Here are the posts for the fourth week of the RPGaDay 2024 challenge! All of these were previously posted on Mastodon and the RPG.net forums. Additional commentary exclusive to this blog are in italics.
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| The prompts by David F. Chapman from the AUTOCRATIK blog. |
Day 18: "Memorable moment of play"
My most memorable TTRPG moments involve GM plans getting derailed, falling into the sea, and being nuked from orbit.
The PC who took down the big bad in exchange for their own life. During their first encounter.
The time the PCs completely ignored every faction squaring off during the climax of a campaign to go after the NPC who screwed them over that one time.
Good stuff. I learned a lot.
As a #ForeverGM, it's usually my plans that end up forlorn, wet, and radioactive. Here's some of what I learned from these two incidents:
Dead means dead. Don't expose the big bad to danger unless the campaign is set up for it. If the big bad ends up dead, don't just have the second in command slot into the empty position. Make it clear that the actions of the PCs changed the setting. Maybe the big bad didn't tell anybody the plan or there wasn't really a plan to begin with. Many organizations don't have a way to deal with the boss being taken out of the equation. The lack of a succession plan results in a period of chaos and infighting that could be more destructive than whatever the big bad had in mind. In a F20 game, the party may have to interrupt any effort to rez the big boss while the infighting is going on.
Players have three basic sources of motivation. The players themselves, their characters, and what the gamemaster provides. What the players are interested in overrides everything else. What makes their characters tick generally comes out ahead of what the GM presents to them unless they align. And players have to be reminded of things that come up during the campaign. In this case, it's easy to see why the players responded in the way they did. Getting a shot at revenge against the jerk NPC might have been better presented before the campaign climax.
Day 19: "Sensational session"
A GM can't make a sensational session happen, but can set the conditions for one.
Consider how things look to the players. The GM knows everything except what's going on in everybody else's heads.
Be prepared, but not over-prepared. Things will go sideways.
Be comfortable with improvising. Things will go sideways.
Don't get married to an idea. Killing your darlings isn't mandatory, but sometimes they need to go.
A GM has to work with the players to make sensational sessions possible. Sometimes that means letting things go.
Day 20: "Battle, Encounter" (alternate prompt, "Amazing Adventure" felt too close to previous prompts)
Representatives of two factions that the player's aren't fans of are engaged in a pitched battle. Do the PCs wade in, hold back, or avoid the whole mess?
This is when I started looking to the alternate prompts offered up by Skala Wyzwania, an option I mentioned when I announced I would be doing this challenge. With all the prompts about one-shots, environments, and sessions, I felt that I had said everything I had to say about adventures already.
An encounter with two enemies (or non-allies) going at each other presents the players with an interesting decision. Screw them over directly or screw them over indirectly?
Day 21: "Disaster, Quest" (alternate prompt)
WANTED: Enterprising salvage teams to penetrate debris fields and automated defenses at Tyron V. Navigation errors during Tyron fleet exercises resulted in multiple collisions, triggering Kessler syndrome. Generous contracts to recover classified military hardware on surface available.
My response to the previous prompt about "RPG with well supported campaigns" covered anything about a "classic campaign" that I had to offer.
Naval history buffs might spot what Tyron is a reference to.
If I were to run this scenario, I would include at least one competing salvage team as a complicating factor. Because these things never go smooth. If I were feeling particularly nasty, I would make some of the hardware a rogue AI commanding drone defenses.
Day 22: "Notable non-player character"
A couple of simple things to keep in mind when introducing an NPC.
First, make the NPC interesting to the players. Making them useful or an obstacle to at least one PC is the easiest way. Connecting to a PC is more complicated, but potentially more rewarding. Otherwise, the NPC is just there.
Second, an NPC can be cool to a point. An opponent should have flaws and vulnerabilities. An ally should never overshadow the PCs.
It doesn't matter how cool a NPC is to the GM. The players are the audience in this context and they have to be entertained by the NPCs.
We all remember the worst days of Elminster, don't we?
Day 23: "Ritual, Mechanic" (alternate prompt)
If there is a ritual the PCs must stop, give them a fair chance to make the appointment. Don't keep information gated behind die rolls or a skill none of the PCs have. Where, when, and how to stop the ritual should come up in the investigation. On the other hand, the ideal way of stopping the ritual or the defenses around it can be offered up as bonus information that takes more effort to find out.
I just didn't feel like singling out a single "peerless player" from all the folks how have been at my table over the decades.
And, yes, this is the GUMSHOE approach to investigations in a nutshell. I never figured out what the problem with it was supposed to be.
My most memorable TTRPG moments involve GM plans getting derailed, falling into the sea, and being nuked from orbit.
The PC who took down the big bad in exchange for their own life. During their first encounter.
