Do you "tease" your players?

[diaglo]

recaps.

rumors.

and lore.

usually try to get the session started with a recap of last session.

if there was time off in game during the break. i'll print/post a timeline.

also hand out rumors or email them ahead of time.

and conversations with NPCs or lore picked up will also be added to rumors or the recap.

 

[Algolei]

We start every session with the question, "What the heck did we do last session?" Usually it's followed by, "Doesn't anyone remember?!"

My players don't like teasers. They won't listen to them, won't read them. They think they're "boring."

I hate my players.

...buncha stoopid fatties.... *pout*

 

[wedgeski]

I've never done it in a D&D campaign but in my d20M campaign I've embraced it wholeheartedly! I released six or seven handouts before the campaign started, which contained press and other reports on the world around the PC's. Clearly, they know that some of that is particularly relevant. Other bits are pure fluff or atmosphere that I may or may not elaborate on later.

I wrap up every session with a similar handout which is usually press clippings relating to what the PC's got themselves into. Then a day or two before the next session I'll drop out something new.

Works a treat. I hadn't thought of doing it with pure prose until reading this post though. That would definitely work very well in a D&D campaign....

Yoinktown.

 

[Henry]

I've done the "teaser" before the game before, but not often - about 5 years ago, in an Alternity Star*Drive campaign, I used "newsfeeds" (like a newspaper) to give the players news of what was happening in the universe, and they would take clues from the newspaper to track the progress of a particularly nasty AI that was rampaging through the galaxy. Not only did it immerse them in the world, but they loved combing through looking for events that could be attributed to the AI's progress, and check them out - kind of like Carmen Sandiego, only much meaner.

Today, I just end my games on a cliffhanger when appropriate, or begin them with one. One session, I literally had the Warforged HANGING, one arm missing, from the lip of a Sharn sewer chute as the other PCs fought the bad guys. Can't do that with a fleshy; I'm beginning to like these warforged a lot.

 

[Garnfellow]

Because our group can only meet about 9-10 times a year now, I do adventure recaps and post them to the website (http://home.gwi.net/~rdorman/frilond/adv/sum/index.html), and in between sessions we also do play-by-(e)mail installments that also get posted (http://home.gwi.net/~rdorman/frilond/adv/ins/index.html).

These seem to do a good job of keeping the story rolling and the interest high. It is also a good way to take care of book-keeping without burning up precious session time.

It's always fun to see the player email chatter increase significantly as we approach game day.

 

[alsih2o]

Beale Knight writes up session logs for all of us. Depending on his hectic glamourous DJ life they are usually oposted just before the last session.

It serves as a great reminder/teaser all on its own.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

This is a really cool idea. I've done verbal recaps. Right now in my f2f games, one of my players who is an extensive note taker gives a recap. So I'm not sure I'd want to step on her toes by doing a writeup like that. I've also done newspapers/newsletters for some games. So in the realm of wild "what if", wouldn't it be cool to take your episodes and also come up with a cover? Like it's a comic book? Or a novel?

Still, I'm going to think about this. Neat idea. Good writing too.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Funny this topic should come up today. I usually just send out a recap before the next session that either I or one of the other good writers in the group puts together. Today one of my players sent me an e-mail because she had two different dates in her calendar for our next session. She wanted to know which day we were playing. As a bit of a joke this is what I sent back to her and the rest of the group:

On Monday December 27th, 2004, prepare yourself for the adventure of a lifetime. Three intrepid wanderers embark on an incredible journey to deliver a rare but critically needed material to an island nation surrounded by hostile and dangerous foes.

Kor Valen, stalwart defender of the people; can he find his place in the world and calm his restless soul? Kerith, protector of the land; will he be able to endure the pain of seeing the land he loves ravaged and twisted by evil? And Krishena L'Allemond, practicioner of the arcane arts; will she be able to stay one step ahead of her past and still be able to keep her clothes spotless and hair perfect? Together they will brave danger, death and dirt as they cross forest, river and the Blood Sea in a desperate attempt to reach the city of Zoa.

The adventure begins in 27 days...

And yes, for those paying attention, I have mixed in the city of Zoa from Kalamar into the Scarred Lands. It is a leftover from the first adventure I ran in the Scarred Lands and the party returns there often for an ongoing, but slow-developing story. One of these days I may have a blood monsoon wipe the city off the map.

 

[woodelf]

Hey folks

I've started writing "Episode Teasers" for my Barsoom campaign. There's a discussion group for the players and before each game (usually a day or two beforehand) I'll post a "Teaser" for that episode -- something to set up the game session and give us a good, quick kind of opening so that as soon as folks sit down we can get started -- the players immediately have something in-game to talk about and focus on (I usually print it off and have it on the table before they arrive).

I find it's A) lots of fun to write them, and B) really helpful in getting game focus happening faster. It makes it easier for me to jump in and get things started (especially when the teaser ends with, "And then the castle starts to collapse around you").

Here's a couple of examples of what I'm talking about (there are minor spoilers for readers of my Barsoom Tales Story Hour, but nothing super huge):
[snip examples]
What do you do to get your game going with a strong start? Do you provide your players with "extra-curricular" materials between games?

OK, i'm a little confused--i don't really understand what these are, or how you use them. Do you advance the storyline some between sessions? Are these a re-cap of the last session, or a cut-scene to something going on that the players weren't involved in (but are about to be)? In general, every game i've ever been involved in picks up one session right where the last one left off, unless we've previously agreed that we're going to fast-forward, so i'm not sure where this stuff'd fit. Is it just the equivalent of, say, the opening narration of whatever scene they'd be starting in anyway, but given to them ahead of time? Or are these like TV teasers, and you "show" the players something from the middle of the session?

 

[Nightchilde-2]

OK, i'm a little confused--i don't really understand what these are, or how you use them. Do you advance the storyline some between sessions? Are these a re-cap of the last session, or a cut-scene to something going on that the players weren't involved in (but are about to be)?

A little bit of both for me. I started it back when I started running the Realms, then when I dropped the Realms for Exalted. Then when I dropped Exalted for Eberron. It's working REALLY well for Eberron. We play biweekly and online, so this helps get some of that slower stuff out of the way so that we can get on with the real meat of the session when we get back together. I try to give the PCs a chance to inject something (like dialogue or a decision on which way to go) whenever possible/appropriate.

I plan to make use of this technique in my new World of Darkness game that I'm running on the "off weeks" of my Eberron game.

It's a brilliant idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one that does it.

Email was perhaps one of the best things to happen to gaming in a long time.