GM’s Toolkit: “Yes, And…”

 orrynemrys, The Prismatic Dragon  Comments Off on GM’s Toolkit: “Yes, And…”
Mar 142013
 

In the past year or so, a new sort of wisdom has emerged amidst the community of modern game masters.  Drawn from the root philosophy of improvisational entertainment and arguably a life-altering perspective that could forever change your relationship with your friends, your environment, and ultimately your gag reflex, the “yes, and…” mechanic is an inspiring idealogy comprised of “can-do” conventions and clever altruisms, coated in a mild veneer of sly wit and much winking of the eye.  Whether it can improve your knitting, your sex life, or your dry cleaning bill is a matter best left to wiser men than I… but it can certainly improve your game.  Dangerously so, in fact.

Let’s posit an appropriately fictional scenario.  Your brave and oh-so-clever party of intrepid adventurers are making their way through an old dwarven stronghold that has now been overrun by filthy goblinses.  Putting aside the ridiculous presumption that a small army of goblins could infiltrate a well-defended stronghold of heavily inebriated dwarven regulars, you watch as your heroes gracefully stumble upon a nest of feasting humanoids in what was once the banquet hall.  As the two groups manage to both reel in stupefied alarm at the suddenness of the encounter, your players start casting about for ideas that can restore the balance of power to their effectively outnumbered adventuring party.

“Filthy goblinses!” John says, in his best Dwarvish brogue. “GM, sir… could I slide under the table and surprise them all by lifting it up and throwing it?”

“Of course,” you reply blandly, “if you want to be stomped by six of the fiends on the way there.”

“GM, sir,” Sarah says.  (Isn’t is nice how they call you sir?)  “Are there any torches I could grab off the wall?”

“Goblinses need no torches,” you respond, offering Sarah a look of quiet sympathy.  “They appear to have ripped all the sconces right off the wall.”

“GM, sir!” Richard exclaims.  “I’d like to step forward and loudly proclaim, ‘You insolent fools! Do you realize what the Goblin King will say when he hears that you’ve been lounging about, drinking all the mead?!  Stand up straight!  Eyes forward!  His Majesty approaches!”

You quirk an eyebrow.  “Seriously…?” you exhale, reaching for your dice…

You may be thinking to yourself, “that’s it, GM sir… teach those presumptious know-it-alls a lesson in humility.”  In which case, I’d like to kindly invite you to let each of your own brood take a turn GMing for you for a session or two and see how much you enjoy it.  You might be surprised to learn that they’ve picked up a few of your more stingy and unforgiving traits.  Not to say that the game can’t be fun… but let consider an alternative approach.

“Filthy goblinses!” John says, in his best Dwarvish brogue. “GM, sir… could I slide under the table and surprise them all by lifting it up and throwing it?”

“Of course!” you smile, “You slide past the lead goblinses before they even have a chance to pull up their wastebands and lock yourself into position for a mighty heave.  You’ll need to avoid the teeth of a snarling goblindog, then make a strength check to heave the oaken table.”

“GM!” Sarah says, (forgetting the sir, but that’s alright)  “I grab a torch off the wall and light in the fireplace!”  You nod assertively, pointing over to Richard.

Richard ponders a moment.  “I got it!” he says, striking a defiant pose and setting his features in a visage of terrible wrath.  ‘You insolent fools! Do you realize what the Goblin King will say when he hears that you’ve been lounging about, drinking all the mead?!  Stand up straight!  Eyes forward!  His Majesty approaches!”

You find yourself smiling along.  “Make a bluff check,” you say, watching as Richard rolls an 8 out onto the ricketty card table; not really much of a success, even against goblinses.  You offer them a level look.  “They are so befuddled by the sudden torchlight and your exclamation that they are caught completey off guard as the dining room table explodes into the air, iron trenchers and goblets of fine mead flying in every direction.  They reach for their weapons, but they are obviously unclear how many opponents there are which way to leap…”

In the second scenario, you’ll notice, you provided an empowering reaction to each of your players attempts at cleverness and heroism, without mitigating the challenges involved.  Instead of feeling stumped at every turn and unable to do anything cool or interesting, the players felt energized and heroic, even in the face of poor die rolls.  This is the “Yes, and…” philosophy at work.  Rewarding your players for their engagement invests them in the scenario and makes it more fun to play.  Believe it or not, a “Yes, and…” motif can even make tragic failures a powerful and engaging struggle for your players, and they will even accept character death or dishonor with a sense of dramatic panache.  The key is to listen to what the players want and find a way to give it to them, adding a twist, condition, or challenge to the process.  It’s easier than it sounds.

