QUERYING YOUR PLAYERS

When you have presented the scene to the players it is time to find out what they want to do next (query them). The easiest way is to simply ask. “What do you want to do?” is a perfectly satisfactory way to begin eliciting the actions your players want to carry out. You are interested in two things in particular and, until you have them, you may need to ask a few clarifying questions.

Firstly you are interested in what the player wants to achieve – “get over the fence” – “convince the mayor to release the prisoners” – “smash the mind control device”.

Secondly, you are interested in how the player aims to achieve this – “using a rope and grappling hook” – “using threats and intimidation” – “hitting it with a hammer”.

Without both of these bits of information, it is impossible to adjudicate the outcome. Without both pieces of information, you will not be able to determine how to adjudicate the outcome.

You have to know how the player is going to attempt to get over a fence before you can call for the appropriate dice roll (or even decide if a dice roll is necessary). You have to know what the player is going to use the hammer for before you can decide whether the action is successful or not.

If the player is being ambiguous, keep asking questions until you are confident you know what they want to do and how they are going to go about doing it.

Don’t allow players to simply call for a skill check (e.g. “I want to roll my psychology skill”). Always explore further and determine what they hope to achieve and how they hope to achieve (e.g. “I want to determine if the Mayor is lying by closely watching his body language”). The players tell you what it is they want to do and how, but it is up to you to determine what skill check(s) may be involved.

There’s no hard and fast rule about who gets to go first declaring their actions in a game. You can simply go round the circle asking players to state their actions one at a time, or you can ask them according to some kind of marching order. You can deal with one group of players first, and then another. You can let players volunteer their actions on a first come – first served basis. In combat, the order is determined on the basis of an initiative roll. So long as everyone gets their say, it really doesn’t matter.

Don’t worry if players start to modify their actions in light of what the other players are doing, even after they have told you what they wish to do. No action is ever really set in concrete until the dice are rolled or you declare a result. Just keep going until everyone is satisfied that what they wish to achieve and how they wish to achieve it has been communicated and understood.

Generally speaking, you will want to resolve actions as soon as they are clearly identified rather than waiting for everyone at the table to state their actions before beginning adjudication.

ADJUDICATING ACTIONS

IS IT POSSIBLE?

Is the outcome that the player is looking for possible? The first thing to work out is whether, given the result of your query, the constraints of the world you are playing in, the action the player wishes to undertake is even possible. A lot of things impact this. Generally, you will want to err on the side of treating most actions as possible. The world of radio drama is (and I am aware of the irony of using this term) cinematic. This means that the action is heightened for greater excitement. Players can crash through glass windows without being cut to ribbons. They can swing on chandeliers without the apparatus giving way under their weight. They can smash a chair or bottle over the head of an opponent. All these things are actually fairly implausible in the real world but are commonplace in cinema and radio drama. Be careful to be consistent in the way you bring your world to life. If you decide magical fire can be put out, be consistent and don’t arbitrarily decide on another occasion that magical fire is magical and therefore can’t be put out.

Next, determine whether the method the player wishes to use could actually work. It might be possible to get across the chasm, but it may not be possible to simply jump it (a rope, bridge or other means may be required). If it is clear that the action being attempted, or the method the player chooses to use to attempt it, can’t possibly succeed then the action fails.

When an action the player is attempting is impossible, there is good reason to believe that a misunderstanding has occurred.

“I want to leap over the edge and attack the spear throwers in the riverbed.”

“You leap over the edge and are killed by the fall”.

“Wait, what? How big a drop is it?”

“Two hundred feet”.

“But I thought it was just a low embankment”.

Don’t let situations like the above happen. If a player attempts an impossible action, probe a bit further to make sure they understand why the situation is impossible.

“I want to leap over the edge and attack the spear throwers in the riverbed.”

“The embankment you are standing on is nearly 200 feet above them. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?

“What, no. I thought it was just a low embankment. I get my rifle out and sight it at one of the spear throwers who looks in charge”.

Sometimes a simple clarification is enough.

“I try to jump the chasm.”

“You can see that the chasm is too wide for that to be possible. You’ll need to find another way over”.

