Fall Back, I've Got You

The always amazing Play On Target Podcast did an episode about 'Building Trust'.

It's premise focused mainly on creating a feeling of trust between the players and each other,  and between the players, and the GM in a role-playing game situation. They discuss the development of the social contract we all need to have in this hobby to make it work. They address communal, collaborative development of the setting, the characters, the elements, and style of play everyone wants to focus on.

It is an excellent analysis of the subject, and as with all of the Play On Target episodes, well worth your time to listen to.

   

***

My initial gut reaction to this podcast was to write a frustration venting, snarky post full of shouting with capital letters, bold faced type, and to generally come off as a complete , and total a-hole.

 

Why you may ask?

 

 Because without thinking about it more deeply, I felt a lot of what they were saying wasn't about trust, it was about coddling. It was about concessions, and the negative aspects of compromise.

 

Keep that word compromise in the forefront of your thoughts. It'll come up later in the post.

I have decided instead to try and convey my feelings on the subject in a way that won't hurt the feelings of any particular players out there reading this, especially if said players should be, ya'know, mine.

 

That said, I intend to be completely honest about my feelings on the subject, and to make clear my disappointment in the way it is generally perceived by most gamers these days.

 

My players need to hear (OK, read) this, but moreover that need to understand it.

 

Here goes nothing...

 

***

What made my best games great was very often my getting some kind of crazy idea, telling my group I wanted to run that idea, everyone saying, "AWESOME!", and then we would have a great game.

What some of my worst games have in common is catering far too much to too many voices.

There are those who said they wanted one thing when they really wanted (or where thinking of) another thing. There are those who were interested in the game idea in their head, and not the one the group was participating in as a group. Sometimes there is a great deal of meta-thinking going on, trying to rationalize how the player can best help the GM make a good game, without knowing exactly what the GM is going for, or planning on.

In the end, all this boils down to a group that simply does not trust that the GM (in this case me) is going to run a great game.

The Play On Target podcast does an excellent job, as I noted in the introduction, of setting up ways in which to build player trust. They detail what aspects and approaches help, and hinder, player trust in a GM.

However...Why do you simply not go in trusting the GM? How does innate player paranoia assist the endeavor of running a good game in any way, shape, or form? Why do I have to build your trust as a GM? Have I burned you in the past? Have I run a ton of rotten games? No.

Are GM's assumed to be guilty? Do we need to prove ourselves innocent first?

As an example...

When the podcast begins, the guys mention the dynamic of starting a game one way, and then revealing it is in truth something very different, and how that can ruin  trust, and really break up a game.

This is one way to view trust.

Another way, the way my old groups all worked for many years, was that the players were my friends who trusted that I was going somewhere with the twist. The trust, the pretty much automatic, deep buy-in, was so strong, I could've pulled off turning a D&D game into a Star Frontiers game, and have everyone freaking thank me at the end.

Other examples of why I felt the podcast's approach to the subject painted a somewhat inaccurate picture of the way trust in gaming should work:

I think it's Andrew who mentions you should make characters together, as a group. A decent idea, but one I rarely find necessary. It can certainly help create a more balanced, and compatible team, but his reasoning is...

"So some guy doesn't show up with three 18s."

WTF?! Why are you even playing with that guy?! If that's a concern, you have bigger issues. That guy isn't playing the game you want to be playing. Dump him.

Lowell complains that sometimes he'll work out a great background for his character, but the GM didn't bring in his back story.

Maybe he wants to, but it's tricky. You're not the only player at the table. I desperately want to add elements of the PCs back stories into the campaign, as that is honestly how I develop a good portion of the game.

However, I'm used to having 6-8 players on average. Each back story can't be too complex, or involved initially, or it becomes very difficult to fit into the game, and harder to merge with other characters' stories. It's also really tedious to read through.

Be concise people. Keep it concise. Movie pitch here.

Now I'm not saying Lowell does this, but maybe if you want the GM to use your back story, don't write a character background whose page count rivals ROOTS! Your GM is running a game, not applying for a job as a library archivist.

Do you know how long it took me to read the first three books in the Dune series, by Frank Herbert? I was 14. I had ample free time, and I was an avid reader. It still took forever. Now, I run a business, I teach on the weekends, I'm trying to date, and I have at times two games to put together. I don't have that kind of time anymore.

DON'T MAKE YOUR BACKSTORY A DUNE BOOK, because with an average group size of 5 players, you're asking your GM to read FIVE DUNE BOOKS before he runs the first adventure! That's not including him/her reading the rules, making any modifications, creating the adventure, designing NPCs, getting artwork, or maps, etc.. DON'T DO THAT!

Lowell makes a point of backing up another player's action, in the hopes that the same player will back up your actions later.

If you don't know that player, and his/her character isn't a close friend of your character...dude...don't do that. Don't back someone up expecting them to return the favor. Do it because it's what you want to do. Do it because that's your character.

