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AttilaTheGeek
2014-12-11, 02:01 AM
We all see small threads pop up for the occasional general GMing question, basic things like "should I use a DM screen" or "how can I give better descriptions". Those who want to know how to improve shouldn't have to wait for others' responses, and those who share their knowledge shouldn't have to go to the trouble of writing it down multiple times. Therefore, I'm creating this thread for all general questions related to improving one's GMing. I think this thread will do the most good if it's used for questions that other people can benefit from, rather than ones specific to your campaign or group; for those situations, creating your own thread might be best. I'll start this off with a couple questions of my own, but please feel free to add your own!

How can I cause my players to feel a certain way about an NPC? What are specific, measurable actions I can take to ensure that my party doesn't find a major NPC annoying or fall in love with a character who was only intended to be on screen for one scene?

What do you do to prepare for conversations? I generally find myself saying "NPC X, who thinks Y, will talk to the players about Z", and that's about it. My players think it's fine, but I know I could do better.

What makes memorable moments? What creates those specific, exact moments that players can look back on years later and be filled with nostalgia? This is kind of a vague question, but it's still something I've been wondering.

Comet
2014-12-11, 02:35 AM
How can I cause my players to feel a certain way about an NPC? What are specific, measurable actions I can take to ensure that my party doesn't find a major NPC annoying or fall in love with a character who was only intended to be on screen for one scene?
In my experience this is never a sure thing. Keeping the NPC reactive helps, though. Don't push them on the players, but open them up bit by bit as the players ask questions or interact with them. And if the players get attached to a one scene wonder, run with it because that stuff is gold.


What do you do to prepare for conversations? I generally find myself saying "NPC X, who thinks Y, will talk to the players about Z", and that's about it. My players think it's fine, but I know I could do better.
Yeah, I just think about who the NPC is. The rest is improvisation, keeping in mind the above: I don't feel comfortable doing long monologues so any interaction with NPCs is done in a way that lets the players insert their own ideas and agendas at every possible turn. As a general rule of thumb, if I need to stop to draw for air it's time to let the players have a line. So my NPCs are generally pretty terse, which suits me just fine. There are exceptions, of course.


What makes memorable moments? What creates those specific, exact moments that players can look back on years later and be filled with nostalgia? This is kind of a vague question, but it's still something I've been wondering.
Coming back to the first answer and the idea of reactivity yet again: all players I've run into seem to enjoy moments that no one saw coming and that were made by them. This is why I run sandbox D&D these days. The dice fall where they may, so anything could happen. The world is open and full of possibilities so the players can create their own stories and surprise each other and the GM. Even in a more GM-driven game I've found that players have the most fun when they can twist the tale and see how it affects the world around them. "Remember when we did [X]?" vs. "Remember when [X] happened?" Exceptions abound, again, but keeping the players in control of as much of the narrative as you are comfortable with is not a bad habit in my experience.

Kol Korran
2014-12-11, 01:28 PM
I will start by saying that this is a commendable effort, but I think it will get quite messy unless we get it organized somehow, though I'm not sure why.

My main tip in most of the situations mentioned below is "Know your players". Not characters. Players. Though we are telling a story, we are mainly playing a game, and as such the players sensibilities, not the characters, come first. Emphasized it enough? Ok, lets see...



How can I cause my players to feel a certain way about an NPC? What are specific, measurable actions I can take to ensure that my party doesn't find a major NPC annoying or fall in love with a character who was only intended to be on screen for one scene? You can't really control it from my experience. My main tips are:
- Learn what the players find annoying, funny, respectful and so on, and play to those sensibilities. Say you want the players to respect the queen. Now say that in your mind she is all commanding, authoritative, a real power figure, but as you think of the players, they respect someone that is down to earth, fair, and plain spoken. Play her as the players would expect of her.

- Actions speak louder than words: Seriously, this will make or break your PCs. If a guy is a spy master, have him come with actual useful info! If a guys is supposed to be a friend of the PCs, have him act so, and so on. If you have a reason not to (Lets say you don't want the queen to give the PCs too powerful items from her treasury), have a bloody good explanation prepared, and something to maybe show at least a DESIRE to do so. (For example she gives them a lesser item, or the help of some NPC or something)

- The main thing though, is that you can't fully control on whomever the party likes or dislikes. I do like however to plant "NPC seeds" all along the campaign- people with not fully formed personalities, that I throw in the water, and see who the PCs attach to (like or dislike, it is all good as long as they get a good reaction), and then I build upon that. Had quite a few "Gallery NPCs" that became much more major due to the party taking an interest.


What do you do to prepare for conversations? I generally find myself saying "NPC X, who thinks Y, will talk to the players about Z", and that's about it. My players think it's fine, but I know I could do better. Many on the forums like to improvise, but I'm a bit of a preparation freak. SO take things as you want. The lengths I go to all depends on the NPC in question, how major they have become/ are planned to be:
- FATE core has a lovely system called "aspects"- a few concise statements that give you a fast cut on what's important about a character. I try to write me a few of those for the characters. I try to keep in mind things about the setting, things about the current situation, and things about the PCs, personal stuff. And again- I'm thinking about the players (Characters second)- what might chime with them, provoke them, and so on. the aspects needs to be catchy and easy to remember. I find 3-5 are enough for major character, 2-3 for less important ones.

