What do players want? Players
want to be challenged and
stirred to heroism. Players want to be thrilled
by scenes
of might and beauty. Players want to feel LOVE
and grief,
triumph and terror -- at a comfortable distance,
of course. One
person -- you, the GM -- must plan and present
an
adventure that produces all these effects. To
do this, you will find
the advice of writers, playwrights, actors, orators,
and storytellers
indispensable.
| Adventure structure |
Ancient Greek playwrights listed the
elements of drama as:
action,
plot,
character,
thought,
diction,
spectacle,
and music.
In a role-playing adventure, action is the
most important of these features. Action
does not always mean combat; it means
that both players and their characters
have things to say and do. Simply rolling
dice or choosing between two doors is not
enough ? the PCs need to make informed
decisions. As the GM, you cultivate action
using the plot of your adventure. Like any
storyteller, you should plan a plot in four
stages: opening, development, climax, and
denouement
The excitement should start as soon as
play begins. PCs should not arrive until
the dramatic parts of an adventure begin
? have NPCs ?set the stage? first. Use as
little introduction as possible: Simply
explain what the party needs to do and
then start The Game.
If an adventure needs
a detailed background, the background
can be explained in early encounters.
Players seldom listen to a spoken paragraph
of data, but they become highly
inquisitive when talking with NPCs or
snooping through documents. Adventures
should always open with .a specific quest.
Defining this goal at the start spares the
PCs a period of aimless wandering while
players try to read your mind. (Of course,
PCs might decide to follow completely new
goals halfway through the adventure.)
Several obstacles should separate the
PCs from their major opponents. Any
minor adventures should remain unified
and consistent, but unique and challenging,
too. Most PCs are easily distracted, so
almost everything that happens should
pertain to the adventure. A variety of
encounters that require different solutions
is best. The encounters should mix familiar,
realistic situations with wildly exciting
ones, so players can empathize with their
characters and use that empathy to experience
the adventure. You should also base
encounters on previous events in the
campaign, to insure that everything the
PCs do has appropriate rewards or punishments.
When things happen randomly, the
players have no incentive to plan or to
role-play.
During the adventure's development,
several outbursts of combat or other fastpaced
activity are needed. PCs will probably
learn secrets, punish enemies, make
discoveries, and be surprised by the unexpected.
Most developmental encounters
contain hints about future events. If you
plan to have something particularly unbelievable
occur later on, prepare the PCs
for it with early encounters. The longer an
adventure lasts, the more earthshaking its
conflicts need to be. As tension rises, you
can create suspense by refusing to reveal
some vital piece of information that would
affect everything the PCs do -- if they only
knew about it.
Then comes the climax. The PCs have
passed lesser encounters and finally confront
the object of their quest. Here they
resolve the adventure and either succeed
or fail in reaching their goals. In the climax,
PCs learn the nature of the foe they
have been struggling against. The foe and
the danger produced by him should be
greater than the PCs had formerly
assumed.
The adventure ends with a short period
of denouement that ties up any substories
created during development and lets PCs
reassess themselves. You can also introduce
the background for the next adventure
at this point.
When PCs invent a workable new strategy,
they should be rewarded. Plots should
contain enough alternatives so that independent
thinking cannot ruin the adventure.
You can control an adventure by
using natural restriction -- if there is only
one tunnel into a lair, PCs will meet whatever
is at the end of it.
| People-making |
The elements of drama support each
other. Just as plot creates action, so do
characters generate plot, and so does
thought produce characters. NPCs should
have their own adventures, which just
happen to coincide with the PCs? adventures.
Remember that PCs do not usually
spend enough time with any one NPC to
learn much about him. You should emphasize
one trait in each NPC so that the players
can see what makes that character
different from all others. Try to pick these
traits from real people, not other characters;
this helps you avoid a series of wise
wizards and brave fighters
(with one
coward for variety). Also, choose personalities
that affect the game. For example,
nobody cares what an NPC?s favorite color
is, but if a gate guard despises bribery, it
matters.
| Telling the players |
Since few GMs use MUSIC, both final
elements of drama depend entirely on
your public performance. You generate
diction by speaking for NPCs, and you
create spectacle by stimulating the players?
imaginations. To make players listen, give
them some minor signal that the game is
beginning, perhaps rolling a die or arranging
miniatures. Do not shout or use other
violent means of getting attention, because
this makes players concentrate on you, not
on the adventure. It also helps to start
with a stirring introductory sentence,
ideally one that will provoke action,
describe the scenario's theme, and relate
somehow to previous adventures, thus
creating the illusion of ongoing life.
Your voice creates an entire world for
players, so effective speech is worth working
on. The Game should
be played in a
quiet area where your words will have full
effect and quell extraneous conversations.
