RBDM - How?

[DrunkonDuty]

BSF: I like your cursed money plot. I may just have to steal that for my new campaign. I LOVE the idea of a miser coming back as ghoul. If Dickens had read Lovecraft that's what he would have tormented Scrooge with.

And I have to agree: if you can get your players to care about NPCs then that gives you so much to play with. And don't forget to get them to care about the bad guys: that is getting the bad guys. It'll give you a whole different way to screw with their minds. In a fun way obviously.

 

[BSF]

Of course, that particular example wouldn't always work. It would assume that the PCs had dealt with a ghoul, found loot from the ghoul, didn't check the loot, and then spent it all.

But part of my point was that you can retroactively trigger plots if you are always looking for the hooks that the players enjoy. When you need a new hook, you can craft something new, or dig into your RBDM toolbox and create something that comes back from the past to haunt your PCs.

My primary point was always listening for the elements you need to populate your toolbox with. The players will tell you what these are, even if they don't know that at the time. And yes, you need to have the bad guys the players want to see taken down. Really, a RBDM is adept at manipulating the game at multiple levels. There are the in-game elements, but there are the metagame elements as well. You need to know how to play the players while keeping everything in the confines of the game. The players know they can step out of the game at any time. But they don't want to. They are having too much fun and when the end of a session hits, they are eager for the next session.

 

[Pbartender]

Of course, that particular example wouldn't always work. It would assume that the PCs had dealt with a ghoul, found loot from the ghoul, didn't check the loot, and then spent it all.

But part of my point was that you can retroactively trigger plots if you are always looking for the hooks that the players enjoy.

Which leads right into another aspect of a good RBDM... Being observant.

It's very important to pay attention to what your players are paying attention to. Things that your players ignore can return to become behind-the-scenes foils, and things they do pay attention to can be immediately upgraded in importance to the plot. Especially so when you can make a solid connection between the important thing they ignored two months ago and the unimportant thing they are paying attention to now.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

That doesn't sound like a heck of a lot of fun.

That is what being a RBDM is all about. The real trick is doing it to the Players and then having them come back for more.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

That is what being a RBDM is all about. The real trick is doing it to the Players and then having them come back for more.

I don't think TPK'ing my party is something that I would be working towards. The goal is fun; I guess if you're players are having fun, then you're doing your job. Certainly a game with lots of PC death can be fun - I only have to go back to (contact)'s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil Story Hour to see that this is the case. I think they had 9 deaths by the time they hit 9th level, with only one original PC left standing. Your example didn't sound like it had a whole lot of leeway for the players to actually affect anything, including their character's deaths, though perhaps you were just streamlining the example for brevity's sake.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

BSF: A fine example of Shroedinger's Plot. Or was that Shroedinger's DM? Sorry, getting my neologisms muddled. Let's just say that I will keep the idea in mind and should an opportunity come up... (and I have just started a new campaign that's strong on horror.)

edit: intended to be strong on horror. Haven't done much of that so not certain how it'll go. But RBDM will play a part.

 

[shilsen]

That is what being a RBDM is all about. The real trick is doing it to the Players and then having them come back for more.

Not in my book. A TPK generally counts as a mark of failure on the DM's part, as far as I'm concerned. Different strokes and all that jazz...

 

[WhatGravitas]

Not in my book. A TPK generally counts as a mark of failure on the DM's part, as far as I'm concerned. Different strokes and all that jazz...

Same here. TPK is easy, but walking the fine line between TPK and "what has our DM done to us!?" - in a tactical, as well as a storywise sense - is the real skill, because that will keep the players happy (and challenged)!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Darklone]

That's easy with my players. They dig their own graves, charge unprepared into hordes of enemies way over their head...

... and then they are lucky. Great gaming.

 

[Asmor]

The setting mentions that Changlings, Shifters, and warforged are all the results of what amount to super soldier programs.

Apologies for the threadjack, but where does it say that (regarding the changelings and shifters)?