Blog updates!

So, I promised you news. It’s good news, but I didn’t want to jump the gun too much with it.

First piece of news is good for you: I’m moving my blog schedule from Sundays to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So for those who have enjoyed my game design discussions, or my GM help, you’re going to be getting more of both! I’ve also got some ideas in store for both that I am sure you’ll like if you liked my previous blog series. The new schedule will be:

Monday: GM advice and theory. If you liked Hook, Line, and Sinker, you want to start checking in on Mondays.

Wednesday: Game design theory, ideas, and concepts.

Friday: Free for all. I’ll update everyone on my games on Fridays, and discuss whatever topic I feel like that week. Think of it as my day to go crazy and take along anyone who feels compelled.

So, first bit of news out of the way! Now we’re on to the next piece of news. In the long term, while I love my url, it isn’t appropriate for the long term focus of Thunderstorm Game Design as a business entity, so I will eventually be changing the url to something more accurate. Not happening immediately and I still don’t have a new url in mind, but it is coming, so keep an eye out for it.

Serious topic out of the way, now I get into the fun stuff!

Worked a tad on ExoSquad, got some idea of what all the attacks will be able to do, just getting to organizing and focusing them. Since I hate teasing, I’ll explain the idea I have for the weaponry and attacks. Each combatant gets a primary weapon, which is a basic idea, for example a Rifle. You can add various modifiers to this rifle who let you pick various tactics to use in combat. This goes back to my retraining argument in that after each mission, and sometimes during special conditions during a mission, you’ll be able to change out for new weapons and therefore get to pick new tactics, allowing you to swap builds on the fly.

The other thing I’m working on is a project I’m currently calling Freeform Roleplaying Engine, or FRE. FRE is a system for roleplaying that leaves the story in the hands of the players, the Moderator there to oversee interesting story and ensure conflicts are resolved fairly. It uses a simple system of narrative control to determine both power and longevity of characters. It definitely has its roots in FUDGE and FATE, with descriptive terms instead of a massive amount of numbers, and it’s completely diceless in its base form. The system is being designed primarily for online freeform roleplayers, but it should play just as well at the table and will not be very demanding on the Moderator (GM).

If you do like the blog, you should definitely subscribe to the RSS feed, available at right. Or you can check out my Twitter @pathunstrom. Come back tomorrow for a new GM advice article!

Hook, Line, and Sinker Part 4: The Climax

You set the hook by appealing to what drives the characters. You kept them on the line by putting that hook at the end of a series of smaller, more focused challenges. You designed those challenges with a series of smaller hooks and choices. Now, at the end of the game, you need the climactic final confrontation, you need to sink it and bring them back for your next adventure or campaign.

The climax is one of the most important parts of a story, and when it’s missing, people can tell.  In games, players often make their own climaxes, remembering the most iconic moments that present themselves during the game. The problem is that’s the relying on luck method, and this series is all about planning out awesome games.

When it comes to design, every adventure and campaign needs its own climactic encounter. That encounter, in order to give it prime memory real estate, needs to be the last challenge of the night. Beyond that, it needs a handful of things to improve its chances of success.

Stakes

The climactic encounter should have the highest stakes of the entire adventure or campaign. One set of stakes that’s perfect for the climax is of course the life, or at least story importance, of the player characters. Lethality of some sort should always be in the game, but during the climax, life and death become a genuinely interesting set of stakes due to the fact that failure by being removed from the campaign can have far reaching effects on the shared narrative. Another perfect stake in the climax is the hook itself: the ownership of the McGuffin, the secret, the revenge, or the glory. Finally, bring in the fates of non-player characters, allies and enemies known and unknown.

Tension

Tension is a difficult thing to generate, but by raising the stakes, you’re halfway there. The next step is to make losing a real possibility, or even a probable outcome. Some of this is making it challenging via the statistics built into the game, the enemies in the climax should be the most powerful of the adventure, but other ways are from your style as a DM. Don’t pull blows, fight dirty. Make the players feel like they have to work for it. That said, don’t make it impossible. If the heroes can’t win, it kills tension just as much as if they’re sure to win.

Setting

If the climax is a combat encounter, it should have the most interesting terrain features. If it’s a social encounter, public locations are best, especially if they have a lot of people involved. These types of locations make it interesting on a fundamental level. A combat with a dragon is interesting; a combat with a dragon on a stone bridge over a lake of lava with minions flowing from both sides with the McGuffin resting on a pedestal on the far side is climactic. An argument with a Vampire Prince is interesting; an argument with the Prince at Elysium is climactic.

