New answers tagged gm-techniques
1
Use "napkin" sketches.
These are simple and rough sketches--the kind you'd scribble on a napkin with a pen to illustrate a point. They give a sense of shape and the relationship of locations to each other, but make no claim to accurate detail or scale.
You could even draw each room and hall separately, then draw lines to show where they connect to each ...
2
I don't have much experience with play-by-email games, so these are probably less useful in that context, I'm afraid.
Don't be subtle.
For any of these strategies, tell the players straight up what you're doing and why. Solicit their opinions and ideas, and create space for feedback about the techniques once they're being used. This creates an atmosphere ...
-1
For me a combination of reasoning and creativity works best.
At first you have to ask why does someone go on an adventure like that.
Reasoning dictates, that no one would do something he would just entirely fail in.
So there must be a reason.
He can fight well
He can do powerfull magic
There is a God protecting him
I don't know your particular set of ...
9
You Probably Can't
At least, not in a Monk-specific fashion. I'll explain why in a minute or two, but consider that you may have to solve this on an OOC level, with the player himself, and not on the character's level.
Here's the Problem
Monks have a lot of reasons that the game's not enjoyable for them specifically. Some of these are answered in the ...
0
There is an awesome article you should see (a serious of articles):
The tendency surrounding this roleplaying device is to look at your character sheet and try to find the right skill to fit into the slot, then find some way to work it in through roleplay. Since skill challenges are structured roleplay however, what’s important first and foremost are the ...
0
We've used the passive skill roll solution for a while, for perception. The problem is that if one person is really good at something (say spot) and another is just quite good, his ability adds very little to the party, since he'll never spot something the really good one missed.
3
If you're going to run a whole bunch of combat, then yeah, I have to agree with folks that monks are a bit weaker than the other classes. I like the acrobatics angle and I don't think players and DMs use the "Rule of Cool" nearly enough to encourage this kind of behavior. It needn't be a specific power, but if your player is willing to "Jackie Chan" his ...
4
If you are not playing at a high optimization level, then a monk is a perfectly valid character. My group has run a large number of 3.5/Pathfinder campaigns and there are plenty of monks as PCs selected over time, and their players have enjoyed them in play just fine.
In our current pirate campaign the captain is a core monk! At seventh level his base AC ...
2
I've run a few murder-mystery style games and to me the following work fairly well:
Do not be afraid to shamelessly rip off a movie or TV show. One of the best instances of a good murder mystery I had was when I stole the plot to the Ben Affleck movie "Gone Baby Gone" and adapted it to medieval fantasy. If it's a movie nobody else has seen, that's great, ...
5
If the player is open to it and the group doesn't mind, the simplest solution is just to make him not a Monk. There is no good way in core to "fix" Monks, the best you can do is things like changing class features and BAB to make something that's still kind of like the Monk class only better (as suggested already).
Comparatively, it's relatively ...
22
You need to focus on the fact that no matter how much optimizing or tweaking you do, a Monk is simply not great at straight-up combat. Monks are good at doing crazy stuff. Monks should not be slugging it out rolling boring attacks, they should be looking for non-standard actions.
A good monk will have lots of ranks in things like Jump and Tumble, and can ...
11
Immediate and Obvious Steps
Full Base Attack Bonus
Between their low HD, weak weapons, the penalties that Flurry of Blows applies, and so on, the less-than-full BAB of the Monk is just insulting. Switching Monks to full BAB is probably absolutely necessary.
Magic Unarmed Strikes
Allow Monks to upgrade their Unarmed Strike as a magical weapon. Charge 300 ...
0
Don't forget that the use of magic leaves traces that can be seen with Detect Magic. That can eliminate (or add) possibilities, and give a time limit, as they have to investigate before the auras fade.
I really like starwed's answers, but remember you can also limit things by geography. For example, if you are on an island in the middle of nowhere, it is ...
2
For each mystery you want to tell, there has to be some sort of constraint the players could work with. As Problematic points out, a lot of the details of murder mysteries will work even in a high magic setting. But here are some examples that tie the prevalence of magic in to the mystery itself:
The Winter King was killed in an area with powerful ...
1
I usually make strong use of personal plots. When I start a new campaign/chronicle, I normally make a small adventure to introduce the setting to the players, then I listen to their aspirations, and try to make the chronicle more and more centered on them.
First of all, pay attention to the character generation. Look for any seed on the story and ask the ...
10
A few thoughts: unless your player characters are supposed to be on par with Sherlock Holmes, solving crimes based on nothing more than clues available at the scene, there should be quite a bit of legwork and talking involved in an investigation. It sounds like you're looking for a closed room murder ("all the windows and doors were locked from the ...
3
Something I've found that helps generally is to ask for a little more information during character creation. Specifically I ask for...
