The story tag has no wiki summary.
35
votes
14answers
1k views
How to get out of a story deadlock
As with most of my questions, this is more of a general "how to handle a special situation" and not a plea to solve an existing problem.
What is the best way to handle story deadlocks (as in: The ...
31
votes
8answers
701 views
How do I get better at narrating/storytelling as a GM?
Personally, I've always had difficulty telling coherent stories, even from my own experiences. My wife has even coined a term (jokingly) for the type of story I tell, one that either makes no sense, ...
30
votes
12answers
577 views
How do I allow player agency in situations with predetermined outcomes?
One of the current members of our group joined a little later than everyone else. His character's history wasn't developed too well, so I am running a one-off session so that the group can play out ...
27
votes
10answers
572 views
What can I include in my character's background to help the GM build a better story?
Whatever the system or the world used, what can a player add to his character background that will help the GM make the game more interesting.
Games are much more interesting with the addition of ...
27
votes
4answers
482 views
How do I keep a long-range plot cohesive and coherent?
I enjoy GMing but I much prefer to to have some sort of long running plot (or meta-plot) rather than having a series of unconnected unfortunate events afflict my PCs.
For example, I would love to ...
23
votes
7answers
483 views
How to add a player who joined after the campaign started?
I started running a game, and then a friend of mine expressed interest in playing, so I invited him to join us. He created a character and came along to the next session. As the rest of the party was ...
21
votes
7answers
491 views
How do I get my players to form a PC party without just forcing them to?
I believe that it is generally a good thing that all the PCs travel together, as a "party". This way the GM has to manage one environment – not, say, five. The problem is how the GM can ensure such a ...
19
votes
5answers
494 views
How to handle diverging expectations on “background density”?
Sorry, this is lengthy, but I want to put this into context.
After many years (try 15) of not GM'ing a group of my own, I recently made an attempt to return to the head of the table and shake off ...
17
votes
7answers
415 views
How to tastefully convey racism in RPGs?
I will use Eberron as my example:
Eberron is a DnD game that has a player race known as Warforged, which are essentially living constructs. At the end of the last war (2 years ago in game) the ...
15
votes
2answers
425 views
How does “failure” work in Dungeon World? How does it move the story forward?
I am having trouble understanding the specifics of failure Dungeon World. According to the rules, a GM should "make a move" against players when they fail, and that's alright, I get that.
What I ...
15
votes
5answers
345 views
Co-operative story-telling mechanics
What are some existing or potential game mechanics that encourage players to "take the reins" a bit more and involve themselves in a story-telling perspective? Specifically, are there any examples of ...
14
votes
7answers
639 views
How to transform a tragic hero into a villain?
First things first: let there be a tragic hero with some (yet undefined) personal characteristics. Let there also be a grim world, in which the stories take place (no fairies, knights in shining armor ...
12
votes
4answers
240 views
Generating a feeling of nostalgia in the players
I'm new to GMing and am in the process of creating my first world. It's going to be a far future scifi setting, where the civilisation to which the players will belong is a space faring one that is ...
12
votes
5answers
587 views
Are there any good websites which have story hooks and plots points for campaigns? [closed]
Are there any good websites which have story hooks and plots points for campaigns?
11
votes
5answers
301 views
When the rules bog you down, how do you see past them?
Humans have a limited amount of working memory, and each of us has a different set of mental aptitudes and processes. I'm finding, personally, that the rules are so detailed and all-encompassing that ...
11
votes
4answers
673 views
Creating a group plot arc in Changeling: The Lost
I'm very enamored of White Wolf's Changeling: The Lost for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, I love the dramatic character hooks the setting provides - just coming up with variations on ...
8
votes
3answers
360 views
How to write in-character introduction to new players for a new game background
So, I have this uber cool game world and I want to run a super cool game in it. It should not really matter what genre for this, but let us assume it is fantasy. Instead of either a long conversation ...
7
votes
2answers
146 views
Good storylines to accompany adding another player to the game?
I just ran my first two sessions as GM and we are probably going to be adding a 4th player to the group soon (making 5 of us total). I'm trying to thing of a good premise for the party to meet the new ...
6
votes
6answers
182 views
In a Neverwhere style game how do I keep players connected to the surface world?
In a Neverwhere style setting, how do I keep the players interested in staying connected to the surface world? How can I make their connections to the mundane world matter to the players and ...
6
votes
2answers
132 views
Have any RPGs ever been based on the world of William Blake?
In William Blake's more famous poems, the highly detailed personal mythology he created is not evident. But in everything else he wrote, characters such as Los, Enitharmion, and Rintrah recur ...
5
votes
2answers
96 views
Reward distribution and story continuity with rotating players/GMs
There are some people who like to GM, and maybe even like it more than role playing themselves. If you have one of those rare specimen in your group consider yourself lucky. Others are not averse to ...
4
votes
2answers
211 views
Plot granted special ability standards?
For the campaign in question, I'm running one person through a dungeon inspired by Vagrant Story. Clearly some things from the video game can't be emulated, and many of those are integral to the game: ...
4
votes
2answers
134 views
Are there any scenarios based on “Hound of the Baskervilles”?
Are there any good scenarios based on the classic "Hound of the Baskervilles" story?
The actual setting (Call of Ctulhu, D&D, whatever) isn't even that important as I plan to adapt it to my own ...
2
votes
2answers
198 views
What is the relationship between minotaurs and dwarves?
I'm creating a minotaur barbarian and I want him to be wielding a Mordenkrad that slowly increases in magic level (DM permissible) I read in the description that the mordenkrad come from dwarven ...
1
vote
9answers
653 views
PC in chains, planned myself into a corner
In a game I'm hosted, the PC (there's only one) has just gotten captured by the enemy. This was part of a plan to give his NPC buddy some major characterization by the way she rescues him, but I've ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
What use is a car, with no infrastructure? [closed]
I've got an idea that's not fully formed yet, kicking around in my head. I'm trying to set up a modern character who ends up stuck in a fantasy setting. Through plot-relevant forces, he was abducted ...
