Playing the Players

[Felix]

With 53 minute render times... I have a bit of time to kill at work... and decided to share my most recent bit of advice.

Truth be told I've probably said it before... possibly in this forum, probably in this thread.. but here's a new twist...

As the game-master, feel free to balance anything. Set the munchkin-izing glory hog on the wild goose chase trying to solve (unsuccessfully I might add) 3rd grade riddles while the rest of the troop is cornered by hordes of the dark.

Most importantly, however, is not your ability to improv when things begin to falter from your plans, but to improv exclusively and leave your well manicured story-railroad at home next to your BOP magazines featuring 17 ways to kiss better and what clothes are in style.. not to mention the compatibility survey for you and whoever you don't have the big-kid pants to speak to.

If you have a crew that you are familiar with in their gaming habits or just their daily life, then throw events off their heads like so much crumpled bad first paragraphs and see what hooks them. Run it for the players, see what they like and figure out what they're interested in achieving and steer them (slowly) towards that goal. Once the goals run you, all that's left is world domination... Sadly this goal is much easier to achieve in game setting than in real life... as Pinky and the Brain reminded us on so many occasions.

They really should've stuck to the subliminal country music idea... I thought they had that one for sure.

"You and what army?!"
"The NRA and Chuck Norris.. that's who..."

So pwned for you l33t ****s

[VeX]

I tried to test run a siege campaign with my brother and Frank. The characters they made were more mary-sue than anything I've seen before and had absolutely no background. My brother's a moron. I get that. But Frank has been playing D&D for years on end. The thought that all the campaigns he's run before may have been just as retarded makes me want to vomit and then choke and die.

I guess I'm trying to ask, in this particular case, is 'playing the players' synonymous with murder?

[Christopher Ashe]

It gets tricky when you have players who are no used to actual role-play. I don't want to stereotype D&D, but traditionally it has put out a lot of players who have very little to do with the dramatic side of roleplaying and a lot more with the gamist (to use Ron Edwards' term) or power-gaming form of campaigning. Most of these players are looking for a beat-fest, where there is very little to do with plot and a lot more to do with action and treasure. For this type of crew, something like the siege will inevitably be boring until the big showdown at the end. The only real way to get them into the acting/plot oriented side of the game (if it is at all possible) is to ease them in - generally in the most nasty fashion. You have to create drama that will grip the characters and eventually draw them into the story, but you can't make apples out of oranges or whatever - at least not overnight.

So give them what they want. The Balls-to-the-Wall destructive mayhem of a campaign that makes them hurt.

The first thing you need to know about angle is that there is only one rule: the players are NEVER safe. Not for one moment, not remotely. They are not up the creek without a paddle, they are up it without a boat or a life vest. Now, if you tell the powergamer in any fashion the nature of your story, or display it to them, they will go away from it. So you tell them nothing. You open with action.

Example:
Character creation is done - the characters begin somewhere, together or alone makes no difference. Within the first 2 minutes of the seen you attack them, and attack them hard. Something wants them dead, or wants them alive (but if so do not let them realize it) and it will stop at nothing. In a modern campaign you want to make them run like hell. Throw every antagonist in Appendx A at them and make some up beyond that. Also, the cops blame them. So they are after them to, up to over-the-top GTA style if necessary. Chaos reigns and rides in their wake. Every step is the wrong one, and anyone they try to help they place in extreme danger. It's action every scene, moving fights (trains, cars, rooftops) and no single moment of peace.

Here's where the plot comes in.

You, as the GM, should be working on a reason for why the hell this is all happening and who it may have to do with beyond the PCs...there is a motive and a reason, but if they want to know, they will have to uncover it piece by piece, because if they do not, it never stops until they are dead or worse. Look closely for any NPC they react to and build on that. Anything they choose to investigate, work on that as well. Even the true psycho for combat will eventually grow weary of senseless violence and look for some tiny reason why. If they do not, well find a new gaming crew, those kinds of people would be better off playing video games anyways.

So there you go. If you vary the action scenes in their openings, setting and style, you can have as much fun running this as if you were running a straight drama. Believe me, I've run it and while it was hard to keep up, it was extremely entertaining.

That's my idea, if I come up with more angle I'll let you know, but the key here is to appear as though your angle is nothing more than to try and kill the PCs. If they want plot, they have to dig through the gore for it ;)

- Ashe