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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 8675488" data-attributes="member: 16814"><p>No, we don't have different definitions. You started play by introducing a goal -- go to the city. You may not have meant this to sound like a goal, but it is, and it's clear. You then introduced what you wanted to be your hook in a soft way. Nothing went boom. It's all just talking. And then the hook requires the party to stand watch while they sleep? This isn't advancing us towards that goal of getting to the city the GM said. We should probably ditch this clown and get on with what we're supposed to be doing. If he's important, he'll turn back up or something.</p><p></p><p>This is what your players were thinking. I shouldn't be arguing here to show you that getting to the city was the hook you actually set because that should be obvious from what happened in the game! What did the players try to do? They tried to continue on to the city. You thought that was stupid only because you knew that wasn't the goal, but whatever you actually presented gave the players that impression. Getting to the city was the hook you actually set while trying to set the one you wanted. This is a big problem for one shots, and if you're not going to recognize it, you should be prepared for more similar instances of confusion in play as to what the goal actually is.</p><p></p><p>I'm not trying to be mean, here. Tough love, a little bit, because I've done this exact same thing. More times that I want to admit. A one shot is a distillation of a game to a purer, crystalline form. This means you have to up your game on the hook and get it in and hard with no mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes in one shots is hiding the game, and that's exactly what almost happened here. So, stop arguing that what you did was fine, because it was exactly what led to your game almost imploding. This is you, not the players. Own it. </p><p></p><p>No, it wasn't the only hook, because the players were following the 'go to the city' hook. </p><p></p><p>And that GM made a similar mistake -- they started play and let it happen without setting a hook. This is one-shot 101 -- get that hook in from the start. If you need to let the PCs 'get to know each other' in some scene, make sure that scene doesn't require any decision on the part of the PCs to get to the scene where the hook sets.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 8675488, member: 16814"] No, we don't have different definitions. You started play by introducing a goal -- go to the city. You may not have meant this to sound like a goal, but it is, and it's clear. You then introduced what you wanted to be your hook in a soft way. Nothing went boom. It's all just talking. And then the hook requires the party to stand watch while they sleep? This isn't advancing us towards that goal of getting to the city the GM said. We should probably ditch this clown and get on with what we're supposed to be doing. If he's important, he'll turn back up or something. This is what your players were thinking. I shouldn't be arguing here to show you that getting to the city was the hook you actually set because that should be obvious from what happened in the game! What did the players try to do? They tried to continue on to the city. You thought that was stupid only because you knew that wasn't the goal, but whatever you actually presented gave the players that impression. Getting to the city was the hook you actually set while trying to set the one you wanted. This is a big problem for one shots, and if you're not going to recognize it, you should be prepared for more similar instances of confusion in play as to what the goal actually is. I'm not trying to be mean, here. Tough love, a little bit, because I've done this exact same thing. More times that I want to admit. A one shot is a distillation of a game to a purer, crystalline form. This means you have to up your game on the hook and get it in and hard with no mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes in one shots is hiding the game, and that's exactly what almost happened here. So, stop arguing that what you did was fine, because it was exactly what led to your game almost imploding. This is you, not the players. Own it. No, it wasn't the only hook, because the players were following the 'go to the city' hook. And that GM made a similar mistake -- they started play and let it happen without setting a hook. This is one-shot 101 -- get that hook in from the start. If you need to let the PCs 'get to know each other' in some scene, make sure that scene doesn't require any decision on the part of the PCs to get to the scene where the hook sets. [/QUOTE]
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