5 key things that have happened in your character's past
2 secrets about your character (one they know and one they don't)
3 established relationships (two friendly/neutral and one enemy)
A long term and a short term goal
...
4
I've tried my hand at developing plot arcs and...failed. Here's what I can tell you from my failures.
Make sure you group has the time for it. My group met once or twice per month, and developing personal plot arc one session at a time is too slow for me and my players.
Even if you are engaging in a character's personal plot arc, make sure it is still ...
4
"Past performance is no guarantee of future success."
In isolation, one solution is to assert, as truthfully as you're able, that your statements were as accurate as could be at the time you made them. It was true, before you 'uncovered' this ancient language that the fellow's PC knew 'all the languages he would ever need.' That's now not the case. ...
1
I ran a game with 8 players for over two years. Dividing loot was always a fun part of the game because most items were desirable by more than one PC, adding a little tension to the game. The players decided to start an auction system. Since cash was usually divided up equally after acquisition, any item that was wanted by more than one person went up for ...
3
I could either continue with this idea that Raj fell into a crystal, throwing a complete wrench in my plans, or I could tell the players no and ruin a joke they all seemed enthusiastic to extend. I chose to continue with what the players enjoyed, and left poor Raj in the crystal.
Why were you left with a choice at this point? The players explored ...
6
First things first, keep in mind that until it actually comes out in play, all plot elements are still in ether. Not only is this recoverable, but with a little flexibility and effort you can ensure that nobody is ever able to tell there was a lapse in the first place.
From your description, the issue seems to be at least partially that your players are ...
5
If you'd like more creative control over the language barrier, you can simply create an aspect to represent it, then refine the aspect over time using the character advancement and change rules (Fate Core p. 256, FAE p. 33).
Example:
Alice plays Yuri, a defector from Eastern Europe. He starts play with “In Soviet Russia, They Don't Speak English.” Alice ...
3
Get at the root of the problem
Unless you understand why the players behave the way they do, attempted solutions are more likely to produce unintended consequences than of desirable behavior. Are the players trying to make the best use of available time? Are they impatient to get rewards they feel they've earned? Are they worried about getting dragged into ...
5
Building on Jadasc's answer: For a non-human character like a space alien or a fairy, you can model this with a stunt that modifies the game rules. For example:
Because I am a resilient plant creature, I get an additional mild consequence slot. The slot is initially filled with the consequence “Doesn't speak the local language.” This stunt does not count ...
13
Fractal is the way to go here. Try this on for size, some trimming may be needed for it to fit perfectly. I'm going to be assuming she speaks Latin fluently, and the rest of the party speaks modern English where assumptions need to be made.
High Concept: Language Barrier
Aspects: Romance Language Family, Ancient Tongue, Seeming Similarity
...
8
Since you're already calling upon a Fate Core concept to establish this dilemma -- the Fate fractal -- I'm comfortable suggesting that you use another Fate Core system to address it: the more complex rules for consequences, particularly the rules for recovery on FC164. Establish the "inability to communicate" as a Severe Consequence, and then treat efforts ...
4
I have a few ideas, but they do not involve FATE mechanics, they are quite system agnostic. On the other hand, they may not fit your setting, game mood or personal preferences, still Im going to give it a shot.
Charades
This may not work very well, it may also work great - did you consider making it a little charades game? Lay out some ground rules, ban ...
2
As a GM I've found that whenever players start taking crazy chances it's because they're bored. The risks are an attempt to make something happen. As a player, thieves and rogues are my favorite character class in any system because I love roll playing and subtle combat tactics, but I've been in the exact same situation as your rogue player - ultimately ...
2
In D&D, I once constructed a 'reverse dungeon' where players are captured in an ambush by an orc kidnapping ring and inserted into a dungeon at their lair's lowest level. The idea was for players to improvise their own escape from the cell block and move up the dungeon levels ultimately reacquiring their positions, gaining new treasure, rescuing fellow ...
3
I’ve had the exact same frustration, finding store bought adventures typically sloppy or incomplete. Publishers seem more interested in releasing rulebooks and supplements than creating solid adventures. Some of their reasoning might be that many GM’s prefer thin adventures to support improvisation. Since you’re asking this question, I assume you’re like ...
10
Avoid In The First Place
First, try to predict the holes by reading and thoroughly prepping the adventure in the first place. Look at it from the PCs' point of view and ask "why?" (And especially, "why should I care?") If you see the gaps ahead of time, you can fill them or at least have an idea beforehand. I am assuming it goes without saying but you ...
15
I tend to handle that the lazy way. Generally players will come up with a theory (or even better, several theories) as to why something is the way it is. They'll bandy the ideas about, and I just surreptitiously write down the one that makes the most sense and provides the most opportunities to create interesting situations later.
If your players aren't ...
13
There are a few different ways of going about this, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Make something up on the fly. This is great if you're a good improviser, but, well, most of us aren't. This is best for small details that the characters/players are only mildly interested in. Still, if you prefer detail to leaving it blank, this can ...
