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Ragitsu
2010-10-03, 03:16 PM
Hello everyone!

I am going to be starting up a campaign soon, and I was planning on getting things going in my usual way, but I ended up asking for a bit more player input this time around. Turns out, one of the players thought kicking things off in the middle of action would be neat.

Problem is, I do not know how to properly handle a pencil & paper roleplaying game's debut this way, and I certainly don't want to try something i'm not good at, when I already have the story/framework set up.

But, for those of you that have done this before, what advice can you offer that is conducive to a smooth experience?

WarKitty
2010-10-03, 03:21 PM
Are you thinking something like start off with a battle? Maybe the PC's are gathered somewhere and get attacked, or they're in an inn and the city guards show up to haul them off to jail with no explanation.

The Rose Dragon
2010-10-03, 03:24 PM
In media res means in the middle of the story, not in the middle of the action. What you're referring to is an action cold open.

WarKitty
2010-10-03, 03:27 PM
Well, I was thinking more "you're being attacked. Someone obviously hates you and has it in for you. You don't know who yet. You're obviously part of this story but you don't know how or why."

It depends, do you want your characters to be aware of the previous story or not? I don't recommend having them be aware of it unless it was something they didn't have to act to be part of. Otherwise players tend to get testy because you're essentially writing their backstory for them.

Dust
2010-10-03, 03:27 PM
The main problem with In Media Res openings is confusion. Sometimes the heroes aren't sure of their place in the action, or not sure how to be proceeding from your sudden dramatic events. So start the campaign off on the right foot - that is, a literal foot to the face of one of the PCs. If the PCs are captured by pirates/the evil empire/slavers, PoWs, or even just hostages in a tense situation, opening the game with a casual act of cruelty against one of the PCs does the following:

- Quickly establishes 'sides' - everyone immediately knows who the bad guys are and who the good guys are.
- Gives an excuse for hesitation or confusion on the player's part, at least until it all makes sense. Waking up groggily or suffering a sharp blow to the side of the head are both good reasons why the character might not be completely 'with it', or are having difficulty remembering the exact events that led up to their current situation.
- Makes it perfectly clear that the PCs are disadvantaged, and they need to work together right out of the gate.


Of course, this isn't the right tone for all games, but you still want to open with some kind of event that does all three of the above things. I once had a GM who opened with a city being overrun by Moon Rats (MM2, #8 on this list here (http://www.cracked.com/article_17455_15-retarded-dungeons-dragons-monsters.html) if you're still clueless) and that was a lot of fun whilst fufilling all three of the above criteria; establishing sides, allowing for confusion, and forcing the PCs to cooperate...or else.

Ragitsu
2010-10-03, 03:28 PM
In media res means in the middle of the story, not in the middle of the action.

Do the two have to be mutually exclusive :smallcool:?

Dark_Nohn
2010-10-03, 05:26 PM
With my groups, I can never do this, or even plan anything out for longer than a quarter of a session.

If I do, the players will complain about being railroaded, and attempt to derail the campaign as quick as possible

Platinum_Mongoose
2010-10-03, 05:39 PM
In media res means in the middle of the story, not in the middle of the action. What you're referring to is an action cold open.

I don't think this is an important distinction for the purposes of this thread.

Anyway, if you're opening in the middle of an action scene--ie, an encounter in which several rounds have already elapsed--I'd say the trick is probably to not over-complicate it. If they're in the middle of a battle, quickly explain the where, the who, and (briefly) the why, maybe knock their ammo and HP down 10-25%, and hit the ground running. All the info they really need is who they're fighting and what the short-term objective is.

Hackulator
2010-10-03, 05:42 PM
First thing I need to point out that when you do something "In Media Res", it starts in the middle, then flashes back to the begining, and then finishes with the end. If you want to do that, here is an idea.

The easiest way to do this is using amnesia. Something has happened to the characters so that they lose their memories. Therefore they are stuck in some crazy situation but do not know why. As time goes on they learn more and more about the backstory they have forgotten. At some point when they reach a certain level of discovery, the game flashes back to the beginning of the story arc (IG the characters themselves at this point finally remember their full pasts. You avoid needing to change levels bu saying they actually lost most of their skills from the amnesia. You then play through the story up until the point when the players got amnesia. You then move back to the point in time when the flashback started, and the characters have gained more levels because they have 'remembered' the skills they lost. Then you play through to the end.

The reason amnesia is necessary is because when a book is In Media Res, though the characters may know everything that happened before, the reader does not, so the events in the flashback are a surprise. However, in a game, if the characters know, the players really need to know to properly play them, and thus the flashback would be a bit lame.

The Rose Dragon
2010-10-03, 07:35 PM
I don't think this is an important distinction for the purposes of this thread.

It kinda is. When you are doing an in media res opening, you return to a previous point in the story, and tell the story back to the point where you started. In RPGs, where the players have the capacity to say "screw it" and do something unexpected, in media res openings would be difficult.

WarKitty
2010-10-03, 07:53 PM
I think the closest RPG equivalent would be where the characters are somehow involved in something, but they (IC) don't know what yet. Like I said earlier, the city guards arrive to drag them off to jail with no explanation. Now obviously the guards have a reason. Maybe their parents angered the king. Maybe the guards were bribed by someone else, or are being mind controlled. Maybe the PC's do have amnesia. Someone has it in for the PC's, and they don't know who.

