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The Tol Vehara Story Hour
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<blockquote data-quote="Pacio49" data-source="post: 2063773" data-attributes="member: 28472"><p><strong>Meta: A note of explanation of my GMing style.</strong></p><p></p><p>As I reviewed <em>The Tol Vehara Story Hour</em> thus far today, I felt a small start of guilt at the fact that I don't have meticulous records immediately to hand to be able to tell you, for example, what items were doled out as the party's reward from Lord Sapphire. My brain seems capable of holding vast amounts of impractical data on a 'macro' level but when it comes to details of specific things I find myself jotting down notes prior to the game in question and customizing things to the immediate needs, but unless I'm throwing in a bona fide Plot Item, I let the players worry about those details.</p><p></p><p>Occasionally I find those jotted notes and reminisce, usually while trying to tidy the pile of game related information that threatens to take over my office unless I make due sacrifice to it of small rodents and burnt offerings. Erm, or not. When I <em>do</em> find those notes at the oddest times I tend to think of tiny ways to bring up something from the Wayback When and weave it into the Here and Now. Players who pick up on the return of past information are often awed and amazed since it gives the impression that I've somehow planned for the return of that detail's prominence from the beginning. What can I say? I allow it because it gives me D&D 'street cred'. </p><p></p><p>Essentially, I'm a top-down GM. I keep track of the larger motivations and events happening, and I find myself making broad sketches of places and areas and relying a great deal upon improvisation. It wasn't always easy, but I'm experienced enough now to understand how to control pacing and advancement 'on the fly' and contain the scope from expanding beyond a desired level. </p><p></p><p><strong>Party Choices</strong></p><p>Another aspect that makes writing this Story Hour difficult is the fact that I've been running Tol Vehara with one group or another for about 5 years now. Since the current party was a new gaming group that coalesced after a move to Connecticut, and the world is fleshed out more and more with each new group or adventure, I didn't do too much to force the group's hand one way or the other regarding plot development at first. I figured that the new group would want to explore the city some, explore the surrounding countryside some, and of course everyone makes a jaunt into the Blasted Lands just to see what the hoopla is about. From there, I listen to the table chatter and let the group select its own corner of the Tol Vehara stage and then slowly begin to design plot arcs to accomodate that.</p><p></p><p>The group has only marginally investigated the city of Tol Vehara itself. At this point in the storyline the players sat down and had a lengthy discussion about where they wanted to go. They could have shopped around for another city adventure, and I would have been happy to provide them with another adventure that allowed more exploration of their surroundings and detailing of the tapestry of life in Tol Vehara. They could have switched gears from a roll-intensive to a roleplay-intensive and gone off after the political arena, now that they had a minor 'in' with the suspicion of Ymanoura Sapphire and the mixed blessings of her father's gratitude.</p><p></p><p>Instead, the party decided that they liked the setting of the Blasted Lands. I reminded them that the deeper they go, the more vicious the land itself gets, with warped denizens and a stronger presence of the Taint. Marcus' player kept talking about trying to 'fix' the Taint and restore the Blasted Lands. I told him flat out that maybe after they had 10 or 20 Epic levels under their belt they might be able to begin that serious of an undertaking. Maybe. Arien's player decided that she really wanted to go back to Dorecan Manor to try and find some loot, and to give her the IC development which would lead to her becoming a prestige class Dust Rider. The others all voiced similar opinions. All except Valar's player, who wondered whether or not his rogue abilities would have a chance to develop well in the Blasted Lands.</p><p></p><p>So, while I expected there to be some kind of on again/off again interest in the Blasted Lands, the group wanted *stuff* and they wanted to play in the Blasted Lands some more. Out went the plans for the city-based adventure I had queued next in line, and back to Dorecan Manor they decided to go.</p><p></p><p>What's a GM to do? I had no preferences either way. Give me a situation and a party motivation and pretty soon the plot that develops from it and around it develops a motivation of its own. Action and reaction, plot adjustment and player adjustment all lead to a nice give and take for the storyline.</p><p></p><p>And, just for the record when we actually catch up to the party's current location, until I heard about 'ZPMs' from Marcus's player, I never bothered to watch Stargate: Atlantis. And until I had plotted out their stuff, I hadn't yet watched Babylon 5. (I have since then, don't fear.