The Unexpected

The last thing a climax need is a shift. The climax is where hidden allies throw their hand in with the heroes, where traitors turn on their ‘friends,’ where hidden plots come out, and nothing ever seems to go right. Besides the story implications that are usable in any type of conflict, combat encounters should have some major turning points, more so than a standard encounter. Take a page out of a video game’s book, make the ‘boss’ monster go through changes in tactics, or changes in forms. Have minions appear halfway through. Change the battlefield mid combat.

When it comes to ideas for a climactic conflict, the best place to look is your favorite movies. There’s only a handful of ways to successfully climax a story, and they’re all closely related.

So, readers, what do you think, did I miss any critical elements of a good game climax?

So I’ve reached the end of Hook, Line, and Sinker. I hope everyone has enjoyed it, I know I did! From the things I spoke on, I have a few more ideas for GM based articles coming, so expect this to become a regular fixture for the blog. I also have a few things I’ll be discussing next week regarding the blog itself and since the school semester is finally over, I’m going to buckle down and do some serious design work on ExoSquad, and a new project I’ll be announcing soon.

Hook, Line and Sinker Part 3: Adventure Design

So we've developed an overarching goal for our players, with an antagonist who's going to continue on his path regardless of the players actions. But that's just ideas, something you'll definitely need to revise before the end, and your game is starting in less than a week, you need something more concrete!

First step is of course picking a hook.  If this is a first adventure, you're going to need to pull something out of your initial questioning, something concrete and short term that you can fit into your ideas for a long term campaign. If this is anything BUT the first session, you should have ended the last session with some idea of where the player characters were going.

Once you have a hook you have a 'victory condition'.  The players get what they want, they win, if they are stopped, they lose. This is an important concept for RPGs as every single fight including 'Survive' as the primary victory condition gets boring after a while.

Going back to last week, let's take some of our 'outline' and make a quick and dirty adventure plan.  We'll assume the adventurers stopped the thief, so now know their trinket isn't a mere trinket. Hopefully, you find out last week they want to know more about their gem.

Our players want to know about their gem, so we obviously need to give them an opprotunity to learn.  A wise sage character, a fairly well stocked library, or even a local legend can all be useful in this situation.  Let your players guide you through this very roleplaying centric portion of your adventure, they'll let you know what kind of story they are expecting.

Now that your players know that the necklace is from the old Empire, and, if there research didn't turn up the fact, now's the time to let them know there are ruins nearby.  Hopefully, off they go.

Depending on your system, your next step is combats or traps, or something with a bit of an edge, it's time to make them to question their bravery. If they survive the trials, and they should, they should meet up with our bumbling archivist trying to find clues as to the whereabouts of the keys to the end game tower.  This is more roleplaying, and again, let your players lead you through this.  You know the character's motivation, let that guide your responses.

Once they know a little more, or have determined the archivist is unhelpful, you need to set up the keynote encounter.  This almost certainly should be a combat, something explosive, and you should find a way to bring the archivist back into the game, trying to steal the amulet.  Of course, beating him, and the rest of the encounter, means another piece of the amulet, and a hint that the item is for something very powerful.  What will our heroes do? Find out, because that's your hook for your next game!

Tying encounters together (Even as simply as this) helps fortify them in memory, as they can be grouped easily.  You want your players remembering this game, right?  So do what you can to help them do so.

To recap: Have a goal, tie the encounters together, and make sure to capstone with a great encounter.  Next time, I'll discuss making those excellent encounters.

What do you think, readers, are plot based victory conditions effective?  Try them out, see what your players think.

Read part 4!

Hook, Line and Sinker (Part 2)

You've set the hook, the players are on the line and aimed for the end, now how do you reel them in?

Start with the high level plan you made: What is it the players are after that should be the focus point of the end game? 

If it's a Greed hook, is it a legendary item?  Maybe they want to rule the world?  Perhaps, they just want a country?  If it's Revenge, is the enemy truly a challenge for the end game? Glory had better be something to go down in the history of the game world.  If it's Knowledge, it should be something that only the party will know when the end game is over. Whatever it is, it has to be something characters of the suspected end can achieve.  In Dungeons & Dragons, it better be multiverse changing, in World of Darkness it should at least affect the city, if not the country or world.  The important thing is to know your system and its end game well enough to make the call.