Sure, be a team player. Don't be a dick. It would be super awesome if everyone was that person, and in some groups everyone is. Just don't expect everyone at the table is seeing the same dynamic you're seeing for the same reasons. It's unrealistic.

Sam talks about secrets...and I've heard opinions of the subject of PC secrets before, recently from a good friend of mine. I couldn't disagree more.

If a player's PC has a secret, and you don't know about, that's because it's not your character. Sorry. If you notice them acting strangely, maybe have your character go ask the other player's character what's up. Organic baby. It's really inorganic to know everyone's deal when you shouldn't, or wouldn't. That doesn't work. Very few people, IN THE ENTIRE HOBBY, do a decent job of separating player knowledge, and character knowledge.

Add to this the amount of meta-thinking the millennial gamers do. It's all Google the info, read the sourcebook, get the video game strategy guide, read the spoilers for the movie. No one knows how to handle not knowing things any more.

Why? Because not knowing means you have to find something out. Finding things out is just too much effort I guess.

It's a freaking mystery! FIGURE IT THE *BLEEP* OUT! Investigate, ask questions, watch, learn, and do in IN GAME. Have your characters interact with each other. Stop playing table-top RPGs like single player video games, or MMOs where you level solo on Player vs. Environment servers. STOP! By Highfather's Beard I'm so sick of that.

Counting to ten...happy place...OK. Where was I? Ah yes, next...

On Player Versus Player

One of the other things the guys mention is the idea that some campaigns are run 'Playing to see what happens'.

Yes. THIS! All my campaigns are played 'Playing to see what happens'. They may be trying to emulate a comic book, or an episode of Star Trek, or the feel of an Anime/Manga romantic comedy, but they are all being played to see where things go. I have no idea how it'll end. I've made no plans to do anything in particular to anyone. The outcome of the game is as big a mystery to me, the GM, as it is to you the player.

So if trust is an issue, who exactly do you lack trust in? Me to make the game satisfying, or yourself to have the curiosity to see where it goes, and the patience to wait for the pay off?

In conclusion, I think everything the Play On Target guys said in their podcast was right on the money. It's a collection of great ideas, and logical approaches to the situation of trust between gamers on both sides of the table.

It is also all wholly unnecessary if you trust in one another going in, until there is a reason to feel other wise.

Each GM is different, each players is different, each game is different. If you go into any game, with anyone, without belief in the idea that everyone there is trying to make sure everyone else is having fun, then go home. You are likely the cause of the issue. You are likely the person who doesn't understand what I just wrote.

Have a little faith.

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Barking Alien

I almost forgot - for another interesting take on the subject, check out this entry from the blog Improved Initiative.

Interesting stuff.

RPGaDay Challenge 2015 - Day 13

Thank the maker! Finally, an easy one.

No need to even think about it.

Play On Target.

Well, goodnight everybody!

Barkley is giving me the stretch-it-out gesture. Apparently what I said isn't enough, and the episode is running short. OK. I can elaborate a little.

I have listened to a good number of gaming podcasts, or at least I've tried to. Most of them are either not very entertaining, not very informative, or both. A large number simply don't address RPGs I play. Usually I get about three episodes in, and then I give up.

A few have the annoying habit of picking a genre, or type of game to discuss, then focus the majority of the episode talking about how it's similar to D&D, different from D&D or how something about it relates to something in some edition of D&D.

Worse still is when a podcast group decides a given subject, like Superheroes for example, is a good idea for an episode theme, and then half way through the listener finds out the panel consists of one guy who doesn't like Superhero RPGs, two guys who've never run or played one in their lives, one guy who's played in a single Superhero session, and maybe one actually Supers gaming fan.

That my friends is pure evil. People should pay us to listen to them if they do that. There ought to be a law.

The only podcasts that consistently do it for me, are Play On Target, and Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff. These are both entertaining, intelligent audio discussions, run by well informed individuals who've been exposed to many different games.

I myself have been wanting to do a podcast for well over a year and half now. I just don't have the equipment, or know how yet, but it is one of my big goals for this year and into next.

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Barking Alien

I am Sci-Fi

I've been on a pretty strong Superheroes kick lately, but getting back to my roots for a moment, this blog owes much of its genesis to my desire to talk about Science Fiction gaming.

For my tastes, not enough people talk about Sci-Fi RPGs.

Remember, it isn't called Barking Cowboy, Barking Faerie, or even Barking Cape. It's called Barking Alien and there is a reason. Science Fiction is my first love, my default field of interest. It is my go-to genre when I'm running what I love to run most.

Mars 2030 - Concept Idea and Art by Рем Борейко

The Play On Target Podcast recently posted an episode in which the group discusses Science Fiction gaming. You can, and you should, listen to it here.

