of Dice and Dragons

So often when you’re setting up a plotline or campaign as a GM we often lose sight of the fact that it is the players that need to get the most out of it, not the GM. I’m as guilty as the next when it comes to planning a plotline down to the last detail and then “steer” the players into it.

Trust me, it leads to players becoming bored, less that interested and may even lead some to find reasons not to play.

So you need to find a way to give the players choices in what they do while at the same time still have enough control to have them accomplish what it is you want/need them to. Believe it or not it’s not as tricky as you may think, provided you plan a bit upfront.

Take for example the classic dungeon crawl. In most setups the creatures are prearranged and if the party moves through the complex in the correct sequence you’re all set but if they deviate you’re up the creek. They may not find something they need for later or may not be able to get out of the level they are on.

So how can we change this to fit our needs as GM and still give the players a choice?

Use a flow-chart instead of a script.

Instead of laying out out your complex and placing each encounter, put your encounters on a flowchart and simply have the players encounter them in the sequence you want - forget where the encounters take place, concentrate on the actual encounter. Now the players are in the driver’s seat as to where they are going but you’re changing the landscape around them to fit the need of the story.

Feel free to post your ideas on giving players more choice, I’m sure everyone would benefit.

May your dice roll well.

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Let me ask a question, when you create your NPCs for your role-playing game which do you grab first, the Game Master book. the Player book or a pad of paper?

The correct answer here is the pad of paper. I can hear the outcry now about the need for stats, equipement and spell lists but to be honest they are really secondary to what you need for an NPC - a lifelike character.

To give you an example from the campaign I run, a major supportive NPC is a wizard called Amarth.

Amarth is a powerful individual and has many titles including the lofty one of Defender of Valon, a city on the edge of the kingdom he lives in.

The statement above is how the NPC came into being. I didn’t even determine his stats until after he had been introduced to the party. Why you may ask? Simple, the stats weren’t necessary. When he was introduced I needed to know his station in life, who he knew and would associate with. I fleshed him out with the titles he carried, where he lived, his lifestyle, his servants - not a single one of those items or even his motivation for becoming involved with the party required me to know how smart or strong he is so I didn’t bother with it until later.

I think it helps to realize that we interact with a number of people during everyday of our lives and we don’t think of them as a block of stats. So why should we treat the NPCs or PCs that we create as just a column of numbers? Take a few minutes before you start to fill in the game mechanics and determine the character as it is the character and not the stat block that will drive the story forward.

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At this point you’re probably thinking, “what does this all have to do with improving my storytelling when my role-playing group gets together?”

While it is true that I haven’t touched on what most writers and gamers would expect in this group of posts, these topics are very important because storytelling isn’t just the story, it’s also the presentation - you have to be engaging!

Which brings me to item number three on my topic list - act the part.

Up to now we’ve been focused on describing the area around the action, the setting, now you need to step into the role of actor. You are no longer simply stating what the characters are seeing you’re interacting with them. You need to be the innkeeper, the town guard, the waitress, you have to stop worrying about the rules of the game and be part of the game.

Now I know that there are bluff checks, knowledge checks and so on that everyone want to use which if fine but don’t simply state the outcome, act it out.

For example:

The party approaches the town gate where everyone is being stopped and searched. The party is carrying items they do not wish to have inventoried or taken so they decide to bluff their way through.

Town guardsman (TG) - “Halt. All packages and parcels are subject to search.”

Player 1 to GM, “I’m going to try and bluff us in.” The GM makes the roll and tells the player to role-play it in character

Player 1 - “What is your name! Do you not know who that is?” Player 1 to GM, I point to Steve’s character (a fighter in full plate armor).

TG - “Donovan’s the name and searching bags is the game. Now you can either comply or head back to where you came from.”

Player 1 - “We will do no such thing. The Duke of Belis is above such petty things.”

GM to the group - The town guardsman takes another look and gives a slight nod and steps aside.

TG - “My apologies I didn’t recognize you sir.”

Obviously the bluff check worked and the party was able to proceed without being searched.

I know that this is a difficult thing for a lot of folks but you need to take on that actor’s role. Spend some time when you’re away from the gaming table coming up with ideas on what different characters are like. Do they talk at a rapid pace? Do they stutter? What’s their sense of humor like? Do they have a particular outlook on the world? Are they biased?

In my campaign I have a reoccuring NPC who is the most annoying individual you can imagine and when he shows up there’s a collective “oh no” from the players because they know what they are in for. The pattern of speech is always the same, the sarcasim and humor are always the same and that’s what makes him a memorable part of the story. He’s not the same person with different window dressing, he’s an individual and I take on his persona when he’s there.

After all, that’s what role-playing is, taking on another role and acting it.

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In my last posting (click here) I stated that one of the things you should be doing to improve your storytelling ability is to open up a book and read. While that is important and it allows you to experience others methods of description you have to also do it yourself.

Which is why my next suggestion is for you to sit down and write! That’s correct, I said you need to write. It doesn’t matter if it’s with pen and paper or with your favorite word processor you just need to spend some time doing it.

I can already hear you, “but I can’t write,” or maybe, “what on earth am I’m suppose to write?” There are many things you could do here but I’m going to suggest for your first ‘assignment’ that you describe a location.

Pick a place, it can be real or imaginary, someplace you’ve been, wished you could go to or you could take a scene out of your favorite movie. Once you’ve picked your location describe it. Take your time and we’re not interested in the grammar or spelling just the desciption. While you’re writing try not to use the same descriptive word twice as part of this exercise is to expand and stretch yourself.

For example instead of, “there’s mist among the trees,” you could write something like, “strands of mist clung to the trees wrapping them like a scarf against the morning chill.”

The first is simply tells, the second describes and hopefully is easier to picture.

Feel free to post your favorite snipets - the more we share the better we all become.

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I mentioned yesterday that I was going to start sharing my thoughts on the topic of improving your storytelling as a role-playing GM and the first item I want to share is you need to open a book.

Now before you go running off, I mean a reading book, not your gaming rulebooks, not the latest issue of your favorite gaming magazine or even the cheat book (you know you have them) for the latest game you’re playing on the console.

Most likely you’ve read Tolkien, probably Jordan (at least a few of the books) and maybe even Eddings, but when was the last time you cracked a fiction book? Or tried a new author? I was given one of the books in the Coldfire Triology by C. S. Friedman a few years back, an author I hadn’t read, and enjoyed it enough to buy the other two books in the series. Other series I’ve enjoyed (and I’ll admit to dating myself here) and continue to go back to are the Riftwar Saga books and the follow-ons by Raymond Feist and if you’d like something more modern with an occult slant the Adept series by Katherine Kurtz. I could go on for a while as I have a large reading library.

Why do I like these books? In each the author builds not only characters you can associate with but also settings (the backdrop) which are detailed enough so you can picture them. Both are key ingredients to becoming a better storyteller yourself.

My recommendation? Grab a reading book and spend at least 15 minutes a day reading it. While you’re enjoying the book be sure to take note of what you like about certain characters, the setting, the descriptions used and of course, items that you can pull and use in your own gaming - modified of course.

I’d would really like to know what you are reading - take a moment and post what the book is and what you like about it.

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