Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
You're doing what? Surprising the DM
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6109694" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>Sounds cool! Of course Hussar has to speak for himself, but if the GM had run this scene instead of the hiring scene I doubt he'd be posting any criticisms of that GM on this thread.</p><p></p><p>I think we clearly have different notions of narrative triviality. In LotR, for instance, Gimli wouldn't have survived to the end of the book (and Appendix B) without eating, and so in that sense his eating is not narratively trivial, yet we hear nearly nothing of it in the book. Whereas we hear much more about the hobbits' eating, because that's part of their character.</p><p></p><p>The presence of the mercenaries matters, but - given what the players are invested in - their life stories and personal motivations don't. Of course they can be made relevant - one is a grell lover, or a grell hater - but as I think I've made clear I have views on how a GM can bring that out in a way that doesn't make the players engage in a 90 minute hiring scene in which they have no interest.</p><p></p><p>I actually think it would be pretty simple. If we're revved to get to City B, set up complications that self-evidently hook onto our interest in City B. If we're revved up to get revenge on the grell, set up complications that self-evidently hook onto the grell and our revenge upon it.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, taking the game away from what we're interested in - a desert trek instead of doing stuff in and about City B, or a series of job interviews instead of finding out what happens with the grell - and you'll see our revs per minute drop pretty quickly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6109694, member: 42582"] Sounds cool! Of course Hussar has to speak for himself, but if the GM had run this scene instead of the hiring scene I doubt he'd be posting any criticisms of that GM on this thread. I think we clearly have different notions of narrative triviality. In LotR, for instance, Gimli wouldn't have survived to the end of the book (and Appendix B) without eating, and so in that sense his eating is not narratively trivial, yet we hear nearly nothing of it in the book. Whereas we hear much more about the hobbits' eating, because that's part of their character. The presence of the mercenaries matters, but - given what the players are invested in - their life stories and personal motivations don't. Of course they can be made relevant - one is a grell lover, or a grell hater - but as I think I've made clear I have views on how a GM can bring that out in a way that doesn't make the players engage in a 90 minute hiring scene in which they have no interest. I actually think it would be pretty simple. If we're revved to get to City B, set up complications that self-evidently hook onto our interest in City B. If we're revved up to get revenge on the grell, set up complications that self-evidently hook onto the grell and our revenge upon it. Conversely, taking the game away from what we're interested in - a desert trek instead of doing stuff in and about City B, or a series of job interviews instead of finding out what happens with the grell - and you'll see our revs per minute drop pretty quickly. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
You're doing what? Surprising the DM
Top