- That gives me the basic of the character, from which I go on. Then I try to think of 2-5 topics that may come in the conversation. I try to think of at least two that the NPC can initiate, and think what the players might talk back with in return. (This is major NPCs. With less important, you go for less). Then it depends- is it just a simple discussion/ information exchange, an argument, or a manipulation? If it's info share, then I just write to myself the key info that needs to be delivered/ received, and just wing it as I play. If it's an argument, then I build the specific arguments (Number and quality of arguments depend on the skill of the NPC) as I use the Giant's system for diplomacy alongside with the FATE system for Contests. the Aspects can be used here as well, as "tagging" an aspect can lead to bonuses. If it's a manipulation, I plan how it goes, and what are it's limits and potential mistakes.

- If I have the time (I usually do, our group meets about once a month), I try and run parts of the conversation in my head (Using the aspects), and try to see what I haven't though about, what key phrases might be real good to send the message, and so on. Practice in a way, to make things flow more easily. Again, I keep trying to imagine players reactions, and what might work better, what might work less.

- All that said, In the end I just live myself key notes, very simple ones to remind me, but no what they ACTUALLY say. That has to flow. You cannot read from your notes, as a conversation is something that happens between two people. You converse with the players, you do not read to them. All the above steps are there to help you improvise more comfortably and consistently, that's all.


What makes memorable moments? What creates those specific, exact moments that players can look back on years later and be filled with nostalgia? This is kind of a vague question, but it's still something I've been wondering. This is a tough question cause you yourself, as a DM, are never fully (Or even mostly) responsible for it. You see, no matter how much you plan say... a great boss fight climax, the party can waltz through it, grudge it and it will be boring, or they will fight and horribly die. Now, though you have prepared the encounter, the players played it.

There is a somewhat stupid concept in D&D that the DM (I hate that name- dungeon MASTER. Such presumption!) is the most influential one in the table. True, s/he does have more "game tools", but it is stilk the combined effort that makes the game, and without the players, you got NOTHING.

So what does a DM do? He doesn't create awesome moments, but he creates the potential for awesome moments. Now, that we know a bit more about:
- Think about the players! Different players like different stuff. If your group likes a lot of "Against the odds" scenarios, then stack the deck against them! If your group are con artist and chemers, put a tangled wed of crime organizations to mess around with. If your guys are drama lovers, put a lot of tough character choices. Most likely you'll have all kinds in the group. If so, put a battle against the odds, while someone can trick part of the minions off, and find the vulnerability of the boss, and someone will have to choose to destroy this evil, or save his childhood friend or such.

- Player agency: When you design a situation, be it encounter, adventure or more- don't script the solution. Instead, present the goal (Or better yet, let the players figure it out), and let THEM find out a solution to the problem. (Note, I'm currently running a module, and like the few modules I've read in the past these are HORRIBLE for game design. I am quite frustrated by it really). I suggest to not plan a solution, but just things the players may use for an advantage or disadvantage of some sort or another. This makes it THEIR accomplishment, THEIR win, and so it is far more satisfying.

Lose control of the game and let players take more of it. In most cases (Not all) this is much more fun for the DM as well- what's the fun knowing all that's gonna happen. You get to improvise a bit as well! :smallwink:

- Meaningful choices: If the only choice is "Kill them all or we die", then that's fun... once... twice... not a whole lot more. But if you present interestign choices (D&D focuses mostly on battle, but it's not just that), then things get a lot more interesting- The castle is attacked... from 3 different fronts. We shall gather allies... from one of these 4 different warring tribes... I will join the queen's guard, but then my family will disown me, and so on... For choices to be meaningful they need to follow 2 rules: First, they need to be meaningful TO THE PLAYER (If s/he don't mind the character will be disowned by the family, who cares?). Secondly, they need to be at least partly informed, for there to be some weight in the decision. If the castle is invaded from 3 directions, but the character doesn't know anything about the invasion, so what does it matter what she does. If however one is a group of orcs, the other are some strange giant mages, and the last is some flying undead abomination, well... now it's more interesting.

- Consequences: Characters' actions should have consequences, even if they do unexpected things. NOTHING is protected by narrative law! For better or worse. I'm not saying to play with bat crazy- kill-everyone kind of players, but when the unexpected happens- go with it, and give ti full credit! The best stuff comes out of this. In the first campaign I ran I had the second-to-the-BBEG lay siege to the party's place with a small army. I had whole plans that they will run away, that he will capture what he sought, and so on, and so on. They astounded me with a hell of a cinematic fight over a bridge, and killed him, and dissolved his army! And you know what? It was one of the best things to have happened to my campaign. It was a moment they still talk about, and it had led to at least 2 other great moments later, due to adjustments I've made. With that battle they turned the campaign on it's head. And it was so much better for it! Which leads me to an important rule:

- "Yes" or "Yes, but": This is one of the major rules of improvisation. When a player comes to you with a crazy idea that you haven't anticipated, the first instinct most of us have is to say "no". I say- say "yes", and then deal with stuff. If what he requested is complex, then say "yes, but..." and add the complication. My personal motto is "Everything is possible, not everything is easy". Go with what players suggest, don't control the game- you present a situation, let them solve it in THEIR way.

And yes, I know some things are waaaayyyy out there. I'm not talking about those. But if you can, before saying "no", stop for 10-15 seconds and think "Can I make this into something interesting?" You'd be surprised how many times you can. If what the player wants to accomplish isn't clear- ASK them. and then decide.
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This is all I can think up as for now. May have more later. Good luckl