Advanced Play – Part 1
Preparing for the Game
Being prepared (preparing) is the key to running a good game.
Select a game that is appropriate for your group. Is your group made up of seasoned adventurers who are committed to long-term gaming? You may want to open a campaign. Is your group made up of newcomers who are just learning how to play for the first time? You may want to select a “dungeon crawl” style of game to get things going. Are your gamers hard pressed to find time for gaming? You may want to choose one-shot episodic games that people can plug themselves into as their schedules allow. Remember, your job is to provide a fun experience for your players, so choose with them in mind.
Be sure you have carefully read over your game notes (even if it is the sample game that came with this book). You will certainly be forced to think on your feet at times during the game and knowing your notes well is what will get you through those moments. Ensure you have any maps, handouts, and reference sheets ready before your players arrive.
Make sure you have a space ready for the game; table, chairs to comfortably seat your players, paper and pencils, dice (if your players don’t have their own), and, if running a game for the first time, some pre-generated characters for them to choose from.
It’s also helpful to have some drinks and nibbles (chips, chocolates, what have you) on hand to help break the ice.
Don’t be too quick to start the game (especially if the group is new). Allow people a bit of time to get to know one another, catch up on news, and generally chat. When your newest player is making jokes and looking relaxed, that’s when you are ready to start the game.
If it is your first game together, have everyone go around the table and introduce their characters. Start with the most experienced players and ask each to briefly introduce their character’s name and a little bit about themselves.
Eg. “I’m ‘Texas’ Tim Hampton, and I’m a two-fisted archaeology professor who likes to solve problems with his fists, whip, and six-shooter” or “I’m Professor Thadeus Observer, an elderly inventor who would prefer to spend all my time in my library if it weren’t for the fact that I am constantly being called on to participate in various adventures” etc.
Now it’s time to start. Set the scene and let the fun begin.
INTRODUCING THE GAME – THE OPENING SCENE
Let’s start by looking at the skill of introducing a game to your players. You’ve gathered a group of players at your table, given out or generated some characters, and made sure you know the scenario/module that you wish to run. What next?
Well, now you have to begin the story and that means you need to narrate the opening scene.
According to the very brilliant Scott Rehm (one of the go-to people in gaming for advice on running games), the opening scene has to accomplish four things.
- It has to gather the adventurers together.
- It has to provide the goal of the adventure.
- It has to provide a reason for pursuing that goal.
- And it has to provide the players with some clearly marked exits out of the scene and into whatever scenes come next.
Gathering the adventurers
This is only necessary the very first time a group of characters comes together. In future games, they will have a history, but in the first game, they need to be introduced to one another. If you have engaged in character generation via the rules in our Players’ Guide then the characters will already know each other and have an imagined history in the world. Let the players introduce themselves to each other (a sentence or two, that describes the character and their connection to the group will do). Now they must be provided with a reason to meet. That reason tends to be one of only a handful that is commonly presented.
The players are presented with the adventure at the request of a third party – they are hired to complete a mission, they are given a mission by an authority that they can’t or generally won’t refuse, a bystander requests that they complete the mission – or the mission is requested by a member of the group – a member of the group has asked everyone to gather to help accomplish a particular goal.
Regardless of the reason chosen for gathering the players, the scene begins with that gathering, and the reason for it needs to be communicated (quick and to the point is best). Once the characters know that they have been gathered by the League of Adventure Seekers in order to take on a special mission, or that the mayor has requested a meeting with them, or that Wild Bill Buckshot (a member of their team) needs some assistance, it’s time to tell them the goal.
It’s worth pointing out, here, that in the setting we have built for this game, we suggest that all player characters should be members of the League of Adventure Seekers. The League is committed to saving the world from all manner of threats (mundane, supernatural, or even alien) and provides a great in-world means for assigning missions to your team.
The adventure’s goal
The goal of the adventure is the measurement that the players will use to know whether they have “won” or not. When the players can say “I know we’ll have succeeded when…” and can complete that sentence, then they know what the adventure’s goal is. If they have no clear idea of when the adventure will be over, then they don’t understand the adventure’s goal. Again, quick and to the point is best.
“The mayor informs you that his daughter has been kidnapped and asks that you rescue her.” “The League has received solid information that the Sky Pirates of Languedoc intend to reign fiery death upon the city of Paris and must be stopped.”
“Wild Bill Buckshot has come into possession of a treasure map and wants your help in recovering the valuables.”
