[TSOY] Preparing TSOY/Eberron one-off

[okaynowa]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I recently bought TSOY after falling in love with the descriptions of the Key and BDTP systems. I'm currently running a D&D 3.5 Eberron game, and convinced my players to try out the new system as a one-night-only side story.

The concept for the side story is that while the usual PCs are running around greater Khorvaire on their quest, a second group back in the city of Sharn has been hired to impersonate them and conceal their departure. This conceit will allow us to use familiar names and faces, yet act "out of character" as desired.

I'm going to pregenerate the characters and brief the players on how the system works, then turn them loose on the city. I'm not too worried about the players being self-starters-- we're all playing concurrently in WoD and BESM campaigns, too, and are pretty comfortable taking the initiative in stories. I am a little nervous about overwhelming them with information despite the relative simplicity of the TSOY system, and of looking like I haven't prepared enough.

So, my major plans to keep this experiment simple and make things fun:

1) I'm going to focus on basic tests and earning experience through Keys. I'll cover Bringing Down the Pain briefly, but for a first outing I think they're going to find enough entertainment in setting stakes for conflicts.

2) The pre-gen characters are all going to start with 2 keys, at least one of which will involve one of the other characters. My NPCs tend to bloom like crazy; I'd rather see the PCs interacting.

3) I'm going to start off with a major incident that happened "off-screen" for the regular cast, and give the alternate cast a chance to deal with the fallout. Aside from that point of ignition, I have two other events in mind (encountering a really up-to-no-good ambassador, and encountering a belligerent fiancee) but no plot-script like I normally prepare. This is the part that scares me the most.

This stand-alone session is several weeks away. I'm worried about over- or underpreparing for it. If anyone has advice for a group of experienced players trying out TSOY for the first time, I'm all ears.

[Eero Tuovinen]

Welcome to the Forge and the CRN forums. I'll dive right in here, I'm a bit busy tonight.

For preparation: have 3-5 NPCs with names and backstories, who also have strong motivations and stakes in whatever the background situation is. Do not bother with "metaplot" type characters and motivations: whatever motivations you assign to your NPCs, they have to be ones you're comfortable with resolving whichever way. What this means is that you shouldn't try to make a NPC float on a plot to assassinate the king, say, unless you're really willing to have the king die. Adjust your preparation until you're comfortable with the stakes. Assume that whatever you prepare as the stakes of your background situation, that's what TSOY will resolve. Unless you specifically cripple the system with GM Force, the system will drive towards resolution on it's own - chances are that the characters will be able to move to position to resolve whatever the player specifically wants during any given session, so don't introduce any material you don't want players to touch. There is no untouchable NPCs or plot bits in TSOY.

After you have those NPCs done, start thinking up situations where the PCs might get entangled into what the NPCs are trying to do. Perhaps a PC is somehow between a NPC and his goal? Or a NPC needs help from a PC? Or a PC just stumbles into an emotionally loaded scene having something to do with the NPC motivations? Don't think up complex coreographies that get you into position to execute this stuff. Rather, make short notes of the kinds of interactions you consider possible between single PCs and single NPCs. If a NPC has something they might direct at any PC - a call for help, say - then all the better, that gives you some flexibility. You'll be using this stuff during the game to frame whatever kind of scenes are appropriate, so keep it generic. For example, if a rich merchant needs help in fighting off a death cult: you don't plan a mission briefing scene in a tavern beforehand, you just note that this merchant can be thrown in whenever you need him. So he might come meet a PC in town jail after he's bought the PC into intendured servitude, say. Or he might invite a drinking buddy PC to have dinner with him and his beautiful daughter. Or he might even determine that a given PC is actually working with the death cult, and plot with the city guards to have him apprehended. The point is, you don't have a plot; what you have is just a rich merchant worried about a death cult. What that turns into during the game depends on the situations that develop.

Lastly, think up some pool refreshment scenes; remember that pool refreshment happens in one of two ways: either a player tells you who he wants to refresh with, or he asks you to arrange a scene for him. You have to be ready to make the latter interesting, emotionally loaded and plot-wise cohesive. By which I mean: if a player is specifically asking you to pick who his character will be screwing for tonight, do not pass on the opportunity to have it be the daughter of the villain himself. Should spice up the things a bit. So that's the kind of shit you might want to prepare: strange encounters with characters with which refreshment itself has a chance to turn into adventure. Like, carry a picture of a ridiculous blind mime with you just so you can throw him on the table when a PC goes pub trawling - ending up in a philosophical argument with a blind mime during a moonlit night on a grassy knoll above the city is something that happens surprisingly often in the quiet moments of a TSOY game.

Do not consider the group of PCs as a party. If they choose to be a party and act like a party, that is their business, but party cohesion should not be your job as the SG. Your job is to provoke individual characters into situations of grave choice - that's what you prepared those NPC activities for. During the game you will be putting the characters up against the wall with different dangers, which they will have the choice to avoid or confront, escape or conquer. Make sure that the players will have solid dramatic motivations for acting in whatever manner they might choose to act. What this means is that you do not prepare combat encounters just because you need to have something to do in the session; you're only going to have a combat if a NPC with clear and human motivations engages a PC in such a manner as to make it reasonable for him to answer with force. This is by no means guaranteed, so don't assume that the PCs will run around killing stuff; they shouldn't, even if the players will at first assume that that's what they're supposed to be doing.

Actually, it might be smart to prepare specifically with player behaviour in mind: if the players are used to challenge-based fightyfighty gaming where their job is to solve the GM's quest, it might be smart to prepare with this in mind: start the first scene with obvious free choice and follow up with the logical consequences. Always signal with your speech and behaviour, that there is no plot, and what happens is entirely up to the heroes.

--

Hmm... that's a start. Tell me if those seem like useful viewpoints before we go any further. Now I'll have to get going towards new adventures...

[okaynowa]

Your input is certainly appreciated (kiitoksia). I'm not too worried about the cast going off on their own to accomplish things-- the urban setting they're going to be in rather encourages it (and the Keys will actually reward them for it, for once).

It's helpful to know that the PCs have more power over what ultimately happens. I may reconsider how close this ambassador is involved to what's going on-- I want him to suffer a setback, but actually removing him is something for our main characters to do, not the B-team. I'll probably emphasize (through NPC selection) the B-team's mob connections and maneuverings, since that will have less impact on our usual campaign. I'm also thinking I'll have to make their starting situation a little more "desperate" (motivating) than I had first drafted-- not a problem, since the cast for this session will be low-level mobsters in a post-war metropolis.

So, less of me saying "Here's a problem-- solve it," more of me saying, "Y'all have problems-- what are you going to do about them?"