The time the PCs completely ignored every faction squaring off during the climax of a campaign to go after the NPC who screwed them over that one time.
Good stuff. I learned a lot.
As a #ForeverGM, it's usually my plans that end up forlorn, wet, and radioactive. Here's some of what I learned from these two incidents:
Dead means dead. Don't expose the big bad to danger unless the campaign is set up for it. If the big bad ends up dead, don't just have the second in command slot into the empty position. Make it clear that the actions of the PCs changed the setting. Maybe the big bad didn't tell anybody the plan or there wasn't really a plan to begin with. Many organizations don't have a way to deal with the boss being taken out of the equation. The lack of a succession plan results in a period of chaos and infighting that could be more destructive than whatever the big bad had in mind. In a F20 game, the party may have to interrupt any effort to rez the big boss while the infighting is going on.
Players have three basic sources of motivation. The players themselves, their characters, and what the gamemaster provides. What the players are interested in overrides everything else. What makes their characters tick generally comes out ahead of what the GM presents to them unless they align. And players have to be reminded of things that come up during the campaign. In this case, it's easy to see why the players responded in the way they did. Getting a shot at revenge against the jerk NPC might have been better presented before the campaign climax.
Day 19: "Sensational session"
A GM can't make a sensational session happen, but can set the conditions for one.
Consider how things look to the players. The GM knows everything except what's going on in everybody else's heads.
Be prepared, but not over-prepared. Things will go sideways.
Be comfortable with improvising. Things will go sideways.
Don't get married to an idea. Killing your darlings isn't mandatory, but sometimes they need to go.
A GM has to work with the players to make sensational sessions possible. Sometimes that means letting things go.
 |
| Cover for Skala Wyzwania's alternate RPGaDay 2024 challenge. |
Day 20: "Battle, Encounter" (alternate prompt, "Amazing Adventure" felt too close to previous prompts)
Representatives of two factions that the player's aren't fans of are engaged in a pitched battle. Do the PCs wade in, hold back, or avoid the whole mess?
This is when I started looking to the alternate prompts offered up by Skala Wyzwania, an option I mentioned when I announced I would be doing this challenge. With all the prompts about one-shots, environments, and sessions, I felt that I had said everything I had to say about adventures already.
An encounter with two enemies (or non-allies) going at each other presents the players with an interesting decision. Screw them over directly or screw them over indirectly?
 |
| Prompts for the alternate RPGaDay 2024 challenge. |
Day 21: "Disaster, Quest" (alternate prompt)
WANTED: Enterprising salvage teams to penetrate debris fields and automated defenses at Tyron V. Navigation errors during Tyron fleet exercises resulted in multiple collisions, triggering Kessler syndrome. Generous contracts to recover classified military hardware on surface available.
My response to the previous prompt about "RPG with well supported campaigns" covered anything about a "classic campaign" that I had to offer.
Naval history buffs might spot what Tyron is a reference to.
If I were to run this scenario, I would include at least one competing salvage team as a complicating factor. Because these things never go smooth. If I were feeling particularly nasty, I would make some of the hardware a rogue AI commanding drone defenses.
Day 22: "Notable non-player character"
A couple of simple things to keep in mind when introducing an NPC.
First, make the NPC interesting to the players. Making them useful or an obstacle to at least one PC is the easiest way. Connecting to a PC is more complicated, but potentially more rewarding. Otherwise, the NPC is just there.
Second, an NPC can be cool to a point. An opponent should have flaws and vulnerabilities. An ally should never overshadow the PCs.
It doesn't matter how cool a NPC is to the GM. The players are the audience in this context and they have to be entertained by the NPCs.
We all remember the worst days of Elminster, don't we?
Day 23: "Ritual, Mechanic" (alternate prompt)
If there is a ritual the PCs must stop, give them a fair chance to make the appointment. Don't keep information gated behind die rolls or a skill none of the PCs have. Where, when, and how to stop the ritual should come up in the investigation. On the other hand, the ideal way of stopping the ritual or the defenses around it can be offered up as bonus information that takes more effort to find out.
I just didn't feel like singling out a single "peerless player" from all the folks how have been at my table over the decades.
And, yes, this is the GUMSHOE approach to investigations in a nutshell. I never figured out what the problem with it was supposed to be.
Day 24: "Acclaimed advice"
Paraphrased from multiple sources:
Most TTRPG issues can be solved with patience and open, mature communication.
As advice goes, it's both revelatory and obvious at the same time.
The question "I'm having a conflict with my GM and/or players" comes up a lot in TTRPG spaces. "Have you tried talking it out" is the response that seems to get to the bottom of things the fastest.
One more week to go. I've been enjoying this challenge. I wonder if there are others like it out there?
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