“General Wexford offers you $5000.00 each if you will travel to an Amazonian plateau and return with a live Pterodactyl.” Etc.
In each of these cases, the goal identifies a victory and defeat condition for the game.
To win the mayor’s daughter must be returned safely, Paris must not be destroyed, the treasure must be recovered, or a Pterodactyl must be captured and returned to civilization. To lose the group must simply fail to rescue the mayor’s daughter, Paris must burn, the treasure must be lost, or the expedition must return empty-handed.
It’s okay for the initial goal of the adventure to change later on as the story develops. But for now, in order to get the game underway properly, a goal (even a temporary one) MUST be communicated.
Motivations
The opening scene needs to provide motivation for the characters. There are two sets of motivation that you need to be concerned with when beginning the adventure; the motivation of the characters, and the motivation of the players. Of the two, the players’ motivations are the more important. Players will always drag their characters along with an adventure if they find the adventure motivating regardless of how motivating (or otherwise) they feel the adventure is for their characters. As such the opening scene needs to present the players and their characters with both a reason why the characters would want to pursue the goal and why the players would want to play the pursuit of the goal. This reason is always the thing that is most cool about the adventure, the promise regarding what the adventure will give the players and their characters.
Characters are motivated by three things; external rewards, ideals, and internal rewards. External rewards are things like money, treasures, fame, artifacts, etc. Ideals are abstract notions such as justice, kindness, fair play, world peace, etc. Internal rewards are concerned with self-actualization – becoming the world’s greatest swordsman, or mastering a skill etc.
Generally speaking, it is better to observe what a player (and by extension the character being played) does during play than listen to what a player says about what motivates them.
Players tend to be motivated by challenge, discovery, immersion, story, and clear (achievable) objectives.
Challenge refers to difficulty. Some players are never so happy as when they are facing difficulties, solving problems, or defeating challenges.
Discovery is provided through a sense of mystery and the presentation of the unknown.
Immersion occurs when players can enter into the world of the game, in character, and make meaningful choices within it.
A story is motivating when it is well structured with a clear and satisfying beginning, middle, and end.
And of course, the presence of clear and achievable objectives also motivates the players.
The last three motivations (immersion, story, and clear and achievable objectives) are part of the natural promise of a role-playing game and don’t need to be labored particularly.
You also don’t need to present players and their characters with every type of motivation in the opening scene of your game, but you do need to present and emphasize the major motivating factors.
The Sky Pirates of Languedoc are a challenging foe (challenge) who threaten the peace and safety of the world (ideals).
The hunt for the Pterodactyl requires an expedition into the unknown (discovery) in order to bring back a prize (external reward).
The recovery of the mayor’s daughter will require the solving of the mystery of her disappearance (discovery) and the honing of the group’s investigative abilities (internal reward).
The treasure hunt promises riches (external reward) but another unscrupulous expedition has already set out to recover it (challenge).
Try to remember that your sales pitch for the game (and that is what the motivation is – a sales pitch) doesn’t have to be long. A sentence or two is fine.
Exits
Once the players know what they are trying to achieve and why they are trying to achieve it, you need to give them some clearly marked exits out of the scene and into the game proper. Essentially, when the scene is over the players should know what their options are regarding where to go next. These options will, by their nature, not be exhaustive, but they should, regardless, be obvious and clearly communicated.
“General Wexford has chartered a boat to take you up the Amazon, leaving early tomorrow morning. You now have eight hours to engage in any research you feel is necessary or gather any equipment you wish to take along before meeting at the docks at 7.00 am.”
“The mayor offers you direct access to the crime scene and explains that the files of the investigating police officers are at your disposal”
“The informant who contacted the League about the sky-pirates is a member of a black market smuggling ring with contacts in the underworld. In particular, she may be able to point you to anarchists and bomb makers who are supplying the pirates with their explosives.”
“The treasure map suggests there are clues to be found to the treasure’s exact location at the Castle of Greymalkin, and at a ring of standing stones located in Sherwood Forest.”
In conclusion…
The opening scene, as a scene, can also pull “double duty” allowing exploration, interaction, exposition etc. (see later). The scene can be framed as an action scene, or as a mission briefing, or as a mystery or as a dramatic scene containing character choices etc. The important thing, however, is that the scene explicitly and clearly accomplishes the four goals listed above and that it is short and to the point so that players can get on with the fun stuff of playing the game.
Tip: When you are preparing the opening of your game, jot down the reason for gathering, goal, motivation, and exits related to the first scene. If you are using a published module and it is missing any of these elements, invent and record them.
