the Portica and Callistria Districts are; two to four Rebel Hordes (with, occasionally, a Rebel Leader, Rebel General or Genestealer) whose mission each time is essentially to kill everything in their way. While vanquishing them gives more PDF Support Units, it feels like the reward is just making the grind a little less painful.
I've been trying to personalise things a bit more. There's a Rebel General at the Stores whom I'm hoping will be a good one-on one opponent for Brother Matthias, the team's Ambitious Assault Marine. I've given him a name, Kincaid, and a little bit of personalising thanks to an encounter with a PDF officer who hates him, but when I try to flesh Kincaid out more so that he can be an entertaining opponent I get writer's block. Is there something specific in the Stores he's looking for? If so, why him, and how does he know about it?
I'm temped to just push on to the Magistria District. While the only named NPC there is the Planetary Governor, Perian Thorsholt, it's at least set in an area where there isn't any immediate shooting and I can come up with some more NPCs to do interesting things with (like the parents of the kids whom the Marines saved from the Genestealers, or some of the PDF that they met at the base who've come with them). Then again, one of the rewards if the players do well with the Governor is a heap of Support Units - but that only feeds back into making the bit of the adventure I enjoy least slightly less unpleasant.
Problem: What if the Marines fail?
As written, the Final Sanction adventure is pretty much on rails. It assumes the players will make it to the Astropath and defeat the Broodlord before sunrise. But it also throws threats in their way: the Marines mush hold a rebel unit off whilst the Astropath sends the call for help, and then, of course, there's the fight with the Broodlord, who is serious opposition even without the assistance of its remaining Genestealers.
It doesn't really cater for what happens if the dice don't go the players' way. Admittedly, if they don't kill the Broodlord, the players will likely wind up dead, but still, what happens if the Astropath is killed before the message is complete? How will the Marines get off-planet (especially with their frigate in orbit destroyed)?
And going back to the Broodlord, I really hate fights where it's just Two Sides Enter, One Side Leaves. That's the sort of shit that needs to be be built up to, a final showdown between a long-standing, developed BBEG and the players.
What sort of outs are there for the players if things don't go well? Is there something the Broodlord needs to do elsewhere? The way the adventure is set up, the answer is "no;" it's in Avalos' main city, Lordsholm, and just needs to hold out until its Tyranid masters arrive and swarm over everything. But what if it needs to go somewhere? Secure a primary landing zone of some kind? Have the Kill-team's activities in Lordsholm made the city untenable for the Broodlord?
The thing is, I was actually glad. I've been procrastinating like crazy the past couple of weeks (although I'll admit work has been keeping me on the hop) and I've been thinking more about developing a town for Tales From The Loop than the next session of Only In Death. I even went through my usual, "Why am I even GMing this game?" down-spiral a bit.
The thing is... I'm sure there's a bloody entertaining game to be had. It also helps that I do like my players and their characters, I just often feel like I don't know what to throw at them - or that what I have sucks. I had a day off yesterday (and a good chunk of the day before); why did I spend the time between yard work re-watching Stranger Things instead of prepping for the session.
I want to try and fix that up. I want to feel Ready To Go (with some improv-related nerves) right before each session rather than "Oh, thank fuck I have another couple of weeks' breathing space."
What's happened so far?
I'm running my players, a squad of Space Marines, through the Final Sanction downloadable adventure. It's set in Lordsholm, capital city of the planet Avalos, afflicted by a Genestealer infestation and with a Tyranid swarm on the way. The Marines have two primary mission objectives: Get to the planetary Astropath to send a call for aid to the local Imperial fleet and kill the Broodlord of the infestation. If they can do this before sunrise (night had just fallen when they arrived), Avalos has a chance to be saved.
They've got past the landing encounter, Battle for the Chapel, and engaged a pack of four Genestealers (during which we learned how lethal Genestealers are in close combat) in an encounter I whipped together to make things a little more interesting. In the last couple of sessions, they made it to the PDF Base, destroyed the siege guns attacking its walls and killed the traitor PDF officer within.
What's coming up?
The players have two more potential encounters, an Imperial Store facility and the Spaceport, before they move onto the next district, the Magistria District, where they will encounter the Planetary Governor who can grant them access to the Astropath. The main incentive to engage in these objectives is to secure PDF Support Units whom they can use to make future combat encounters easier (one PDF Support Unit will engage one Rebel Horde). From my players' discussions, they're keen to secure the Stores and then move on to the Magistria District.
Problem: I Hate Dull Combat
Final Sanction has two regions that are combat heavy: The Portica (trans-shipment hub) and Callistria (residential / slum) Districts. Each has three firefights that the Kill-team can engage in.
The problem with the combats is that I don't give a shit about them. Each is mooks attempting to take an objective. I've already done that a couple of times in prior sessions and I don't care to do it again - it feels like grinding. A good part of my procrastination has been over map and encounter design for these mook fights, and those are my GM weak points.
I think the thing is, hordes as NPCs don't have much variety, especially not when you're using the same horde over and over again with only the Magnitude (the Horde's hit points, as well as potentially extra attacks and damage) changing. And that's essentially what the combats in the Portica and Callistria Districts are; two to four Rebel Hordes (with, occasionally, a Rebel Leader, Rebel General or Genestealer) whose mission each time is essentially to kill everything in their way. While vanquishing them gives more PDF Support Units, it feels like the reward is just making the grind a little less painful.
I've been trying to personalise things a bit more. There's a Rebel General at the Stores whom I'm hoping will be a good one-on one opponent for Brother Matthias, the team's Ambitious Assault Marine. I've given him a name, Kincaid, and a little bit of personalising thanks to an encounter with a PDF officer who hates him, but when I try to flesh Kincaid out more so that he can be an entertaining opponent I get writer's block. Is there something specific in the Stores he's looking for? If so, why him, and how does he know about it?
I'm temped to just push on to the Magistria District. While the only named NPC there is the Planetary Governor, Perian Thorsholt, it's at least set in an area where there isn't any immediate shooting and I can come up with some more NPCs to do interesting things with (like the parents of the kids whom the Marines saved from the Genestealers, or some of the PDF that they met at the base who've come with them). Then again, one of the rewards if the players do well with the Governor is a heap of Support Units - but that only feeds back into making the bit of the adventure I enjoy least slightly less unpleasant.
Problem: What if the Marines fail?
As written, the Final Sanction adventure is pretty much on rails. It assumes the players will make it to the Astropath and defeat the Broodlord before sunrise. But it also throws threats in their way: the Marines mush hold a rebel unit off whilst the Astropath sends the call for help, and then, of course, there's the fight with the Broodlord, who is serious opposition even without the assistance of its remaining Genestealers.
It doesn't really cater for what happens if the dice don't go the players' way. Admittedly, if they don't kill the Broodlord, the players will likely wind up dead, but still, what happens if the Astropath is killed before the message is complete? How will the Marines get off-planet (especially with their frigate in orbit destroyed)?
And going back to the Broodlord, I really hate fights where it's just Two Sides Enter, One Side Leaves. That's the sort of shit that needs to be be built up to, a final showdown between a long-standing, developed BBEG and the players.
What sort of outs are there for the players if things don't go well? Is there something the Broodlord needs to do elsewhere? The way the adventure is set up, the answer is "no;" it's in Avalos' main city, Lordsholm, and just needs to hold out until its Tyranid masters arrive and swarm over everything. But what if it needs to go somewhere? Secure a primary landing zone of some kind? Have the Kill-team's activities in Lordsholm made the city untenable for the Broodlord?