There is a precipice, however, that much be watched carefully.  Permissive GMs can create a sense of entitlement in their players over time.  And too much entitlement can create an expectancy in the players that will have dramatic and unpleasant results when you don’t give them what they want.  It isn’t necessary (or even a good idea) to “Yes, and…” every challenge the heroes encounter.  The story may wrap itself around the main protagonists, but the world doesn’t.  Sometimes, there really are no torches on the walls.  Or the goblinses just beheaded their king and offer only wicked smiles to Richard’s proclamation.  As long as that sense of empowerment is there enough of the time to make the players excited about each new challenge, they are easily resilient enough to accept that sometimes life just doesn’t play by their rules.

You wanna walk along the precipice, not run over it to get away from murderous gamers.

 

Orryn Emrys, the Prismatic Dragon, is the director of the Prismatic Tsunami web community and the host of the popular Metagamers Anonymous RPG podcast. Learn more at http://www.prismatictsunami.com.

Episode 22 – The Rookie GM Speaks

 The Carpe GM Gamecast  Comments Off on Episode 22 – The Rookie GM Speaks
Mar 042013
 

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Hosts – Dan, Steve, Tyler, Mack, and Bryan

 

Topic – In this episode, we give Tyler, our resident rookie GM, the opportunity to ask a few questions about running his first game.

 

 

 

 

Media – 

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game – Fantasy Flight Games
Fear the Boot (Podcast)
Happy Jacks RPG Podcast (Podcast)
Happy Jacks RPG Podcast Forum
Ray Lewis
Dungeon Morph Dice (Inkwell Ides)
Fire Emblem Awakening
Cyberpunk 2077
Gamerstable (Podcast)

      Mack supported – 3 Musketeers® Chocolate

The music for this episode was provided by: Transcend The Fallen

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Find “The Saddest Clown” and more of their music on Reverb Nation

 

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DM’s Log: Behind the Screens, Entry 2

 El Curto, Guest Authors  Comments Off on DM’s Log: Behind the Screens, Entry 2
Mar 012013
 

Wow, it even has an otyugh. Wait, what the hell is an otyugh?

After an extended break, rules and tables that were once etched in your mind are perhaps not so easily recalled. Cracking open the old books can be like rediscovering some lost knowledge from an ancient tome. After the dust settles what lingers is a nostalgia and invigoration from thumbing through page after page of the beloved core books. The Monster Manual has that sense of grandness once more.  A new creature and idea to test and torment your players lurks on every page.

Indeed, as with any DM worth their weight in copper pieces, it is important to spend time familiarizing yourself with the rules and creatures at your disposal. However, I think it to be of equal importance to spend time crafting a story and preparing a narrative. In my humble opinion, the biggest challenge of the DM is to be entertaining. If your players are not engaged, then everything you’re trying to build will crash down around you.Water bounce house

As mentioned in my first entry, I prefer to make an effort to create an extensive backstory for each character. I think that this is paramount in the successful immersion of the player into the character. If your players have a sense of depth, it becomes easier to imagine the character and perceive it as being the hero or villain they desire.  That is truly what players want to play. Players want to have a taste of grandeur. After all, this is fantasy.  No one wants to be average in a game. We all have plenty of time to do that in real life.

So as stated previously, when it came time to making characters for the impending adventure, the first thing I set about doing was shaping each character one on one with their respective players.  My friend Joe established early that he had wanted to play a rogue because that was something different than he had played before. In fact, most of the party was of limited playing experience and so the idea of them all trying something new was appealing. The point of a Role Playing Game is to act as your character, not as yourself. D and D shouldn’t just be about the hack and slash element of rolling dice. The creation of an interesting personality can be an equally if not more satisfying experience.