This isn't the first podcast on Science Fiction gaming, and it won't be the last, but it is, in some ways, typical of the SF RPG podcasts I've heard before.

It is also a Play On Target episode, so it has an identity all its own, and for that it is definitely worth listening to. It made me think, and to me there is no greater praise I can give to such an endeavor. At the same time, it didn't do what I was hoping it would - explain why Science Fiction gaming is so awesome.

I'm in space, by M0tt0M0

Although it was the Play On Target episode in question that inspired this post, I don't intend this to be a review of that episode. I don't really feel much would be served by overanalyzing the podcast, and what each individual said. Rather, I want to address the big picture elements I heard, and didn't hear, from the discussion, and tell you my feelings on the subjects. This is more what I took from it, mixed with what I already think, if that makes any sense.

First, there seems to be (generally speaking) a difficulty in locking down what one is talking about when they say Science Fiction. This was evidenced clearly by the PLOT hosts, who seemed to feel that everything from Shadowrun, to RIFTS is Science Fiction.

Well...it is. And, it isn't. I'll explain...

I have one hard and fast rule for identifying the genre, or subgenre of something (be it books, movies, games, etc.), and that is:

'If you can identify something by a name, other than the genre heading, then it is that thing, and not the genre heading'.

In other words, Cyberpunk 2013-2020 are considered Cyberpunk games (duh). Although Cyberpunk is a subgenre of Sci-Fi, it is also it's own entity. Therefore, Cyberpunk isn't (IMHO) a Science Fiction game. It is a Cyberpunk game.

Eclipse Phase is Transhumanist Science Fiction.
Gamma World is Post-Apocalypse, though possibly crossed with Science Fantasy.
RIFTS is a Multi-Genre game. If you Google, 'What Genre is RIFTS' it will say just that.

So what qualifies as straight up Science Fiction for me? Anything that doesn't easily qualify as something else in Science Fiction, is plain ol' Science Fiction.

Traveller, especially 'Classic Traveller' is to me, Science Fiction.

I guess it could be said there are few others. At the same time, I would place Star Trek, Star Frontiers, Ringworld, and Dune in this category as well, even though it could certainly be argued that some of these are also Space Opera.

Second, I often find these kinds of episodes are done by a group of people who aren't especially fond of the subject. A Science Fiction podcast by people who aren't into Science Fiction...well...perhaps not the easiest thing to do.

The members of the group who do like Science Fiction didn't really assert their opinions, or their past, successful experiences, over those who haven't had such experiences, or have negative opinions.

Taken from the final thoughts, it felt a little like a Science Fiction podcast that said, "Yeah, Sci-Fi is OK I guess, but isn't Fantasy awesome!"

Sardu Reef, By Alex Ries

At one point Sam notes that modern gamers are more sophisticated because of our increased exposure to both Science Fiction, and Science Fact. I would word it differently. Spoiled is the term I would use.

Because of this more extensive exposure he speaks of, modern gamers expect to be spoon fed all the ideas they will need to play Science Fiction (or any genre for that matter, but that's a different conversation).

When I started running, and playing Science Fiction games, we made up a lot of stuff. How? We read freakin' books. We loved Science Fiction novels, and comic books. We looked at issues of National Geographic, DISCOVER Magazine, and other sources of information on technology, and science. Also, tons of easy reference existed/exists for Science Fiction in pop culture in the form of movies, TV shows, computer and video games, and animated series.

For reasons I've mentioned before, but to this day do not understand, D&D, and Fantasy overall has always been viewed as more understandable, and accessible, but there is barely 1 Fantasy movie for every 5-10 Sci-Fi movies. I don't remember a single Fantasy TV show on television while I was watching Lost in Space, Star Trek, and Space:1999. Somehow everyone knows what medieval Europe looks, and feels like. How? How at 8 years old was I supposed know Fantasy better than Sci-Fi?

Sorry. I was ranting. A little.

Lowell notes that Fantasy is easy, conceptually. It is. And how much is an easy thing worth?

The thing is, if Science Fiction, the genre, is something you know, and love, you will make the effort to understand the elements that make it work. This goes from the basic tropes, to the basics of the science, to more advanced theoretical concepts.

You will then figure out what works, and what you want, in the Science Fiction Role Playing Game you want to play, if indeed you really want to play a Science Fiction Role Playing Game.

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Barking Alien

Reeling In The Year: 2014

Having just finished listening to the Play on Target Podcast episode, '2014 in Review', I starting thinking about my own experiences in gaming this past year.

Now I'm sitting here, listening to Steely Dan, preparing to share my thoughts with all of you.

Life is funny that way.

Deacon Blues

This has been a rough year for me personally, and financially. Gaming wise, I've had a number of campaign attempts begin with fantastic false starts, but die quickly, running into snags, or simply having no staying power.

