Posts Tagged ‘Preparation’

26
Jan

Preparing A Module To Run

   Posted by: Forrest    in Conventions

Being as prepared as possible before you sit down to run a mod ensures that you and the players are best positioned to get the most out of the adventure; not only do you have a handle on tactics for a particular encounter, you also have an understanding of the flow between encounters and the underlying theme tying the encounters, the back story, and the NPCs together. This means your combats are challenging, your NPCs memorable, and your on-the-fly adjustments fine-tuned. How do you best prepare to run a mod?

Read the Adventure

Read it cover to cover looking for theme, flavor, and flow; at this point focus on the mood of the mod (frightening, humorous, etc.), get a sense of mystery, adventure, romance, etc., and see how the different encounters lead to one another and into the encounter as a whole. This will provide clues regarding narration and basic NPC attitudes.

Read Each Combat Encounter

Lay the encounter out to get a sense of terrain, enemy placement, basic tactics, etc. Look for appropriate interplay between foes’s powers keeping in mind the roles and intelligence of the monsters. Remember that the difficulty of an encounter is based in large part on how well the creatures use their powers. Poor choice of power usage can under power the fight in the PC’s favor, although having a monster change to a suboptimal tactic is a subtle way to give the players a small break (if necessary). Make notes about the best time to use a foe’s powers and have them be as opportunistic as possible.

Make index cards for each foe (or group of essentially identical foes) so you can include them in your initiative stack and track HPs, powers, etc. right on the card. Doing this will speed up play and will help you remember tactics, etc. Also, if you prepare the cards for 4, 5, and 6 PCs at both low and high difficulties, it will make the combat process much smoother and maximize playing time.

Read Each Skill Challenge

Make a list of skills available and determine whether they are primary (i.e. a success counts toward the number of successes necessary to complete the challenge) or secondary (i.e. a success gives a bonus to another PC or removes a previous failure). Mike Mearls has a series of articles in “Dungeon” and “Dragon” magazines that discuss skill challenge design and I have a post on adjudication as well. See if there are any glaring holes in the design (i.e. the primary skills are all specialized into one or two classes, a particular class doesn’t have ANY trained skills from the list, etc.) Most importantly, make sure you have a sense of the time frame each skill challenge encompasses; this will enhance the narration by making sure it covers the elapsing of time during the challenge.

List Each Significant NPC

One criticism of LFR is the relative lack of role playing opportunity the mods provide, particularly given the amount of time a convention session provides. An easy way to provide some role playing opportunities and enhance the story you and the PCs are telling is by making the NPCs come alive. While there are dozens of techniques available, I’ll suggest three easy ones:

  1. Pick a (somewhat) distinctive voice. It doesn’t have to be flawless, but having the old guy talk with a gravely voice and the service wench talk in a high-pitched voice can make a world of difference.

  2. Pick a mannerism. Have him wheeze, sneeze, cough, sniffle, squint, scratch his beard, break wind frequently, whistle, etc. Just make sure he does it enough that the players can associate the mannerism with the NPC.

  3. Pick a goal. It can be simple (He wants to bring the PCs food and get paid for it), or complex (he wants the attractive female pc to become sympathetic to him so he can use her to make the Mayor’s Daughter jealous). Then just have everything the NPC says or does work in some fashion towards that goal. Generally, the smarter the NPC, the more complex the goal CAN be (although it certainly does not have to be that complex).

Make an index card of each NPC with a brief physical description, notes on his voice, mannerism, and goal, and keep that index card by the appropriate encounter(s). Then, pull that card out and run with it during the encounter.

Make Any Narration Notes

The last preparatory step is to make sure you have a grasp on the narration. Be sure to note anything you feel MUST be conveyed. Try to pick a theme for each encounter to make sure your descriptions match the tone and feel of the encounter and the adventure. Also note the passage of time during the narration and that helps keep the story in focus.

Conclusion

The above work takes roughly one hour preparation but the results are worth the effort. Don’t forget that you can complete this work when you first get a module then just keep your notes for repeated running. This can also help continuity when you run multiple mods from an extended story arc.

