Skipping time - "... and then six months later..."

[Afrodyte]

Hypersmurf,

In an online game I run (not D&D), I take huge leaps in time, so fast-forwarding things to 6 months after a key incident doesn't seem bad at all. As one of the previous posters said, though, you don't want to tell the players what their characters have been doing. Something that may work better (depending upon the group) may be that you tell them that they start out in jail and that 6 months ago, there was an incident with a werewolf. Letting the players decide how they landed in jail and what their connection (or presumed connection) with the werewolf is helps them become more involved in the story and the world, even though the werewolf is tangental to the adventure you have in mind.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Something that may work better (depending upon the group) may be that you tell them that they start out in jail and that 6 months ago, there was an incident with a werewolf.

That was my original thought.

But the group enjoys combat, and the adventure (as planned, at any rate ) is city-based with potentially a lot of roleplay interaction. So I'm thinking rather than tell them "The PCs had a great combat, but you guys missed it", this way they get to have the combat, and then the adventure starts at the same place it would have anyway.

I could start the adventure with "You're in jail because you killed someone."

I could start the adventure with "You're in jail because you were framed for killing someone."

The combat six months ago could have gone either way, for the same opening scene.

The plan is that this way, before the "You're in jail" scene that is going to happen regardless, they get to have a fun combat.

I don't think I'd do it this way in a campaign, but it feels right for a one-shot. I'm leaving for the game in about half an hour, so I'll let you know how it goes

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

I'm leaving for the game in about half an hour, so I'll let you know how it goes

Feh. Or not.

Only one player made it... the others are sick, or were scheduled to work at the last minute...

Gah. Well, gives me two more weeks to prepare.

-Hyp.

 

[LGodamus]

Smurf...you dont have to railroad them....let them fight the werewolf ( and most likely kill it) , then the guards show up and TRY to arrest them...then its their decision to go to jail or not....the deal the other noble is offering them works just as well if not more if they are fugitives from justice , than if they are prisoners... just make it difficult for them to travel to far from the city, that way they dont get the idea just to pick up and leave.

 

[Umbran]

Don't listen to Evil Lawyers.... railroading is always bad...

No, go ahead and listen to the Evil Lawyer. He just had this done to him, in spades, and he didn't mind a bit.

I play in a Mage chronicle that normally runs about once a month. For various reasons, we were on a hiatus that had lasted for six months, but tonight we finally got to play.

The scene opens with the mages standing in the middle of a cathedral-like room, viewing the end of a fight. A vampire skewered by an ally's sword, is dissolving into sand and ash. Another ally tells us, "Thank you," and promptly bursts into flame and dies. A third, unknown figure lies on the floor nearby. and we, the mages, have not a clue as to where we are, or what's going on.

Soon enough, we learn that it is January, and our last memories are of September. But we didn't just jump in time - it is clear that we were involved in events leading up to this fight, but don't recall it.

For those who play Mage - Paradox is a... nasty wench

We spent the session trying to figure out what we've been doing for the past few months. And it seems to have been strange indeed...

 

[Telperion]

You must be confusing it with the world of darkness.



Bye
Thanee

Hm...funny...I have run Chronicles and Campaigns and I basically use the same tools and ideas in both...*shrugs*

 

[S'mon]

Smurf...you dont have to railroad them....let them fight the werewolf ( and most likely kill it) , then the guards show up and TRY to arrest them...then its their decision to go to jail or not....the deal the other noble is offering them works just as well if not more if they are fugitives from justice , than if they are prisoners... just make it difficult for them to travel to far from the city, that way they dont get the idea just to pick up and leave.

Wow, actual good GMing advice?!

Yes, this sounds exactly the right way to do it.

 

[Gez]

As a player this - we subdue werewolf but the 'Plot' kills him anyway - would annoy the Hell out of me, it would smack of extreme railroading.

I think, to the contrary, that it could derail the plot:
"So, before we leave town, let's find who actually killed the werebeast, and framed us! We may have dirt to find on our generous benefactor, and maybe we could blackmail him, even!"

 

[randomling]

An issue like this did come up recently in our Midnight game - our Midnight GM is brilliant, but I freaked out at some fairly mild railroading involving our PCs having decided to do something pre-session (enter a time-loop to help some elf ghosts so they'd stop killing people, knowing we'd lose our memories while doing so), and the session thus starting with us having IC no memory of our decision, and OOC no knowledge of it - my problem was that I didn't think my PC would have made that decision in the first place, and this caused big problems. It would have been a brilliant short story, as a game session, dealing with a fragile player-ego (mine), it had major flaws IMO that required lots of patience and work by the (wonderful) GM to rectify.

Strange, that session didn't seem much like a railroad to me. We had one decision assumed for us (a fairly reasonable one IMO, that we would accept a mission from our commander, as we had done in numerous previous scenarios) and from the session start onwards we had complete freedom to choose our PCs' actions and attitudes. It certainly didn't feel like a "GM tells the story" session to me - if we'd chosen to, for instance, we could have left the remaining PCs to die.

Then again, maybe we just have wildly different definitions of railroading - I certainly didn't feel railroaded or unhappy with my level of freedom in that session.

 

[Alhazred]

I'd probably narrate the fight with the werewolf, the subsequent discovery of the werewolf's true identity, the arrest and secret trial wherein the truth is supressed to preserve the integrity of the eminent family in question, and the long and difficult six months in jail. At this point, I'd begin actual play with the PCs walking, under heavy escort, to the councillor's office. In this manner, the PCs know why they are in jail, and that it was an unjust and (depending on the setting) an illegal trial, and all without feeling railroaded into the current predicament. My only concern is that the PCs may obsess with revealing the truth about the werewolf's identity. Perhaps the councillor could warn the group that, if they reveal the truth behind their imprisonment, the deal is off. If its a high-level or high magic campaign, the councillor might attach monitoring devices to ensure compliance.

Anyway, I hope all goes well.