Keeping the sense of wonder alive

[faith1806]

in my opinion, the more players play, the better they will become

 

[Hussar]

In my opinion, sensawunda in RPG's is pretty much absent. Maybe it's because I play with DM's/GM's almost all the time. We know the tricks and we know what each other are trying to do.

Trying to instill a Gee Golly Wow, artifically, is, IMO, doomed to failure. You can describe something with the skill of Shakespeare and some player is going to start cracking Monty Python jokes or a cell phone will ring, or whatever.

Sense of Wonder comes when it comes. Trying to force it rarely works.

 

[darjr]

That's a good point. Though I'm a sucker for it every time. A good DM can pull me in and I'll fall for it. Maybe because I want to?

 

[Aus_Snow]

Maybe because I want to?

Yes.

Not only must good GMing go some way to inspiring a sense of wonder, but players must be open to, and in fact keen for, such a thing.

What's sometimes referred to as a "high trust environment" helps a lot.

Otherwise, it's down to creativity, timing, engaging the characters' senses, and so on. IOW, the usual "tricks" of the trade.

 

[S'mon]

You can describe something with the skill of Shakespeare and some player is going to start cracking Monty Python jokes or a cell phone will ring, or whatever.

Sounds like your players are as bad as your DMs!

 

[Edgewood]

It's my enthusiasm for the campaign that seems to catch on with the players. I love telling stories of many past games involving other players and how Morvia had evolved. I bring out all of the maps I have made, refer to many of the NPCs and it just seems to bring out the wow factor in them.

 

[Hussar]

Sounds like your players are as bad as your DMs!

And your players don't do this? Really? I could point to dozens of threads over the years on this board talking about exactly this. It's hardly rare that the DM is trying to evoke a particular response and the players just aren't buying it.

Like I said, trying to force things, trying to really evoke a sensawunda moment is a lost cause. Players are almost universally not as tied into whatever you're selling as you are.

Might have a lot to do with the fact that we're not twelve years old anymore too.

Sensawunda moments happen when they happen. When the stars and the planets line up just right, and everyone happens to be in just the right mood, that's when you get sensawunda moments.

Not when you're describing the fifteenth flying mountain that the player has seen over the years.

 

[Lhorgrim]

I just started running Wednesday Encounters at my FLGS, and 2 of my 6 players are new to tabletop rpgs, with three of the others new to 4E/4EE.

You would think that there would be a sense of wonder about absolutely new monsters that don't follow the rules that PCs do, but each and every one of these guys is wrapped up in the engine instead of the race.

They are like auto mechanics under the hood of the game. I'm cool with it. It's a public game to introduce people to the hobby, and I'm not going to tell them that they're doing it wrong.

I get the sense that the importance of teamwork in 4E means that players need to understand the engine a little or they will fail against challenging encounters.

When I started playing D&D (in the days of yore) I just told my DM what I wanted to do in the encounter, and he applied the rules and told me what dice to roll, until I learned how to translate these things on my own. If a 4E player tells me they want to stab the monster with their dagger, there are multiple options that may have varying degrees of tactical soundness. I'm not saying those options should be removed, but I think that the more robust the ruleset becomes the more difficult it is for the DM to "hide" the engine.

 

[Ant]

Sensawunda moments happen when they happen. When the stars and the planets line up just right, and everyone happens to be in just the right mood, that's when you get sensawunda moments.

And here's the thread-winner (well, this and Hussar's first post).

As long as you're doing your job as DM then you'll be fine. I've had the players' experience many jaw-dropping moments that I never planned for.

For example, last adventure (a mostly-winged version of Paizo's Final Resting Place that I've mentioned in a different thread) there were two of these that stood out.

The first was when the players were beset upon by some horrid gargantuan spider thing that I poached from a Drow sourcebook. While this made them wet themselves a bit I witnessed true horror and disgust on their faces when they saw parasites feasting on this spider-beast that were themselves horrid, mutated spiders (something I just made up on-the-fly).

And when I saw that look of horror I knew that these parasites needed to pour forth from that spider-beast and start pursuing the party.

The second moment of wonder came from a series of bad dice rolls from one player that lead to decapation by roper. No one expected that, not even me!

 

[Starfox]

Sense of Wonder for me comes from seeing how new things really have an effect on the setting. For example, in the real world, people will sometimes walk down the street having loud conversations with themselves, just as if they were madmen - when they are in fact just using an unobtrusive communication device. I try to come up with how other "fantastic" elements could affect the campaign in a similar way. What is architecture like in a culture where everyone can fly? I must admit I rarely succeed at this.

The other way, of course, is to keep certain special elements rare and fantastical. This is easier, but also reduces these elements to secondary campaign roles. If the ability to light fires by thought is rare and wondrous, it doesn't make sense that most of the PCs can do this or equivalently rare feats.