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8
Jan

Maximizing Playing Time At A Convention

   Posted by: Forrest    in Conventions

Running LFR mods at Conventions introduces the time constraint as a potential limitation to the gaming experience.  Generally, an adventure slot will be 4 hours; that includes the time it takes to handle administrative considerations, deal with character generation , etc.  We really can’t eliminate these necessities but there are some tricks that allow us to minimize their impact on the game.

New Players & Character Gen

Attracting new players is one of the goals for a Convention, and everything should be done to make these folks feel welcome and help them get the most out of their gaming experience.  However, character generation can be a long process, particularly for the uninitiated player, and can really eat into playing time.  There are a couple of ways to address this depending on time and resources:

  • Character Generation session.  If you can speak with the tournament organizer ahead of time (via e-mail, etc.), suggest that one or two experienced gamers set up a very visible table to help new players create characters.  This will minimize time spent during the run handling this function, it will provide some experienced players the chance to teach the game, and it will give new players a chance to craft a persona they will be eager to play.
  • Pre-make Characters.  I know there is some work involved, but take the time to create some pre-built first-level characters.  You don’t have to get crazy with concepts and burn through a bunch of great ideas you were saving for yourself; instead, you can focus on some of the fundamental class-race combinations that new folks will likely be familiar with:  Human and Dwarf fighters, Elven wizards and rangers, etc.  The WoTC Character Builder is pretty good for this purpose and can cut creation time down pretty significantly.  While I wouldn’t worry too much about background or history (let the player have some free reign), I WOULD probably list three or four common actions for the player and detail the game mechanics behind them.  This simple and short summary will help the new player grasp the core of his new character quickly.

Administrative Details

We all have paperwork details to complete for each run in order to report the event properly, etc.; many of these can be streamlined as well.

  • Complete as much of the Session Tracking Log ahead of time as you can.  While players get seated and are still moving things out of their backpacks, pass this around for player names, RPGA numbers, etc.  I always attach a couple of blank RPGA cards and instruct my players to grab a card if they don’t already have one.  I also attach blank Adventure Tracking Logs for the same purpose.  This gets all of the paperwork out of the way during a bit of dead time and gets folks focused.  If you are really pressed for time you can also be reading the boxed text prologue simultaneously.
  • Pre-make bundle cards.  Take some blank index cards and list the various treasure bundles available at the end of the module.  Go ahead and list them all (low and high).  Once the players have determined which path they will run you can cross off any inapplicable bundles.  Then, at the adventure’s end, you can give each player a card and they can tell you which bundle they select.  This speeds up the process and makes sure the module pages with the bundles don’t get tattered or lost.
  • Prepare index card adventure summaries for each player; this summary should have the name and number of the module being played, along with room for gold and treasure bundles.  At the end of the adventure, the players claim their treasures and you can mark the summary cards and distribute them.  This allows the players to complete their Adventure Tracking Logs at their leisure without taking up valuable time at your table.

Most of these tasks can be completed with 20-30 minutes of prep work and can save you that much time each session.  And at a Convention, that time could be the difference between getting a real lunch or grabbing vending machine fare (again)

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6
Jan

Welcome to Table 0

   Posted by: Forrest    in Uncategorized

For those of you who have run RPGA events at tournaments, conventions, product releases, etc., you likely know (or have heard) the term “Table 0″; for those unfamiliar with it, Table 0 refers to the run through of a particular module by the DMs and admins.  It serves two main purposes:

  1. DMs become familiar with the adventure in a very practical way and see the various aspects of the module;
  2. Event folks have an opportunity to earn some player points and level up their characters.

My three goals for this blog are straightforward:

  1. Discuss various aspects of running RPGA mods at events, conventions, etc.;
  2. Review various LFR adventures with feedback from sessions, suggestions for DME, and any pertinent advice;
  3. Develop and discover tools that will help RPGA Judges run sessions that are as fun for participants as possible.

I want this site to be interactive, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment, ask a question, or offer a suggestion. I’m also looking for folks to contribute so feel encouraged to contact me with ideas for posts.

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