My first bad game session

[pjrake]

Just wanted to share and get your insights on what to do You see, I just GM my first "bad" game session. It just didn't go well at all. There was no flow, no real direction, and the players seem disinterested. All the images and music I prepared beforehand just did not fit with the game, if that makes any sense. It was like Murphy's Law: everything that could go wrong did!

So here I am pondering what happened. Was it me? Did I not provide a good story?

A bit of history and setting might provide some insight:

• We're roleplaying Mutants & Masterminds
• The campaign has been running for almost one year
• We have five players at the moment
• I've been GMing on and off for about five years
• I've adopted the "winging" style of roleplaying where the players dictate the story
• We use music, images, and minis during gameplay

Any thoughts, feedback, criticism, etc is greatly appreciated. I thank you all in advance for your time.

PJ

 

[GlassJaw]

Was it me? Did I not provide a good story?

Well I certainly don't know. Can you provide more details on the actual session? What did you see as the problem? Did you players make any comments about what was happening in the game?

 

[twofalls]

On occasion you are going to have a bad session. People are tired, distracted by life, your juices aren't flowing (murder for a unscripted game), or whatever. It happens. Don't sweat it and move on. If it starts happening several sessions in a row, then analyze what is happening and make adjustments. One bad session isn't indicative of a problem.

 

[S'mon]

In a campaign I think flat sessions are inevitable, and players generally understand that. Only if you get 3 in a row would I worry about it.

 

[Rel]

If you've been GMing for 5 years, including running this campaign for a year and this is your first bad session then you are way ahead of the game and we should be asking you for advice, not the other way around.

 

[Asmo]

If you've been GMing for 5 years, including running this campaign for a year and this is your first bad session then you are way ahead of the game and we should be asking you for advice, not the other way around.

What the man said.

Asmo

 

[Agamon]

What I want to know is how you use music and props in a "winging it" style of play? That's pretty impressive. You certainly have your stuff together. I'd chalk it up to bad luck and expect the next session to be stronger.

 

[pjrake]

Well I certainly don't know. Can you provide more details on the actual session? What did you see as the problem? Did you players make any comments about what was happening in the game?

These are my notes from the last two sessions (including the last one which didn't go well). Hopefully this can shed some light as how I go about preparing for a game and how I keep my notes.

Issue #18

Pre-Session Notes:

Powerman (AKA Chris Summers) fired from job at Lake MacKenzie. Chris goes on job interviews, including The Freedom Aquarium [hand out resume]. Rejected from all interviews.

Jonah Langston, promoter for Coldplay, contacts Defenders to do security for show at Freedom Liberty Dome. Pays $2,000 for night, which includes show and after-party at remote mansion in North Bay. Mansion next to graveyard. Zombies attack function. [play the live CD of Coldplay]

Jonah Langston offers Powerman shot at upcoming TV reality show called 'American Sidekick'. Invites him to meeting in Hollywood.

Cut Scene - Palm reader reading palm of man who is in pain; sees he will die very soon. Leaves upset and goes to Revival meeting. Man begins to feel better. Person wearing tribal mask enters and destroys church. Blue light shoots from eyes killing everyone. Man dies instantly.

Cut Scene - Palm reader goes to church and looks for man. Picks up piece of wood from pew and gets vision of a minotaur destroying city. She reaches out to her brother, Jarred Clay (Thunder).

African tribe takes artifact from William; they are nowhere to be found.

Project: Genesis begins Phase One; Charles Smith wants to use humans as test subjects. Human testing is not done until Phase Two. Smith claims project must be on schedule and can be delayed if humans are not used during Phase One.

In-Session Notes:

The Ghoul attacked Rave and Thunder by the alley and knocked them out with one hit.

Inferna called Powerman for help but he's doing security at Coldplay show.

Nightmare is on route to Freedom City after regaining consciousness from the encounter with the artifact.

Locals inform Nightmare that the artifact was not found. A team of scientist found Nightmare unconscious next to a hole.

Nightmare gets a call from his butler, Jack Pierce regarding an emergency message from The Defenders. He leaves immediately.

Nightmare arrived at airport [insert name] and goes to the location The Defenders were attacked.

The Ghoul and Nightmare engaged in combat. After a long and fierce one-on-one fight, The Ghoul knocked him unconscious. Inferna and Thunder leave the hospital and find Nightmare near death.

Nightmare is in critical but stable condition and recovering back in [name of hospital].

As Inferna is tending to Thunder's wounds, she unmasked him to reveal her team member from ASTRO Labs, Jarred Clay.

Thunder reveals his true identity to Rave and leaves the building unmasked.

Post-Session Notes:

Pros:
Meeting on Friday nights seems to work
Handouts were enjoyed by players; work on more handouts
Food break worked out better; allow 30 minutes to get food and eat

Cons:
Players need to bring chips
Encourage players to purchase own dice and books
Combat descriptions still weak; must make combat more exciting

Issue #19

Pre-Session Notes:

Show "Extra Effort" slideshow

Cut scene involving Marcus Raymond participating in revival meeting; he transforms into Ghoul and kills everyone

Plot Advancement: Rave is pregnant with Thunder's child; baby was not harmed in battle with Ghoul

Lady Cassandra contacts Jarred regarding her encounter with Marcus; possible relationship w/ Powerman or Nightmare?