Eg.
Reason for gathering – General Wexford has invited you to his club in order to make a business proposal.
Goal – He is offering $5000.00 each as a reward for traveling to an Amazonian plateau and capturing a live Pterodactyl.
Motivation – If you go you will be the first to explore this mysterious region. Fame, fortune, and adventure will be yours. It is not without challenge, however, as a rival expedition has already set out.
Exits – Wexford is placing his personal library at your disposal for the undertaking of any research you might desire, but points out that he has chartered a boat to leave at 7.00 am tomorrow morning. You may now engage in research, gather equipment you wish to take on the journey, or simply get a good night’s sleep, so long as you are on the dock at 7.00 am sharp.
NARRATION
As noted earlier, narration (telling your players about stuff) is one of the essential skills of being a Game Master. Essentially narration, while playing a role in setting the mood, tone, and pace of a scene, concerns itself with communicating important information to the players.
INFORMATION CATEGORIES
There are a number of different types of information that you will want to take note of in your preparation, broken into two categories.
Obvious information – by obvious information, we mean, things that players and their characters would notice as a matter of course; things which have not been deliberately hidden from view.
Hidden information – this is information that is either deliberately or incidentally hidden from view. Deliberately hidden information may be behind a secret door, under a floorboard, or within a secret compartment. Incidentally, hidden information may simply be inside a box or cupboard. Hidden information can be found when someone looks for or examines the items in which it is contained.
EXPOSITION
Exposition is the basic means used by the GM to tell players the information that is available to them in the scene.
This information could be essential for the completing the adventure, or details within the scene, or backstory, or perhaps even information that foreshadows later parts of the story. As noted above the information may be obvious or hidden.
There are generally two points at which you are engaged in exposition. When setting the scene, and when describing what the characters find in response to exploration, investigation, and examination.
Generally speaking, when you are engaged in exposition you want to communicate the information that the players cannot be allowed to miss. You must provide everything they need to know. To do this you have to understand the nature of the information in the scene. Some published materials break this down for you nicely, but many don’t.
SCENE SETTING
Scene setting is something that can cause even the most attentive of players to lose concentration and drift off. As such it must concern itself with concise, clear, and economical communication of information.
Aim to be brief, don’t use complex language and keep the details provided to no more than three or four.
The imagination of your players is your ally in this. You don’t have to provide a great amount of detail because your players cooperate with you in constructing the world. When the GM says that “upon a hill stood a tall fir tree” the players fill in all that is absent. They don’t merely imagine the tree and hill but the sky and the surrounding atmosphere, clouds, time of day, shadows, grass, dirt, etc.
Narration is used to set the scene, transition from one scene to another, and provide exposition.
When setting the scene you need to provide the players with the scene’s goal, the obstacle(s) in the scene, and information about any exits and objects within the scene to be investigated. Ideally, you should aim to accomplish this in just a handful of sentences.
Start with the general location. Be brief and leave plenty of room for the players’ imaginations. Add a detail or two that help establish the mood and then identify any exits/ways to leave, goals, and obstacles that are part of the scene. It is best to FINISH with the element of the scene that demands the most urgent attention. Players have a tendency to stop listening once presented with a serious challenge, so it is always best to finish with the most urgent matter (in order to make sure it isn’t lost on your group).
Every scene (even an exploratory one) should have a clearly identified dramatic question associated with it. This is a question that motivates the players’ interaction with the scene. In general terms, it is the question “can the players achieve their immediate objective?”
In each scene, this takes a different specific form.
“Can the players find any useful information in the ransacked room?”
“Can the players sneak past the guardian robots?”
“Can the players defeat the wolves that are attacking them?”
Sometimes there are further complicating factors as well.
“Can the players open the door before the room fills entirely with water?”
“Can the players expose the villain while keeping their own identities secret?”
Regardless, the dramatic question is always the players’ immediate objective rephrased as a yes/no question.
The dramatic question that drives the scene is important to know and to communicate to the players as it is your key benchmark for determining when a scene is over. Be aware also, that the dramatic question may not be immediately evident during the setting of the scene. Sometimes it won’t solidify until you have asked the players what it is they are attempting to do, why, and how.
Scene setting is a call to action so be sure the problem to be solved is clearly communicated.
Here’s a quick model.
