Zombie-a-GoGo
First Post
After getting my feet wet in the DM arena after a rather lengthy hiatus, and watching in despair as the first handful of game sessions seemed to be going nowhere - or rather, going in directions that the players were actively disinterested in - I had wondered if the "phat DM skillz" of my youth had been eroded by the copius alcohol consuption of my adulthood, or something. 
And then, there was last week's session, and I did rejoice.
The players, finding their PCs stuck in a deal to help a merchant transport "silks" through the nation of Dunmerrick (it was the deal they cut to get out of jail), began, at first, grumbling and muttering about "just do what the DM wants you to do" and whatnot. And yeah, I felt like I was doing a little bit of railroading myself, and it bothered me, but we forged on nonetheless.
Four (in-game) days later the PCs have discoveded that "Gregor the Merchant" is actually "Sir Gregor Erathion" of Galliere, and that he is smuggling illegal arms through Dunmerrick under the guise of a merchant. The plot thickens when the PCs learn that Gregor is taking these arms to the woodsmen of the western border who are trying to keep an orc invasion in Andragoras from spilling over into Dunmerrick.
So they like the ends, if not the means, and so on - but the reason Gregor's doing this all incognito is beacuse Galliere and Dunmerrick have a "cold war" type thing going on and refuse to treat with one another. The plot thickens further when they find out that they are being hunted by a troupe of Galliere's "secret police" who want the arms returned to Galliere and Sir Gregor thrown in jail.
But it's all still railroading, right?
Much to my surprise, last session Gregor was taken out of the picture, his daughter was killed, and now the PCs have a wagon of cannonades (styled from Princess Mononoke) in their possession. And things are great! The players are suddenly wondering what they're supposed to do - do they return the weapons to Galliere? Are the secret police still after them? What if Dunmerrick finds out that they have these weapons and are branded traitors?
One of the players actually asked me what they were "supposed" to do now.
Nothing felt as good as shrugging my shoulders and telling them, with a smile, "whatever you think is right." They're actually pouring through my background material trying to figure out what their best options are.
And little do they know that a warband of Orcs is on a collision-course with them...
Anyway, I just wanted to shjare this little anecdote with you all. When the view from the DMs seat looks bleakest, just let the dice fall where they may (I never wanted Gregor and his daughter, Lauren, to be taken out of the picture) and let the players deal with the aftermath.
We're having a blast.
And then, there was last week's session, and I did rejoice.
The players, finding their PCs stuck in a deal to help a merchant transport "silks" through the nation of Dunmerrick (it was the deal they cut to get out of jail), began, at first, grumbling and muttering about "just do what the DM wants you to do" and whatnot. And yeah, I felt like I was doing a little bit of railroading myself, and it bothered me, but we forged on nonetheless.
Four (in-game) days later the PCs have discoveded that "Gregor the Merchant" is actually "Sir Gregor Erathion" of Galliere, and that he is smuggling illegal arms through Dunmerrick under the guise of a merchant. The plot thickens when the PCs learn that Gregor is taking these arms to the woodsmen of the western border who are trying to keep an orc invasion in Andragoras from spilling over into Dunmerrick.
So they like the ends, if not the means, and so on - but the reason Gregor's doing this all incognito is beacuse Galliere and Dunmerrick have a "cold war" type thing going on and refuse to treat with one another. The plot thickens further when they find out that they are being hunted by a troupe of Galliere's "secret police" who want the arms returned to Galliere and Sir Gregor thrown in jail.
But it's all still railroading, right?
Much to my surprise, last session Gregor was taken out of the picture, his daughter was killed, and now the PCs have a wagon of cannonades (styled from Princess Mononoke) in their possession. And things are great! The players are suddenly wondering what they're supposed to do - do they return the weapons to Galliere? Are the secret police still after them? What if Dunmerrick finds out that they have these weapons and are branded traitors?
One of the players actually asked me what they were "supposed" to do now.
Nothing felt as good as shrugging my shoulders and telling them, with a smile, "whatever you think is right." They're actually pouring through my background material trying to figure out what their best options are.And little do they know that a warband of Orcs is on a collision-course with them...
Anyway, I just wanted to shjare this little anecdote with you all. When the view from the DMs seat looks bleakest, just let the dice fall where they may (I never wanted Gregor and his daughter, Lauren, to be taken out of the picture) and let the players deal with the aftermath.
We're having a blast.