I don’t expect Shakespearean subtlety or the Oscar worthy intensity of Daniel Day Lewis, but my players actually have to play their role.

When each character was being rolled, I would store pieces of information about each character for ideas for the overall story. You never know what can spark a great wrinkle for the campaign. A magical item that the characters had, or a certain attribute being considerably low. For example, Ulderic, the ranger of the group has a very low charisma, and a long forgotten stat called comeliness (only used in forms of 1st and 2ndedition, yeah I’m old school) which we determined was because of a physical deformation. His face is horribly scarred from a harrowing encounter with a giant black bear. This same story became the idea behind the nickname of the character and his current garb. He is adorned in the beast’s pelts and is known as Ulderic the Blackbear.

This is the most ridiculous example of an extremely high comeliness.

This is the most unfortunate example of an extremely low comeliness. However, Tiny Tim is an 8th level bard and that’s not too shabby.

 

That is really only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to these stories. And that, my friends, is the point I’ve been working towards. The smallest aspect can spark a multitude of story ideas and that is the essence of creating an entertaining campaign that your players can’t wait to play. The more depth, the grander the narrative, the more your players want to see where the adventure takes them. And that’s the terrifyingly fun part of being the DM, it’s up to you to get them there.

Feb 122013
 

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Hosts – Dan, Mack, Tyler, Bryan, Steve

 

 

Topic – In this rather large episode, we cover a topic that has been working it’s way around the podcasting community….GM dice fudging.  Oh, what an adventure that was. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Media – 

Superior Spider-Man Vol 1 (Marvel Comics Database)
Star Wars: The Old Republic
DC Universe Online
Happy Jacks RPG Podcast
Rise of the Runelords – Paizo

Dan supported:
Adventure Quest

The music played in this episode is:
Christopher Lee: “The Bloody Verdict of Verden”

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Tsunami Quarterly Review

 Announcements, Dan Whorl  Comments Off on Tsunami Quarterly Review
Jan 302013
 

Hey all!

Our good friends at Prismatic Tsunami Publishing have released the first Tsunami Quarterly Review.

I managed to write an article, as well as some of my favorite hosts from other podcasts.  Please help support the community!

For only $1:

 
In the first issue of Tsunami Quarterly Review, you will find the following great features:

RPG Crucible: Told by the Victor: Advice on building backstory that leaves room for suprises!

Are Game Masters Playing Too?: A philosophical look at the GM’s role in the game.

Tsunami City Project: Fourteen fantastic city locations discussed on Metagamers Anonymous and the Tsunami forums, plus an additional location found only in this publication!

In the Commander’s Chair: One man’s journey into the world of his latest video game excursion.

A Few Words on Insanity: A retrospective look at the application of insanity in your RPG experience.

 

Help support the Prismatic Tsunami community and the popular Metagamers Anonymous RPG podcast!

 

 

 

DM’s Log: Behind the Screens, Entry 1

 El Curto, Guest Authors  Comments Off on DM’s Log: Behind the Screens, Entry 1
Jan 302013
 

Mmm, delicious face.

Getting back on the imaginary saddle shouldn’t be difficult, right? What exactly do I mean, you say? Well, it’s not as weird as it sounds, I assure you. Look, I am a life-long nerd. Yeah, a pretty big one. There are many facets to my nerdiness. Perhaps the biggest of all being that I play the archetype of all nerdy games: Dungeons and Dragons. I just recently started a new campaign with a group of friends where I am to be the Dungeon Master. Despite the fact that I have been playing for over 17 years, I haven’t actively played in a few years and I am still somewhat nervous to be taking the reins once again. You might think that it would be just like riding a bike, Inflatable water slides Canadabut it’s a bit more like getting back on an imaginary horse and there’s a terrifying dragon swooping down to EAT YOUR FACE.

