Reply With QuoteYou can always do a few hand pumps in the air as you say, "Choo, choo, all aboard!"
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You can always do a few hand pumps in the air as you say, "Choo, choo, all aboard!"
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Definitely start off every campaign - every session with a bang. From there you can build on recurring villians or some decision that the players might think was straight forward but actually had major consequences in the game world.
Here's an example:
Players are ambushed by kobolds - players fight kobolds - someone notices a young boy hiding under a log - players defeat kobolds - what next? How do they deal with the boy they find?
Young boy was son of a powerful baron - who know thinks the boy was kidnapped, but in reality the boy was running away from a wedding his father arranged, so his "wife's" family is after him too. The boy tells the party to not turn him in because he has a treasure map ... so on and so forth...
Anywho - what I'm trying to say is always start with action!
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Thanks for the help. Yeah, it's a fairly novice group, I guess. Next session I'll probably give them two or three specific choices. The first tip was a big help to me. If I were to rerun this campaign (which I may do when I move soon), I'll probably start them on the zeppelin while it's being attacked instead of after it's already crashed. And the third tip is what I resorted to for the second session and it worked perfectly, having the bad guys attack the police station. Thank's again!
Community SupporterOne thing I tend to do with my players is have the NPC's give them more or less a checklist of things that need done, which might be a worthwhile handout.
Then as the NPC's is listing the options in character, I'll tend to pick one to emphasize. Typically its the one I'm most prepared to run, otherwise its the one that I think will be the most fun. This way the players will feel a slight nudge to go to that one.
Something like "Big bad #1 has got the Jet Plans, but we're not sure where his Fortress of Doom is yet so you'll need to find out where that is. Big bad #2 has the nuclear plans, but he's surrounded by a veritable army of goons you'll need some proof to show the authorities so a full assault can be made. What might be a bit more manageable right now is Big Bad #3, he's got some plans but we're not sure if they are nuclear or jets though. His is a small operation on the other side of the city, you guys should be able to sneak in quietly to find out what he's up to."
They still have all of the options available to them, and they can get started down any path. However, that last one is presented in a way that it seems like the most appealing so they are more likely to jump onto it if they get indecisive.
I agree completely with Farcaster's comments. While I haven't tried all of them, the first job of the GM is to keep the game moving. If the PCs are willing to let you railroad them some (or all the way in the case of my stepson who wants to be led by the nose through an adventure), then strap on your Mark Twain hat and craft a great story they can run through.
The idea is eventually they'll feel comfortable enough in the world you've created to start making some choices you may not have foreseen, but in the meanwhile it'll give you a chance to craft something as close to a scripted adventure as you may ever get!
That is awesome!Originally Posted by mrken
You can always do a few hand pumps in the air as you say, "Choo, choo, all aboard!"
Experienced players can manage an open-plot game (sometimes called player driven), but most players will need a push to figure where your adventure will be happening tonight.
One of my previous groups bogged down trying to find the significance behind every comment made by the most casual of NPC's. "Why did he say that? Is he a spy?Was he involved in that last fiasco?" Funny to watch them panic, but gets old when achievements come to a dead stop...
If only they had as much attention for mission planning...
We recently had to go through a similar phase in our group development. Even non open-ended games suffer from this. As a GM, i simply put forward a command hierarchy; i start by looking at the first in command. The players choose their own hierarchy based on whatever criteria they thought best. When i need to, I work my way down. I don't impose time rules, but i do keep a crib of random things to throw their way to whittle them down if they hem and haw over everything.
Hi Cody,
As a GM of some 30+ years, I've used all of the above suggestions to one degree or another and they're all very good. But I think the root cause was over looked. With a novice group, you as a GM have to let them know what kind of game you're running. Let them know they have to establish contacts and use them to gain information and investigate things (probably the toughest thing for a novice group to do). I run a game like yours. It's always the PC show. As they're investigating and questioning contacts, you have an opportunity to use a multitude of NPC's (the bum in the alley, the mugger they just beat half to death, or the all popular "Maggie, the hooker with the heart of gold"... lol) to give them the info they need to continue the story. It will also open up many doors for other storylines you might want to run later. But the group needs to be informed of that's the type of game you run. Never assume anyone is a mind reader. You may be dealing with a history from another GM that leads the party around by nose. Just know as a GM, it's up to you to keep the game from bogging down and you have an army at your disposal, you just need to be prepared to use them. No one ever should say being a good GM is an easy job. Good luck and have fun.
Last edited by Valar; Saturday 08-21-2010 at 08:19 AM.
I pretty much always run an open ender like you describe. In my experience, yes, the less experienced gamers need a little nudge. But when we're doing initial character creation I tell them flat out that I am setting the stage and then turning it over to them. I always know where we are headed and all that, but I make them get us there. I also generally use a Main NPC that is with the characters from the getgo to push them along when necessary.I play them as not knowing too much unless there is a legit reason they would know it. I get around some of it by making the character mid-level (say in old money, like 7-11 level), that way, he's been around and is likely to know some stuff.
Lurker
All the campaigns I tend to run are pretty open world/open ended and I've faced this before, or situations where players became more concerned with something very minor rather than some larger potential problem.
I'm assuming you have some sort of a time line idea and what the chance each group has of succeeding if left unhindered so I would say, if they don't anything....the groups plans proceed.
This doesn't mean those plans have to succeed. But I don't know how much you plan up the areas.
Some other residents in the area might ban together in an attempt to stop them without the players help or knowledge....But basically if it boils down to a place being nuked....Oh well, so be it.
Don't be afraid to destroy your world or kill your NPC's. You put those plans into the game, you should be prepared, as much as it might pain you, to use them and follow through.
Since you mentioned "hints" at where they were I will mention you might want to take a look at your hints and see if they are too obscure. I'm a bit prone to doing this. A little hint or clue I think is very obvious turns out to actually not be. Familiarity with the material tends to create this problem.
Lurker
Unfortunately the only time players are not dead set on derailing a storyline is when their are no rails.
As it is you may just have to force feed them the first few plot points. The trick is to make it look like you aren't (which is the mark of a good DM). What you need is a talkative NPC here, a flippant comment their, maybe some pointed questions. If you vaguely put forth a few possibilities your players will pick one, or surprise you and find a completely different solution.
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