Help me save my game

[kensanata]

I like to write my own adventures. And I like them to be playable in one or two sessions. At the moment this means that the bandit lair has but six rooms. There's traps, there are prisoners, there's a secret passage, there's a trap, the thieves are a very intelligent bunch. It kept the players busy for two times three hours, requires little memorization as it all fits on a single sheet of paper, and allows you to improvise the reactions of the enemies. I usually have a bullet list of four to six things the enemies like to do, to improve my improvisation.

In short:

1. Write it yourself.
2. Use a very small number of rooms but intelligent enemies.
3. Prepare small lists of nasty enemy reactions.
4. Try to finish the adventure in one or two sessions.

In the example with the bandit lair, the players were beaten back after killing a third of the thieves, fled into the woods and made camp. The thieves sneaked up on them, struck down the only fighter and captured them all. (Having intelligent enemies also means that they're not going to let players die: They want ransom, information, etc.) After freeing themselves, circling back, sneaking back through the back-entrance, killing some more, and chasing the leader (who made a successful escape via the secret passage), one of the NPCs that accompanied them turns out to be a traitor, releases the prisoners made, and turns on the players. More mayhem ensues. It was great. And it had only six rooms and nine thieves.

I did a write-up of the source material, but it turns out to be a 10 page PDF, and the stats are simplified M20 stats (Greywulf mentioned M20 in his post). If you're still interested, get it from my homepage.

 

[Rel]

I think that pacing is an issue that can make or break a session. And if a problem persists it can break a campaign.

My GMing has improved incredibly since I started running one shot games at the Game Days and GenCon. And I think the biggest reason for that is you have to get a really good handle on pacing to run one shot games. There is some kind of "point" to such games, some climactic conclusion, and if you don't get there then the game feels unfinished.

One of the biggest bits of advice I give to GMs is to try running your campaign sessions like they are individual one shot games. Make a beginning, a middle and an end. And make sure that the party gets to the end. Once you can do that consistantly then you'll have a good handle on pacing.

The other way of handling this is less structured and I call it the "Piratecat Method". Piratecat's rule is that you should frequently ask yourself the question, "What is the most fun and exciting thing that could possibly happen right now?" Then do that. This will, without a doubt, produce a fun game if you understand what your players enjoy. But it is demanding of you as a GM in terms of creativity and being able to quickly adapt the game to these new twists and turns.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

QFT. You should have started your post with this.

Quaking, Fearful Tomatoes?

You always leave the best for last. That way, the whole post can be interesting. If you drop the bomb right away, noone's left to shoot with your bullets.

 

[Merkuri]

You always leave the best for last. That way, the whole post can be interesting. If you drop the bomb right away, noone's left to shoot with your bullets.

But you're living in the 21st century. Only 1% of the average population reads past the first paragraph. (I made that statistic up, but it's true that very few people read past the first few paragraphs of a long article. They skim the rest, if they read it at all.)

 

[Demetrios]

So are the words "you've just been captured by aliens, and we're going to LARP the anal probe scene."

However, it may not save your game. But it certainly will snap back their attention!

How many xp do we get for that?

Well I believe the first PC performing in the LARP should probably get the most XP just due to circumstance and rotten luck, however if the anal probe is uniformily done to all at the same time, then an equal share should be awarded to all involved.
The latter would require of course assistant DMs.

I usually handout a little bit extra XP for first time experiences, so should a PC be familiar with this sort of thing then perhaps a reduction in XP would be more appropriate.
I mean once you've killed a goblin, you've killed a goblin - you can't get more for killing a 2nd one, probably less, because you've learnt less from the 2nd encounter.

When determining the base value of the XP to be awarded, care should be taken as to the duration of the process and the methodology utilised in the act.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

But you're living in the 21st century. Only 1% of the average population reads past the first paragraph. (I made that statistic up, but it's true that very few people read past the first few paragraphs of a long article. They skim the rest, if they read it at all.)

Their problem, not mine.

Besides, I always disguise my posts as many smaller texts by liberal use of the return key.

Besides, who says that I'm living in the 21st century? Maybe I'm in a prehistoric cave with a solar-powered laptop and internet access via a wireless connection through a freak wormhole?

 

[Dremmen]

I think that pacing is an issue that can make or break a session. And if a problem persists it can break a campaign.

My GMing has improved incredibly since I started running one shot games at the Game Days and GenCon. And I think the biggest reason for that is you have to get a really good handle on pacing to run one shot games. There is some kind of "point" to such games, some climactic conclusion, and if you don't get there then the game feels unfinished.