Apprehension aside, it is exciting to be at it once more. As mentioned previously, I have spent over a decade and a half playing this game now, which seems wild, because that is the VAST majority of my life. (I’m 26 if you were curious.) I’ve been playing long enough that I actually remember a time before a sultry-eyed Elijah Wood made Frodo Baggins and all things fantasy accepted parts of pop culture. I still remember a time when wizards were not scarf-toting, hipster British children and you got stuffed in a locker if you owned anything other than six sided dice. Despite that lingering threat of confinement and anguish, I had an interest in the middle ages and tales of sword and sorcery from an early age. It was only a matter of time before I picked up the dice.

Those are some serious peepers.

Even in those early days of playing with my friends it became clear that I was going to DM. I loved every aspect of the role. When you are the DM, you control everything. Every morsel of flavor, every nuance is shaped and crafted in the mind of the DM. You must weave an elaborate web of personalities, places, and perils. It is the DM’s job to make an imaginary world as colorful and vivid as possible. The ideal is that your players are able to completely immerse themselves in a world that is conjured from nothing but a collaboration of imagination. However, making the imaginary seem tangible is a colossal undertaking. So, for the sake of posterity and science, this and the following articles will be a discussion and dissection of the trials and travails I may face through the inception and commencement of the new adventure.

For this new escapade, I decided to run the campaign in a world that was very familiar. Having previously DMed and played in the Forgotten Realms it was an easy fit. For those who aren’t familiar with the Realms, it’s a very popular fantasy campaign setting created by Ed Greenwood and popularized by many video games and novels including the Baldur’s Gate games, and R.A. Salvatore’s Dark Elf series. The Realms are extensive and filled with vast intriguing lands each with their own histories and legends. By comparison, any of the incredible open-world video games that are so popular, the Realms dwarfs them all. That is the beauty of D & D compared to video games; there are no limits, and there is no set finale. The game is truly what you will it to be.

Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden battles nemesis Artemis Entreri

After having decided upon a setting my next course was to determine with my players what kind of party and characters they had in mind. D & D characters can come together in many fashions, but I prefer to let my players have a great hand in the creation process. In traditional forms of the game you roll your stats and choose a class based on your rolls and the rest essentially is to fall into place. For me, I want my players to enjoy playing their character. Therefore I got together with each of my friends individually to create their characters. This allowed me to focus on each player and the character they wanted to develop. Also, when it comes time to start the adventure there is a sense of mystery about what role everyone is going to be taking, consequently, the party coming together must actually be played and experienced by the group.

In the end, we wound up with a fairly well balanced group. There is a gallant and noble young paladin named Dhagan. The spellcaster of the group is a brooding and cunning wizard by the name of Vaerzaal. Also, there’s a mischievous and inquisitive halfling rogue they call Longbelly, but his kinfolk would know him as Hugo Humblepot. Rounding things out is the reclusive and tormented ranger Ulderic the Blackbear. Each character has a distinct and extensive back story that was shaped together with my players. For me, this is an essential element of the game. Making the characters layered and giving them as much depth as possible is a fantastic tool. Not just for making your players feel more absorbed in their character, but also for later in the campaign. There is always something to go back to and build upon. You can only rescue the princess from a tower so many times, right?

And now here we stand, metaphorically of course, on the cusp of a great journey, poised for the task at hand. So stay tuned, my new friends, for there will be many adventures and headaches to be had. Though the glory of the quest and the fruits of my labor may be completely imaginary, the good times shared by a group of friends are fortunately real and often quite memorable. Suddenly I’m reminded how much I love this game. It’s good to be back on the imaginary saddle.

Episode 19 – Santa Claws and Other Stories

 The Carpe GM Gamecast  Comments Off on Episode 19 – Santa Claws and Other Stories
Dec 242012
 

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Hosts – Dan, Bryan, Mack, Steve

Topic – In this, our holiday episode, we discuss the many legends of Santa Claus, his counterparts, and ways to use them in your games.
Don’t forget about our Rating and Review Raffle!
Learn more at https://carpegm.net/contest/

Happy Holidays!

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Episode 18 – Tearing up Wreck it Ralph

 The Carpe GM Gamecast  Comments Off on Episode 18 – Tearing up Wreck it Ralph
Dec 182012
 

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Our Rating and Review Raffle is still on!  Act fast, it ends 1/1/2013.  

See https://carpegm.net/contest/ for more details!

