“What do you do?” A matter of proper timing. (Long)

[Coleslaw]

My group and I have played a few sessions of Stormbringer (Elric!/5th Edition) recently.   This game has fond memories for many of us since we played the older editions when we were younger, and so everyone was excited when I agreed to run a few sessions.  It should be noted that everyone also agreed to try Riddle of Steel after I satisfied their nostalgia. 

Therefore, in order to prepare them a little for what to expect in Riddle of Steel, I handled the Stormbringer sessions differently.  (Note, I do NOT mean to claim that what I describe below is exactly what ROS does with its SA system.)

1st- I asked all the players to come up with three Passions/Loves and three possible Destiny traits for their characters during Character Creation.  These traits would have no actual mechanical game effects.  I would simply use them to judge want the character cared about in order to provide interesting Bangs for the players during play.  Of course decisions made surrounding these traits may also affect Allegiance points as is normal for the system (spurring love may result in Chaos points, or embracing it may gain balance, and so forth).

2nd- I would not run the game, like many Sim games, with any pre-ordained adventure, scenario, or plot whose conclusion was predetermined.  I informed the players of this.  Instead, I decided to run the game by using the listed Loves and Destinies as a guidelines.  I would try to start things off with a basic scene relating to what the players cared about.  From there I would simply react to the player's decisions, much like a game of ROS handles SAs.  When needed, I would provide more Bangs.

3rd- I would stress (as one should in a Stormbringer setting) the Chaos-Balance-Law premise in which there is an on-going struggle between these three forces which the characters would be apart of.  Despite that the Stormbringer Allegiance mechanic is rather weak for something so integral to the setting, I left it as is.  Based on player decisions I simply would still be only adding and/or subtracting Allegiance points.

My preparation prior to our first session consisted of reviewing the Loves and Destinies, comparing them to other characters for future (possible) relationship connections, and making a basic flowchart of start-off points that might grab the players' interests.  These included such things as possible NPCs that may connect well to a listed character interest, basic background setting for opening scenes, and so forth. 

For example, one player's character Love/Passion trait consisted of his 'Sister.'  Another player listed a possible Destiny trait of 'Falls in Love with a Redhead.'  With the first player's permission I made his sister a redhead which would provide future possible, and interesting, connections with the other player.  Still, only play would determine if his sister would be THE redhead for the other player.

Another player listed 'Passion for Healing/Aiding the Sick.'  Therefore, I generated a possible ailing Sea Lord being poisoned before actual play.  I thought this may grab the player's attention.

Again, just enough to get the ball rolling.

Unfortunately, I had trouble getting the ball rolling!!  I opened the session with a brief description of the town and a festival going on that week.  With the exception of two (out six) characters whose players created brothers, none of the characters  were connected or knew of the others.  After setting the background I asked, "What are you doing? / What do you do with your time / etc." to each player.  I got general responses that I should not have been surprised by.  Some wanted to explore the fair, others wanted to look for better weapons, others said they went looking for a inn.  The mistake I made (while not so bad at this early point in the game) was that I was being way too passive—as if I somehow magically expected that they would stir up something interesting on their own just because they had some silly Love and Destiny traits and I told them they could do what they want.  Ten to fifteen minutes into the game and I had already forgot to provide something to get things rolling!  Instead I had cliché opening scenes with players waiting to hear gossip and rumors at a local inn.

Fortunately, I recovered.  I used the ailing local Sea Lord seed to grab the attention of the player1 with the character that had the 'Loves to Aid the Sick' trait.  I then hired player2's assassin to kill that same Sea Lord.  He had a possible Destiny of 'Dying a Sad and Lonely Death' and was eager to see if this could be it.  Player3 had a Passion Trait that stated 'Searching for Lost Family Heirloom (weapon).'  I new he basically wanted a "magic item," and therefore, I was a little hesitant for some lame-ass reason.  It was probably an old-school habit from early gaming experiences.  However, the player kept making actions such as looking through merchant stalls, eyeing rich nobles, etc.  Finally, I got over myself.  I had him noticed a merchant with a very ornate and finely-hilted dagger (possible heirloom).  I also decided that this merchant was the one responsible for hiring the assassin to kill the Sea Lord and that he was trying to make a bid for power by removing his longtime friend, the Sea Lord, from power.

From here, the game simply exploded.  The players quickly realized that I had just given them something to "do" or handle based on the information they themselves provided me.  They adjusted rather easily and the rest of the night I spend simply reacting to the players.  The session ended with an assassinated Sea Lord (who had, ironically, just recently made a miraculous recovery), a waylaid merchant missing an expensive heirloom, and an assassin that had fulfilled his destiny with a 'sad and lonely death' atop the gallows.  A stretched neck being the penalty for murder.  To his credit he killed for men during his capture.