- General description (A twilit lounge room in an abandoned house)
- Incidental details (Heavy dust, and faded and torn wallpaper,)
- Exits (A door leading to a hallway)
- Goal (A door leading to the stairs leading to the attic)
- Items of interest (A locked desk, a lop-sided painting, a rug with a corner turned up, and a walk-in-cupboard – currently closed)
- Closing emergency/obstacle/dramatic question (An angry specter materializes)
TIP: Use these headings to organize what you are going to say when you introduce a new scene.
TIP: Try to use words in your descriptions that activate at least three senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, even taste if appropriate). These can help your players become immersed in the setting.
E.g. You enter a twilit lounge room, the floor-boards creaking (sound) under your weight. It is covered in heavy dust and has the musty odor (smell) of a place long abandoned. The rough (touch) patterned wallpaper (once vibrant and full of color) has faded (sight) and is peeling away in jagged (touch) strips.
TIP: While it is generally important for a scene to contain an obstacle to be overcome, not every location in a game needs to be a scene in that sense. Locations can provide a point in which the players can rest and take a breath. Try to avoid providing too many general purpose locations, though.
EXPLORATION
Exploration reveals hidden information that can then be revealed to the players. The list of ingredients for a potion that is hidden within a cardboard box lying in the corner of the room can’t be revealed until a player deliberately chooses to examine the box. All information revealed through exploration is intrinsically missable.
If a module has not been designed well, it is occasionally the case that essential information has been hidden from the players. In such cases, you will need to identify that information and place it where it can be revealed as part of the exposition. For example, if the construction of the chemical compound is essential to the solution of the game, but the recipe has been hidden in a cupboard that could easily be missed by the players, you may want to include the list of ingredients as part of the scene’s exposition. Simply change its location so that when the players enter the room they are told they can see a list of chemical ingredients lying on the desk nearby.
INFORMATION TYPES
There are several types of information to be managed within the game
Mandatory information – this is the information that is essential to the running of the game; a clear picture of the goal of the game, the motivation the characters have for taking part, the obvious exits from any given scene, and any obvious information that helps explain the game or things within it. This information should never be hidden from players. Players must also learn the objectives they must meet along the way in order to achieve their goal and the means required to achieve them. Unlike initial scene setting information (that appears at the start of the game), this is information that is seeded throughout the game itself and should be communicated as each relevant scene is introduced.
Assistive information – this is (optional) information that aids in the completion of the game’s objectives. The information can be obvious or hidden but isn’t essential (at least not in any one place). This kind of information is usually seeded throughout the game in the form of clues. A good game will usually scatter (at a minimum) three clues for every conclusion the players are expected to reach. The players are usually called upon to assemble the clues in order to find the right answer. For example, a room might contain three doors above which may be affixed three plaques covered in writing in a strange language. All are locked, two lead to certain death, and one leads to safety. Elsewhere in the complex is an alphabet (the key to understanding the writing), a key to the door leading to safety, and a device that reveals danger. When the device is used the deadly doors glow a cold blue. The key only opens the safe door (and shocks the user if applied to the others). And the Alphabet deciphers the plaques to reveal which is the exit. It is not necessary to find any of these clued (since breaking down each of the doors will reveal the exit) but the clues will make finding the exit far easier.
Background information – this is information that reveals about the events, location, or characters involved in the story. They include things such as the police report on the victims of a crime, the Who’s Who extract concerning a particular politician, the engraving on the temple wall that explains how and why it was built, etc.
Foreshadowing information – information that hints at or tells of a future event that the characters may encounter. It may not be relevant to the game at hand, but it can help set up future scenes and games.
TIP: While you can write out the information in a scene under the headings above, it might be simpler to highlight or underline the information using different colored highlighters or pens to indicate the different information types.
ROLEPLAYING
Acting is not roleplaying. It’ can be an optional part of roleplaying. But it should never be mistaken for an essential part.
Roleplaying is putting yourself in the place of a character and trying to act and react as they would to the situations you are presented with. The GM has to be a role player because the GM stands in for every non-player character in the player’s world.
Acting is a unique talent involving a specific set of skills. Some GMs have them. Some don’t. If you don’t, that’s fine. You don’t have to act to role-play. It really doesn’t matter if you can speak for the characters you play in the first person or the third person. So long as you can imagine what a specific character would do in a specific situation and can communicate that to your players accurately, the lack of acting skill won’t matter.
Clarity is more important than acting.
That said, it is helpful to learn to speak in character and out of character. Some of your players will do this (eg. “I walk up to the bar. Can I have a pint of ale, bartender?”) and some will simply describe what they are doing (e.g.. “I walk up to the bar and ask for a pint of ale.”) and some will alternate between the two.
