How would you react to the 'ole bait and switch?

[Altalazar]

I think it is all in the execution - if done well, it can turn out REALLY well.

Some campaigns almost have it built in - like where Characters start off in whatever world and then end up in Ravenloft (and can't escape).

I think the only important thing is to keep the characters as themselves, with their histories ringing true - so then the disorientation is because of a recent change, not because of finding out you were someone else.

So lycanthropy or world shifting or apocalypse scenarios are all ok in that sense. The world (or personal circumstances) change in a radical way and the characters just have to deal with it. Something like that can also help to forge a very strong party bond. If your group represents the last living inhabitants of a world now gone, that is a bit of a stronger bond than a group representing random adventurers who met in a bar.

 

[alsih2o]

i can see where this would bother a lot of people, but i am not one of them.

i show up to roleplay, and as long as i can do that, adn am not dropped into some system that requires calculus to walk across the room or some such i think i would be fine with it.

i personally am not a fan of playing with a plan as to what my character will be at 3rd, 7th and 15th lvl. i wanna play a person (i include any playable race as a person) who reacts to the world around them.

with the right group, and the right expectations this could be a ball.

one person who could not roll with it or did not want to roll with it could blow the whole experience tho.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I think a lot can depend upon the circumstances. In my group we were switching back to our other DM after playing IMC for about a year. We were all pretty excited to get back into our characters. We had agreed to try out a foray into Ravenloft. When we got there we ended up in an old 2E Ravenloft adventure where we were transferred into the bodies of wooden toys. We had no choice, no chance to stop it, it was forced upon us by the adventure. We all hated it and the DM agreed to hasten the adventure some in the end and we left Ravenloft for the time being. What we hated was that we were so excited to play our older characters, to get back into using them after a hiatus then we find out that we have to play the personality while not having any of the abilities to go with it. To suddenly find that I was a wizard who could not cast spells because I was in the body of a toy kind of annoyed me. If I had had some time to get reacquainted with the character, I may not have minded so much.

 

[Henry]

It wouldn't bother me, as long as I was told up front to expect some twists and turns. "Some twists and turns" leaves a wide range open, and as long as it's still fun in some way, I'm willing to go with it.

The trick is to know your audience, same as with ALL RPG's.

 

[Nightfall]

Henry,

Yeah RPGs and people that like REAL movies. Not just "oooh look its "insertfamousnameperson" as this haughty person! We must give him/her/it the award!" You can tell I'm bitter about RotK's chances of winning the big one eh?

 

[MarauderX]

I like them, BUT it HAS to be done very well. It's just dumb when someone (DM) doesn't explain what is going on but expects the PCs to react in a certain manner, as has happened to me a few times. Some DMs use it as the ultimate move in their book, almost expecting applause for carrying out such a masterful plan, but then have the players completely lost.

It could be a great way to jumpstart a campaign that was lagging though, but I don't think I will ever do it just because there is so much else to include instead, such as traveling around the planes instead.

 

[TiQuinn]

I think it's a great-sounding concept, but in the end, it comes off as a really big railroad. I had this problem quite often with Ravenloft, for example. Some people in my group liked RL a lot, and so they were cool with the sudden changes. Others despised it, and really didn't like it when I moved their cheese, so to speak. I think that anything like this, you need to telegraph it somewhat. There'll be plenty of opportunities for surprising your players, but I think you do need to test the waters to find out if a real sudden setting shock like that will be accepted well.

 

[Nightfall]

Not to mention most people don't like it when you can't leave a place. And let's face it, who really wants to be another experiment for Azalin or on Strahd's hit list?

 

[Pyske]

I selected "do not enjoy", but I'm largely in agreement with Lord Pendragon. My overall opinion is that the risks outweigh the rewards.

First, there's the risk to my character concept. invalidate the aspects I wanted to explore, the game is no fun. Similarly, if the change is extreme enough to break my ability to get into my character's head.

If I put effort into a backstory or connections to NPCs, and it gets invalidated, I'm likely to be resentful. If the new genre or style is dramatically different (i.e. moving to post-apocalyptic "count your ammo and rations" style from high fantasy "visit the magic shop" style), you run a pretty big risk of losing my interest even if I would normally like the genre if I was aware of it from the start. Worse, you may hit a genre that I don't like: I've had several players who hate horror gaming, and would probably quit a game if they were sucked into Ravenloft.

Now, a couple caveats about doing it right. If I've been playing the character for a while, the investment makes it more likely that I'll at least give it a try, and I'm more likely to be able to keep the sense of how the character would react. Similarly, if the "switch" has a lot of lead time and hints that it's coming, I will have mentally prepared for it, and am much more likely to have fun with it (and to have warned you about any stakes I have that I don't want to lose).

Lastly, the smaller the scope of the change, the easier it is to deal with. If I assumed the king we're working for is good and he turns out to be evil, that's a pretty easy change to take. If it turns out I'm a delusional psychotic in a mental institution, and he's been a figment of my imagination all along, I might have a bit more problem...

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[Psion]

So in the time I've spent on these boards I've heard lots of really awesome campaign ideas. The ones I've found most intriguing (mostly because I've never been involved with anything like them) is the 'Ole Bait-and-Switch. The fantasy characters who suddenly wake up to realize they were in the Matrix. The d20 Modern norms who suddenly become mutants. The campaign the experiences an apocolypse mid-campaign and continues on as a post-apoc.

Sometimes its refreshing. Sometimes it's aggravating. Different strokes and all.

My big concern over trying this out with my group is a fear of a negative reaction. Some people HATE being tricked, and would be pretty upset if a campaign suddenly did an unexpected 180.

Hey, if you can do it one, you can do it again if there is a bad reaction. So if you are concerned, just prepare a "Despair Squid" scenario.

For those who don't watch Red Dwarf, the Despair Squid basically makes the crew hallucinate and think that they are really vacationers in a virtual reality game who "wake up" to their depressingly totalitarian real world. It turns out that they are not playing a VR game at all, but that the despair squid operates by forcing its victims to commit suicide.