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DITV - Which NPC gets to speak first?

Started by Transit, November 06, 2006, 08:07:53 PM

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Transit

I've noticed that the order in which a town is presented to the Dogs can have a big effect on how they react to it  Often, the first person that gets the Dogs ear seems to be perceived more favorably than other NPCs that have to explain their side of the story later on.

How do some of you handle it?

Do the Dogs ALWAYS speak to the Steward first?  Then the Steward explains the town's problem from HIS point of view, and then the Dogs choose who they wish to speak to next?

Or sometimes is there an NPC riding out to meet the Dogs as they arrive, wanting to tell his side of things first?  Should I randomly determine which NPC the Dogs meet first?  Should I go ahead and choose a particular NPC to get "first say" because I think the town will play out better that way?  I don't really think I should CHOOSE to favor a particular NPC, because I want the town to play out "naturally."

I guess being an old school RPGer I'm hung up on the fact that there isn't a map of the town, so I can't say "Well, you rode in from the north, so you pass the Blacksmith shop first, and he hurries out to talk to you..."

How do you figure out who the Dogs meet, and when, and who gets to speak first?

Vaxalon

Maybe you should create a town where the first person to talk to the Dogs is the sorceror who's been killing babies.
"In our game the other night, Joshua's character came in as an improvised thing, but he was crap so he only contributed a d4!"
                                     --Vincent Baker

lumpley

If it makes you happy, make a map. No reason not to.

Or roll for it if you like. Or go by whim, which is what I do. I never really noticed or cared whether my players tend to favor the first person they meet; if they do, that's their right.

-Vincent

jburneko

I often start with scene that shows the problem in town rather than anyone talking to or explaining it to the PCs.  Some examples:

PCs walk into town and see a young teenanger hanging from a scalfold with a sign that says, "Spare The Rod, Spoil The Child."  PC reactions can vary from, "We go to the Steward" to "We grab a passer by and ask who the kid is" and sometimes this followed by "asking what he did."  So the opening "perspective" can be The Steward, The Hanging Kid's Parents or The Average Joe On The Street.

PCs walk into town to find a man sprawled out on the well cover skewerd with a calvery sword.
PCs walk into town to find two men arguing with the Steward.  It's revealed that the two men's wives have recently given birth but the children resemble identicle twins.
PCs walk into town to discover the streets strewn with the bodies of the sick from a plague.

So you can see that each of these situations present multile options as to who the PCs start questioning.  It let's the player's decide.

Jesse

lumpley

Jesse's answer is better than mine!

-Vincent

Yokiboy

Quote from: Transit on November 06, 2006, 08:07:53 PMHow do you figure out who the Dogs meet, and when, and who gets to speak first?
I do it like Vincent, by whim. I look for a Bang that will kick off the game on a high note. I usually have one of the PCs' Relationships in town be the first NPC encountered to immediately cement at least one player in the situation, but again, as long as it gets the game going it's fine by me. My players certainly haven't favored the first NPC they've encountered, they judge everyone equally according to their personal morals.

Oh, as we're finally about to hit our second town with the same characters, I will follow the advice in the GMing Between Towns section of the rules. This advice makes it easy to identify the best starting scene for the the next town on the circuit.

TTFN,

Yoki

Gugliandalf

Never had this problem. If there's no Bang awaiting PCs, they ususally start with the Steward, but almost never trust him, on the base that if there's something wrong is because the stewart couldn't handle that properly, so his is not the best POW. Sorta "why this bastard liar is lying to me?" BBC journalists attitude toward politicians. :D
Gugliandalf
aka Guglia aka Giovanni Gugliantini
Remember, Luke, say "yes" or roll dice

Transit

Hmmm....

I guess somewhere I got hung up on the idea of remaining neutral and letting the town "happen" rather than leading players in a certain direction.  Guess I'll just learn not to worry about it.

Thanks, everyone.

lumpley

Oh but hey seriously, there's no reason in the world not to make a map if you want one, and use it as your guide.

-Vincent