#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 7: How can a GM make the stakes important?

To answer a question like this one, I'd think like a writer.

I made a quick google search regarding the raising of stakes, and found this page: 5 surefire ways to raise the stakes in your story, by Claire Bradshaw.

It's a pretty good read

Now, I could make a fair discussion on this subject, but I'll try to keep it short by focusing on the first point that Claire brings in her article: What are story stakes?

The article says:

"One of the most important things a fiction writer must do is keep readers engaged in the story. This means piquing and holding their interest throughout the novel. It means ensuring they are invested in the characters and the outcome of the plot – invested enough to want to keep turning those pages.

One surefire way to achieve this is through careful consideration of your story's stakes."

To define a story's stakes, she encourages readers to ask questions like the following:

• What does the protagonist stand to lose through the story's central conflict?
• What do they stand to gain?
• What do they want or need to obtain or achieve, and what stands in the way of them doing this?
• What are they risking in trying to achieve their objective?

Now, I will use the Tomb of Annihilation module.

An adventure module with very clear and important stakes

For those unfamiliar with this module, it presents the idea of the Death Curse, which thwarts any attempts of resurrection while slowly killing anyone that was previously resurrected. Using this information from the module, I will answer the questions from the article:

• The players may lose their lives, as well as the lives of anyone that's slowly dying, through their journey in stopping the Death Curse
• By stopping the Death Curse, the players may save countless lives, as well as gain riches and recognition from grateful patrons
• They must ascertain the source of the Death Curse, and they must brave through the jungles of Chult and all of it's dangers to get to it
• The players risk getting lost in the wilds, getting attacked by monsters, being afflicted by curses or diseases, or dying and never coming back

By making these stakes clear to the players, you give them importance. Make sure these are always present in your games, and it'll help you lead your players.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 6: How can players make a world seem real?

This is an excellent question, because a world can only be as real as the players enable it to be. Here are three points that I think are key for the players to help give the world life.

Define your character

In order for the player to better relate with the world in the game, they need to get to know their character better. What foods do they like? What kind of people or places do they avoid? What kind of experiences do they seek out? The answers to these questions will help the player use their character as a vessel to explore the world.

Interact with the scenes presented to you

As your character enters the tavern, your DM could describe some of what's going on to you, but it's up to you to find out more. Maybe you became aware of a shady fellow sitting at the back, or maybe your spotted a murder of crows before entering the tavern. These things may actually be more than they appear, hints of things that happen in the background as you adventure. The world will open itself to you only if you look out for it, so don't be afraid to detour a little and have some fun.

Talk about the game in-between sessions

The best way to make a world seem real is talking and speculating about it. What would have happened if the bad guy was able to run away? Whatever happened to that mysterious hat selling merchant? Why did those cloaked men suddenly appeared and attacked you? Some of these questions may give your DM ideas for future sessions, while others will just help you connect with the world.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 5: Favourite recurring NPC?

Like last post, I will answer this in three parts:


Favorite recurring NPC from an actual play stream

Pumat Sol, as presented by Matt Mercer in Critical Role:

Just watch the first three to five minutes

Shopping is kinda boring. However, when you shop for magical items, one would expect such a place to be wondrous. The way Matt Mercer achieved that magical feel was by making it's proprietor be very unique. Being a voice actor as well as an excellent DM also didn't hurt.


Favourite recurring NPC in someone else's game that I've played

Father Lucian Petrovich, as presented by Esteban Flecha in our late Curse of Strahd campaign:


It took me a while to decide since I had a couple of very good NPCs to choose from, but I'm opting for this one because what makes them all memorable for me all have one thing in common.


While I can commend my DMs for their clear effort poured into these NPCs, in the end what makes them memorable for me is depends largely on my experience with them. A good example was Father Lucian Petrovich; he didn't have a particular character quirk or anything that would make him stand out from other priestly NPCs, The way the story turned out, however, made him the center of many things, to hilarious results.

SPOILERS FOR CURSE OF STRAHD

You see, the town where Mr. Petrovich resides, Vallaki, had a lot of weird and corrupted stuff going on in it. The Burgomaster was deranged, his lackey had a demonic influence in him, and his son was, in secret, performing deadly rituals on unsuspecting victims. And then you have the woman who was trying to overthrow him, who clearly did devil worship, kept her insane daughter locked in her room, and slept in her bed next to her dead husband.

Needless to say, my Lawful Good Paladin was having none of it, and neither were the rest of the party. After exploring all of this stuff and executing all of them, we ended up burning their houses for good measure.

Amidst all this craziness, there was one hallowed church that stood as a stalwart relief and refuge for the villagers. This is where we delivered all those child NPCs we kept meeting. Father Petrovich was a man we trusted. As we continued our antics, sis disposition towards us went from grateful to wary. The town, however, was not happy.

This was a common view in that campaign

Eventually Father Lucian Petrovich became Burgomaster because of his family ties, so it all worked out in the end; even though we're not welcome in Vallaki anymore, Father Lucian will always be hesitantly willing to humor us.