One of the biggest bits of advice I give to GMs is to try running your campaign sessions like they are individual one shot games. Make a beginning, a middle and an end. And make sure that the party gets to the end. Once you can do that consistantly then you'll have a good handle on pacing.

The other way of handling this is less structured and I call it the "Piratecat Method". Piratecat's rule is that you should frequently ask yourself the question, "What is the most fun and exciting thing that could possibly happen right now?" Then do that. This will, without a doubt, produce a fun game if you understand what your players enjoy. But it is demanding of you as a GM in terms of creativity and being able to quickly adapt the game to these new twists and turns.

Hmm..I agree and disagree with you on this Rel. Granted, you've run many more Game Day sessions than me, but from the two that I've run I get what you mean as far as learning to control the pace of the game, to be flexible. Some of the advice that was given to me that proved invaluable is to have a flexible encounter schedule which gives the DM the ability to remove an encounter from the game without impacting the overall adventure, to either move things along or because the mood of the players is not right for that encounter. At the same time you can inject a quick encounter to pick things up, make them fun. Also learning to be concise and efficient with NPCs and narrative was something I began to pick up on and will get better with the more games I run at Game Day.

However, it is not a format that I would use outside of a Game Day, where all my experience lies. If I'm running a game session without the binds of keeping it to a certain time, I let the party dawdle, I give them downtime. I could spend a full session on one encounter if it means bringing the cescendo, the suspense and drama, to a fever pitch. I think time restrictions do take away from PCs exploring their characters through the game because you simply don't have the time to do it. Granted, for some players you wouldn't do that anyways because they'd get bored, I'm just talking on how I'd like to run a game, given like minded players. For some players the pacing of a Game Day is exactly what they are looking for, with the story moving along at a steady pace, and encounters not being prolonged.

 

[werk]

Besides, who says that I'm living in the 21st century? Maybe I'm in a prehistoric cave with a solar-powered laptop and internet access via a wireless connection through a freak wormhole?

Possible...but not probable.

 

[Rel]

However, it is not a format that I would use outside of a Game Day, where all my experience lies. If I'm running a game session without the binds of keeping it to a certain time, I let the party dawdle, I give them downtime. I could spend a full session on one encounter if it means bringing the cescendo, the suspense and drama, to a fever pitch. I think time restrictions do take away from PCs exploring their characters through the game because you simply don't have the time to do it. Granted, for some players you wouldn't do that anyways because they'd get bored, I'm just talking on how I'd like to run a game, given like minded players. For some players the pacing of a Game Day is exactly what they are looking for, with the story moving along at a steady pace, and encounters not being prolonged.

I think you may be interpreting me to say, "You should run your regular campaign sessions like this." What I'm saying is actually, "You should be able to run your regular campaign sessions like this."

It's a matter of reading the room. If the actual events of the game are progressing slowly, BUT the players are "into it" (like for example if they are tossing around grand conspiracy theories about the BBEG and his "master plan") then you have no problem and those can be very fun times in a game. But if you look around and the players seem "stuck" or lacking in direction and are generally not having fun then I think you need the ability to get the game back on track.

This involves a wide skill set ranging from things like tossing in an extra combat encounter where there wasn't one, to having an NPC supply information that can help lead them to fun and excitement, to diplomatically cutting short off-topic discussions, to knowing when to forget about trying to look up a rule in the rulebook and just going with your gut. If you put yourself on a schedule you are forced to learn to do those things. And once you have those skills then you can opt to use them or not use them as the situation requires.

 

[Dremmen]

...a wide skill set ranging from things like tossing in an extra combat encounter where there wasn't one, to having an NPC supply information that can help lead them to fun and excitement, to diplomatically cutting short off-topic discussions, to knowing when to forget about trying to look up a rule in the rulebook and just going with your gut.

Amen to that! I actually had two players in a rather infamous campaign ( my last big one ) that brought out the Magic cards in the middle of the game!! It was a party that was larger than I'd like, and trying to do a though job for every PC meant times where not everyone could be involved. I guess these two thought to entertain themselves otherwise...

But anywho, you are right, ultimately the wise DM knows when to close the manuals and look away from the written adventure and go with the flow, even if that means pulling some NPCs out of thin air, and fabricating encounters for fun, even if rules need to bend a bit. And know when you need to put your foot down, even if it is on a player's neck