Hi all,

I'm in the process of setting up my first TSOY game, which I'll be running with my semi-regular Castles and Crusades group. I've done quite a lot of GMing in my time, but mostly with very traditional games. I did run DitV once (with two of the same players) but it seemed to fall kind of flat. I've played in an extended HeroQuest demo (run by the guy who used to post on the Forge as Lamorak33) and that was really, really good.

I've looked through the free version of the rules and setting text (the print version seems to be out of stock at , and also Rat Moon Rising (+ the revised stats) and Clinton's demo. I've now got a few questions:

1) Is it reasonable to run something based around RMR in one night (probably about 3 hours in practice)? How would I go about leading the players to reach a conclusion in that time? (Or is that even sensible to try?)

2) The TSOY rules, like those for Sorcerer, seem to suggest that characters should be created well prior to the game proper, and that the SG should then go off and build/adapt the scenario for them. One of my motives for running this session is that we're having trouble scheduling everybody for our regular game, so I'd really like to avoid having a character-creation session. What's the best way to get around this?

One option that comes to mind is using the demo (with its pregens) rather than RMR itself (with new characters).

yours,
rob

Rob wrote:
2) The TSOY rules, like those for Sorcerer, seem to suggest that characters should be created well prior to the game proper, and that the SG should then go off and build/adapt the scenario for them. One of my motives for running this session is that we're having trouble scheduling everybody for our regular game, so I'd really like to avoid having a character-creation session. What's the best way to get around this?

Ok, so you're just suggesting that I start without a scenario (or even a location) and just create everything on the fly? I've done stuff like that before (particularly for first sessions or for one-offs), but I've tended to have at least a setting (e.g. a description of a planet and an initial objective, or sketch-map of the city and a list of major NPCs). Starting from nothing (because I don't even know what kind of characters the players will want) is pretty daunting. I mean, we might start in a lord's court in Maldor or in a lashed-together raft off the coast of Qek.

I should mention that I'm pretty rusty at GMing generally, having run four sessions in the past six years.

That said, I've worked before in very trad systems (Shatterzone and 3E for the examples above) that don't provide any kind of structural support for adlib creation (keys, conflict resolution, FITM, "say yes or roll the dice", etc) so maybe this will work out OK.

Low/no prep is definitely something I want to work towards.

rob

Hi Rob:

My assumptions were as follows:

* You were using Near.
* The players and you would jointly negotiate the specific location on Near, at least at the start of the story, as part of character creation.

So yes, in a way, you are starting without a location.  But on the other hand, while the players are all talking over the type of characters they want to play, and that process is coallescing, you can be sitting there plotting out the first few scenes to throw at them and jotting down NPC notes.  It doesn't have to be a lot, in my experience, as long as the players have some good key fodder for what to do.  All you need is for one player to pick something like Key of Vengence or Key of Unrequited Love, and you probably have two hours of playing right there.

All that being said, I understand your discomfort.  This kind of improvisation is a skill that can be learned, but must be practiced to be maintained.  If you are still feeling uncomfortable, then I suggest you tell your friends that the first session will NOT have any role-playing; it will strictly be joint character/session creation, which, if finished early enough, will be followed by a rousing game of *insert favorite board/card game here*.  Then, if it turns out you DO feel like you have enough material to get some role-playing in, your friends will not only be impressed by your skills, but also excited at the prospect of trying out their characters sooner than expected.  Otherwise, the session should give you plenty of fodder to make up some handy prep stuff for the next session.

Hans

Hey Rob,

Rat Moon Rising wasn't really finished within three sessions in the group I played it (character creation was extra, and took about three hours for four players with two books), but the same GM finished it within four hours with another group (excluding chargen), IIRC. It all depends on the group and is a tough guess, since TSOY adventures are little more than explosive situations with a burning fuse.

Character creation 'by the book' can be a bit daunting when you do it the first time because of the way the text is organized (all the game misses is an index). You can find an alternative character creation process in this board that might help people get up to speed. Also, on the game's web page there is a pdf  with a list of all the secrets and keys which should help players finish their characters more quickly if you have a printout for each of them. If you're not above having a computer at the gaming table, you can search the free, text-only version quickly for stuff you need.

Depending on the amount of time you have in a session you can either create characters and run a short introductory adventure inspired by the PCs, or you can try a game with pregenerated characters (which takes out some of the fun). Frank's Snakes in the Shadows is an example for that. The problem with Snakes in the Shadows – if you want to call it that – is that it is meant as a convention demo, which means  that you have to take care if people are playing it with traditional assumptions, such as that actions have long-term consequences. Can be run with five players in four hours successfully. Is open enough to allow tweaking for a given group.

Rob wrote:
(the print version seems to be out of stock at ,

Rob wrote:
1) Is it reasonable to run something based around RMR in one night (probably about 3 hours in practice)? How would I go about leading the players to reach a conclusion in that time? (Or is that even sensible to try?)

2) The TSOY rules, like those for Sorcerer, seem to suggest that characters should be created well prior to the game proper, and that the SG should then go off and build/adapt the scenario for them. One of my motives for running this session is that we're having trouble scheduling everybody for our regular game, so I'd really like to avoid having a character-creation session. What's the best way to get around this?

oliof wrote:
Rat Moon Rising wasn't really finished within three sessions in the group I played it (character creation was extra, and took about three hours for four players with two books), but the same GM finished it within four hours with another group (excluding chargen),

oliof wrote:
Snakes in the Shadows ... Can be run with five players in four hours successfully. Is open enough to allow tweaking for a given group.

Rob,

If this is to test drive the system and see how it runs, then use pre-generated characters if all you have is 3 hours.  The hard part about making characters without knowing the system is you don't really know enough to make good choices and that slows the character creation down even further as players want to examine all their choices.  I'd just make pre-gens and let them pick which ones they'd like to play.

Andrew wrote:
If this is to test drive the system and see how it runs, then use pre-generated characters if all you have is 3 hours.