2
Simple answer:
Make the environment just outside of the prison incredibly inhospitable. The goal wouldn't be to escape the building so much as it would be to secure transport/get to a teleporter/however the prison is accessed. Then, they can leave the prison however they find a way - the building at least. It could even be a part of the adventure, fights on ...
3
Hacking is useful on it's own. In a world with omnipresence of the Matrix and technology, a technomancer or a decker in a party is a real God for many situations. Other answers cover how to multitask it, but I'd like to suggest another approach.
Hacking is a really big part of the rules and are often misunderstood by players and GMs. In my first games ...
6
If the issue is the rogue PC keeps running into the monsters first and got slaughtered, perhaps you can warn him about the impending enemies? He doesn't have to see an enemy to know there is one. Some signs of nearby enemies could include: hearing muffled conversations, sound of armor, footsteps. Other sights of impending enemies will be light from under the ...
12
From your clarification it sounds like he wants to be playing a front-line fighter, so perhaps it's best (and safest for his long term prospects) if he starts gaining levels as one.
That said, some options to give him more front-and-center time in the game:
Give him an opportunity to end the battle before it starts. For example, a group of enemy are ...
8
IMHO, the easiest way is he needs to wrap his head around the character concept.
I've said elsewhere on this board that a Rogue's combat tactics should be:
Backstab, sneak to backstab spots, and retreat behind fighter(s) to use missile weapons.
If your Rogue is sneaking too far ahead, why does he get into fights before backup comes? Why can't he get ...
4
This may be a system-agnostic question, but Burning Wheel has a rather specific answer.
Don't give the player a discount.
In character creation
A character's access to the fruits of his or her labor is already reflected in the resource points that come with the lifepath.
The game already assumes players will buy stuff that it "makes sense" for their ...
1
I've done the "meet up with guys beforehand" thing, and to be honest it did feel like a job interview. And the thing of it was, there was one really bad seed in that group who simply did not make himself known as a bad seed until we started RPing. My suggestion is this: start small and always be on the lookout for fresh blood. If you have 3 or 4 guys you ...
0
You can run Instincts similar to how Burning Wheel does it but to an extent I think that requires a bit more openness between the players and GM than you get in most games. The mechanics are explained here.
If you're going to run with these, a couple tips:
Ideally, use something like the Trait system as well, which rewards roleplaying by awarding Fate ...
4
Putting on my degree in history hat for a second*... I'm not sure it makes sense within the medieval-fantasy milieu for a blacksmith to have "scrap iron" laying around of high enough quality to make a really good shield. Steel was a pretty rare commodity prior to the Bessemer process, and a blacksmith would likely have used every last bit of whatever he had ...
2
For the sake of role-playing, you should never keep someone do to something, just make him or her face the consequences of their actions!
Although I can see where you're coming from...
The first thing you should concentrate on is: the party has still a reason to stay together?
I've been plagued by too many parties splitting or losing the motivation to go ...
6
Essential
have interesting things to do while confined
have choices of what to do while confined.
telescope time in confinement as long as players want.
remember that no GM's list of the ways out should ever be exhaustive
remember that confinement is a normal tool of dungeon crawls.
Useful
have a reason they want to get out (or to stay in)
have some ...
2
An expensive shield is reasonably doable... don't raise the resources test, just say yes to the expensive part, and then don't let them use linked tests/help to aid the resources test. (You're not allowed to FoRK on Resources.)
Or, perhaps, have them seek it using some other skill... and then the Resources to actually buy the thing. But make the search ...
13
This answer is specific to burning-wheel.
Burning Wheel Gold, page 104
Basic, Naked Characters
Characters start the game naked and stupid. Literacy is earned through skills. Clothing is purchased with resource points.
Burning Wheel does not coddle the players. If they want something, they need to work at it. They'll fail along the way, but ...
5
Here's an answer about Burning Wheel in general - I don't have my book with me, so I can't comment about RPs at the moment - but this goes for the whole game:
Burning Wheel is meant to be played as written. Don't go trying to find ways around stuff in BW. This is stated explicitly in the game in a couple of places I can recall off the top of my head:
Let ...
7
Resources are usually a table-level system not meant to be modified by in-universe logic.
[Disclaimer: I'm unfamiliar with Burning Wheel's resource system, and am responding on a generic "how systems usually work" level as per the system-agnostic tag.]
Neither resource points, nor starting gold, nor the DFRPG "Resources" skill, should care about how much ...
2
The mention of kobolds made me think of Tucker's Kobolds, the classic (1E!) account of some very low-level baddies wiping the floor with a decently optimized party.
As far as "letting" players make more choices, it's really not a lot harder than making a point to trying to find any possible way to say "yes" to what they want to do and leading by example. To ...
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