If you can master this particular ability you will be able to respond to your players in the same mode that they seek to interact with you.
Be natural, even when playing a role. Use the non-player characters that you are running to ask questions of the players when things seem unclear. Use your non-player characters to provide the players with information that can help them. Don’t be afraid to throw in a few leading questions that might lead the players to the next step in their quest etc. If your players throw a question or comment at you that leaves you uncertain how to respond, let your character react as you would. Take a moment to think, stroke your chin, scratch your head, say “hmmm” etc. Just do it in the way your character might.
Tip: To bring your characters to life it can be helpful to write short descriptions of your non-player characters to help guide your performance.
Make sure you know the non-player character’s goal in any scene they are a part of. That goal can be “to get home quickly after a grueling day in the market” or it can be “to kill as many people as possible”. But a goal is needed in order to guide your actions.
You should also give the character a disposition (a reason why the character would want to cooperate with the players and a reason that they would not want to cooperate). For example, the barfly might “want to see the murderer of Katie Blossom brought to justice” but might also “mistrust anyone who won’t have a drink with him”.
Identify a word or phrase that describes their personality (surly, obsequious, fawning, cheerful, brave, stupid, etc.)
Describe one or two distinctive features of their appearance (short, tall, thin, fat, a scar over one eye, a taste for the latest fashions, covered in ashes, etc.)
Give the character a posture or expression. Stooped, straight-backed, nose up, a squint, leering, frowning etc. When you adopt the posture it will help remind you to stay in character.
Give the character a quirk – some kind of habitual physical behavior or twitch. They might always lean in conspiratorially when talking with a player. Their eyes might dart around, constantly looking for danger. They might steeple their hands or fiddle nervously with their hair, etc.
Also give the character a good pause behaviour (to indicate they are in thought), like turning their head to gaze away, looking up and to the left while saying “indeed”, etc. (handy for dealing with those moments where the players ask a question and you need time to think before you respond).
Tip: You can fit all these details on an index card.
Eg.
Name: “Thieving” Nigel Skrat
Goal: To get home after a hard day of picking pockets.
Disposition: Willing to help when there is something in it for him. Generally doesn’t want to get involved in situations.
Personality: Snide, cowardly
Posture: Stooped, furtive, frowning
Quirk: Quick movements, darting eyes, says “yeah” before answering each question (even when the answer is “no”.
Appearance: Ratlike, tatty grey clothes, crumpled hat
Pause indicator: Clicks tongue and eyes dart to upper right.
This volume relies heavily on the work of Scott Rehm, Justin Alexander, Brian Christopher Misiaszek, Mike Bourke, Blair Ramage, Saxon Brenton, Robin Laws, John Wick, Wolfgang Baur, Ken Hite, Monte Cooke, Kevin Crawford, Phil Vecchione, and Walt Ciechanowski.
This chapter of the Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama RPG and all associated content (except where noted above) is © copyright weirdworldstudios.com and Philip Craig Robotham 2016 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written permission of the author.
HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Game Master’s Guide – Part 1 – Running a Game
- Chapter 1: The Job of the GM (gathering a table, player types, and ensuring fun)
- Chapter 2: Preliminaries (the three fundamental skills, and your first session)
- Chapter 3: Advanced skills – Part 1 (the opening scene and narration)
- Chapter 3: Advanced skills – Part 2 (querying and adjudication)
- Chapter 3: Advanced skills – Part 3 (resolving actions, managing tropes, transitioning, concluding, and preparing future sessions)
- Chapter 4: Managing the Mini-Games (combat, chases, and social actions)
- Chapter 5: Maintaining Pace and Tone (managing time and policing the tone)
- Chapter 6: Improvising (improvising the story and the rules – for all the times the players do something unexpected)
- Chapter 7 & 8: Getting Feedback and Conclusion (improving your game)
HYOOTRD Roleplaying Game – Game Master’s Guide – Part 2 – Designing Games
- Chapter 9: Scene Design
- Chapter 10: NPC, Monster, Faction, and Villain Design
- Chapter 11: Dilemmas, Obstacles, Exits, and Clues
- Chapter 12: Plot (scenario, sandbox, critical path, and the interaction between story and choice)
- Chapter 13: Structures: The five-room dungeon (and variations)
- Chapter 14: Structures: The sandbox (the town or city)
- Chapter 15: Structures: The sandbox (the wilderness)
- Chapter 16: Structures: The Scenario
- Chapter 17: Structures: The Campaign
