Longman
2017-11-20, 07:33 PM
I'm wondering how other players discuss with their GM what a new campaign will actually be like, and how particular skills wil be useful.
My main concern is having a character that is expert in gathering information of various kinds (Cha-based rogue, Diviner, a character who is very good at research, etc).
In some games, such skills are vital because the GM isn't going to give that information away, and your party can do much better if someone has those kind of abilities. In such games, you can actually get stuck becuase you don't know what is going on. Information is truly hidden.
In other games, it often seems that important information needs to be revealed at some point, otherwise the session will stall. That means, the info that leads you to a particlar adventure location or a course of action will have to emerge in a game session. Your info-gathering skills are a bit redundant because the information wil always come out anyway...
Some players may take pleasure in having it be their characer who found out the answer to something. I'm not like that. If I do something in play, I like the idea that it's something that wouldn't have happened anyway, half an hour later.
I know this leads into age old discussions about railroading, etc. I'm mostly curious to know if people actually sit down and say:
"Hey Dave...I'm thinking of making a smooth-talking rogue who can find out what's going on in town. But is that actually going to make the game take a new turn, or are you going to tell us all that sort of information anyway after an hour or so? If you are, I'll make more of a stealth type."
Most games work best if you talk that stuff through, right? Curious to know how people do that.
My main concern is having a character that is expert in gathering information of various kinds (Cha-based rogue, Diviner, a character who is very good at research, etc).
In some games, such skills are vital because the GM isn't going to give that information away, and your party can do much better if someone has those kind of abilities. In such games, you can actually get stuck becuase you don't know what is going on. Information is truly hidden.
In other games, it often seems that important information needs to be revealed at some point, otherwise the session will stall. That means, the info that leads you to a particlar adventure location or a course of action will have to emerge in a game session. Your info-gathering skills are a bit redundant because the information wil always come out anyway...
Some players may take pleasure in having it be their characer who found out the answer to something. I'm not like that. If I do something in play, I like the idea that it's something that wouldn't have happened anyway, half an hour later.
I know this leads into age old discussions about railroading, etc. I'm mostly curious to know if people actually sit down and say:
"Hey Dave...I'm thinking of making a smooth-talking rogue who can find out what's going on in town. But is that actually going to make the game take a new turn, or are you going to tell us all that sort of information anyway after an hour or so? If you are, I'll make more of a stealth type."
Most games work best if you talk that stuff through, right? Curious to know how people do that.