Jokes
2010-10-03, 08:25 PM
Why not go the whole hog and start at the end of the story? Have the players start in a kings hall, being richly rewarded for a past deed. Now, let the players tell the story of what they did, then run encounters based on their tales.

Start off by giving them a seed, something that would 'trick' the players into designing an encounter for you.

"I heard you were attacked shortly after leaving the city. Who would have been so brazen to attack you on this noble quest?"

When they come up with something, run an encounter and then have the king give them a reward depending on how heroic it was. Then, have the king lean forward and say earnestly, "And then what happened?" If you need to, reward players for coming up with the best stories. Make sure they know that the king is most likely to give them rewards based on believability, heroism and independence.

So if there is a-
"we fought a Red Dragon!"
*encounter turns TPK*
"... then a wizard saved us..."

Have the king ho-hum, and order his men to send some gold to the magus ex machima. If the players need hints as to where to go, have them or the king notice something that could give them a clue, such as that new +3 greatsword the fighter now has, or the fresh scars across the rangers' chest. Yeah, it will require you to be able to make encounters on the fly and puts a lot of trust in the players, but it's going to be more interesting than a railroad plot that the players have to follow for the 'flashbacks' to make any sense.

JellyPooga
2010-10-03, 08:28 PM
Why not go the whole hog and start at the end of the story? Have the players start in a kings hall, being richly rewarded for a past deed. Now, let the players tell the story of what they did, then run encounters based on their tales.

Start off by giving them a seed, something that would 'trick' the players into designing an encounter for you.

"I heard you were attacked shortly after leaving the city. Who would have been so brazen to attack you on this noble quest?"

When they come up with something, run an encounter and then have the king give them a reward depending on how heroic it was. Then, have the king lean forward and say earnestly, "And then what happened?" If you need to, reward players for coming up with the best stories. Make sure they know that the king is most likely to give them rewards based on believability, heroism and independence.

So if there is a-
"we fought a Red Dragon!"
*encounter turns TPK*
"... then a wizard saved us..."

Have the king ho-hum, and order his men to send some gold to the magus ex machima. If the players need hints as to where to go, have them or the king notice something that could give them a clue, such as that new +3 greatsword the fighter now has, or the fresh scars across the rangers' chest. Yeah, it will require you to be able to make encounters on the fly and puts a lot of trust in the players, but it's going to be more interesting than a railroad plot that the players have to follow for the 'flashbacks' to make any sense.

This could make for a truly awesome campaign! It would, however, be very tricky to pull off well and would definitely not be suitable for an inexperienced group.

Jokes
2010-10-03, 09:04 PM
This could make for a truly awesome campaign! It would, however, be very tricky to pull off well and would definitely not be suitable for an inexperienced group.

Very true. If you want to give players some intro into improv story telling, play a few games of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen. (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1607) If you do though, be prepared for players to try some of the tactics from that game to increase their own reward, often by discounting and correcting the other players, or setting up very difficult situations for other players to explain or do during an encounter.

Tordek: Oh, then there was the dragon we fought... Regdar, you were up front and saw it first, maybe you could explain how we felled it using just a wooden spoon?
Regdar: Well, uh, the killing stroke was indeed from the spoon that you won for coming last in that footrace against the orcs the previous morning, perhaps you could tell that story first so as to better tell this one?

Naturally, the king would reward the players more if, during the encounter, the dragon is killed using a wooden spoon.

Knaight
2010-10-03, 09:08 PM
This could make for a truly awesome campaign! It would, however, be very tricky to pull off well and would definitely not be suitable for an inexperienced group.

You can train them with the ability to create flashbacks, that are then played briefly. Think an interactive version of the flashback mechanic in Cortex or 3:16.

742
2010-10-04, 12:16 AM
something like they did in baldurs gate 2.

i know its a sequel, so theres already some background and you kinda sorta know the characters (and thats a very good thing if your planning this, play a short campaign, maybe a small narrative-isolated adventure do the introductions and the like, then do something else for a few weeks, then tell them to pull out those character sheets, level them up and pick their daily spells for going into a dungeon/town/sharks stomach)

Platinum_Mongoose
2010-10-04, 12:21 AM
It kinda is. When you are doing an in media res opening, you return to a previous point in the story, and tell the story back to the point where you started. In RPGs, where the players have the capacity to say "screw it" and do something unexpected, in media res openings would be difficult.

Flashbacks are hardly mandatory. Exposition is highly recommended, however, and that can be as simple as a) the GM's quick synopsis, b) players uncovering the details as the scene unfolds (if the players are unaware of what's going on) or c) having the players work the lead-in to the opening scene into their character backgrounds. The GM just has to work it in a way that doesn't let the players screw with continuity. Most GMs can do that in their sleep.

Mando Knight
2010-10-04, 12:22 AM
But, for those of you that have done this before, what advice can you offer that is conducive to a smooth experience?

Witty one-liners delivered completely straight, and a kick-ass main theme after the first encounter. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BatmanColdOpen)

the humanity
2010-10-04, 12:22 AM
your leader ordered you all to war, for various reasons you went.

the enemy decimated everybody, the last words of your leader were 'retreat to the woods... avenge us all!' and they went, grabbing any unconscious paladin best friends on the way out. now you go to the woods, another guy explains the enemy in better detail and sends you with the bad news to his leader. that leader asks for the party to...

CapnVan
2010-10-04, 02:02 AM
Just a clarification: It's in medias res.