Now consider what the players need to obtain the goal.  Let's look at a few examples:

The players want to control a mythical artifact that was shattered long ago.  Obviously, they need to obtain all the pieces with the final piece being obtained JUST BEFORE the final climatic battle/encounter.  Why just before?  Because what's the point of an awesome artifact if you don't get the chance to use it?  If it's a weapon, someone should be attacking with it.  If it's something more abstract, perhaps an item that can redefine reality, the final fight should be with an enemy who wants it for themselves, and is willing to plaster the party to get it. So, depending on how many pieces you want to have, you have a rough road map for the campaign: Piece 1, Piece 2, Piece 3, Piece 4. . . End Game.

If they're after revenge, it's a bit more abstract, but the same idea: They need to find out where the enemy is, they need to know his true capabilities, they might need something to counteract a specific strength, and then, they need to get to him.

If they want to control something or do something mythic themselves, they need to prepare.  They need to have the goal, they need to get help, they need to make themselves better, and they have to DO the thing.  Using the Hero's Journey as an outline for this is probably a good idea.

If they're after knowledge, the steps are also similar: They need to know the knowledge exists, they need to find out who or what has it, they need to find out where this thing is, and they need to go get it.

So now you have a basic road map, each major 'step' should take about equal portions of the experience ramp.  I'm going to combine a few of the above ideas into one as I walk through a campaign plan that should keep players on the line.

End Game Hook: The players are trying to assemble an artifact that will let them revive an ancient empire to bring light back to the world. They will be opposed by a man who will stop at nothing to use that same artifact to gain unlimited demonic power and create an empire of his own.

Note that this hook combines three elements, and can include the fourth: An artifact of great power for Greed, a Glory in saving the world, Revenge in a long term antagonist, and Knowledge can be drawn on by making the ancient empire or artifact not something easily found out about.  By using all four hooks, I hope to draw any potential players toward the same goal.  Also, by including all four hooks, I can drop elements the players don't like without greatly affecting my ability to plan for their choices.

Now, steps for each goal:

Artifact

I'll use the artifact as the initial hook for the game and break it into four pieces: The first will be a large gemstone on a necklace that acts as a scaling magical item over the course of the campaign. The second piece will be a rod, wand, or staff (Whichever one is most useful to the players) that the crystal can sit in.  The third piece will look like a piece of accent on another scaling magic item.  And the last 'piece' is a tower from the old Empire where the final battle can take place.

Antagonist

This is a hard one to work with, but likely, he'll be a 'behind the scenes' man, sending loyal henchmen who drop clues leading to him at the end, where he will personally try to dispose of our band of heroes.  The first clue will be when someone tries to steal the necklace from the party, the next will be a man who was trying to get the rod, and the final clue can be a man who has the last piece of the artifact. Then, of course, we have our climax.

Knowledge

I'll say that the use of the artifact is going to be a hidden thing, with clues hidden in the pieces, the antagonist’s friends, and a few wise sages littered amongst the overarching story.  I don't want to make this too specific, but the information should be paced so as to not give out so much as to have 'cut scenes' that slow the game down. We also want to make as much as possible relevant to the current story as possible.  For our case, the first clue that the gem is more than it appears comes when they stop the 'thief,' who lets it slip that the group doesn't know what they're dealing with. From there, investigation should reveal its connection with the old empire, and lead to them seeking out ruins where the rod is kept. At the ruins, they encounter the second thug, whose murmurs reveal that there is an artifact that helped shape the old empire.  If they investigate further, they should learn of the existence of the tower, and at least some of its function.  Another piece of the puzzle is of course the 'key' hidden on another item, which should come into play when the last henchman tries to obtain the other two pieces, revealing that his master knows where the tower is and knows how to activate it. The players should be able to trace the antagonist enough to learn who he talked to, and where he went.  Then we go on to our final encounter.

Glory takes effect pretty much anywhere along this path.  Perhaps they're doing things for a specific king, or spreading their own names so as to more smoothly take control.  It doesn't matter as long as people start talking about them.

So there we have a basic outline:

Adventurers do a dungeon crawl, find a special necklace.

Thief attempts to steal necklace, revealing that its worth is more than it seems.

Group seeks a sage to learn more (Or does research on their own!).

They go to ruins from the old empire.

A man they find wandering through the place reveals that there is an artifact of great power left from the old empire.

Upon defeating him, the players learn he worked for a man who wants all the parts of the artifact.

They find the rod.

They find information on the tower.

They seek out the last key, tracking the man who wants the artifact for himself.

A thug tries to stop them; they take the last piece from him.

