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
|
Post by D.T. Pints on May 27, 2018 14:31:59 GMT -8
Ahoy! So we had to postpone our Session 1 after a really great session 0. With a lovely amount of free time for the first time in a long time I sat down with character sheets and "prepped". I know cardinal sin for PbtA. But, for me I really want to be able to clearly see the interrelationships between all of these characters and build several potential "fronts" from their suggestions. My friend GMs with not even a notebook in front of him and generally can run a good game. I need notes. So, I created this OCD work of art... My group are all PbtA newbs so I want to be able to help them as much as possible to build from their character ideas. The story thus far is a powerful immortal Dragon Queen fell in love with a mortal man, she bore him a twisted horror of son and upon seeing the child the man went mad leaping from the heights of her Great Mountain Castle. In her sorrow she called down a great rain of meteors that were dragon eggs (her other children). Now the world is fallen into destruction and apocalypse as the dragons rampage. Part Skyrim & Part Grendel... Episode 1 has the front of "The Horror of the Hills" wherein the Dragon Queen's monstrous child must be faced... I sometimes worry that having two weeks between each session gives me too much time to build a story and thus "overprep". I just definitely obsess about the games I run. I really want there to be some scenes...that if I just wing it I don't think I'd come up with on the spot. The monster child plays with the captured merchants like puppets and eventually horrifically smashes/rips apart his "toys". (I have a 2 1/2 year old) Anyway, I think what I struggle with is I want to create a game of surprises, fantasy horror (my brain is hard wired into Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay), mystery but some of that atmosphere seems defeated by engaging the PCs too much while "playing to find out". Ramble ceased for now.
|
|
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
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Jun 3, 2018 8:49:46 GMT -8
Episode 1:
I have taken the "End of Session" move and use it at the beginning of the session. It works perfect as a recap allowing all the players to discuss what happened last time to yield XP.
"Did we learn something new and important about the world ?"
Shoehorn the Wizard: "Faith and sorcery are one and the same a weird combination of dumb luck and talent..."
Perfectly establishing fickle gods and unpredictable magic.
"Did we find a memorable treasure ?"
A coin of the Church of the Golden Member that shows an affinity for the wizard...the bond between Shoehorn the Wizard and Fixio the Cleric has grown deeper.
The players also get an XP if they played their alignment and also if a bond has been resolved. This provides :15-:30 min of "in character" discussion that really does the best job of allowing players to settle back into the game and their characters of any game I've yet played.
|
|
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
|
Post by HyveMynd on Jun 3, 2018 19:09:07 GMT -8
Episode 1: I have taken the "End of Session" move and use it at the beginning of the session. It works perfect as a recap allowing all the players to discuss what happened last time to yield XP. "Did we learn something new and important about the world ?" Shoehorn the Wizard: "Faith and sorcery are one and the same a weird combination of dumb luck and talent..." Perfectly establishing fickle gods and unpredictable magic. "Did we find a memorable treasure ?" A coin of the Church of the Golden Member that shows an affinity for the wizard...the bond between Shoehorn the Wizard and Fixio the Cleric has grown deeper. The players also get an XP if they played their alignment and also if a bond has been resolved. This provides :15-:30 min of "in character" discussion that really does the best job of allowing players to settle back into the game and their characters of any game I've yet played. Wow. I never thought to do that. Using the End of Session questions as a recap at the beginning of the next session is an awesome idea. Also, I think it's totally fine to have ideas for "set pieces" ready. Everyone has cool scenes they'd like to see happen at the table, and I think it's fine to have those prepped and ready to go. You don't have to come up with everything on the fly. The danger comes in preparing the outcome of those set pieces. "This [situation] is going to be awesome, and I have no idea how it's going to shake out" is fine. "This [situation] is going to be awesome, and here's how it's going to play out" is not. But you know that already. 💖
|
|
tomes
Supporter
Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
|
Post by tomes on Jun 4, 2018 11:13:18 GMT -8
Oh, that's really clever. I like that thinking...
|
|
tomes
Supporter
Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
|
Post by tomes on Jun 4, 2018 17:51:38 GMT -8
|
|
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
|
Post by D.T. Pints on Jun 4, 2018 21:55:13 GMT -8
YES! I like it. I also have to give credit to cadave in his Insert Coin campaign they started just asking the XP questions at the start of the next session and it seemed just such a great way to get everyone involved in the recap...Who doesn't love getting XP? I'm a stingy GM so I probably wouldn't reward XP for the Start of Adventure game discussions. But that might be a nice way to get everyone into playing their characters from the beginning. A grim portent happened in that last session of "The Horror in the Hills" that involved a decadent elven village offering up kidnapped children to be eaten by the "Grendel-like" monster so that the protective magics keeping their town safe underneath a roaring waterfall wouldn't fail. I'm playing with a group of family and friends but it was a really nice moment to stop and check in "so yeah there are 3 kids lashed to X's in front of the yawning cavern mouth...is that ok with everyone?" These players have definitely not created "heroes" their bonds are full of lies, jealousy, and self-centered pursuits. But, screaming terrified kids ? Brought the hero out in all of 'em. Love this game. I will definitely check in with the "Evil" aligned cleric about this choice during our Beginning of Session move.
|
|
|
Post by kurtpotts on Jun 11, 2018 13:43:36 GMT -8
This is awesome! I like the vignette for Bonds. I've never had a character in a game I ran get XP from their bonds. I'll also be stealing D.T. Pints bond map.
|
|