Sometimes the player doesn’t know an action is impossible because they have encountered something new. In such cases it is fine to play out the consequences, just make sure you explain the reason to the player.

“I try to put out the magical fire by smothering it with a blanket”.

“You try to smother the fire, but, try as you might, it keeps burning. The magical nature of the fire makes it impossible to smother.”

Regardless, if the goal or the method used to achieve it are impossible then the action fails.

CAN IT FAIL WITH CONSEQUENCE?

If the action that the player wishes to undertake (the result of your query) is possible, then you need to decide if there is a chance it can fail or not. Actions that are possible without any chance of failure just happen.

Actions which can be repeated indefinitely until they succeed (even if there is a chance of failure in any given attempt) also just happen. The exception to this is where the action that is repeated is likely to draw attention that will interrupt further attempts or where there is a specific time limit (ticking clock) in place.

For example, there is no reason you should ask players to continually attempt to open a door if there is nothing to stop them from eventually succeeding in opening it after repeated tries. In such a case the attempt should simply succeed. If however, a regular guard patrol is likely to interrupt them if they don’t succeed quickly, or if their chosen method of opening the door (say, breaking it down with an axe) is likely to attract unwanted attention, then there is a good reason to treat the attempt at the action (opening the door) as uncertain.

Once you know whether the action is uncertain and failure could occur, you need to determine whether there are significant consequences that follow from the failure. For example, leaping a pit that opens onto a 30-foot drop onto razor-sharp spikes has a significant consequence if the player fails. A leap across a pit that is only two feet deep and can be simply climbed out of on the other side with ease, has no significant consequence attached to it, even if the leap itself might prove unsuccessful.

Don’t call for a dice roll where there is no chance of failure, where repeated attempts can be undertaken freely without interruption, or where the failure is inconsequential. In any of these cases, the action should automatically succeed.

CONSEQUENCES

It’s only worth calling for a dice roll when there are consequences, so it is essential you have a clear idea of what those consequences will be before you call for a roll.

Sometimes the consequences of success and failure are obvious. “You negotiate for a good price on the shotgun and manage to get it for way under cost.” “You fire your rifle at the villain and miss”.

At other times you will want to have consequences that are dependent on the extent of the success or failure. In this game, this is determined by the use of a consequence roll. The consequence roll for a success is the difference between uncovering all the information you were looking for and getting some nice hints. The consequence of a failure is the difference between simply being unable to open the door, and tripping the silent alarm, or bringing the automated countermeasures online. Beware, however, of ridiculous consequences. Remember that, in as much as the guideline is important for player actions and reactions, it is equally important when considering the behavior of a piece of the world (a non-player character, item, or element within your world) that you determine whether the action being taken is possible. You may be tempted to treat a catastrophic consequence roll in such a way that it results in a particularly humorous or ludicrous result, but, if the result you determine is impossible, it will break the verisimilitude of your world. Don’t do this.

The consequences of an action, whether successful or not, alter the world in some significant way. They can be immediate or long term with regard to how the players experience them.

Consequences are usually attendant on the method used by the players to achieve the goal. Smashing a door down, rather than picking the lock, is noisy and may alert guards or the inhabitants of the room being entered etc. (an immediate consequence). Threatening a well-liked shopkeeper to get information might result in the animosity of the town’s entire Chamber of Commerce, making future interactions very difficult (a longer term consequence).

Successful actions can have negative consequences and failures can be beneficial. Threatening the shopkeeper can gather the information being sought but makes it more difficult to gain cooperation elsewhere in town. Failing to pick the lock may mean the guards remain unaware of the players’ presence in the complex.

The important thing is that you have decided on the consequences and that they flow from the method used by the players to achieve their goals.

Tip: It can be useful to think of outcomes in terms of, what some people refer to as, a hierarchy of consequences;

• Yes, and: the action succeeds and a positive consequence applies.
• Yes, but: the action succeeds and a negative consequence applies.
• No, and : the action fails and a negative consequence applies.
• No, but : the action fails and a positive consequence applies.

DOES THE ACTION NEED TO BE BROKEN DOWN INTO SUB-ACTIONS?