Speak in short, direct statements with a
logical sequence, and emphasize the
important word in each sentence. One can
easily pick out quotations and slogans in a
clear speech. Pronounce each part of a
word without dividing it into subwords,
and project your voice forcefully. Some
people's voices tend to rise or drop away
during long sentences; if you do this, mark
your module?s text, noting places to correct
faltering speech. Never give players a
chance to stop listening. Change game
events, sentence lengths, and the tone of
your voice frequently. If describing something
complex, begin with a preview, then
explain your subject, and end by summarizing
it, so the players hear everything
several times in different contexts.
You can develop a pleasant voice by
improving your resonance and pitch. To
test your resonance, pronounce a long
?ahhh,? and pinch your nostrils shut near
the bottom of your nose. This should not
modify the sound, and you should not feel
vibrations. After this, say ?mmmmm.?
When you close your nostrils now, the
sound should stop. To find the ideal pitch
for your voice, plug your ears and hum
the musical scale. The pitch that sounds
the loudest denotes the level at which
your voice will be the most clear.
Most speakers talk at a rate of 130-150
words per minute. This speed is usually
easy to listen to, and it can be used to plan
a length for your delivery. When you take
a breath, make sure that your pause
builds interest, not interrupts it. A dramatic
pause says something in itself; it comes
when the audience knows (or dreads)
what you would have said, had you not
paused.
| Describe it! |
Describing something as a GM is like
selling model kits; you want to give players
materials, not a finished scene. Let the
players imagine things the way they want
them to look. Do not plod through long
analyses of everything the PCs see. To
paraphrase Josh Billings: It?s good to talk a
lot so long as you don?t use many words.
Another trap to avoid is affected, overdramatic
voice tones. Describe things in
explicit, direct sentences, and substitute
action for adjectives whenever possible.
Have things happen which illustrate what
you are saying. For example, instead of
saying, ?The monster has sharp claws,?
show the monster tearing raw meat with
those claws. Not only does this make a
stronger impression, but it lets you give
other hints simultaneously ? if the monster
has raw meat, it must have killed
something. . . .
As Sherlock Holmes said, ?To see is not
enough.? Everybody knows that a dragon
is big. You need to say things that the
players do not know, things that might be
obvious only to somebody who has actually
seen a dragon. Even if you have never
seen a dragon yourself, study dragonlike
things, such as lizards and furnaces. Write
down many more bits of information than
you actually plan to use, then pick the
most vivid ones during play.
When you want to give out trivial details
for atmosphere, mix them with vital facts.
If the PCs suspect a guardsman shoving
through a riot is really a disguised pickpocket
at work, they will listen carefully
to your description of that NPC, taking in
minor as well as major details. The GM
also needs to consider which realistic
details improve the game and which ones
do not. In a heroic duel, the players want
to see flashing blades, not writhing victims.
However, if PCs insist on attacking
innocent people, their players should not
escape the anguish caused.
Players need to trust what the GM tells
them if the campaign world is to become
real to them. Describe things accurately.
Even when you want to mislead PCs, tell
the truth -- but in a way that allows the
data to be misinterpreted. Also remember
that it is much easier for players to believe
in a consistent campaign world if the
world obeys its own laws. Try to choose
names and details that fit your setting,
possibly modeling them on actual cultures
and places. If one NPC is named Jacques,
you need a logical reason to call his father
Moonlight-Bearclaw. Avoid jarring changes
in genre too, such as having flying saucers
visit an otherwise naturalistic medieval
world. If your campaign is founded on
hard science fiction, make that clear from
the beginning. For the same reason, do not
use "canned" jokes in your modules.
Humor needs a reason for existence (like
everything else).
Time your descriptions carefully. Use
long sentences and slow, calm tones to
imply serenity, then talk in rapid short
sentences when things become exciting. To
produce terror, speak slowly, with long
descriptions of everyday events. Then
shift to rapid action ? ?It SPRINGS!? In
times of extreme excitement, talk faster
and faster, and just as the tension reaches
a peak, pause ? then deliver the coup de
grace.
A GM can use props to make a scene
more graphic, to help PCs remember it, or
to clarify a complex description. Most GMs
have experimented with maps, drawing,
written treasure lists, etc. You might also
create sound effects, either playing them
with a tape recorder or producing them
behind your screen. For examples, clapping
coconut shells sound like a galloping
horse, dried peas rattling in a pan simulate
hail, and cellophane crackles like a fiery
inferno. The important thing to avoid with
audiovisual devices is making them more
interesting than your adventure. Use
props after you describe things verbally,
and don?t let them delay combat or other
game events.
| Being someone else |
One sentence from an NPC can replace
paragraphs of description. Not only do
NPCs purposely tell things to PCs, but
characters? moods and appearances can
reveal histories, emotions, and struggles
among people. NPCs should reveal these
things through tone, physical behavior,
pauses, and words with hidden meanings
?not Shakespearean speeches. Have your
NPCs talk in concise, pointed sentences. A
character can communicate almost anything
with voice tone. Consider the implications
of the following sentences:
"She is dead!"
