GM Advice

BurnBryte_LG_LAYERED-1024x1024

Running One-Shots in New Systems

/ , , / 0 comments

If you like what you’re reading, check out, Burn Bryte, an original science fantasy TTRPG I helped create for Roll20!

This post originally appeared on my Patreon a little over a year ago.

Running one shots are great at conventions or game stores, for sessions between or while you’re taking a break from a long campaign, for nights when not all your regular players are available, for tables with rotating game masters, or just for the fun of playing new games. If you’re a game designer, I recommend playing a variety of games and systems, even if you’re only interested for designing for one game because you’ll get ideas you can bring to your chosen RPG. In other words if you’re a game designer, one shots in new systems are a great way to get ideas and see what else is out there.

Running a new system can be truly daunting. You have to learn a new game and teach it to everyone while also trying to provide a fun time! It’s easy to get bogged down in rules and be so caught up in learning the new system, you forget to PLAY. In this post I’ll show you how to set yourself up for success when running a one shot in a new system.

Read the Rules

Being the GM means you have to have a decent grasp on the rules of most games so you can run a successful session. You don’t have to have mastered the rules, but you should have a good understanding.Reading RPG rulebooks can take a long time, especially for a very crunchy system. My advice is to multitask and skim where you can. I multitask when I read new RPG books by using a cardio machine at the gym at the same time. This way I get in my workout and my RPG reading time. If you take public transportation to school or work, you can read your books during that time. Some RPGs (not all) have audiobook versions of their rules that you can listen to while you commute, do chores, or any other time you might listen to a podcast. Multitasking helps learn new systems with a crazy schedule.When it comes to skimming, many books have sections you do not need to read if you’ve been playing RPGs for a while. For instance the introductory “What is a roleplaying game?” section of most RPGs can be quickly skimmed over for any new revelations, then you can get to the meat of the new rules. You can do this quite a bit with games based on franchises with lore you may know from other media like Star Wars or DC Comics.

Listen or Watch

It’s a good idea to listen to or watch an actual play podcast or stream of the game. You get a feel for how others play the game, how they introduce the rules to new players, and a lot more you don’t get from just reading a book. The One Shot Podcast is the gold standard here, but there are a lot of amazing shows where the hosts play many different games. Search for the name of the system you want and “actual play,” and you’ll get more than a few results.

Published Adventures

Use a published adventure if you’re running a one shot in a new system. You already need to learn the rules of the new game and teach them, so it takes some of the preparation burden off your plate to use a published adventure. Many games come with a starter adventure that is made to introduce you and new players to the rules in an engaging way. These adventures also fit the tone of the game’s world and story, which can be a challenge if you’re writing your own adventure in a genre with which you are unfamiliar.

Pregens

Giving your players pregenerated characters saves a lot time. These are often included with the rules or can be found on the publisher’s website (or through an internet search). Making characters is fun but for a new system can sometimes take an hour or more, which is a significant portion of a ses singlesion’s time. Without a good grasp on the system, players can make characters they are unhappy with because they are underpowered or don’t do what the player thought they would. Pregens allow your players to jump right into fully-formed characters that are usually archetypical main characters of the game’s genre.

Extra Time

You are going to need more time to run a one shot in a new system, so plan accordingly by giving yourself an extra hour of session time than you normally do. You can do this through scheduling with your players or by picking a shorter adventure to run.

Set Expectations

At the start of the session (or better yet before everyone commits to playing the game) set story and world expectations about the game. If most of your players have only ever played D&D a game like Shadow of the Demon Lord or Call of Cthulhu is going to have a very different tone (both are deadlier and darker). Horror games, like Dread, require everyone’s buy-in that death is a big possibility for everyone and the player characters will do the terrible and foolish things main characters do in horror films and novels. Set those expectations and field questions before you get into the rules. If the game is a new style for your players, encourage them to get out of their comfort zones a bit by letting them know it’s not just new to them but to most (or all) of the group!

Explain the Basics Upfront

Don’t spend too much time going over the rules up front. Explain the basics on the character sheet. For D&D I would point out and explain ability scores and modifiers, personality traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws, background, race, and class then get to gaming. Give your players enough information to understand the very basic mechanics up front then keep the fun rolling. No one needs every single spell on their character sheet explained before you start.

