Comments on: The Simple Way to Run a Story Game

By: hannah

hannah — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:07:19 +0000

I’ve just gotten started as the DM for my friends and i have to say, it’s a lot harder than i thought it would be. but none of my friends will write a back- story for their characters. I keep telling them it would help me make an adventure they would enjoy more, but they say that it’s too much plannning, or that im making it way too complicated. Are they right? am i getting myself too caught up in the planning? or is it a good idea to make a compelling adventure that takes advantage of the background of its players. I’m still making things that arent planned, areas that are open to exploration and interpretation. can someone help me?

By: LordVreeg

LordVreeg — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:48:49 +0000

This post is near and dear.
I run a high-mortality system partially to induce parleying and other solutions. I sometimes feel like a complete throwback due to the stress on combat many current games have gone to.
I’ve always thought that games that make combat only one solution encourage more roleplaying; so it is nice to see a post like this.

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:43:08 +0000

Yeah, I will often drill down on my less story inclined players about their backstory when the game starts. If they mention a particular piece of equipment or combat style I will ask them where it came from and then just keep going with the line of questions.

By: quinn

quinn — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:22:37 +0000

Another thought for making a game a story game: encourage the characters to have a back story. The more hooks that they have to attach story ideas to and to use to draw them in to the adventure in a personal way the more involved they will become in the story. The more involved they are in the story the less focused they will be on the combat. This is especially important if you are transforming a group of hack and slashers in to story players.

By: Kolbold Minion

Kolbold Minion — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:32:19 +0000

I love dropping names of places and people throughout my adventure, relevant or not. It makes the game feel as if it takes place in a larger world. But be carefull not to make the outside world to interesting, or current objectives will seam boring in comparison.
My players never cease to amaze me in how they react to the outside world. When the players’ bartender mentioned that worship for the demon lord of mischeif ,Mezzanine, was becoming more popular, what did my sorcer do? He started worshipping Mezzanine himself.