"She is? . . . Dead?"
"She is dead!"
"She is dead?"
"She . . . is dead."
Some actors can use vocal tones to
engage in complex conversations ? while
reciting the alphabet.
An NPC responds to PCs in three stages:
sensation (noticing something), perception
(making plans), and attack (reacting).
When playing an NPC, consider how you
would notice, plan, and react if you were
that person. Also remember how the NPC
thinks. People from different cultures
(especially nonhumans) might have completely
foreign attitudes about things we
take for granted. For example, in ancient
Byzantium, people considered the maiming
of criminals to be an act of mercy
because it gave the criminals both a
chance and a reason to repent.
NPCs will certainly talk naturally, and
you can easily simulate this by using contractions
and reasonably modern speech.
However, NPCs should not speak slang
which clearly comes from a different
world, like saying ?Hot jets!? in a fantasy
campaign. Imaginative GMs can easily
invent their own cliches for fantasy environments.
When you imitate emotional
NPCs, be careful not to portray a stereotype
? try to actually feel what your
character does and let the tones come
naturally. Actors empathize with characters
by reading poetry or imagining scenes
which evoke appropriate emotions. You
can also try making appropriate faces;
according to the James-Lange psychological
theory, moods are partially created by
facial expressions.
GMs should make their own observations
about portraying characters. Try
some of these actors? tricks. If an NPC is
under some sort of strain, you might lift a
heavy book or merely tense your muscles
while playing that role. High-pitched voices
indicate fury or wild emotion, while
deep sounds convey complex feelings. To
portray strength, talk with a deep, resonant
voice, and have weak characters
speak in squeaky, sharp tones. A character
?s age can be indicated by vocal flexibility;
younger people quickly move from one
tone to another, while old characters
sound more stable. When an NPC talks in
a foreign language, you might simulate
that with an accent, if the PCs can still
understand the NPC.
| Organization |
Almost nobody can create all the elements
of an exciting adventure without
help. However, preprogrammed scripts
bore everyone. Run modules without a
script; know what you want to say but
choose the exact words as you go along.
As GM, you should always carefully read a
module before playing in it, until you
understand what is happening and how
you plan to convey that to the players.
Short script outlines, organized on a series
of index cards, can help you remember
points you want to make. You can also pick
a few key words which sum up the
descriptions you want to give, such as
?Ruined Castle: crumbling brick, ivy, rusted
gate.? Mark any effects you want to
produce, noting pauses, voice tone, etc.
When you must read a long piece of text
aloud, listen to yourself and try to form
groups of words with appropriate pauses,
bringing out a rhythm.
| Making players play |
A GM is not only a writer, actor, orator,
and so forth; a GM is a police officer. You
must keep the players listening to you, at
peace with one another, and having fun,
too. It is easiest to keep control when the
players also want things to run smoothly.
Make it obvious that you plan to have fun.
Never apologize for minor imperfections;
give titillating hints to make players anxious
to play. People will look at you if they
see you looking at them, so maintain eye
contact. Do not constantly stare at one
person; shift your gaze from player to
player. Since most distractions develop
during delays, start playing as soon as
possible, end when the adventure is over,
and try not to waste time searching for
obscure rules. You can copy important
data into the module?s text.
It is as important for a GM to listen well
as it is to speak effectively. Think about
what the players tell you their characters
are doing and consider how these actions
affect your adventure?s plot. Since you
cannot respond to everything the players
say, attempt to pick out the most important
parts. Make it clear which player you
are listening to, and do not let anybody
interrupt. Even if someone wants to do
something completely impractical, avoid
embarrassing the player ? but never do a
PC favors, either. Respond to nonverbal
suggestions, too. When players enjoy
something, prolong it. If they are bored,
hurry to the next encounter. Fidgeting
seldom means that people dislike your
adventure ? it usually indicates that one
certain player needs attention.
Almost every adventuring party suffers
internal disputes. When one player is
clearly right, you might offer friendly
support, but do not join fights yourself.
Unless characters actually kill each other,
you do not usually need to settle disputes
between PCs, as opposed to players. GMs
can even use friendly conflicts to build
intrigue by having NPCs support one rival
PC or the other. When the two players
carry some personal grievance into the
game, you can either ignore it or ask them
to stop. It is almost impossible to mediate
real disputes by inserting allegories into
your fictional game, so don?t even try.
| Finally.... |
Do not let any guidelines, even these,
obstruct your game. Use only those guidelines
that help you. The most important
task for a GM is to have fun. This is more
than a platitude. The players can tell if you
enjoy something, and if the GM dislikes an
adventure, they will too. Pick an adventure
you wish your character would have,
and run it with zest.
MARCH 1989