Favourite recurring NPC in my games

I like a lot of my own NPCs, and I feel like this is picking a favorite from my own children who I love all the same, but I will go with Zeroth because he's easy to explain since his story is over.

Zeroth was the BBEG in one of the last long-term campaigns I had. He's the one that unleashed SIN to the players. Zeroth is special to me because, with him, I was able to make a villain that the players both loved and feared. Zeroth knew he was superior to the PCs and he flaunted this whenever he could. He would only appear to them when they were separated and alone, and only to dangerously toy with them. All the while, he would be charismatic, almost friendly.

I had a picture that fit him perfectly, but I lost it. Instead I'll use a picture that's based in a scene I used as inspiration for the final battle with Zeroth.

Fire Lord Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender's finale

I can write a whole post about Zeroth, but I'll just describe the final battle:

The heroes arrive at an altar while Zeroth was in the middle of a ritual with 4 golem-like constructs; Each construct was built to be a master spellcaster from different power sources: Divine Magic, Shadow Magic, Truename Magic, and Psionics (Zeroth covered Arcane Magic). The ritual would have had Zeroth absorb all their power and knowledge, in the hopes to unlocking the secrets to ascending to godhood.

When the heroes managed to slay one of the constructs, Zeroth completed the ritual prematurely and it became an aerial chase to destroy him before he absorbs the other constructs and becomes potentially indestructible.

I sprinkled in some Doomsday Zone for added over-the-top-ness

In the end, the heroes defeated him, and he went out with a satisfied smile.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 4: Most memorable NPC?

I'll answer this in three ways: From an actual play stream, when playing in someone else's game, and one from my own games. This is for NPCs that only appeared once in a campaign, since my favorite recurring NPCs in both categories will be revealed in tomorrow's question.


Most memorable NPC from an actual play stream

Asmodeus, as presented by Jerry Holkins and Chris Perkins in the Waffles, Inc finale:

Skip to 2:30:00 for the encounter

I'm not a big fan of demon lords and archdevils in RPGs. But I am a fan of how Asmodeus was portrayed by two DMs at the same time. The way he would talk to himself when considering things, and how the DMs portrayed how one of the most ancient evil beings would carry himself, made this encounter be an excellent resolution to an epic multiple-session weekend storyline, without a fight being involved.

Most memorable NPC in someone else's game that I've played

Aleena, as presented by my dad in the D&D Red Box Starter Set 1 adventure module:

Before everyone had their first RPG death with Final Fantasy VII's Aerith, mine was with Aleena.

I mentioned this back in the first day's post, but I do still occasionally think back to the first NPC that I saw die. Aleena guided me and my siblings for a little bit while we explored our first dungeon, and she was mostly quiet otherwise. After she died at the hands of Bargle, however, it struck a note to me how characters can die for good in this game, and so my choices have consequences.

Most memorable NPC in my games

This one was tough since I usually make sure that memorable NPCs become recurring. Technically, this one only appeared in 2 back-to-back sessions, so I think it counts. Let me talk to you about the monster we called SIN. (The name is based off of FFX's namesake giant monster)

My campaign was nearing it's end, and I had long hinted at a legendary monster that lurked in the outside areas of the world, trapped and hidden away. My way of planting a Chekhov's gun idea that they would face this being at the end of the campaign.

For what was originally supposed to be the last session, I decided to bring in a monster that would challenge them. They were all, however, epic level (~30) adventurers (3.5 edition), and there were 9-12 players. Nothing in the monster manual could challenge them, so after a friend's suggestion, I decided to take the Tarrasque and amp it up.

SIN uses the Tarrasque as a base monster, and gives it about 6 templates including half-dragon and half-fiend, as well as some character classes. It was a truly dreadful creature, capable of ending encounters on the first round if not taken seriously.

In my head, SIN looked like the Cloverfield monster, but with wings

What makes SIN memorable is that the players were so afraid of interacting with it, that they decided to attempt to turn it against other villain NPCs. They succeeded, and SIN went on his way, but not before destroying the brave PC that dared talk to it. 

While I'm not particularly proud of SIN in hindsight, I like to think that it left a big impact on myself and some of my players.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 3: What gives a game "staying power"?

This question could be taken in two ways: The game system itself, and the game as it's being played. I'll try to cover both.

What gives a game system it's staying power?

In order for a game to stay relevant, it need to do a couple of things, besides just being a fun game. I will focus on the two big things I think are the most important, based on observation:

Community: A game is only as good as it's players. And if your players like your game enough, they will make sure to find other people that play it. Sometimes that means players introducing their friends and family to your game. Sometimes it means players creating fanmade content based on your game. It always leads to generating interest and keeping your game alive.

If your game allows players to pour a little bit of themselves into it, and you make sure to stay in touch with them so they can share their experiences with you, your game will have a good chance to remain relevant for a while.

