#RPGaDAY2020 3: THREAD

#RPGaDAY2020

3: THREAD

Threads of continuity after a post on change.

What do I do consistently when running and playing games?

Apart from ask for perception checks and have trouble naming NPCs...

I’ve always been a more narrative-focused GM. In six years of The Watch House I needed maps for two fights and one of those was tactically interesting. I’ve leaned into that with more un-tactical RPGs from Vampire: The Masquerade onward. My fights tend to involve single opponents or gangs of mooks, and very rarely provide real threats outside of horror games. Nowadays I try to be open about not being a great tactical opponent for the PCs, particularly when players start making plans.

I go to mysteries as ongoing plots, because looking for clues and puzzling things out can often make for interesting play, even if I don’t have a really strong solution in mind. This is also where those perception checks come in.

I use visuals for descriptions when I can. A lot of my prep time goes to finding suitable imagery. Generally photography for modern games, traditional art for fantasy, comics style for supers, fancy CGI spaceships for SF and so on.

When playing, unless I have a strong idea I often “hold my action” and look for gaps in the group, niches that could do with being filled. For example, in the game I’m likely to play next I have ideas for a character that will propel the plot, one that will provide the group with a base and connections to the setting, and “a fighter”.