Actions are generally simple – fire a gun, jump a crevice, climb a wall, throw a punch. As such they don’t take much time. In combat, this is built into the system. Sometimes, however, it is tempting to break the action down into a number of dice rolls. While this is perfectly allowable, I would recommend against it most of the time. If the player expresses what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it, you should only need a single dice roll to resolve it. However, if you feel the action being attempted is complex you can break it down into multiple actions.

For example, the player might say they wish to fire on the enemy from the cover of a nearby cliff. It would be perfectly reasonable to ask how they wish to reach that cover (as an action) before resolving the shot (in the next round if reaching the cliff is successful).

When a declared action is more of a process made up of smaller actions, work backward from the goal to arrive at each of the steps;

Fire on the enemy <— Get behind cover <— Climb to the ledge <— Run to the cliff wall.

Clearly communicate the steps you believe must be completed to achieve the goal to the player. It is possible they expected the action to be much simpler and may wish to alter their declaration accordingly. That is fine and the player should be allowed to change their action. No action is set in stone until the dice are rolled. And no player should ever be forced to undertake an action that was not genuinely their intent.

Successes here count as progress towards the goal. Failures interrupt that progress and demand that the player adjust either the method they are using or the goal itself.

Remember there should be consequences attendant on success or failure, otherwise, the step should be treated as an automatic success (or possibly shouldn’t exist at all).

If the player who wishes to do fire from the cliff-face is setting up an ambush and there are no opponents or other reasons why they are likely to be interrupted, then the process of getting into position on the ledge should probably be treated as a simple action with an automatic success. If, however, there are obstacles in the way or the scene is dynamic and changing in such a way that new factors are constantly intruding upon the action (lava is flowing across the floor, or a pitched battle is occurring in the space the player must cross), or the enemy is approaching such that getting into position is a race against time, then treating the action as a process requiring multiple dice rolls with consequences attendant on each success or failure is totally appropriate.

HOW HARD IS THE ACTION?

Generally speaking, most attempted actions can be assumed to be easy. That is, while it is possible to fail at them, they can be attempted and completed by anyone.

Player characters within the world of radio are considered to be exceptional by default and so they attempt most actions with their action-bonuses unaffected.

Despite this, even actions deemed possible by the GM can vary in terms of their difficulty. Difficult actions are harder to complete and attract a penalty to dice rolls (applied after any other bonuses have been added).

There are a total of 11 grades of difficulty that can be applied to actions. Most of the time, actions are standard and require little effort to identify, but sometimes you may want to think a bit more deeply about the level of challenge that the action your players wish to undertake presents.

Below is a chart that can be used as a guide to the penalties to be applied for different levels of challenge.

The chart isn’t exhaustive, but merely a guide. You will have to estimate the amount of challenge that different activities present – BUT if you define the majority of challenges as easy, then you won’t go too far wrong.

Easy: This action can be completed by anyone (running, playing chess etc.): no penalty.

Standard: A typical physical or mental challenge (outrunning pursuit, solving a logic puzzle): – 1 to dice rolls.

Difficult: All difficult physical or mental challenges (winning a championship sprint, beating a chess champion): -2 to dice rolls.

Challenging: Some very difficult physical or mental challenges (placing in an Olympic sprint, achieving grandmaster rank in chess) : -3 to dice rolls.

Very Difficult (levels 1 to 3): All very difficult physical or mental challenges (winning an Olympic sprint, beating the world champion at chess): from -4 to -6 to dice rolls.

Extreme (levels 1 to 3): Some extreme physical or mental challenges (winning an Olympic sprint by half the length of the field, beating the world champion at chess in the minimum possible moves while blindfolded): from -7 to -9 to dice rolls.

Titanic: All extreme physical or mental challenges (outrunning, on foot, a car full of Tommy-gun wielding gangsters while snatching bullets out of the air with your bare hands, beating 5 grandmasters at chess while blindfolded and at the same time deciphering an alien language): -10 to dice rolls.