I kind of got lucky because some of what I did, with regard to timing, I really didn't realize how I did it correctly; and therefore, problems popped back up in the later sessions.

So, I still had problems.  Specifically, slow points in which we all kind of floundered about.  These almost always came after some sort of climax or definite conclusion to a scene.  The players were "waiting" for me, but since this wasn't a pre-scripted thing I didn't have anything for them; and therefore, I was simply waiting to "react" to them.  They could do whatever they wanted . . . right?  I didn't realize initially that this was my fault.  I caught myself asking a lot of "What do you do now?" questions.  Since I've read Ron's Sorcerer which cautions against this I was beginning to cringe.  But I still didn't really grasp what was wrong with it.  Unfortunately, this question led to a bunch of mundane and boring horseshit that no one really seemed to be enjoying.

"What do you do, now?"
"Go to the inn and drink some beer."

"Okay, what do you after that?"
"I get drunk and hit on the serving maid."

Sometimes this led to amusing and interesting "roleplaying" (ie, acting in charactering).  Players would act out certain events and others would act back.  Sometimes NPCs would be involved.  Still, we didn't really seem to care about what was going on.  What was worse was that we were "roleplaying" which deceived us into thinking that although it was a boring part there was nothing wrong with it.  It was part of the game.   So we would keep acting within some self-imposed time constraint about mundane shit until the "next day" arrived.

Midway through our third session I had a light bulb moment (at least I think that's what it was) and realized I was handling scene transitions and Bangs horribly.  I kept waiting to foward scenes hour by hour, day by day, and during that time I would keep asking "What do you do?"  In turn this kept opening the door for more mundane crap.  When I realized this, I finally got enough balls to stop what was going on and jump to another scene which presented the "What do you do?" question in, what I believe is, its proper place.

Here's a sample of what happened.   I stopped mundane play and didn't bother asking all the players want they were doing that morning, what their plans were, etc.  Instead I jumped to the next day and turned to a player which wants to become a righteous Agent of Law and cares deeply about his sister.  He was also hired as a bodyguard to protect a rich nobleman on a sea voyage.  I told him his shore leave was up and he had to report back for duty.  He said okay.  He went back to the ship, along with his sister who is also a passenger on the ship, to report back to the boat.  The player is not too happy about another month at sea and he also was starting to build a relationship with the other players (even though one is beginning to hit on his redhead sister).  Still, he gave his word and will do his duty.  His sister begins pestering him about not wanting to go back and about why he always has to keep his word.  The player starts perking up.  I can tell things are starting to get interesting.  They argue back and forth all the way back to the ship.  The nobleman tells them he is now ready to go.  NOW, I throw the bang which I thought of when I told him he had to report back the ship.  His sister tells him she's not going!  The player wants to quit but he knows I'll yank a point of Law off his character for breaking his word.  The nobleman starts butting in and saying he doesn't care about the girl, that she's free to come and go.  But the player was hired to do a job . . . plus he gave his word!  All the players are now interested because they want to see how this ends.  The nobleman gets testy about the delay and the player's inability to make an "obvious" decision.  The sister repeats that she wants to stay, and so forth.  Then I ask (now correctly timed), "WHAT DO YOU DO!?"

When I asked that question I realized right away that it was different from all the other times I had asked the question.  Now behind those words, unlike all the other times, were benefits and consequences that a player (and therefore his character) truly cared about.  The character didn't want to be in this position, but the player of the character was LOVING wrestling with it during this scene.  We had a conflict.  I was smiling.  Not just because the scene was so freaking good, but because something finally clicked for me about timing and Bangs, and narrative techniques.  Even though it's nothing new to a lot of players here ,and all of it is now found in a lot of great products, I still had to feel it out for myself.  And and feels good!

The rest of the session was fabulous.  When there was nothing for me to react to and/or scenes ended, I wouldn't ask the players "What do you do, next?"  Hell, if they had something to tell me I would still be reacting.  Instead, I would just setup another scene, keeping in mind the flow of the story, that would allow me to ask "What do you do?" with regard to something at stake, something the player's cared about.  I simply looked at my index cards citing their Traits.

Another example included a player that was practically begging for more magic.  I gave it to him.  The shift to Chaos was stressed, and then I set up a scene with a shady Pan Tangian who all too eagerly offered to teach him everything he ever wanted to know.  The player (reluctantly) accepted.  A week in, the Pan Tangian asked him to help him with a secret summoning.  A grateful student should be willing to help right?  "What do you do!?"

Another later example included two players who were forced to decide between Sorcery (Chaos) and Friendship (Balance).  "What do you (both) do!?"

Well, I've rambled on enough.  Again, this may be old news for a lot of you, but it was a first for me.  Kinda like getting over a hump in a marathon.  For those that read this far . . . thanks for reading!  And of course, comments would be most welcome!

Thanks,
Phillip