Good examples for this are the Dragonlance and Mystara campaign settings, among many others. Though they are all based on D&D, they haven't been given official updates by WoTC. While that would mean certain death for them, the authors and players have formed very solid communities around these campaign settings, often talking about their ongoing campaigns and what new twists they bring to them.

A community helps a game stay interesting, and gives it life beyond life.

Updates: Eventually, the stuff that was originally released for a game system can grow stale, and delivering occasional updates goes a long way in keeping your game interesting. These updates need to expand upon things that players already know about, as well as present new things to add to the game. An example of this could be an adventure module, which takes the players to places that they may have previously heard about, or new region in a world that they've played in before. Good adventure modules also bring a mechanic or two that encourage the players to run the game in a different way.

I will use the Tomb of Annihilation module as an example. I've been running this for a few months now and it's brought a lot of new life to the game. Here's the description for it: "The talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who's ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied."

Now Acererak appears in two D&D book covers

This adventure takes players to Chult, a place in Faerun that had yet to be explored in the current edition of D&D. This place is full of dinosaurs, undead, and undead dinosaurs. And the players are motivated to go here in order to stop the Death Curse; a game mechanic that prohibits resurrection or any other effect that deals with souls. All of this makes ToB an interesting module: it has many of the things that we all love and are familiar with in D&D, and puts a twist to all of it. This is how you update your games.

What allows a campaign to keep running?

I feel like this topic can be covered in a several page guide, but I will give my two cents based off my experience of running several campaigns that have lasted for 2-3 years each, for many players at a time (7 - 12+ players).

Consideration: This is not easy to achieve in large groups, since every person has their own needs and expectations. However, making sure every once in a while that every player is getting something that keeps them happy is vital. It's also important for players to be considerate of others: Sometimes they may want to attempt PvP-esque actions in the game; This is fine as long as the players are okay with each other at the end of the day. The last thing you want is a schism in your player group. 

Energy: Your players feed off of your energy and motivation for the game. If you're not really feeling it, maybe take a break. Have someone else DM for a while until you recharge your batteries. If it looks like you're simply losing interest to DM this game, perhaps it's time to end your campaign early and on a high note. This goes back to consideration, but making sure that everyone, especially yourself, is having fun, needs to be a priority, or it will affect everyone on the table.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 2: What makes you want to DM?

What makes me want to DM is the opportunity to perform for others.

Going back to yesterday's answer, I've found joy in entertaining others ever since all the way back when I used to play games with my siblings when we were little kids. Most, if not all, of the make-believe games we would play together would be led and designed by me. Even when we played console games, I would make myself the one in charge of making sure that everyone's having fun.

And that shaped the way I entered new situations and handled social encounters. I usually place myself in a spot where I can make sure everyone's having a good time, and often that has led me in a position of leadership. It's exactly the same for D&D.

I like to DM because I enjoy myself the most when I'm making sure that my friends are having fun. Coming out of a great gaming session and being able to pat yourself in the back because it was as good as it was thanks to you has to be one of the most rewarding experiences ever. And I believe it's an experience I would recommend to anyone.

Having control of absolutely everything that happens in the game is cool too, I guess

Today's actual question was: What do you look for in an RPG? And any answer I can give basically boils down to wanting to play D&D; I want familiar races and classes, easy rules for newcomers, a fantasy setting, and other tropes that you can trust D&D to bring. Even though I've tried a few other systems, all with their own merites, in the end I just want D&D in my RPGs. Since I'm aware that this is a pretty boring answer, I decided to pick one of the other alternate questions.

#RPGaDAY2018 - Day 1: What do you love about RPGs?

What I love the most about RPGs is being able to have many fantastic experiences all the while being in a comfortable place and remaining well-accompanied throughout.

Having four siblings, we've learned that best use of our time is to do play cooperative games instead of taking turns watching each other play single player games, since our parents would limit the amount of time we could use whatever console we had at the time; Better for us all to play one game for 2 hours than 30 minutes of an individual game each. All of this led me to become really fond of cooperative games.

Also, even before I learned about D&D, I would play little make-believe games with my siblings, often as a way to make chores more fun, and not just in your typical cardboard starship scenario.

So when D&D was introduced to us, an actual cooperative game of make-believe, I immediately saw it's potential to do exactly what I have been doing, but with actual rules that all of us could follow. And turned out to be more than that.

I'd say Zee Bashew knows exactly how to put it in his video:

My first experience playing a tabletop RPG, namely D&D, is also probably my fondest memory with my father. I remember that one night, he sat down with my 9 year old self and my younger siblings, and he ran the original red box adventure for us.

Taken from the internet, not my actual red box that was lost to time

While I admittedly don't remember my first character's name, I do remember our hilarious encounter against a Rust Monster, our exciting fights against skeletons, goblins, and giant rats, and our epic encounter against the evil Wizard Bargle before all of that even happened.

20 years later, I remember Aleena's death as clearly as last week.

RPGs allow me to have similar experiences as that first time. And all of it at the comfort of a table, with some good friends.