They follow the trail left by the thug.

At the tower, they face off with their antagonist.

Win or lose, someone uses the tower.

With this in hand, you have a basic idea of where to go, and what small scale plot hooks to lie down in the players’ path. Combine some of these elements with the players’ short term goals and fill in any dull moments with the players tangents, and they’ll be enjoying themselves to the end.

As this article has proven much longer than I intended, I’m going to break the series into a few more parts.  We’ll get into Adventure and Encounter planning in the next few segments, and end it with the Sinker: clinching Campaigns, Adventures, and Encounters in a way that satisfies.

Next week, I’ll look into discussing more mechanics ideas for ExoSquad, find out more about the load-outs I mentioned in my post on system mastery.

So what do you think, GMs, is this type of planning likely to help you out in the long run?  What about players, you guys think this is too much of a railroad?  Sound off in the comments!

Find Part 3 Here

Hook, Line, and Sinker (Part 1)

Today, I talk about running the game, specifically, making memorable encounters, adventures, and campaigns in any system. My trick? Use narrative tools to plan your game: hook them with a believable goal, taunt them with them, drawing them deeper into trouble and excitement, then when the moment is right, explode with the final confrontation, and let them have what it is they want.

As has been oft quoted by GM resources again and again, you always need a hook.  I've seen plenty of hooks in my experiences playing and GMing, and they don't all appeal to different people.

Hook 1: Greed

This is probably the most common in combat games. Greed is present any time the players do something for gear, cash, or experience. That drive for more can be a useful tool, and for players who have this motivation, abuse it mercilessly. Offer extra rewards, cooler gear, or bigger experience rewards. (I'll talk about my thoughts on experience points and character advancement in a later blog.)

Hook 2: Revenge

This one is another very common motivation I've seen in players. They love tracking people who get the better of them, be it in combat, a deal, or other challenge. This is a tricky one to use on purpose, but if the players ever get the short end of the stick, expect them to go back for the rest of it.

Hook 3: Glory

This one is less common, but I've seen it enough to include it here. This is absolutely a pure story reward: getting 'in' with the king, being given a medal, anything of the sort. Giving the players a chance to do something foolhardy, risky, and above all important to the setting will set this hook.

Hook 4: Knowledge

This is probably the least common hook in some games. Players want to know more: who stole the ruby? Who left that note? What's beyond those mountains? Driven by a desire to find out what twist lay hidden beyond that next turn drives them to getting into places no one else has gone, and getting into trouble no one new existed.

Just about every hook you can think of will be one of these four, and, if you hadn't noticed yet, they all tie back to a desire for more. Greed drives everything. The biggest probably is getting your players involved. Most hooks beyond greed require some player-GM interaction: ask your players what their CHARACTER wants.

Each player has, in their head, an idea of who their character is; take advantage of it. Be formal if you have to, but really, just talk. Listen to your players, pay attention to why they do things. Unlike book characters, players are often talking out loud about why they want something.

Once you have these goals, whatever they are, short, medium, or long, you can put it in your plans somehow. Each encounter or conflict you present your players should lead them to one of these goals, and the more intricately you can combine them, the better.  If your group has a goal to save a kingdom, but there's an opportunity for one of the players to reach one of their goals in another direction, you have some drama built into the situation. Decisions are the thing that makes a game interesting, opportunity costs have a much more powerful effect on the players than a failed die roll. This is how you use hooks to drive a campaign.

For adventures, it’s much simpler, as your players have already told you their goal. The hook is going to be one of the above, but it’s going to be very short term, something they can get to at the end of the story arc. Maybe it’s the current McGuffin, drawing them to the end with Greed. Make the final encounter with a foe who had once bested them, focusing them with Revenge. Maybe Glory drives them after an enemy that has been tormenting the local lands. Sometimes, even important bits of Knowledge can drive an adventure.

For encounter level design it’s even easier, though you’ll gain points with your players if the goal changes a bit. If the only thing they want is to kill the goblins to get to the door it will get old fast. Give them another goal occasionally. Ambush them to draw them in with Revenge. Throw in a renowned foe to get them to act for Glory. Or maybe let it slip that one of their foes knows something they need to know and see how Knowledge drives them.

Hooks are awesome things, and without them, you won’t have players interested enough to have memorable games. How about you, readers, did I miss any hooks? Do you have any examples of the above hooks in play? Comment below! (Sign in with a Gmail account and you can avoid that nasty anonymous tag!)


Find Part 2 Here