running a dialogue based mission (advice please)

[bathtub66]

So I'm writing the first mission of a new campaign for a few people new to the game. Since they are new to the world, I would like to focus more on the character of the area they are playing (Forgotten Realms/Cormyr) so they can get the sense of a big world with a lot of things happening independent of them. So I what there to be, not completely, but a good deal of scenes that they will be involved in that will be a lot of talking or a lot of seeing things, like a trial in a courtroom or something like the Council of Elrod from LotR. The obvious problem is that I am afraid of loosing the player, or giving them the impression that this is all there is too it. Also, I am a little worried if I will be able to pull off running a room with a lot of people talking, (and all of them being me!) Any advice?

 

[Piratecat]

I solved this in a trial by making one player the focus, and making all the other players members of the jury (playing NPCs). Same thing for a war council, where one PC attended and the other players became members of the council. Everyone managed to stay involved and interested.

 

[bathtub66]

Thats not a bad idea, but in this situation I am running this scene for the specific purpose of establishing specific concepts as part of the campaign. Also, the PCs will be part of the scene, it will sort of be there introduction.

 

[Cor_Malek]

Try not to have more than two NPC's at one time in conversation. If you have to introduce another one, have it either exclude one, or talk specifically to the other, so that there's always only 2 people talking to each other - it will be hard enough to sustain those.
Not all players respond well to making voices, and it too can be hard at first. Try to make it obvious who is talking at given time, by adding small mannerisms (stroking beard, joined palms, playing with ring etc), and face expressions (permanent frown vs wide smile, shifty eyes etc).

Even in scripted events, always respond to what PC's are doing. You don't have to give in to what they want, just don't ignore them, have them interact even if they cannot change something. On the other hand, if they charge on an open door, you might as well pretend it was locked, eh? If PC's unknowingly do something that you meant to be done anyway by a NPC - why not allow them to do so?

I believe you'll find some articles on arsludi.lamemage.com very usefull, in this situation, especially Backdrop Plots: May You Live In Interesting Times. "Situations not Plots" is an important advice as well.

I hope the game goes well!

 

[Malanath]

When it comes to dealing with numerous NPC's I don't really focus on individual lines of dialog. Only the important stuff. There needs to be room for the players to interact and interject, though.

So to give an example, during an informal court trial with a lot of people talking all at once.... "Five minutes pass with everyone getting worked up into an angry frenzy. Accusations are being tossed back and forth. You guys notice John the Miller lunge forward before being pulled back by Gabe. John is so angry that when he screams at the prosecutor spittle flies out of his mouth. He is screaming, 'You lying whoreson! You can't get away with this! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!' John is being physically dragged from the room as his threats continue."

In the above, I got what I wanted across to the players, John's anger and threats. What everyone else was saying is meaningless. If the players are familiar with those involved, they might ask questions like, "What is Mrs. Glassburg doing as John is screaming at the prosecutor?" And then I'd answer that question.

Once players have had a moment to respond or ask questions, I move on with what happens next.

The spotlight should only focus on one or two NPC's at a time, to avoid confusion. You should make clear who is speaking, either by using their name or something fairly descriptive. For example, "The guy in the blue tunic stands up and draws his sword."

The key in these situations is not to get bogged down by the details, determine the point of the scene, and give the players time to ask questions and interject. In the above example, the purpose behind the scene is to give John the Miller a motive in the murder of the prosecutor who will turn up dead later on. What everyone else was shouting during that time was unimportant, though I'd likely also have the PC's roll checks to notice certain other odd behavior from other individuals - perhaps one of whom is the real killer.

It's just the method I've found that personally works best for me when dealing with a lot of NPC's all at once.