Explain the Rest as You Go

As you play, introduce new rules as they become relevant. About to start combat? Time for you to explain how initiative works. A player has a cool feature specific to their character? Explain it when they ask or decide to use it. This helps keep the game flowing because some rules may never come up in a single session. For instance, if the characters never get on vehicles, no need to explain four pages of vehicle rules to them.

Keep the Game Moving

It’s fine to stop for a quick moment and look up a rule if you absolutely feel the need, but if researching or arguing about an obscure edge case is grinding the game to a halt, make a note to look it up later, make a ruling, and move on. 

Embrace the System

While you are running the game, lean in to the elements that make the rules and story special. Playing Night’s Black Agents? Embrace the badassness of the player characters as special agents and the twisted cruelty of their vampire foes. Playing TimeWatch? Get goofy in the humorous time travel detective game! Both of these games revolve around mystery solving, so they should be very different from a typical D&D dungeon crawl! As you may have encouraged players at the start the session, you should leave your comfort zone too. Lead by example!

Debrief

After the game is done, leave some time for a chat with your players. What did they think of the game? Did they enjoy it? Do they want to play again sometime? What did they like and dislike? What else do they want to know about the game’s rules or story? What was unclear? These discussions are part of the fun and can help guide the games, adventures, and decisions you choose for your game in the future even if you just stick to one system most of the time!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post:
manacles

Lead With Story

/ , / 2 comments

Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

It’s time for a little player advice. I know! Most blogs (including this one) are all about those DM tips and tricks, but the players need love too. Why? Glad you asked!

Players Need to Build the Story Too

I’ve been playing RPGs longer than I’ve been doing most other things in life. In that time I’ve run games for many groups who expected me to do all or most of the story building as a GM. I lost track of the number of times I’ve had a person hand me an elaborated, twisty, turny backstory only to have that player sit back at the table and only interact with the game mechanically. You know what I mean. When players don’t engage with the game’s story as much and instead interact with a GM’s masterfully roleplayed NPCs as if they are pieces in a board game, saying things like, “Can I roll a Persuasion check to see if this lady will give me a deal on the plate armor?” No roleplaying on their end. Not even a counteroffer for the plate armor! The same thing happens as player characters explore (“Can I roll Investigation to see if this door is trapped?”) and as they battle (“I make an attack roll with my longsword”).

When players get bogged down in the mechanics instead of the story, it can be a drag on some games. No matter how hard a GM works to immerse players, most people can never be fully invested in a story unless they choose to be. If you’re playing a horror game and refuse to be scared, it won’t be much fun for you or the GM.

Even so, I understand why this happens. First roleplaying games often have a lot of rules. Players, especially new one, are concerned with getting those rules correct. Second, putting yourself out there is a difficult thing. The pressure of saying something funny or dramatic can get to people, so they use the rules as a crutch. To help get player’s heads out of the rulebook and be less anxious, I propose a simple mantra: Put the story first.

The examples above are easily remedied if players start with the story first and save the mechanics for last. You’ll remember not to cut right to the mechanics and say things like, “But my dear, Lady Ashsmoke, you and I both know the blacksmith down the street is selling plate armor for 100 gp less a suit. Now you are my father’s friend, so let’s say I pay 50 gp less than asking price… Can I roll a Persuasion check?” This method is far better for most games. What you say doesn’t always have to be dramatic or funny or get a reaction. Saying, “I take out a small knife from my thieves’ tools and carefully run it over the seems the door, checking for traps… Can I roll Investigation?” is better than straight up asking for a roll, even though the action itself is a bit mundane.

An even better method is to put the story first without ANY mechanics after it. Let the GM be the one to ask for a check or attack roll. This keeps you focused on the story and allows the GM to do their job as rules referee. Who among hasn’t asked to roll one skill only to have the GM rule it should actually be something else anyway?

But why is the story first method a good one?

It Benefits You

Putting the story first benefits you. Not only does making yourself a more willing participant in the story help immerse you into the narrative, you’re also more likely to automatically succeed at some tasks without a check. Make a great argument, and you won’t need to roll Persuasion. Describe your character disarming a trap in a careful, logical way, and the GM may rule that no dice need to be rolled. Story first is better for you in the story and mechanically!

Like all things, describing your actions is something you’ll get better at with practice. The more you do it, the easier it will become. If you struggle with roleplaying your actions, it benefits you to do so early and often so you become great at it in no time!