Confrontation at church [need map of church]; any person killed by Ghoul will become zombies and attack; Ghoul uses Invisibility to escape

Project: Genesis is responsible for Marcus Raymond become The Ghoul; Charles Smith (head of project) was doctor who operated on Marcus 3 years ago (he escaped before Marcus transformed into Ghould and killed everyone); a string of murders similar to that of Freedom City happened in Texas; local police linked the murders to Marcus but did not have enough evidence; was known as "The Nightstalker"

Charles Smith also knows of Thunder & Inferna's superpowers; wants to use it for the project; believes he "perfected" the formula for bringing the dead back to life by using mutant powers

Charles Smith knows that Marcus is behind recent killings in the city

Nurse from Texas will contact local police about who's behind the murders; Senator Greene will contact the Defenders about "tip"; Charles Smith flies to Texas and kills nurse

Charles Smith destroys all evidence in nurse's apartment except letter; letter partially destroyed except has address to Marcus old house in Texas

In-Session Notes:

Dynamite, during filming of "Deception" with Sylvester Stallone, receives urgent message from Defenders regarding the threat of The Ghoul; he flies back to Freedom City

As Jarred is about to leave Freedom Medical Hospital, doctor updats him on Rave's condition; she suffered some broken bones and lacerations to neck and back, but is in stable condition; Jarred discovers Rave is pregnant

Jarred investigates graveyard near Graham Mansion, but only finds empty graves and signs of a recent battle

Jessica arrives to ASTRO Labs late and immediately begins work on Project: Genesis

Lady Cassandra calls her brother Jarred; warns him of visions she had on The Ghoul

Dynamite calls an emergency meeting at Defenders Plaza; everyone attends; Lady Cassandra talks about man who visited her and all the destruction he will cause, especially at the Revival Meeting he is about to go to; Defenders spring into action

Back at ASTRO Labs, Jessica suspects Charles Smith is up to something; checks his message on his phone and is caught by Charles

Charles Smith tells Jessica he's responsible for The Ghoul; Project: Genesis first test was not a success, and The Ghoul was born; feels that with Jessica's expertise, Project: Genesis will be a success

Dynamite tracks down Charles Smith and encounters Lucas George, who turns into The Ghoul; fierce battle ensues but Dynamite is defeated by The Ghoul and as he is about to throw Dynamtie into the river, Jessica quickly rescues him and flies away

William and Jarred are en route to the Revival Meeting where the original Ghoul is about to strike

Post-Session Notes:

Cons:
Session did not well at all; no flow to the game; players scattered about with no plan of action
Started late and everyone was tired; maybe should start earlier (players seemed "bored")
Too much "planning" ie, too much attention to music, image overkill, and tried too much with describing scene & action
Not happy with table layout, especially GM section; need to work on Gaming Table

Pros:
None really; one of the weakest game sessions we ever had

 

[pjrake]

What I want to know is how you use music and props in a "winging it" style of play? That's pretty impressive. You certainly have your stuff together. I'd chalk it up to bad luck and expect the next session to be stronger.

I use Rhapsody and create (ahead of time) Playslist. One is titled: M&M: Battle. In it I have heavy songs like BYOB from System of a Down and Enemy from Sevendust. Also, each player has their own "theme" song (our Brick as "Break Stuff" from Limp Bizkit) and when his song is played during combat he gets a +2 to attack. Another playlist is M&M: Techo. I use this as "background" music. If I was running a Fantasy campaign I would probably have some LOTR music. Another playlist is M&M: Light Music. Here I basically have all the songs you would hear in any Smallville episode. I use this when starting a new scene or whenever I'm ready to advance a player's subplot. For example, one of our heroes just found out his girlfriend is pregnant. In the background I had Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway song playing. When he heard the song, he knew something big was happening.

Also Rhapsody has videos. What I did in one previous session was one of the heroes was moonlighting as security and Coldplay was in town so I played one of Coldplay's video in the background (got my laptop hooked up to my TV). What was great is that the video I played was an actual live show. During the middle of the song I had my hero break up a fight, it was pretty cool.

I'd much rather use iTunes because it has a better interface but having a huge collection of songs is a great plus.

So that's how I use music in my session. Music is a big part of my game sessions and the players (for the most part) really enjoy it. Guess I just have to chalk this last session as a "bad" episode and move on. From what everyone is saying made me think of all the other sessions and they were very good and fun, so thank you all. Now if my next two are really bad I'll be right back here "beggin" all of you for help! lol

Thanks again everyon!

PJ

 

[Smart]

Sounds like a great music system. Especially with it being an M&M campaign. I tend toward the half-winging and half-planned game session. Could it be that you are focusing too much on non-story material (music, visuals, etc.) and not on the plot itself? Are your players bored with the current game genre and want to try something different?

I suggest having a pre-game open discussion with your players - how do they feel about the game? What would they change? Ask everyone to give 3 positive aspects of the game and 3 negative aspects. There's nothing wrong with a little game troubleshooting.

That aside, everyone has a bad session once in a while. Ask a few questions, but don't worry about it unless the problems persist.