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Let's Read Sword World 2.5!
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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 8792653" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>I've mentioned this before, but historically, playing an ongoing campaign over weekly sessions has not been the usual mode of play for Japanese TRPG players, outside of university clubs. Small apartments with thin walls are not conducive to having 4, 5 or more players over. Even if someone should have a house, actually visiting someone at their house was not something undertaken lightly, and people did not generally hold parties in their homes. Another issue has been work schedules. Even if you were technically supposed to off at 5 or 6 PM, overtime was often expected, or could be suddenly required. All the above is a little better these days, but were particularly an issue in the late 80s and 90s when the Japanese TRPG culture matured. The standard way to play then, was to rent a space, typically at a community center, for about six hours, and try to get all your playing in once a month.</p><p></p><p>This is all to say, the playstyle of the majority of players is one-shots. Adventures that begin and end in one session. And that is the playstyle that the Sword World 2.5 describes and teaches in the <strong>Game Master</strong> chapter. So if it seems like the advice is to railroad the players, that's because the expectation is that a GM will prepare an adventure that has a beginning, middle, and end that can be reached in one session, two at the most. Progression of the adventure is an idea that comes up often.</p><p></p><p>The chapter begins by listing the <strong>roles of the GM</strong>:</p><p>Prepare the "scenario. "Scenario" is the term for what we typically call an "adventure".</p><p>Understand the rules and the world. For rules, at the very least, the rules for action checks and combat.</p><p>Answer the player's questions.</p><p>Share their image with the players. This is advice to carefully describe things so that the GM and players are on the same page. Visual aids are also recommended.</p><p>Keep attention on the session. This is advice to keep the game on track, and not get caught up in unrelated digressions.</p><p></p><p>The next section is called <strong>the Session</strong>. This is defined as, "represents a single unit of time in which SW2.5 is played. The characters of the adventurers playing one scenario from beginning to end is called 'playing a session.'" Thus, a session is one scenario, from beginning to end. The process is laid out as follows:</p><p><strong>Preparing for the session: </strong>Before the session, the player prepare their characters, and the GM prepares the scenario. The GM can even have the characters made beforehand and prepare the scenario to fit those characters. A campaign, then, is defined as playing multiple consecutive sessions with the same characters. I would suggest that this differs a bit from our typical conception of a campaign!</p><p></p><p><strong>Running the session:</strong></p><p><em>Begin the session</em>: The session is commenced by the GM declaring, "Now we'll start the session." The GM explains the background, and the players introduce their characters. They suggest that the GM take notes on the characters Skill Package levels and maximum HP.</p><p></p><p><em>Introducing the scenario</em>: Here the GM describes the original set-up that leads into the main part of the scenario. The important thing here is to clearly communicate the scenario's goals, and smoothly transition into the main part.</p><p></p><p><em>Progress through the main part of the scenario</em>: Here the players have the freedom to say and do what they want, and the GM listens and responds. However, if the players want to take actions that go against the main idea of the scenario, the GM should softly advise or induce them to get back on the main thread, while also respecting their agency. Or, if the unexpected turn of events look even more interesting, the GM can adjust the scenario on the fly.</p><p></p><p><em>Produce the climax</em>: The GM should put effort into creating an exciting climax that's the highlight of the session. They recommend using enemy or enemies that the PCs can just barely beat, to give the climax tension. If the GM is worried about balance, the book recommends that they run a mock battle on their own ahead of time. Which...you know, I don't think I've ever seen that recommended before.</p><p></p><p><em>Concluding the scenario</em>: With the goals of the scenario accomplished, the session is concluded. It might be a good for the GM to provide a small coda or epilogue. The PCs are given their XP and rewards. The book recommends the GM and players discuss the session, and exchange their thoughts. Knowing what the players felt during the session will be of reference for making future scenarios, and if the session is part of a campaign, can provide hints for future developments.</p><p></p><p>There is not much more in the book in terms of advice or procedures for creating a scenario, other than the sample scenario included later. The Starter Sets are much better in teaching this through the scenarios they include, and replays also demonstrate this. Next time, before looking at <strong>Playing NPCs and Monsters</strong>, we'll take a look at the kind of scenarios these provide.