It Benefits Fellow Players

If you describe the way your character overcomes obstacles, not only does it immerse you into the story, it also helps bring the narrative to life for your fellow players. Each time you do this, it encourages them to engage with the narrative the same way, which increases YOUR immersion. Win-win!

Another benefit is that your fellow players will get to know your character better, and you theirs. By roleplaying out combat and task resolution, you’ll also be able to set each other up for amazing spotlight moments.

It Benefits the GM

By helping immerse yourself and the other players in the story, you help the GM in a huge way. Why do you think bennys are given out in so many RPGs for good roleplaying? It’s a thing we want to encourage. Plus when you roleplay well, GMs can set you up with better spotlight moments that the whole table will relish watching.

How DMs Can Reinforce

DMs, here are some easy ways for us to reinforce this behavior in players.

  1. Have a chat with players. Tell them you want them to describe their actions and lead with story before asking to make a roll.
  2. Lead by example and do this for your NPCs!
  3. If you RPG allows it, reward players who lead with story by handing out bennys. If your RPG of choice doesn’t give something like FATE points or inspiration, you can likely create some little +1 tokens (or similar) without unbalancing your game!
  4. If a player doesn’t describe their action and skips right to mechanics, don’t admonish them. Instead ask them, “What do you say to the blacksmith to persuade them to give you a deal?”

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post:
Fighter

Combat is Comfortable… Too Comfortable

/ , , , , , , / 0 comments

Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rich Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

You can order The Demonplague, my level 1 – 20 fifth edition adventure, right now!

Have you ever been in this situation? You spend time planning elaborate combat encounters for your player characters to face only to have them attempt to negotiate, fool, sneak by, or otherwise evade your monsters’ claws, jaws, eye beams, and blades. The players’ plan is clever. Their checks are succeeding. They just might pull this off!

But what about the epic battles you’ve planned? What will you do for the other three hours of game night after they bypass these encounters that were meant to take the whole time? What about the time you spent preparing the battles? So you force the fight anyway. There was nothing they could do! Battle was unavoidable. Everyone slogs through, but it’s clear the players aren’t having as good a time rolling dice as they normally do. Why? Their agency was taken away. No matter what they did, you were going to make them fight.

For about the first decade or two of running roleplaying games I did this constantly. I had a fight prepared and therefore it must happen! It took me a long time to realize that whenever I forced my players into a battle they tried to avoid, those encounters were slower and less exciting because the players were less engaged. It’s not to say a few failed checks or a bad plan shouldn’t result in combat, but if the players are clever and luck is on their side, don’t force combat on them. The players are telegraphing the kind of story they want to tell with their actions. It’s important to pay attention when they try to avoid combat (and when they rush headlong into secure facilities with guns blazing seeking a fight).

All of this is easier said than done. In many game systems combat is the most comfortable arena for new GMs and players. The best way you can break out of the cycle of forcing combat on your players is to get comfortable with all aspects of your chosen game.

Why Combat is Comfy

Let’s look at why combat is comfortable then I’ll break down some techniques to help you get comfortable in all other aspects of play (also known as exploration and interaction in Dungeons & Dragons).

Clearly Defined Rules

Because combat in many roleplaying games is deadly and/or has a big outcome on the story it tends to have the most clearly defined rules of the game. Time is broken down into rounds and turns, everyone acts in an order according to the initiative, and all participants can only perform a certain number of actions on a turn. In many games it is easier to adjudicate combat as a GM because we have so many rules working for us. A GM doesn’t need to make a judgement call. They just need to know the rule. If a case comes up that isn’t covered by the rules, it’s easy to make an on-the-fly ruling because there are so many rules surrounding the rule-less space.

Outside of combat the safety net of lots of specific rules drops away in many games. It can be scary to adjudicate in a more lawless arena, especially for a new GM, for fear of messing up the story, accidentally treating player characters unfairly, or simply freezing and not knowing where to go next.

Easier to Estimate Time

While there are exceptions, it is much easier to estimate the time it takes the player characters to fight a group of enemies than the time it takes to do almost anything else in a roleplaying game. When I was playing fourth edition D&D, I could plan on each combat taking 45 minutes to an hour, which made preparation a snap! Got four hours of game time? Plan four battles! Looking back it’s easy to see that is a LOT of combat, even if every battle is on the lower end of the time spectrum.

If I had been more comfortable with improvisation and group storytelling, I could have planned for less combat and my players (who like variety as many do) would have probably enjoyed those games more.