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pacio49, post: 2063773, member: 28472"] [b]Meta: A note of explanation of my GMing style.[/b] As I reviewed [i]The Tol Vehara Story Hour[/i] thus far today, I felt a small start of guilt at the fact that I don't have meticulous records immediately to hand to be able to tell you, for example, what items were doled out as the party's reward from Lord Sapphire. My brain seems capable of holding vast amounts of impractical data on a 'macro' level but when it comes to details of specific things I find myself jotting down notes prior to the game in question and customizing things to the immediate needs, but unless I'm throwing in a bona fide Plot Item, I let the players worry about those details. Occasionally I find those jotted notes and reminisce, usually while trying to tidy the pile of game related information that threatens to take over my office unless I make due sacrifice to it of small rodents and burnt offerings. Erm, or not. When I [i]do[/i] find those notes at the oddest times I tend to think of tiny ways to bring up something from the Wayback When and weave it into the Here and Now. Players who pick up on the return of past information are often awed and amazed since it gives the impression that I've somehow planned for the return of that detail's prominence from the beginning. What can I say? I allow it because it gives me D&D 'street cred'. Essentially, I'm a top-down GM. I keep track of the larger motivations and events happening, and I find myself making broad sketches of places and areas and relying a great deal upon improvisation. It wasn't always easy, but I'm experienced enough now to understand how to control pacing and advancement 'on the fly' and contain the scope from expanding beyond a desired level. [b]Party Choices[/b] Another aspect that makes writing this Story Hour difficult is the fact that I've been running Tol Vehara with one group or another for about 5 years now. Since the current party was a new gaming group that coalesced after a move to Connecticut, and the world is fleshed out more and more with each new group or adventure, I didn't do too much to force the group's hand one way or the other regarding plot development at first. I figured that the new group would want to explore the city some, explore the surrounding countryside some, and of course everyone makes a jaunt into the Blasted Lands just to see what the hoopla is about. From there, I listen to the table chatter and let the group select its own corner of the Tol Vehara stage and then slowly begin to design plot arcs to accomodate that. The group has only marginally investigated the city of Tol Vehara itself. At this point in the storyline the players sat down and had a lengthy discussion about where they wanted to go. They could have shopped around for another city adventure, and I would have been happy to provide them with another adventure that allowed more exploration of their surroundings and detailing of the tapestry of life in Tol Vehara. They could have switched gears from a roll-intensive to a roleplay-intensive and gone off after the political arena, now that they had a minor 'in' with the suspicion of Ymanoura Sapphire and the mixed blessings of her father's gratitude. Instead, the party decided that they liked the setting of the Blasted Lands. I reminded them that the deeper they go, the more vicious the land itself gets, with warped denizens and a stronger presence of the Taint. Marcus' player kept talking about trying to 'fix' the Taint and restore the Blasted Lands. I told him flat out that maybe after they had 10 or 20 Epic levels under their belt they might be able to begin that serious of an undertaking. Maybe. Arien's player decided that she really wanted to go back to Dorecan Manor to try and find some loot, and to give her the IC development which would lead to her becoming a prestige class Dust Rider. The others all voiced similar opinions. All except Valar's player, who wondered whether or not his rogue abilities would have a chance to develop well in the Blasted Lands. So, while I expected there to be some kind of on again/off again interest in the Blasted Lands, the group wanted *stuff* and they wanted to play in the Blasted Lands some more. Out went the plans for the city-based adventure I had queued next in line, and back to Dorecan Manor they decided to go. What's a GM to do? I had no preferences either way. Give me a situation and a party motivation and pretty soon the plot that develops from it and around it develops a motivation of its own. Action and reaction, plot adjustment and player adjustment all lead to a nice give and take for the storyline. And, just for the record when we actually catch up to the party's current location, until I heard about 'ZPMs' from Marcus's player, I never bothered to watch Stargate: Atlantis. And until I had plotted out their stuff, I hadn't yet watched Babylon 5. (I have since then, don't fear.) [/QUOTE]
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