!!!Spoiler Alert!!! This episode contains major spoilers for Wreck It Ralph!!!!

Hosts – Dan, Mack, Tyler, Steve, Bryan

Topic – In this episode, we answer(?) yet another listener email.  Then we tear into Wreck It Ralph with a GM’s eye.  We loved the movie and discuss ways to emulate video games in your table top RPGs.

(3:50 ) On Our Horizon

(16:36) Listener email

(32:15) Wreck It Ralph

(107:01) Our Favorite Video Game Movie

Media – 

 

Lincoln (2012) – IMDb
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (TV Series 2008–2011) – IMDb
Workaholics (TV Series 2011– ) – IMDb
The Totally Rad Show – YouTube
Amazon Prime
Fringe (TV Series 2008– ) – IMDb
Revolution | NBC
Do the Right Thing (1989) – IMDb
Metagamers Anonymous “Today is a Good Day To Die
Wreck-It Ralph (2012) – IMDb
Snakes on a Train (Video 2006) – IMDb
Transmorphers (Video 2007) – IMDb
Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (Video 2012) – IMDb
ReBoot (TV Series 1994–2002) – IMDb
The Wizard (1989) – IMDb
QAGS Second Edition (HEX Games)
Car Wars (SJ Games)
Street Fighter (1994) – IMDb
Mortal Kombat (1995) – IMDb
Silent Hill (2006) – IMDb
Resident Evil (2002) – IMDb
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) – IMDb

Tyler supported The 4 day work week

The music for this episode is “Conan” by Mercury Descends
Find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MercuryDescends,
on Reverb Nation at http://www.reverbnation.com/mercurydescends,
or on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/MercuryDescends

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Nov 112012
 

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Hosts – Dan, Steve, Mack, Tyler, Bryan

Topic – In this episode we discuss some concepts of character generation, reasons for creating new characters, and how we decide what types of characters to play.  Included in this episode is also the first installment of our newest segment, Gamecast Games.

(:45) What’s on our horizon

(19:00) Character Generation

(22:58) How do you start character creation

(35:26)  Why do you create new characters

(40:30) How much of a part does emulation play in your character creation

(56:37) Gamecast Game – 2 True

Media – 

Batman Heroclix set
Clix For a Cure
HC Realms
Assasin’s Creed III
Taken (2008) – IMDb
GURPS (RPG)
Dungeons and Dragons (RPG)
Pathfinder (RPG)
Marvel Heroic Roleplay (RPG)
Mutants and Masterminds (RPG)

Bryan Supported – Punch Quest (App)

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Episode 15 – A Monstrous Discussion

 The Carpe GM Gamecast  Comments Off on Episode 15 – A Monstrous Discussion
Oct 312012
 

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Hosts – Dan, Mack, Steve, Bryan

 

Topic – In this episode we discuss some classic monsters, and what makes a monster a monster.  Later, we try to make an original monster.

 

 

 

 

Media – 

 

Dredd 3D (2012) – IMDb
Dishonored
GURPS (Steve Jackson Games)
Blood Bowl
Rome (TV Series 2005–2007) – IMDb
Girls (TV Series 2012– ) – IMDb
The League (TV Series 2009– ) – IMDb
Farscape (TV Series 1999–2003) – IMDb
Boardwalk Empire (TV Series 2010– ) – IMDb
Atmosfear: The DVD Board Game (2003)
Universal Studios Maonters (Wikipedia
Jaws (1975) – IMDb
The Blob (1988) – IMDb (newest version)
Godzilla 2000 (1999) – IMDb
Godzilla VS Zilla -crappy battle (YouTube)
It (TV mini-series 1990– ) – IMDb
Peyote (Wikipedia)
Captain Spaulding – Devil’s Regects (YouTube)
Captain Spaulding – Groucho Marx (YouTube)
Cloverfield (2008) – IMDb
Hypnotoad (YouTube)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – IMDb
“The X-Files” Squeeze (TV episode 1993) – IMDb
Slender Man – Marble Hornets
The Tall Man (Character) – IMDb
Exorcist Theme (Tubular Bells Dubstep Remix) – YouTube

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