Although my primary gaming group and I have been together a little over two years now, we still experience growing pains, differences of vision and opinion, and though I am loathe to admit it, we're only Human.

Remind me to get that fixed.

Pretzel Logic

Still and all, it's been a pretty damn good year for gaming. For all the attempts that missed the mark, one or two have bullseyed the target in a big way.

My main group continues to enjoy the living daylights out of our Traveller campaign, Operation: PALADIN. It boggles the mind that this thing has outlived the other campaigns we've tried to get going. It experienced, at one time, or another, all the problems that laid low lesser games, saw one player move, another was kicked out of the group (he's back now, but not yet in the Traveller campaign), and has been delayed numerous times due to difficulties with scheduling during the November to January Holiday season.

Yet still it endures. Heck, it not only endures, it excels. It's awesome. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Now we're making another attempt at a Champions/Superhero campaign, one of the game types that has eluded us up until now, which stinks since Superheroes is my favorite thing to run after Star Trek. Will it work? It hasn't in the past, but the first session went great, and my Magic 8 Ball says all signs point to yes. I'm hopeful.

Rikki Don't Lose That Number

By nothing short of random chance, I bumped into a fellow in the street that I had gamed with at the last RECESS Game Day event. That was...a year ago? Two? We exchanged numbers, and the next thing you know we're gaming together fairly regularly. It turns out we live about 10-15 blocks away from each other, which in Manhattan is a leisurely stroll.

The guy is really cool, his friends (now my friends too) a great group to game with, and I'm getting the chance to play in Superhero games as opposed to running them, while getting to run Star Trek. You can't make this stuff up. Awesome sauce, I'm telling ya.

My Old School

My weekend job at the tutoring center affords me the opportunity to use RPGs as a learning tool to teach kids, while simultaneously having fun at the same time. In addition, everything old is new to them, so I've been able to use games I feel nostalgic about, and see completely new approaches to them through my interaction with this younger generation of 'players'.

So incredible, so rewarding, and so enjoyable.

***

Now, on to my thoughts inspired by listening to Play on Target...

***

First, and foremost, and at the same time least, my thoughts on Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

It's a well known fact that I really don't like generic, medieval High Fantasy. I don't like it. I find it so boring, so...so trite. More so than any other genre, D&D style Fantasy practically reeks of same-old-same-oldness, and been-there-done-thatness.

I've now run D&D 5E twice, and with each attempt, I like it less.

Play on Target points out, and rightly so, that what elements 5E has that are exciting people, and are new for D&D, are things that are practically old hat to the larger gaming community. If even the snazzy new doo-dads are stuff I've seen many times before, what does the game have to excite me?

Oh wait, it has all the best elements of the old editions. Really? The very best of mediocre, eh? Sorry, but if I wanted to play that, which I don't, I already have it. Many have said it reminds them of AD&D, both 1st and 2nd. Unfortunately, I grew tired of AD&D right around the time it's 2nd edition came out. I hardly ever played 2nd.

Fifth does nothing for me. Nothing. It's a really good game. A great version of D&D.

I don't like D&D and 5E does nothing to change that.

***

I got to run Golden Sky Stories (Yuuyake Koyake) for the kids at the center, and it was both great, and something I think I'd really liked to explore further. I don't think we did as much as we could with it. I see greater potential for using this game to teach problem solving, and how to handle different [interpersonal] relationships, but I haven't had time to really devout time to this project.

***

I've gotten to play in a pretty darn fun Superhero RPG of Kapow! over Google Hangouts this year. Originally, the campaign was run by the games creator, but due to a recent job change (Congrats Josh!) the reins were taken over by another player, and he has done a bang up job.

We haven't played much over the Holiday season, but I hope we get back to it soon.

I only got to GM over Google Hangouts once, or twice, the whole year. I...liked it? I don't know. I enjoyed it, but in comparison to playing face-to-face it doesn't hold a candle.

***

I didn't go to any conventions at all this year. As said in the podcast, "Sad Panda".

***

My purchases have been minimal this year. Largely, this is because I have little to no disposable income. Another reason is that there is so very little I am interested in on the market right now.

I honestly can't remember the last game I bought. The last items I recall include Base Raiders...something for Mutants & Masterminds maybe? Really can not say for sure.

***

There is a moment in the podcast where the participants discuss the fact that it's very easy, and therefore enjoyable, for them to play in genres, and games, with which they are familiar. This means, at least to my ear, that if they have played, or have been playing, let's say a Fantasy game for example, they prefer to keep playing that game or genre, because preparation for it is simple to non-existent. They are so in tune with their chosen game, that they hardly have to prep to make a session, an adventure, or even a campaign work.

That whole thing bothered me.

(Gonna get ranty...)

It was a discussion all about what they'd learned. I'm trying not to judge, or be snarky, but honestly, I'm gonna fail. You've been warned.

It sounds to me like they've learned to be lazy.