Easy to Prepare

Because combat has so many rules attached to it, it’s easy to prepare. Put a few goblins and worgs in a room and you’re good to go! But if you need to give those goblins and worgs names, personalities beyond murderous, and motivations beyond slaughter, preparation takes more time. When a GM is starting out, combat seems to be the easiest part of the game to prepare, so it gets prepared a lot.

The truth is being flexible and learning to come up with story on the fly is even easier than preparing for combat, but it takes some getting used to!

Getting Comfortable Beyond Combat

So how do you get comfortable with other aspects of your game of choice beyond combat?

Have Improv Tools and Techniques Ready

My first recommendation is to have a few safety tools ready to go. I wrote a blog post about a few good improvisation techniques and tools. In addition to the tools and techniques listed there have a few random tables or lists with names, NPC personalities, and random encounters (including noncombat encounters) ready to go! Not only are these useful, but these tools have another function. They make you feel comfortable. Being comfortable is essential to improvisational storytelling. If you have a net to catch you, you’re more likely to take risks and figure it out as you go, rather than having it all planned out.

Include the Players

Invite the players to build the story with you by asking questions. Did they bypass your combat encounter and get through everything you prepared earlier than you planned? Ask them, “What do you want to do next?” Let them provide ideas of where to take the story. That takes the burden of storytelling off of you, and a direct question like that tells you EXACTLY what your players want out of the story. You might be surprised at the responses you get, and enjoy the exciting new direction your game takes!

Take Breaks

Don’t be afraid to take a break from playing to think about and prepare the next leg of the journey. Players are often grateful for a chance to stretch their legs, check their phones, use the bathroom, chat, or grab food without feeling like they’re missing something or being rude. This gives you an opportunity to make a rough plan.

Save Your Prep

One reason GMs force carefully prepared combats upon players is because we spent time planning and don’t want to lose the investment. Fear not! Save that prep. You can use it for another game, another group, or another time. If you remember this, no prep is ever wasted and you won’t feel the need to force a battle.

Become a Patron!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post:
Josh

Support the Spotlight as a GM

/ , , , , , , / 2 comments

Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock Art © Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games

Just a quick note to let you know that we can meet at Gen Con. Get your FREE tickets to the DSPN Q&A panel to meet Rudy Basso, Celeste Conowitch, Brittany Quintero, Vegas Lancaster, and more of your favorite podcast people. I’m only at Gen Con for one night, so this is the best way to meet my friends and me.

In roleplaying games, we talk A LOT about the spotlight. “Make sure to spotlight every player,” we tell our fellow game masters. “Share the spotlight,” we advise players. But what IS the spotlight? What does it mean? How do we focus, support, and share the spotlight?

What Is the Spotlight?

I’m sure for players who are old hat, they instantly understand what is meant by the term spotlight. In fact, if you’ve never played an RPG before, you can probably still figure it out based on context clues. Still, I think for the purposes of this blog post, it helps to define it.

The spotlight refers to the story’s focus at any given time, specifically a focus character. In other words, if your game’s story were a staged performance, it’s where the spotlight operator would be pointing the beam of light. In film terms, we might use a close-up metaphor. In an orchestra we might call it a solo. You get the idea. It’s a standout moment or a time to highlight a character in the story.

I’ve often seen spotlight moments referred to as a character’s “time to shine,” but I’m not sure this is entirely correct. The story can focus on a character’s failure or sadness and be just as dramatic and compelling for the player and story as a heroic moment. Spotlight moments should be more than just, “You were awesome at that and we knew you would be.” They should involve the player character being an active participant and driving the story of the scene. For instance, if the characters are caught in a Saw-style deathtrap and the rogue manages to reach her thieves’ tools and tries to disable the device, the spotlight is on them, whether they succeed or fail at disarming the trap. If they win the day, their friends are saved. If they lose, the story continues… and now the rogue feels responsible for the wizard’s missing arm or the cleric’s death.

Focusing the Spotlight

So how do we as GMs focus the spotlight on different players? There are a few ways to do this.

Mechanics

The first and most obvious way to focus the spotlight on someone is through mechanics. The best way to create spotlight moments through mechanics is to write down a list of exclusive attributes for each character. What can they do better than any other character? For a rogue in Dungeons & Dragons, you might write down “sneaky, trap disabler, locksmith.”

