ry's Threats, Rewards, Assets, and Problems (TRAPs)

[Ry]

I'm still working on this method. I'm seeing other things in the world that exist but aren't TRAPs, and seeing how much better they are when they have TRAPs associated with them.

But this is actually reminding me that there's more to life than TRAPs. Everything else is like a peg to hang TRAPs on, but sometimes it does need to exist.

So, like Zones, I'm working on Factions and Themes, which are again, very simple, short ideas that tie together a bunch of TRAPs for the purpose of world-organization and purposeful campaigns with strong stories.

 

[Ry]

I'm also seeing the difference between story-level and encounter-level TRAPs. I'll try to write more on this later when I have better examples, but the basic idea is that (for organization purposes) there is a big distinction between the kind of TRAPs a DM needs at hand when a dangerous encounter is happening, and the kind of TRAPs a DM needs when an encounter isn't happening but play is still going on.

 

[Ry]

Above the encounter level Problems and Threats are basically the same, as are Resources and Rewards.

So I am currently looking down at my color-coded TRAP cards and I've got:

Black: Story-level problem / threat
Silver: Story-level asset / reward

Red: Threat
Purple: Problem
Blue: Asset
Gold: Reward

 

[Ry]

OK, more organizational stuff.

TRAPs, as I've got them now, are organized into 3 sets: Zone-based (TRAPs that happen at a particular location), Conflict-based (TRAPs that might happen in various places but as phases of some conflict the players are involved with) and Random.

Most of the TRAPs posted in this thread are zone-based, and a few are conflict-based. There's really no distinction deep down, this is just to organize for my purposes. Why have three groupings?

Conflict-based TRAPs serve the sense of an overall "plot" of the game. Not that my game has a predetermined plot - but it has conflicts that the players are interested in, and those conflicts need to have a lot of content and interactive elements. There needs to be more to a conflict than a problem that the players resolve right away - serious, campaign-level conflicts have a large variety of related problems to solve, threats to defeat, resources to use, and rewards for taking them on.

Zone-based TRAPs are one important element of the setting; they are there for the players to be able to go back to and enhance the campaign's "sets" with interactivity and content. To the players, the docks aren't the docks without Mencha, the Dockmaster that helped them fight off the coup, or the Tariff Office that was rebuilt after the fire.

Random TRAPs exist to fill gaps in my planning (when players do something unexpected) and to remind me to keep the game detailed. While a 50gp book on ancient architecture might just get sold, a player might decide that his character has an interest in such things and keep it. That becomes a cue to me as a DM to build TRAPs (i.e. opportunities to interact with something in-game) that relate to such things. I organize my Random TRAPs into City, Wilderness, and Dungeon for ease of use.

 

[Slapzilla]

It does seem that Conflict and Zone based TRAPs can be both story and encounter. I think TRAPs help best when they provide somewhere for you to go when your players make a decision. Player action drives the game and if you can be flexible, you can stay one step ahead of them.
I've got a pretty good story idea a-brew and I've got a line on the characters' personalities. By being flexible, I can drop a hook here and there and let them 'find' my plot and it will seem as if they uncovered it themselves. Manipulative? Perhaps. All DMs are to an extent. What isn't manipulative is me not hammering them to go ONE way and do ONE thing. I've used the TRAPs concept on the fly a couple of times and it worked out real well.
Having 'set pieces' is always necessary to story building and concentrated locations of monsters and treasure is a staple of the game. These are the Conflict and Zone TRAPs you are talking about, I assume.
What I like about the process is the emphasis on continuation. A reward that becomes an asset, which in turn becomes a problem when someone tries to steal it, or break it.
Whatever the scope of the TRAP, the process remains the same it's just that instead of Reward: Wand of Magic Missile 5th level, it becomes Reward: Alliance with the Empire of McGuffin.

 

[Edheldur]

I'm also seeing the difference between story-level and encounter-level TRAPs. I'll try to write more on this later when I have better examples...

I'd really like to read about this, after reading all of this thread. I've started using this method and I've gotten great results so far.

 

[Ry]

Hi Eheldur, I'm working on coming back to this, I've been dealing with a really heavy load of responsibilities and trying to wrap up E6 as a project until 4E comes out.

Basically, the idea is that some Assets / Rewards really don't make sense on a purely encounter level (i.e. Resource: The Orcish Warlord chafes against his Lich master) and some Problems don't make sense at the story level (Problem: There is a hedge of brambles between you and your opponents, this complicates any ranged combat).

Designing to match the use, say you're lining up a combat where you have lots against the players but nothing fun for them to use in the scene. You wouldn't want to put your hand in a bag labeled "Assets" and come up with "The millwright knows most of the dirty secrets of the village elders, including that three are infected with lycanthropy. He can share this information with the players quite casually once he believes they are competent enough to react appropriately." You want to come up with "The area rolls significantly; mark 10 square as high ground and 10 as low ground; this is a resource to smart players... although smart villains might use it too."

 

[Edheldur]

Hey Ry. I get it now... and thought of something similar while using your TRAPs model while doing some campaign prep-work. Thanks for your answer!

 

[Slapzilla]

Adjust for scale and it is easy dealing with encounter/story TRAPs. I've been able to work pretty smoothly with it so far and scale hasn't been an issue. It's easier for me to start large and get small but if I have a large TRAPs set up, getting down to the encounter level is easy as I already have some sense of how the world is moving. As long as you remember to go on what the players want and do, you can't go wrong unless your imagination fails entirely.

 

[joela]

Traps

Damn. First E6, now TRAPS. GOOD STUFF. I'm already a convert of the former (my upcoming Eberron game is E6) and the latter will be an excellent guide as I designed adventures set in Sharn.

When's your "how to maximize your DM experience with as little work as possible" book going to be released?