Now I don't really mean that. I don't mean to say that they've become lazy GMs, who are just phoning it in. Not these guys. These guys are awesome, creative dudes. That's why I not only listen to them, but they produce my absolute favorite podcast.

Rather, very generally speaking, I am bothered by the idea of becoming too comfortable with a particular system, or type of game.

It also seems to me that it's a fairly common phenomena. So many people play D&D because they have played D&D before., or their family and friends have. Because D&D is accessible without much effort. D&D is easy. Playing it more, and more, it becomes easier, and easier.

Hey, I like easy as much as the next guy. I also think if I did everything the easy way, I would get really bored, and I'd never learn anything new.

I like doing prep. I might gripe about it, but more than likely I gripe over not having enough time to prep. I love prepping for a game!

I like researching Inuit mythology for a folkloric fantasy game set in pre-European contact Greenland. I could run Star Trek, Star Wars, or Traveller again, but I'd LOVE to run Space:1999, or original version Battlestar Galactica. I loved those shows, but I haven't watched them in years. I'd need to do quite a bit of reading, and renting on Netflix, to run a game set in those universes, but man the end result would rock. Marvel Heroic? I know Marvel very well (although not as well as DC), yet learning Marvel Heroic was a very new, very different experience when it came up.

Don't be lazy. Work for your fun. Put some blood, sweat, and tears into it man!

Ahem.

***

What have I learned this past year? Hmmm.

A lot.

The main thing I'd have to say is that I desperately need to get my edge back. I need the players to be a little more concerned for their PC's well being. I need to generate more physical conflicts in my otherwise cerebral games, just to keep the players on their toes. I did it in the past, became a bit too nice, and now I'm working toward re-establishing my skill at kicking ass.

Happy New Year Everyone!

All the best in 2015 to you and yours from Adam, Delilah, and of course Barkley.

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Barking Alien

Ultimate Nullifier

I'm kind of disappointed that my last post hasn't received more attention. It's not ground breaking or earth shattering but I thought it was good. Oh well.

I have a number of things I want to post about, and soon, particularly the final recap of our awesome first session of Star Trek and a recap/review  of our somewhat lackluster second episode. It was not terrible but not wonderful. It was only OK, and I'd love to tell you why and what I've learned about my style, my players and running Star Trek for the Voyager/Enterprise generation.

But right now...I have Superheroes on the brain. Again. Or is it still? Do I ever not have Supers on the brain?

Trying to post in a 'Timely' fashion.*

*Wink*

Some weeks back, my new favorite source for things-that-make-me-think-about-how-I-game, the Play on Target podcast, dedicated an episode to Superhero RPGs. Ever since I listened to it (three times now), I've wanted to comment on it but I'm not certain what exactly I want to say or perhaps where I want to begin.

I was given a shout out in that episode in regards to my feeling that the basic mechanics and crunch of Champions are really not all that complex.

I've said before several times that my love of Champions makes no damn sense. I despise math and really don't like games with a lot of complicated rules. This would seem counter to a love of the Hero System that powers Champions. At the same time, I was taught Champions by an absolute master of the games who knew the system like the back of his hand and than some.

What he taught me was not the entirety of the rules as written, but rather the rules as played. In other words, the Champions 4th Edition 'Blue Book' has the game rules the way they were designed. My friend William showed me the rules the way they actually work and work best, for our style of play.

Gone are the hexes, grids and miniatures and all such elements that, IMHO, are wonderful for war games and absolute anathema for Supers. To drag out play or slow down Supers with cumbersome mechanics is to induce boredom, the ultimate nullifier. No way Lightray.

When  Will and I run Champions, most everything is simplified. Range is determined by figuring out how big a hex was supposed to be in measurements of real distances. It was no longer a question of how many hexes away an opponent is but rather, here's a crazy thought, how far away in normal person talk.

Overload: "I'm taking a pot shot at Road Rage with my rail gun. Can I hit him from here."

GM: "Not sure...his vehicle just took off but it's already about (looks at sheet where distance is written in feet) 300 ft. away."

Overload: "No problem. I transfer the kinetic energy I absorbed last phase to my gun. (Looks at sheet where range is written in feet) I reach him easy."

It has been my philosophy for many years now that most RPGs are overdeveloped. In the belief that we need a modifier for any and every contingency, from targeting an opponent through heavy fog to running with a stubbed toe and a mild head cold, game designers weigh otherwise awesome games down with unnecessary rule baggage. Shift through the less useful elements, weed out the impurities and you are left with gaming gold.

This is surely true for Champions.

"But Adam", I here you say, "doesn't that change the fundamental nature of the game? Are you still truly playing Champions?".

Good question. My good answer is both yes and who cares.

