Writing useful game material efficiently

[Ry]

Anything that doesn't get up in front of the players and says "Hey, interact with me." is a waste. But the bear can have fur, as it were. The fur doesn't need to ask. The bear does.

I think that breaks down like this:

Problem ("Hey, change me, if you care and if you can.")
Threat ("Hey, I can harm you!")
Resource ("I can be used")
Reward ("you've earned me!")

These are very, very, very broad categories. But they're not a discussion about the weather.

Who cares that the king's sick in bed if the PCs aren't looking for his poisoner / trying to evade agents who think they're the poisoners / searching for the cure / recently rewarded by their (now beloved) king?

 

[Ry]

So backstory details of a bear that doesn't clobber the dwarf would be a waste.

 

[olshanski]

Hmm.

I guess a lot of things that I would have previously called "Atmosphere" I should actually be calling "Waste". The fact that hoar-frost has collected in an old cellar doesn't matter if it has no in-game consequence. Likewise it doesn't matter whether the NPC that asks that the party recover her kitten is a spiteful looking hag or a buxom lass with freckles.... since either way it doesn't have any mechanical in-game consequence.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Who cares that the king's sick in bed if the PCs aren't looking for his poisoner / trying to evade agents who think they're the poisoners / searching for the cure / recently rewarded by their (now beloved) king?

If a problem is "Hey, change me, if you care and if you can." aren't you rather presupposing that the PCs don't care here? What if the consequence is that while the king is sick abed, his evil brother rules the land? What if that causes complications/problems for the player characters?

What if the PCs don't care about the bear and children?

It seems to me that the only difference is that, in your OP examples, the DM tells the players that they cannot affect the outcome. Otherwise, how does this differ from "Hey, change me, if you care and if you can"?

While I think your idea here is overall worthwhile, it seems more of a difference in presentation than in substance, IMHO. It is similar to how I approached scenario design for my Doctor Who game in some regards.

 

[Raven Crowking]

So backstory details of a bear that doesn't clobber the dwarf would be a waste.

Why?

Why is that not "fur" for another bear that does clobber the dwarf?

 

[Aeric]

I had a DM once who loved giving us detailled descriptions of things we couldn't care less about. He would go into detail about the intricate carvings and ornate stained glass on the tavern's door, when all we wanted to do was go inside. Sure, some description is necessary to maintain immersion, but he went overboard.

Ryan, your flowchart is almost identical to one I was given in a game design class this summer. Have you ever heard of Alan Emrich? I've seen his site linked on these boards at least once. He was my teacher.

 

[Ry]

I guess a lot of things that I would have previously called "Atmosphere" I should actually be calling "Waste". The fact that hoar-frost has collected in an old cellar doesn't matter if it has no in-game consequence. Likewise it doesn't matter whether the NPC that asks that the party recover her kitten is a spiteful looking hag or a buxom lass with freckles.... since either way it doesn't have any mechanical in-game consequence.

Hi Olshanski; I think rather than me re-iterating, can you take a look at my last few posts and see what you think? I haven't changed anything, but I think you'll find that I'm not saying what you're implying above.

 

[Ry]

Why is that not "fur" for another bear that does clobber the dwarf?

Is there another bear that clobbers the dwarf?

Say there's Pandy and Mandy. Pandy's being poked with a stick and clobbers his dwarf.

Mandy's in a cage in the back; the players can talk to the circus owner afterwards and purchase Mandy and Pandy (if he lives). That's a resource. Mandy is in.

Mandy's in a cage in the back; both she and Pandy are mistreated. The circus won't part with Mandy or Pandy except for an exorbitant price. That's a problem. Mandy is in.

 

[Ry]

"Hey, change me, if you care and if you can"?

Wrote that too fast in a torturously boring training session. Should be something like "Hey, I'm a problem. I can be fixed."

The parameters of how it's fixed should be something the DM thinks of and prepares. But that doesn't mean that the problem's solution is immediately available to the players.

 

[Ry]

Ryan, your flowchart is almost identical to one I was given in a game design class this summer. Have you ever heard of Alan Emrich? I've seen his site linked on these boards at least once. He was my teacher.

I'm going to google him right now.