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 8792653, member: 6680772"] I've mentioned this before, but historically, playing an ongoing campaign over weekly sessions has not been the usual mode of play for Japanese TRPG players, outside of university clubs. Small apartments with thin walls are not conducive to having 4, 5 or more players over. Even if someone should have a house, actually visiting someone at their house was not something undertaken lightly, and people did not generally hold parties in their homes. Another issue has been work schedules. Even if you were technically supposed to off at 5 or 6 PM, overtime was often expected, or could be suddenly required. All the above is a little better these days, but were particularly an issue in the late 80s and 90s when the Japanese TRPG culture matured. The standard way to play then, was to rent a space, typically at a community center, for about six hours, and try to get all your playing in once a month. This is all to say, the playstyle of the majority of players is one-shots. Adventures that begin and end in one session. And that is the playstyle that the Sword World 2.5 describes and teaches in the [B]Game Master[/B] chapter. So if it seems like the advice is to railroad the players, that's because the expectation is that a GM will prepare an adventure that has a beginning, middle, and end that can be reached in one session, two at the most. Progression of the adventure is an idea that comes up often. The chapter begins by listing the [B]roles of the GM[/B]: Prepare the "scenario. "Scenario" is the term for what we typically call an "adventure". Understand the rules and the world. For rules, at the very least, the rules for action checks and combat. Answer the player's questions. Share their image with the players. This is advice to carefully describe things so that the GM and players are on the same page. Visual aids are also recommended. Keep attention on the session. This is advice to keep the game on track, and not get caught up in unrelated digressions. The next section is called [B]the Session[/B]. This is defined as, "represents a single unit of time in which SW2.5 is played. The characters of the adventurers playing one scenario from beginning to end is called 'playing a session.'" Thus, a session is one scenario, from beginning to end. The process is laid out as follows: [B]Preparing for the session: [/B]Before the session, the player prepare their characters, and the GM prepares the scenario. The GM can even have the characters made beforehand and prepare the scenario to fit those characters. A campaign, then, is defined as playing multiple consecutive sessions with the same characters. I would suggest that this differs a bit from our typical conception of a campaign! [B]Running the session:[/B] [I]Begin the session[/I]: The session is commenced by the GM declaring, "Now we'll start the session." The GM explains the background, and the players introduce their characters. They suggest that the GM take notes on the characters Skill Package levels and maximum HP. [I]Introducing the scenario[/I]: Here the GM describes the original set-up that leads into the main part of the scenario. The important thing here is to clearly communicate the scenario's goals, and smoothly transition into the main part. [I]Progress through the main part of the scenario[/I]: Here the players have the freedom to say and do what they want, and the GM listens and responds. However, if the players want to take actions that go against the main idea of the scenario, the GM should softly advise or induce them to get back on the main thread, while also respecting their agency. Or, if the unexpected turn of events look even more interesting, the GM can adjust the scenario on the fly. [I]Produce the climax[/I]: The GM should put effort into creating an exciting climax that's the highlight of the session. They recommend using enemy or enemies that the PCs can just barely beat, to give the climax tension. If the GM is worried about balance, the book recommends that they run a mock battle on their own ahead of time. Which...you know, I don't think I've ever seen that recommended before. [I]Concluding the scenario[/I]: With the goals of the scenario accomplished, the session is concluded. It might be a good for the GM to provide a small coda or epilogue. The PCs are given their XP and rewards. The book recommends the GM and players discuss the session, and exchange their thoughts. Knowing what the players felt during the session will be of reference for making future scenarios, and if the session is part of a campaign, can provide hints for future developments. There is not much more in the book in terms of advice or procedures for creating a scenario, other than the sample scenario included later. The Starter Sets are much better in teaching this through the scenarios they include, and replays also demonstrate this. Next time, before looking at [B]Playing NPCs and Monsters[/B], we'll take a look at the kind of scenarios these provide. [/QUOTE]
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