Take that list and create situations that play to that character’s strengths. Using our rogue from earlier, you’d want to be sure to include places to hide, traps, and locked doors and chests in a dungeon crawl. If there’s a bard in your party who can charm the pants off anything, include some creatures that don’t immediate shoot first and ask questions later in your dungeon, and be sure to include some that do for your barbarian to smash.

Of course, not every game is a structured, self-contained dungeon crawl. With more open or improvisational games, you should keep each character’s list of exclusive attributes handy, and you’ll be able to highlight situations with challenges unique to each character’s abilities. You could even make a list of generic challenges before a session with each character’s exclusive abilities in mind. Your list of challenges might say, “Trap, fussy bureaucrat, melee battle, mage duel,” and leave the details up to you to fill-in as you go along.

Remember a character doesn’t have to succeed in a spotlight moment when it comes to mechanics. They’re still in the spotlight, even if they fail and mechanical spotlight moments are more dramatic if there’s a chance of failure. Let your player revel in failure as much as they would success.

Story

Story moments can be big spotlights for players. The main villain is your mother? You used to work for the bandit king we’re hunting? The IRS finally caught up to you for all that tax evasion? These all throw a player right into the spotlight.

If you’re the kind of GM that uses backstories, there’s often plenty to pull in those tasty tales, but you can also pull from previous sessions. Remember that goblin Ned the Fighter threw off the top of the tower? Well he’s got a sister and she’s coming for ya, Ned. The merchant the Ralph the Sorcerer helped in passing comes back to ask for more aide, offering even more reward.

The best way to keep track of all these possible moments is to keep some lists handy. The digital age makes that super easy. You can plan for these threads to come into a character’s life or you could simply keep that list handy when GMing and highlight story moments when it feels right.

The best spotlight moments go beyond just giving the character new information or exposing a backstory element to the rest of the player characters. Give characters choices to make. When the spotlight is on them, let them take action. Present the information and allow them to react. When the villain reveals herself to be Nadir the Monk’s mother, it should be at a time where Nadir can choose to fight, join, or let her mother get away. If the IRS comes for superheroine Masked Lady Night, she has to make the choice between going peacefully or running away… from the law she claims to represent!

Combination

Truly great spotlight moments are a combination of mechanics unique to the player character and personal story, like Nadir the Monk’s showdown with her villainous mother on the narrow rafters of an ancient castle or Sam the Rogue disarming a trap before it tears his pet pig to pieces. When these truly dramatic story moments happen, remember to utilize the mechanics of the player to whom the story moment pertains. For instance, if Sam the Rogue’s pet pig was stolen by a beholder who just wanted to throw down, that’s not as much of a spotlight on Sam the Rogue as it would be if the pig were in a trap. Now if the fighter’s pet pig got stolen, throwing down with a beholder would be just prime.

Drawing in the Spotlight Shy Player

Some players jump eagerly into the spotlight (looking at you, bard players), while others tend to hang back because they don’t want to jump on someone else’s moment… even when it is the person who is hanging back’s moment! Feel free to draw that player in with head first engagement. “Hey Paul. Nadir is your character. How do you think her villainy should be approached?” If the player still wants to hang back, that’s fine, but it should be a signal to that person and the other players that it is now this person’s time in the spotlight.

Multiple Spotlights!

It can be fun to highlight multiple players at once, especially if they have backstories that are tied together (like siblings or army pals) or they have some crazy plan (the fighter picks up the spikey-armored halfling and hurls him at a dragon). When this happens, take a step back and let the players really drive the story. Only fill in the gaps where you need to, make sure everyone who is in the spotlight at the moment gets equal time to be the focus, and you’ll have a blast!

Coming soon: Support the Spotlight as a Player!

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post:
tabble_babble_logo_2

Table Top Babble 027 – Railroading

/ , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of Table Top Babble is now available!

James Introcaso chats with Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games and the NerdBurger Show and Allison Rossi to discuss railroading in RPGs. Can this buzzword be a good thing?

Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Grab our RSS feed.

Follow Table Top Babble on Facebook or Twitter.

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post:

Table Top Babble 004 – Going Off Script

/ , , , , , , , , / 0 comments

A new episode of Table Top Babble is now up!

tabble_babble_logo_2

James Introcaso sits down with game designers Mike Shea, Ruth Tillman, and Wade Rockett to discuss what GMs should do when players and an adventure go off the rails.

Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Grab our RSS feed.

Follow Table Top Babble on Facebook or Twitter.

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

Share this post: