For me, as somebody who GMs far more than he plays, roleplaying is all about rolling with the punches. You obviously can’t predict 100% what your players will do, and you can’t predict die rolls, or whatever random element is important in your system. Basically, shit happens, and you’ll have to deal with it. Here are a few tips I’ve found to make that easier:
What’s the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity in an RPG? I’ve played in plenty of games where the GM laid down what they thought was an opportunity and what I thought was an insurmountable obstacle. And I’ve run games where the obstacles I created were instead interpreted as opportunities by my players. Is there any distinction at all?
In modern continuous works (largely tv shows at this point in time, but also comic books and other media) there are few ‘one-shots’ anymore. Obviously, books are the largest exceptions, but even many movies nowadays feel like they’re all either remakes, reboots, prequels, or sequels. Everything is linked to something else because why spend all of the money to make one of something when (if people like it) they’ll pay to come see another with less advertisement? And I’m sure that’s how a lot of consumers have come to see it. But from the perspective of a writer, it’s fantastic. Why? Because serial works have something that episodic works tend not to have. What is the difference between the two? I’m going to use TV shows as my ‘medium’, but you can apply this to any form of media.
A serial work is one where each episode builds off of previous episodes, and sets up future episodes. Episodic works, on the other hand tend to just rehash the same setting, but with a new plot. Rather than try and strictly define a midpoint, I’ll just say that it’s a vague continuum; everything is a little bit episodic and a little bit serial, but some works are way more episodic (Whose Line is it Anyway?) and others are way more serial (Lost). If you tune into a random episode of Whose Line is it Anyway? odds are you’ll understand it just fine. You might miss a few of the jokes that are more recurring jokes, but they’ll probably still be funny. On the other hand, the first time I tuned into Lost, I was — pardon the pun — lost. They were on an island, and an unknown monster — I was hoping they’d crashed on a prehistoric island and it was a dinosaur –was attacking them, and I had no idea why they were hiding in trees from a boar, and why the boar couldn’t be seen and then the next episode I tuned into I think there was a ghost or something and they were living in a bunker and pressing this button and all I could think was WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONSTER? WAS IT A DINOSAUR? IS THAT WHY THERE’S A BUNKER? AND WHY ARE THEY PUSHING THAT BUTTON?
So I understand why TV shows are at least somewhat episodic. Who has the same chunk of time open EVERY day? Who will NEVER miss an episode? What about that random guy who sits down and turns the show on, is he going to keep watching if he can’t figure it out? Books on the hand, are inherently serial. You don’t sit down, pick up a book, flip to a random page, and start reading. So if somebody criticized a book for not making sense when you started halfway through, we’d laugh at them. But we do sort of expect that to be possible with TV (less so in the age of TiVo, which I think explains the success of shows like Game of Thrones). And I think we understand that book series’ and comic book series’ are part of one ‘book’, so to speak. Nobody buys just book 2 of a series.
Has anyone ever told you a story that you really not not care less about? It was probably about something inane and uncontrollable (they had very little or no influence on the outcome), like winning a game of Chutes and Ladders or War. It might have even gone like this:
Sorry, illness delayed today’s post. It’ll go up Saturday, but I can promise you that the delay will be worthwhile (for one, I’ll have a voice to record the accompanying videos). So instead, spoilers!
What do Final Fantasy VIII, Chrono Chross, and Chrono Trigger all have in common?
And does Doctor Who Series 11 share any of those things?
What does Dave Brubeck have in common with a feathered beast of burden?
Am I the only one who hears this Dave Brubeck song and thinks of this Final Fantasy song?
And let’s not even talk about this song.
If you’re a music nerd, you may think you already know what my next post is going to be about.
But actually, it’s about the contrast between episodic and serial media, using the topic alluded to above as an analogy of sorts.
Any thoughts?
You watch the heroes as they step up to the front door of the old and abandoned house, lit only by the faint glow of the streetlights down the block. There’s a rustle, and the heroes look around them anxiously before one of them pushes open the door while the other stands watch. A few leaves obscure your vision as the camera shifts, hiding in a bush. The heroes both turn to look inside, and your view rushes forward, surging up the steps towards the heroes as they turn in shock and you…
One week I got sick and didn’t post. Then there was a celebration and I didn’t post. Next I had an entertaining bus ride followed by drama at my work, and I didn’t post. So as a form of apology/an extended excuse I present to you the story of how I got stuck in a Spokane Starbucks. Schadenfreude, enjoy it.
If you ask me what my favorite fantasy series is, I probably won’t have to hesitate too long before churning out a list of 5, debating with myself as to the respective merits and flaws of each series, and ultimately saying ‘if I have to pick…no, I can’t’.
But if you ask me what my favorite sci-fi series is, especially if you ask for an epic series, there won’t be much doubt. Sure, I might hem and haw over I, Robot, and whether it qualifies as a series, and I might linger briefly on the formative nature of the Foundation series, but while I’ll stop here or there on the way, I know exactly where I will end up: Deathstalker by Simon R. Green.
Take one of my favorite writers and give him license to contribute to the phenomenally successful Honor Harrington series, and what do you get? You get Eric Flint working with David Weber on the short-stories-turned-novels, Crown of Slaves and Torch of Freedom.
Do you like space opera? How about great characters engaged in spy games and intrigue? Or maybe true badasses going up against incredible odds? All of them? Good. I’ve got some books to recommend to you.
Ultimately, campaigns, much like movies, are about your protagonists. Much as Henry said in his previous article on Screen Time, “by running a game you are agreeing to give the PCs the stage”. Of course, by ‘the stage’, he meant something akin to ‘camera time’. But not only should the camera follow them (mostly), but they should also be the movers and shakers of the universe. Of course, there are some exceptions: villains will often be stronger than PCs, especially in games with elements of horror. And there may be campaigns in which the PCs have limited agency (or are a part of events bigger than themselves). But in those cases, they should still, ultimately, be the agents of the events they ARE privy to.
Fistful of Wits 