Villian Exposes

[Mycanid]

I used to do villain cutaways in superhero games ...

Yes! It works very well in this genre too, btw.

Although I cannot see why it would not work elsewhere too. :\

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I tend to do this quite a bit. If there's something going on, and I want my players to get involved with it, I'll give them a cut scene to whet their whistle... so to speak. It works pretty well.

Later
silver

 

[adwyn]

In my current campaign there are two major villains /protagonists who like to publicly chastise their underlings when the PC's overcome them. This lets me introduce great cut scenes by way of "did you hear what so and so did?"

 

[Erywin]

I do this quite a lot, and gave the wizard in the campaign a special spell to make it easier. It's a lot of fun.

Could you elaborate on how you use it in your campaign? Under what situations and how much you reveal?

I am thinking of it as a chance to recap the last session and jump start them into the next session. eg. The party just finished clearing out an ancient giant Ziggurat in Zen'dric and are on thier way back to Sharn in an underwater ship. I would relate what had happened in the last session, defeating one BBEG and encountering another one that took off, thier trip to Sharn and dump them straight into a meeting with thier patron that they were hired by. One of my players also suggested that at the end of each session that I ask what thier intentions were for the next session so that I don't end up railroading too much, we use a private forum that this all could be taken care with.

Cheers,
E

 

[celewritor]

I've done it. Usually for things that are important storywise (death of a king, animating the dragon's graveyard, sending minions for relics/assassinations) but which don't give the PCs anything they might be tempted to use. Most of it is things they would have heard of anyway through rumors. But it is cooler this way.

 

[Drowbane]

One of my 2e DMs had a knack for doing cut-scenes for his major Villains... sometimes as often as twice a session (beginning and end).

Ahh, good times.

I used to do villain cutaways in superhero games, I don't think I will for D&D though. My D&D is less storyfied and more tactical so it's less appropriate.

Fixed that for ya.

My D&D is also less storyfied and more tactical.

However, that isn't always the case.

 

[el-remmen]

I never do this.

It would feel too much like I was performing for the group instead of the collective creating that happens when characters are actually interacting with each other and NPCs.

I am not saying performing is bad, but it would feel weird to me.

 

[Piratecat]

I think it works best in a cimematic game. By instituting a spell that lets the PCs catch the glimpses instead of the Players, it felt a lot more natural for me to use in D&D. I'd use the cut-away in other game systems like MnM or Feng Shui without hesitation, though.

My players loved catching glimpses of what was happening with the githyanki and the lich queen as the gith did their best to track down the PCs. After the heroes managed to sunder the agreement between red dragons and githyanki, they caught a brief image of a githyanki dragon rider entering the dragon stables -- and all the dragons slowly turning their heads and smiling at him. It was really effective at underscoring what they'd just managed to do. In truth, information is a kind of treasure.

 

[Land Outcast]

After the heroes managed to sunder the agreement between red dragons and githyanki, they caught a brief image of a githyanki dragon rider entering the dragon stables -- and all the dragons slowly turning their heads and smiling at him. It was really effective at underscoring what they'd just managed to do. In truth, information is a kind of treasure.

Perfection. That just brought a tear to my eye...
I LOVED it and I wasn't even one of your players.

 

[Hjorimir]

I do this quite a lot, and gave the wizard in the campaign a special spell to make it easier. It's a lot of fun.

Spell. Must have spell.