Is 4th Edition Champions any more or less Champions than 6th or 2nd for that matter? Call what I do Champions Lite or Champions Plus is you wish but it's still Champions. Character creation doesn't change, neither does the attack and defense mechanics really and all the combat moves remain the same. It is most assuredly Champions, just faster.

The possibility of more Supers coming up soon - the kids at the learning center and I are trying to come up with a new regular game after numerous holiday season one-shots.

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Barking Alien


*Timely Heroes By artist Anthony  Castrillo

Trash Compactor

I had this idea for a post and while I was thinking about how best to turn my thoughts into words on a screen, I started thinking about all those great times I spent running the Star Wars RPG by West End Games. There were a lot. A lot of a lot.

Then I started thinking about the Trash Compactor.

This is the result...

Anytime I run a puzzle, deathtrap, or simply an encounter with perilous terrain, I look to the lessons I learned from the Trash Compactor scene in Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope.

As physical traps that provide a mental challenge go you really can't beat the deadly elegance of the Trash Compactor. Here is an enclosed space you fall into (as a way of avoiding a different dangerous situation), you can't blast your way out of (magnetically sealed, the rooms walls, ceiling and door deflect blaster fire), which comes with it's own hidden monster (the Dianoga or Garbage Squid), and if all that fails to kill you the walls close in to crush you flatter than a pancake.

This is my kind of physical trap; not because it's simple, brutal, and sets up an interesting environment (oh who am I kidding, that's definitely a big part of the charm) but because of how you get out.

You can't fight your way out, zap your way out, or really avoid it. While I suppose you could do the last option, you often don't know you're in hot water until you've tumbled in and started boiling.

This trap is awesome because it will physically kill the characters but it takes brains to get out of it.

 "Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level!"

 

In the film, Luke Skywalker remembers that his robot companions, C-3PO and R2-D2, are in a control room and that he has a communicator to reach them. Thinking fast and knowing their capabilities, or at least R2's, Luke has the two droids shut down the Garbage Compactors on the Detention Level from which he and his companions attempted to rescue Princess Leia.

Good thinking and a great example of making 'Split the Party' work. I can't tell you how influential this scene was in the development of my personal gaming style and technique. I created my motto of 'DO Split the Party' from Star Wars, Star Trek, and Comic Books. Have the people good at X do X, while the people good at Y do Y. Have them plan to meet at Z.

This isn't the only thing I learned. I also learned that there is almost always more than one way out of a trap. Having watched the film dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times now, I realize there are several ways out of this trap. Most of them much more challenging than the approach Luke took. He totally lucked out by having his allies in the right place at the right time. No doubt The Force was with him. Always.

"No, shut them all down. Hurry!"
 

In order to understand how I think of and use traps and similar challenges, let's look at the scene from a GM point of view. You've decided that if the players can't figure a way out of the detention center, they may try to escape through a vent or some similar shaft. A maintenance shaft maybe. Possible. What else could logically be there. A bathroom/head? A laundry room? Maybe. A laundry chute? Wait! A garbage chute. Cool. Mention a chute or hatch and have them tumble into a Trash Compactor.

Now what do we know about the Trash Compactor?

The walls close in at regular intervals, maybe once or twice a day, to compress any garbage or debris tossed into one of the connecting chutes.

The room is magnetically shielded to protect it in case some of the materials thrown into the Compactor were hazardous or explosive. Also, this could cause small bits of metal to stay where they are instead of clogging the drainage system. What drainage system? Give me a sec...

The chamber is inhabited by a squid like alien that probably feeds off bits of organic garbage and any vermin that get on the station. Maybe it was put in there on purpose to get rid of space rats, Mynocks, and similar pests.

How does this beastie not die each time the Compactor compacts? Simple. It has made a nest of select debris in the mouth of a drainage pipe. The nest prevents the liquid in the room from draining away completely, which also gives the creature a medium to move around in. When the walls close in, the creature ducks down into this man-made, underwater alcove and waits for the walls to pass back overhead and away from each other once more.

Speaking of the walls, how high are they? The PCs (say, a Farm Boy/Jedi Apprentice, a Smuggler, his Wookiee Companion, and a Princess) slid down a chute into the room from above through a wall compartment. Is it possible there is space above the walls? Could you climb above them to avoid being crushed? For that matter, could someone with a grappling hook get back out by climbing up to the hatch they came in after waiting out the crushing process?

Finally, I always noticed that there is a door to the Trash Compactor. Maintenance personnel or droids may need to go inside once in a while to remove the flattened refuse and scrap metal. If the door was de-magnetized, that is if the magnetic shielding is eliminated, you could probably jury rig the door or just blast it open. It also means you could open it from outside the trap (there's that 'Split the Party' thing again). 

By understanding the trap, you understand how to defeat it.

Using this method, I am not waiting for my PCs to guess the right course of action but rather any course of action that solves one of the traps' conundrums.

