Role Playing 101 #10: How the Patron moves your Adventure

Last issue I touched upon story hooks – and player motivation. The simplest story hook you can think of is actually an employer, or as some call it – a patron. And if the patron is right, he or she can motivate all or most of your team.

If the heroes work for Star Fleet, then an officer higher in the chain of command may be all you need. If the heroes are constantly short of money because their Firefly is out of fuel, anyone with an attractive business deal can hire them and send them into adventure. Are the heroes the epitome of goodness, or they are like the A-team? Then any underdog in need or damsel in distress may call upon their aid.

More Than One Patron for The Same Party

But you may also have a more complex team. Maybe the warriors in the group are hired by the city council. But the priest is just there to keep an eye on things for the church, as a kind of Inquisitor. The mage in the group is there because she expects to recover a lost magick item the others have no knowledge of, and she just forces herself into the group as “an advisor”. A half-elven noble may be part of the team too, because he believes in the cause of the city council. And so on.

Patrons don't have to be regular employers or clients. They can also be the damsel in distress, a dead man with a will, or even in some cases the enemy. In a way, if an enemy kidnaps your friends, and you want them back – he's almost a patron. But if he kidnaps your friends and only wants to return them alive if you work for him, he is certainly a patron.

Or have a Player Character as Patron

Also, one or more of the player characters may be a patron for themselves. If the team leader is the Schutzfrau (Lady Protectress) of Soest, and Soest is to be defended, then the Schutzfrau is the patron. If one of the players wants to rob an interstellar bank, and builds his team, he's the patron. And when the heroes want to empty the Tomb of Horrors from it's treasures, they're almost their own patron. Together with the demilich sorceror waiting for them inside.

The nice thing about patrons as story hooks is, that they are generally thinking people. If one way to move the player characters forward does not work, they may try to think of another one. Some patrons may even join the party to make sure what they want happens. In a way they help steer the group the way you'd like them to go. They're a tool to make game mastering easier. And even if the group does not listen to a patron, you'll still have some interesting interaction!

Pick #71: DOS Box your Old Adventures

Maybe you'll scoff at computer adventures. Maybe you just scoff at new ones. Maybe you think you should scoff at them because they're no "real" role playing games. Maybe you yearn for real old games which your *new* computer is somehow unable to handle. Or maybe you just think you yearn for them. And you don't have time to play anyway!

In any case, if you'd ever wish to play one of these oldies like Eye of the Beholder, Strahd's Revenge, or Ultima Underworld, and they're still somewhere on a shelf or in your basement, then you might like DOSbox. It turns your PC into a real OLD PC for the time you play your old game. For most games.

Turned to the Dar... eh Apple Side? No matter, their emulator for DOS, named Boxer, is even better. And more intuitive. It even plays Darklands, which I couldn't say for DOSbox on my webbook.

Lost your old copy? Sometimes you can re-find it on Steam. But otherwise have a search on an Abandonware site. The better ones now also observe copyright issues.

Role Playing 101 #9: Use Story Hooks!

No matter how you structure your storyline, and no matter if it's linear or completely free, you have no game if your heroes do not participate. For some game masters I've met this may not seem a problem. In their adventures the heroes are no more than spectators anyway. Their players may watch, but not touch.

How to Draw Players IN? 

But I hope a no touch no go adventure is not what you are looking for. The heroes should participate. They should be able to act and to change things. To steer events. And naturally they should also be able to fail. Or succeed. And they should want to succeed, change and steer.

So how do you get your heroes to participate? You need something to draw them in. Something to make them care. You need story hooks.

A story hook somehow makes the story personal for the hero, and hopefully also personal for the player. Perhaps the stakes of the adventure are personal, because they are a family member, a family treasure, a home village, or a close friend. Perhaps a friend is in need, or a big reward is promised – and the hero badly needs money. Perhaps the hero has a particularly strong sense of justice, and a great injustice is done. Perhaps the employer of the hero wants him (or her) there. Or maybe it's just something strange and mysterious that draws the attention of the heroes.

Be Pragmatic with your Hooks

Whatever hooks you use, always make sure that they indeed work. See if your players indeed bite, and are entertained. If you find that the players are not drawn into your intended story, then maybe you need some other hooks. Think of a few new ones before you ditch your story, and see if you can find the right angle. If necessary, ask your players for help what might work. And reward them by using the suggestions.

Different players may need different hooks. And different characters in the same team may also need different hooks. You might even want to provide each player with their own reason – or story hook – to participate. Because in essence, a hook is part of the overall motivation of your characters – and players. And motivation is what you need.

And if you are a player reading this, remember that your character motivation is also very much your own responsibility. Don't try to be one of those guys who sits behind the telly during the game all the time complaining that there is no reason to join the adventure. And at the same time ignore each hook that is thrown at you. Be a bit cooperative too, or leave the room if you find you cannot manage.

