Comments on: The Making of a Villain

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:04:33 +0000

I’ve had this kind of thing happen more than once, although for me it’s more often the reverse: someone I plan to eventually reveal as a villain turns out to be innocent after my paranoid players decide they must be evil. At this point, it’s almost a motif in my games.

I used to chalk it up to happy coincidence, but now I prefer to think of it as my subconscious providing opportunities for both myself and the player that I might not otherwise come up with. It’s also a fun challenge for a GM to completely change gears on the fly and run with something new and unscripted. Not every GM likes to play this way, and there are plenty who will “stick to the script”, but the story rewards for going with the flow are usually far greater.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:23:17 +0000

@Aaron: It took me longer than I’d care to admit to start getting the hang of running a campaign this way, and most of the time I still feel like I’ve got a lot to learn.

I think that article you linked sums it up pretty well, though. Working off the players’ ideas is definitely a skill a GM should cultivate. Not everything they propose has to turn out to be true, but if they have a clever idea, it’s almost always better to run with it than to shoot it down. The more enthusiastic they get about pursuing it, the more true this is.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:03:55 +0000

I love re-reading this story because this is the experience I want to have. I’m not a terribly good DM – I’m bad at improv, I railroad a lot, etc., but I’m hoping to change that with my next campaign, and this article really encourages me to try this kind of thing.

“Established facts, such as the identity of the Enigma, could not be changed — even if they hadn’t actually been established in-game.”

Also, the technical term for when they can be changed is Schrodinger’s Gun. It’s something else I’m trying out in my next campaign.:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitleocg6iflv079q

Thanks!

Aaron
Aaron´s last blog: I Am the Future, and It Is Fine

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:47:54 +0000

Thanks! Nothing wrong with a dungeon crawl, though — you can have that in your game and still have character and plot.

Keep at it. As you practice, you’ll develop ome tricks of your own, and it’ll get easier.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:27:55 +0000

I’m oldschool D&D, dungeoncrawler. So I never develop good DM/GMing skills. I haven’t played in awhile either, but I’m trying to start a gaming group. The things I’ve been reading/learning, here have me really excited. I missed dungeoncrawling, which got me searching for advice. But RPGing has become so much more. With people like you, leading the way, it’s becoming a very rich experience.
Thank You.