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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1653857" data-attributes="member: 63">We had this one in my game.  It was a 'catch-up' episode for one PC who'd been gone the previous week, so I wrote up an adventure just for him, then gave the other players one-time characters to play.  About fifteen minutes into the adventure, they started complaining that their characters sucked.  I had given them the characters to encourage them to be something different -- the broody player was supposed to be a singing orc wizard, the cocky guy was a golem, the player who usually was the main 'hero' got to play the damsel in distress.  But they decided to switch up, to everyone's amusement.  Then half an hour later they switched again.  Then, right before the climax, they switched again, and this time even the guy who was playing his normal PC jumped in on the action, switching so he could be the damsel, and giving his gnome to the player that most despised his character.  It actually ended up working nicely, because they were chasing after a spirit-stealing creature, and I was later on inspired by this to do a classic 'body swap' adventure.But this is more plot-based, not style- or convention-based.On that note:* Giving the players new characters, either at the start of a session, or in the middle.* Starting the session at different places in the story is a twist on a classic narrative technique.  Starting in medias res, or even at the climax and working back.  I've done these.* Cliff-hangers.* Seating arrangements can, apparently, play a big part in group dynamics.  If you have two GMs, do you have them sit together, or on opposite sides of the group?  What if you made the players sit in a straight line on one side of a table, with you in the middle (like Michaelangelo's Last Supper)?* Unlike TVs, gaming is interactive.  How might you play up the interactivity, by giving the players more agency in the world and the story.  Maybe you let players say, "But then the ship's captain orders his men to dump all the oil overboard to create a slick that they can light, thus blocking the path of those pursuing us."  Or maybe you get them involved in character, culture, and plot brainstorming early on, so that the world is more something they want to play in.* Would you ever want to slow the pace of the game down dramatically?  I know some GMs check every rule they're uncertain of (and I hate it when that happens), while I just play it by ear, but aside from rulechecking, what can you do to slow the pace of the game down, and why would you do it?  Dramatic effect, possibly?  To create a sense of calm before the storm?* What speaking methods help the players know when it's time to have a fun free-for-all discussion, and when they should be quiet and listen?  In normal fiction, you would almost never have a key character die without there being some attention to the drama of his passing, and if the character was whispering out his last words, you wouldn't want a different character to ask if there are any enemies around.  You want people to pay attention to the death.  How do you make that happen?Now I'm just tossing out any old idea that comes up, but hopefully some of it will spur discussion.</blockquote>

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