tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post2296831507827512433..comments2024-03-02T00:34:38.701-08:00Comments on The Keep on the Gaming Lands: Notes from Monday's GameMike Mearlshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18338840534913321057noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-31880329327441966542009-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:002009-04-30T10:16:00.000-07:00In the case of our campaign, the flashbacks to whe...In the case of our campaign, the flashbacks to when we were young orphans at the orphanage. We had very reduced stats, no classes, etc. I really enjoyed the scene-setting aspects, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I felt I had to do the "right" thing and take the "right" actions, and I wasn't always sure what those were. As a good roleplayer, I couldn't/wouldn't take actions which would force the DM into a corner, i.e, making a suicidal attack on a guard or trying to kill an NPC who I knew was "alive" in the future. These flashbacks were fun and a unique way to set the stage, but I also think they're something which requires a lot of implied social contract to pull off.<br /><br />I like the idea of "The villain reveals himself... you gasp in horror as you remember..." (Cue flashback) setup. That's very cool and I'm going to have to try to pull that off in my next game. It works a lot better if the PCs have a shared backstory. (I've done a few "Year One" kind of stories, esp. when I'm missing players -- a quick side romp or an "untold tale" can add a lot of depth to a campaign world.)Lizardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612692415592670468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-52611940121664566202009-04-30T09:56:00.000-07:002009-04-30T09:56:00.000-07:00First, I love the idea of burying people to send t...First, I love the idea of burying people to send them to the Shadowfell. That's really cool.<br /><br />The flashback came early in the campaign, plus the PCs started at level 6. We doing 6 -> 16 -> 21 to set the stage for an epic campaign.<br /><br />I did two things to ensure the future wasn't changed:<br /><br />1. The characters couldn't *plausibly* attack the guy. Their future selves knew what was going on, but their past selves were ignorant. It relied on the PCs not cheesing out on it, but I have good players so it wasn't an issue.<br /><br />2. The scene was mostly directed by me, and it involved a powerful NPC who is also brother to one of the characters. Attacking, or doing anything else crazy, was out of character.<br /><br />3. Aside from the NPC they recognized, the other major NPC (the brother) made his first appearance in the campaign. So, the interaction there can feed into later events.<br /><br />I think starting at 6th made the flashback really work. I think once you flashback into events the were "live" in the campaign (this happened back when you were 2nd level) things might get weird.<br /><br />I'll use the approach again, but I'm not sure I'd want to use it to do anything other than provide "live" exposition for a scene. I really liked the tension between the PCs' first battle with the villain bookended with the first time they saw him in the company of the PC's brother.<br /><br />Basically, it was a lot more fun way to play it out rather than using boxed text.Mike Mearlshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18338840534913321057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-47393628321482178312009-04-30T05:23:00.000-07:002009-04-30T05:23:00.000-07:00Question about flashbacks... how do you avoid "cha...Question about flashbacks... how do you avoid "changing the future", without really painful railroading or massive dice fudging?<br /><br />Our DM tried introducing our adventures with flashbacks, but we often felt somewhat constrained in our choices of actions, because we knew how the story "had" to end and worked towards that goal, instead of just reacting to events.Lizardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612692415592670468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-46456538719337316082009-04-29T09:21:00.000-07:002009-04-29T09:21:00.000-07:00Flashback - it was a pure RP scene. I described ho...Flashback - it was a pure RP scene. I described how the characters were hunting a band of orcs in Celene, then led into a scene where they ran into one of the PC's older brother. The brother is a high ranking member of the church of Corellon.<br /><br />I have to admit some level of cruelty here. The brother was riding in a carriage, and as the PCs approached it they caught a glimpse of a human inside the carriage. The "current day" PCs know that the human is a priest of Iuz, but of course their past selves didn't realize that.<br /><br />I kicked off the flashback when the PCs first saw the man. Rather than simply describe what happened, I thought it would be a lot more fun to play it out.Mike Mearlshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18338840534913321057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-23368406979114829482009-04-29T08:16:00.000-07:002009-04-29T08:16:00.000-07:00The game leaving your plan is the best part of DMi...The game leaving your plan is the best part of DMing. In my experience, it tends not to be fight-based but NPC-based... the players surprisingly "adopt" NPCs who were supposed to be walk-ons or one-shot-villains and they end up becoming recurring characters/associates/whatever. (This is why I take issue with the "If ya ain't supposed ta kill 'em, they don't need no stats!" attitude. In my 30+ years experience DMing, just about ANYTHING can end up tagging along with the party and being forced to make assorted rolls; at the very least, I try to keep "Generic Commoner" and "Generic Town Guard" type stat blocks on hand to use for such circumstances.)<br /><br />In the 4e game I'm in, a random Human Wizard enemy has become a recurring, reluctant, ally for our party, most recently helping us enter the Shadowfell by agreeing to bury us alive (don't ask). Of course, we did save his mom from some generic disease.. all of which was improvised by our DM off the cuff when we captured him instead of killing him like we were "supposed" to. 4e makes it WAAAY too easy to "bring 'em back alive" (too easy in the sense of the DM having to deal with plenty of living NPCs instead of nicely dead ones.)Lizardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612692415592670468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-57879474077233086332009-04-29T03:41:00.000-07:002009-04-29T03:41:00.000-07:00Yes, yes you should write up your lunch campaign!Yes, yes you <I>should</I> write up your lunch campaign!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6963408603037048958.post-84870949214093177552009-04-29T02:00:00.000-07:002009-04-29T02:00:00.000-07:00I'm curious, how do you go about running a flashba...I'm curious, how do you go about running a flashback and in what way did it take place; 'read aloud' type, an actual rpg, PC involved scene, something else?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com