PASSIVE SKILLS

One class of skills requires some special explanation. These have come to be known as passive skills and relate to things the characters passively know already rather than actively learn. The characters that the players assume for the purposes of the game often know things the players themselves do not. A player might play a chemist with a grasp of six languages and the ability to differentiate seventeen different types of tobacco ash even though in the real world he or she never engages in science, can barely speak the mother tongue, and doesn’t smoke. When such a player encounters a letter written in French it is typical to ask for a skill roll to determine if it can be read. However, you might want to handle it quite differently. You wouldn’t ask players to roll the dice to determine if they can read their mother tongue (it is assumed they can), neither does it make sense to call for a roll of the dice to determine whether they know things they have already learned as part and parcel of gaining a particular skill – and a dice roll always impedes the flow of the story. Instead, you might rather assign the knowledge a specific difficulty (from 0 to 10 based on how common or archaic the dialect etc.). On the basis of the character’s skill in French, as represented by the number of dots they have put into the skill, you can determine whether they can read the letter simply be comparing their skill with that of the difficulty you have assigned to it. So long as you have the characters’ ability scores written down in front of you, there is no need to roll the dice.

Likewise, on entering a location, you could call for a perception roll to uncover anything the players notice that is out of the ordinary. Alternatively, you could simply compare the players’ perception skill to a predetermined difficulty score in order to determine what they see. What they see could then be incorporated into the scene setting exposition without the need for a dice roll.

WHAT SKILL WILL THE PLAYER NEED TO EMPLOY TO COMPLETE THE ACTION?

You should make sure you have a list of the players’ skills and abilities in front of you throughout the game. Because players invent their own skills (if you are not using pre-generated characters) it is essential you know what they are and how they work. It is also important that you have discussed them (and their limitations) with your players prior to play.

Most of the time, the skill needed to accomplish an action will be fairly obvious. In fact, characters in a game set in the world of radio drama are assumed to be able to do most things unless they require specialist training, even if they haven’t listed those things as specific skills. All characters can, for example, try to pick a lock, hot-wire a car, or improvise a bow and arrow. If they haven’t listed such a skill then simply assume they can attempt it as if they have a single dot in it.

Skills that require specific and lengthy training need to be listed specifically if they are to be attempted. While anyone can be expected to know how to maintain a car, and while heroes in the world of radio drama can be expected to be able to conduct basic repairs (at one dot), they probably can’t build a car from the ground up using parts found at the scrap yard without a suitable skill being explicitly listed on their character sheet.

Part of determining whether the action is possible is figuring out whether the character wanting to take the action actually has the skill to accomplish it. You should already know if the action is possible, if the skill is one the character can use, and, where the skill is not part of the character’s explicit skill list, how difficult it is.

But what if there is more than one relevant skill to choose from? In this case, choose the skill that will give the player the highest chance of success. In deciding to call for a dice roll you should always err in the character’s favor.

Sometimes a player will suggest a skill they wish to use. This is okay, in so far as it goes, but ultimately it is your role as the GM to decide which skill is the most appropriate to be used to achieve a specific goal via a specific method. If the player says “can I make a perception check to see if there are any hidden compartments in the cupboard?” they’ve indicated the goal (find hidden compartments) but not really a method of achieving the goal. By asking what method the player wants to use (“I smash it open with an ax”) you can assess whether the dice roll they wish to use is appropriate or not – “Okay, I don’t think perception is what you want here, roll the dice using your ax-manship skill”.

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

The post Advanced Play – Part 2 – Chapter 3 – HYOOTRD RPG GM’s GUIDE appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.

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.

1. It has to gather the adventurers together.
2. It has to provide the goal of the adventure.
3. It has to provide a reason for pursuing that goal.
4. 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.

1. General description (A twilit lounge room in an abandoned house)
2. Incidental details (Heavy dust, and faded and torn wallpaper,)
3. Exits (A door leading to a hallway)
4. Goal (A door leading to the stairs leading to the attic)
5. Items of interest (A locked desk, a lop-sided painting, a rug with a corner turned up, and a walk-in-cupboard – currently closed)
6. 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

The post Advanced Play – Part 1 – Chapter 3 – HYOOTRD RPG GM’s GUIDE appeared first on Host Your Own Old Time Radio Drama.