EDIT TO ADD: The biggest thing you have to watch out for is creating a situation in which players are merely observing what goes on. They should at least be asking questions about what is taking place, which shows you where their character's attention is directed. You don't want a situation in which you're basically telling players, "Sit and listen to my awesome story!" They need to be able to at least attempt to interact with what is going on, and in situations like this it is helpful to be adaptive and have the ability to change things on the fly. Players can do almost anything to derail you from what you've intended, but the best way to handle that is just to go with the flow. You could easily end up intending to have the players conduct a murder investigation, but instead end up being the prime suspects in such an investigation who are now working to clear their names.

 

[DumbPaladin]

Yes, exactly right: make sure your PCs are not merely spectators to what's going on; you will lose people rather quickly.

There's nothing wrong with NPCs approaching the PCs and striking up a conversation: this happens in real life. If you want a specific PC (or group of them) to respond to something ... well, ask them! You could also give them a task of needing to discover information by talking to various parties in the room.

Don't worry too much about all of the NPCs you will be playing -- as noted, there's no reason to bother with voices if you're no good at it, but it can certainly be funny (and helpful) to try a non-standard voice for at least one NPC, especially one who may be important and/or saying quite a bit. As for worrying about how you'll keep them all straight ... if it is important to establish personalities and backgrounds on some of the NPCs in the room, then do this beforehand: write up a file on the characters, with some minor backstory (it will help if they're asked for this information by the PCs), and then try figuring out how NPC #1 would interact, in a conversation, with NPC #2 based on their histories. If #1 is a haughty aristocratic widow, and #2 is a brash, borderline rude young paladin, there'll probably be some sparks flying ... but if #2 is a charismatic rogue who loves marrying (and then offing) rich old ladies, then ... that's a very different chemistry.

 

[KidSnide]

I solved this in a trial by making one player the focus, and making all the other players members of the jury (playing NPCs). Same thing for a war council, where one PC attended and the other players became members of the council. Everyone managed to stay involved and interested.

I've also had some good success running sessions in which the players fill in for the important NPCs, either in a debate or in battle. It's a good way of "changing up" your game while giving some spotlight to a different part of the world.

...but I wouldn't recommend it as a first session.

Establishing the character of the gameworld is an important objective - I don't want to knock it. However, a session that focuses on a lot of NPCs talking to each other runs counter to two other equally important objectives: (1) letting your players establish their characters and (2) establishing that your game will be fun. Most good first missions fit into the larger plot and gameworld, but are narrow enough to understand in their own smaller context. A good first mission doesn't take an hour of explanation to understand.

It also sounds like you have a large number of NPCs in your world. That's great, but it can be overwhelming - particularly for players who are still figuring out their characters and their character's relationships with each other. I'm not sure whether you're trying to introduce a large number of NPCs or just use throw-away characters to introduce the events of the world. However, you might have more success previewing the world by having segments of dialog the PCs can overhear in the market (along with throw-away NPCs that can be engaged in conversation if it peaks a player's interest). It won't stick in most of your player's minds, but that probably wasn't going to happen anyway. Instead, it will introduce the flavor of the world without having to pull the focus away from the brand new set of PCs.

-KS

 

[Quickleaf]

It's certainly an ambitious (and risky ) way to begin a campaign. I've done this with a noble council to great effect (though in mid-campaign). I'd recommend setting up a prop "map" with minis/tokens/art depicting the various NPCs as it helps players keep them straight. The location of the tokens on the map need not be literal, but could instead represent faction lines, alliances (or spectrum of friendly/hostile), or hierarchy. When you need to portray multiple NPCs in dialogue, use cross focus, taking a different 45 degree angle for each NPC. You can also lean/hunch forward, lean/recline back, cross your arms, etc to differentiate NPCs. Body language and visual cues are key. What I like about this setup is that you set an example of dramatic RPing for the new players, basically giving them permission to cut loose and make fools of themselves. However at the same time I'd think twice about introducing new players to D&D this way because you don't know what type of players you'll have, eg. storytellers/actors would eat this up but hack n slashers would be bored silly. It runs the risk of telling, not showing. If you provide a little more info on your specific scenario maybe we can provide ideas for how to present the adventure in more of a "show don't tell" format?