I can, right now, think of about seven ways to escape the Trash Compactor other than the way they did it in the movie. That means that if my players came up with, "Hey! Can we see if R2 can plug into the station's computer again? If so, we can just tell the droids to shut the system done. Don't worry about which one we're in yet, just shut down all the Trash Compactors on the detention level", I would blink, think a moment, and say, "Well what do you know? I hadn't thought of that. Sure, that'll work. R2 just has to make a computer roll. Sharp thinking there".

How else could they have escaped? Well, here's some ways I've seen PCs escape a Trash Compactor over the past 35+ years...

• Climbing and a Grapnel Gun used to get back up to another chute above the compactor.
• Demolitions and a charge blow out the Nest/Drain cover. Fall down the drainage pipe.
• Use a Jawa Ionization Rifle to de-magnetize the room's shielding. Open the door by splicing.

That's it in a nutshell. The Play on Target podcast talked a bit about this in their How To Be A Better GM episode, saying that when they were younger a few of them would stop a game cold if the players couldn't come up with the one, true answer to the riddle or puzzle/trap. As an alternative, it is suggested that if the players suggest an answer, you simply make one of their suggestions the right one.

My way is in between and hopefully the best of both worlds. It's not that there is only one thing that works or that anything will work. It's coming up with something, whatever it is, that takes the trap's parameters into account.

Thanks for reading...and I don't care what you smell.

AD
Barking Alien

Great Expectations...No Relation - Part II

Let's end the 2013 on a high note, by talking about how utterly fantastic I am.

In case you missed my last post and haven't been informed, I am a Great GM.

Possibly the greatest.

***

DISCLAIMER: The idea that Adam may be the greatest, living GM on the planet is completely conjectural. There is no direct evidence to support this claim. Indirect evidence, in the form of his players returning week after week or travelling great distances to be in one of his games is noted, but not held as definitive proof of the aforementioned concept.

This is, for all intent and purpose, an opinion. Note that the opinions of the writer of this post are not necessarily those of Barking Alien, the blog, or its staff and/or owner.

Even though it's all the same guy.

***

Now then, all of this started thanks to the Play on Target podcast and their most recent episode at the time of this post, How to be a Better GM.

In the first part of this two part analysis of what makes me so cool as a referee and storyteller, I took a close look as the failings and weaknesses of my esteemed peers and showed off my superiority by explaining how I easily and effortlessly avoid or remedy such issues myself.

Mostly. Ahem.

I could continue with those same efforts here, but why bother really? I considered doing so, especially discussing Pacing* and Sharing the Spotlight* and a few of the other subjects they touch upon. I may at some later date. It seems to me though that focusing on my vast and unparalleled superiority is not necessarily the best way to give all of you less knowledgeable, more, hmmm, peon-ish GMs, advice that will elevate you to a higher state of the craft (not as high as myself of course but you can dream). Instead...

Barkley...what are you doing with that strange blue rock? It looks a lot like the red one I found not too long ago. Very similar in fact...

That's what I'm hoping.

*BOING*

 

What...who...where?! What the heck is going on? Where am I? Wait...hmmm...Great Expectations...Awesome...weaknesses of my peers...Holy H-E-Double Hockey Sticks! Did I write this. Barkley, what happened.

 

Red Kryptonite. You found a piece over the holidays I guess and it made you go all evil like. Luckily I keep a piece of Blue Kryptonite around for just such an emergency.

 

 

Whoah. Thanks old friend. I can't believe...I want to apologize to everyone. I am not normally this much of a jerk.

 

Yeah. He keeps his jerk very much under control. Usually it's just a well honed sense of snarkiness.

 

Um...yes...thanks Barkley.

Sorry again everyone. The truth of the matter though is that many of the issues brought up during the podcast are not ones I have. Generally speaking I'm pretty darn good at the elements mentioned. I do have my weaknesses and drawbacks of course, just like everyone else. Susceptibility to Kryptonite not withstanding.

 


In an upcoming post I will go into greater detail on my own weak points in hopes of soliciting some advice and help in those areas. I also want to go over some honest recommendations for a few of the remaining areas mentioned in the 'How to Be a Better GM' podcast that I think I really can help with (or at the very least, tell you what helped me).

Happy New Year Everybody and I wish you Great Gaming in 2014!

AD
Barking Alien

*I actually would like to discuss Pacing and Sharing The Spotlight in more detail as these are areas I think I have made great strides in over the course of my experience with this hobby. At the same time, doing so may take an entire post each so I'm leaving my thoughts on these off this post to be examined more closely another day.



 

Great Expectations...No Relation - Part I

When you are pressed for inspiration for a gaming blog post, you could do worse than to listen to the Play on Target podcast.

The latest episode is about How to be a Better GM.

Listening to it made me think about a lot of things but the key revelation I took from it is this...

I am awesome. No, seriously. I am an Awesome GM.