Ye Olde Character Sheet #4: System Panic

Somewhere in the late eighties - or was it in the early nineties? - we couldn't decide on which system to play. Yes, we tried D&D. We loved and hated AD&D. We did many homebrews. I think my own systems were in their seventh incarnation. We loved to game, but we just couldn't agree on the rules.

It's much like today's high finance. But that's for another blog, I guess.

So, if fantasy gaming was an issue, Sci Fi adventuring was even worse. We tried and forgot about Traveller, mostly because of MegaTraveller. RoleMaster was hard to get, and no one would have gotten through it anyway. TSR's attempt at SF was a laugh - or at least that's what we thought then. So where to go?

One of my fellow players (you know who you are, JLC) was so desperate to play, he wrote up his favorite addicted female rogue in all systems he could think of. As this sheet testifies.

What I find intriguing is how much the stats differ. You might not guess it's all the same character we're talking about, even if you can decipher all of them. See how short the Traveller code is? Or how seemingly low the strength in Judge Dredd? Probably, the gaming experience would also be different for each rule set.

But then again, the crazy computer in Paranoia is also a very different adversary (euhr, "Friend") than is Darth Vader in Star Wars. And any game surely differs more with the Game Master than with its system.

Sylvia eventually was played in a version of Dark Dungeon adjusted for Space Travel and Sci Fi. I'm not sure if any of the above stats were ever tried.

A request... proofreader wanted

Dear fellow bloggers. I just finished a DD2 / OSR adventure kit for publication, and I'm looking for a native english speaking proofreader. And possibly playtester, if you like it. In exchange for your effort, you'll get my eternal gratitude, honorable mention and the module for free :-)

The module is a tribute to late Moldvay's classic adventure, but with all new artworks, background, storyline, and even some background and encounters for a local town.

Update: two people just offered their kind services! So the email address has been removed.

Free Adventure Setting: Ammersfurt Complete!

For Thirtyfive weeks (and a few more, as something went wrong), I've dealt out an adventure seed each week. All for the medieval fantasy Ammersfurt setting. Now it seems the right moment to give out the complete booklet. So if you missed out parts, or didn't look before, download it at your leisure. It's free for you to use and modify.

Let me know how you like it!

 Download the complete PDF of The Secret of Ammersfurt here! 

Role Playing 101 #8: NPC Interests Behind the Scenes

Last time we considered how you can use a framework, or a sandbox as a starting point for adventures. Such a framework outlines the most important non-player characters, locations, and possible enemies and stakes from which adventures may arise. Also, it gives a lot of freedom for the players to determine what and how the adventure will be. That's nice. But once you have the framework, how do you proceed?

What Do the Other People Do?

Personally, I like to look at the main non-player characters, or non-player interest groups. Main npc's can be the local king, baron or warlord. Or a powerful wizard, tradesman, bishop or even a monster – preferably an intelligent species. Interest groups can be the trade guild, a gang of slavers, the city guard, the kings guard, a mercenary war band, an organised crime group, the church, town hall, an industrial cartel, a hidden organisation of priestesses, a band of cultists, the secret police, and so on.

Whenever players act (or don't act), I try to think: what will the npc's and interest groups do? Will they notice the player characters? What will they do about them? Will they contact them, be pleased and go at their own business, be angered, annoyed, shocked? Will they send in assassins, or instead send a head hunter to hire them, or seek an alliance?

Take It One Group at a Time

Try to start out with just a few npcs and interest groups, and move them about on the imaginary playing board of your world. Make sure that at least a few will at some time turn out as enemies, or allies to the player characters. Make them have conflicting interests, also with eachother. And figure what the players might see, hear and notice of the ongoing conflicts, dealings and secret alliances.

Maybe the players will witness how a slaver band captures the daughter of the innkeeper (actually a mistake). Then they see how the city guard stands idly by (they have a conflict with the innkeeper, and one city guard works with the slavers). The heroes may protest with the mayor about the guard, and the mayor may then reprimand the guards. Next the heroes are hired by the innkeeper to rescue his daughter. The one city guard in league with the slavers sneaks out at night to meet with his fellows (and might be followed by a hero). The slavers meanwhile realize their mistake, and make plans to get rid of the daughter (the heroes may be witness, or they may learn later). And so on.

What if You Forgot Someone?

Sometimes you'll find that you forgot about an npc or interest group. Players may ask you why they didn't do anything. In that case, you may do several things – besides frankly admitting that you forgot. One is to say that they were too occupied to intervene or act, or that they had missed what happened – npcs can surely make mistakes too. Another is to smile enigmatically, and think of a cooler reason why the interest group didn't turn up. Maybe they have a secret friendship, an ulterior motive, or maybe they are scared of something or someone that was present. Maybe they care less than they seemingly did. Or maybe the players received help from a third party, who intervened and stopped the missing npc or group. But I didn't have to say so, did I? Because you already thought that up beforehand, and that's why they were not there... That's what the players will find out next time. That's the secret of the Game Master.