Wait...I am an awesome GM...for some people.

I don't doubt there are a ton of people for whom I am not only not that awesome but possibly wouldn't even be considered all that good. I've been pretty lucky over the last 36 years and played with a large number of people who seemed to really like my style of play. The reverse is also true. I've had a lot of fantastic players and I developed the style I have today thanks largely to the style of play most of the people I've gamed with preferred.

***

Now, some notes on my specific brand of awesomeness directly based on thoughts spawned by listening to the podcast.

I am Great At Combat

During the Play on Target podcast, Lowell and Brian mention that Combat, a key element of the vast majority of RPGs, is an area of running games where they feel less comfortable and less engaged.

To some extent they seem to feel that in the vast majority of games they run which have fewer crunchy, involved rules for combat, it's harder to keep the battles interesting. Essentially, having a game that has more rules and tactical options mechanically makes for a game with a cushion that makes combat flow more smoothly.

I kind of don't get what they're saying.

I find if there are too many rules for combat, I feel constrained and can't flex the ol' creativity. My games, and therefore my combats, have never been based on the mechanics of the games as much as the ideas in the players' heads. The game is as tactical as the PCs want it to be.

This concept, which I hope to explain in detail in another post sometime, may go a long way towards explaining why my Champions games have fast combat and my Star Wars D6 games involve such epic battles. I am using a single theory for combat located somewhere in between them regardless of what game I am actually playing.

I am Great At Descriptions

I wasn't always. Yes, this is one area even the amazing Adam has had to work on. For years I would over-describe everything. I wanted everyone at the table to see the exact same picture I saw in my head. As time went on, I learned to describe only distinct or important elements and let the players use their imaginations on the rest. If questions on the appearance, location/position or something came up, I would get more detailed as needed.

I am Great At Puzzles

But my players aren't always.

I am a little guilty of comparing my old groups to my new group but because I am good at puzzles, good at creating puzzles, like creating and putting in puzzles and used to groups with a least one person who is good at puzzles, it's hard for me to get used to my new team NOT having that person. Not a one? Not. A. One.

I am trying to make the clues more obvious, the riddles less complex and number of options other than 'the answer' larger and more adaptable.

I am Very Flexible

Being flexible is perhaps the key to everything you will do as a GM. I strive to be as flexible as possible. I started out flexible and I think that is one of my primary advantages.

I am Great At Listening to My Players

I run games with the players and their PCs in mind. I myself don't like to play as a player and the reason for that (or at least one of the biggest reasons for it) is that I gamed under a number of GMs who made you feel like your PC didn't matter compared to their campaigns and NPCs. Your PC could be anybody. It isn't about them.

If you've ever, as a player, said to yourself, "Gee, I wish this cool backstory I came up with actually mattered in the game", than you'd probably find yourself pretty comfortable at my table.

I am Great At Names for People, Places, Things and Technobabble

Names have always been very easy for me.

One of the reasons is I read a lot and will sometimes borrow part of a name from a character in a book.

I know, and have known, a lot of people from a lot of different places, cultural backgrounds and ethnicities.

Take a first name from a book and a last name from an old friend or vice versa and you have a pretty large supply of names to draw from.

The same is true for places and even things like starships or taverns. Mix something from a film or novel with the name of an old haunt of yours and presto!, instant memorable name.

Another tactic I love is developing 'Naming Conventions'. I've mentioned this one on the blog before. Set up one or more rules on how you name a particular species, race or class of starship and coming up with a name for them on the fly is suddenly much easier.

Vulcan male names tend to start with 'S' and utilize the letters V, L and K a lot, the most common vowels being O, U and A. So, need a Vulcan? No problem. Sovlok, Suvol, Solavak and Savul reporting for duty. Loknar Class Frigates are named for places where battles took place. Launching the USS Alamo, USS Agincourt and the USS Thunder Bay.

The Play on Target guys recommend keeping a list of names handy. I concur and do it all the time. Never let yourself run out of resources.

Technobabble is easy. Follow these steps...

Original Series:

Keep technobabble low and simple. They have Jefferies Tubes, Transporter Locks and Phaser Overload. They don't Modulate The Proton-Induction Coils. They just didn't really do that.

Next Generation Onward:

Read the technical manuals. Actually get to know a little about the ships and how they are supposed to work. Makes discussions of the technobabble feel more grounded. If that doesn't work, use any of the following words in different combinations: Modulate, Calibrate, Exchange, Realign, Reroute, Induction, Phase, Warp, Subspace, Proton, Ionic, Coil, Field, Manifold, Interface, Dampener and Compensator.

So if the Subspace Field Manifold goes offline, you may need to Realign the Warp Coil Interface. If that doesn't work, check your Subspace Phase Compensator. It could be damaged.

***

Come back tomorrow for more about how great I am. No really. I'm amazing.

AD
Barking Alien