Player Types - what would you veterans do for them?

Seneschal · 09-24-2009, 05:13 PM

Okay, so me and my group have recently began a campaign that proved to be a little more than I can handle. Basically, it's a trans-dimensional campaign where a TL4 French empire with loads of magic, flying fortresses and summoned creatures gets into a fight with a TL10 AI-controlled nation from another plane, with robotic juggernauts, tanks, mechas, etc. The balance was way off (but I'm working on that), so I had to tailor encounters to specific players and frequently split up the group. It has been demanding but a lot of fun when done in moderation, except that now I'm running out of ideas. The sessions are highly segmented and the characters are all over the place; I'd rather not start over from scratch but It has become complicated and I feel close to a burn-out. I'd appreciate advice as to what kind of challenges should I plan for specific players. They're all relatively new to the game.

1) The girl of the group tends to play action girls. She has played a lot of Tomb Raider in her childhood and even became an archaeologist. She's kind of a butt-kicker and prefers cinematic encounters and over-the-top plotlines. Her current character is a b-movie Mexican nun-with-a-shotgun with Unusual Background (Cinematic rules apply). I'm unsure if I should keep her spotlight-time shallow and bloody or to develop a more mythical story. I guess she's the "girl power"-type so I thought of introducing some recurring chauvinistic secondary villain.

2) The first guy is a casual gamer fond of storytelling and creating loads of backstory for his PC. I'm guessing he'd like for his character's past to come haunting him but he does prefer to remain off-screen a lot and I fear it may put unnecessary pressure on him. Current character - disowned French high-class mage with a tragic love story.

3) The second guy is a total butt-kicker and the only one with actual interest for learning the rules. He prefers tense, dramatic encounters like in the movies, but plans for some epic overreaching story-arcs involving cosmic struggles and everything. His current characters is a deserter mecha pilot.

Despite the fact that they made combat-oriented chars, they rarely have patience for combat or excessive die rolling. In fact, they all love drama and high-action adventures, but resent it when they have to roll a lot. I had an off-hands approach on character concepts, which I regret now, but they had fun making up crazy ideas so I let them have it.

So, what would you have in store for them? How would you handle their character development or treat them? Would you make them the villains, allow them to be free agents, give them a cruelly hard time? What's your usual approach to the above-mentioned player types?

Shrale · 09-24-2009, 05:31 PM

Choo choo!

I'd railroad them into a single night's adventure, something for the Mage
Magnificante! Have him stumble on or discover a spell that will let the party
"possess" robots of the enemy. Something over the top that would let them
take over the bot, nobody knows and that they can be safely recalled from a
distance.

I'd probably spend 1/3rd the session on this (Mage: "Mais no! Don't bother
me, I am busy, ho-ho!" and have him deep in research but close). Then a
"surprise demonstration" perhaps using himself. But arrange it so it works
better if the mage stays behind and can tag along via an Wizard Eye spell,
otherwise they might not return to their bodies.

I'd have the middle 3rd of the session start with some downers, some klutzy
robot hijinx until they get used to things; AI interference until they can
shut it off and have them ripping doors off the hinges, breaking things,
typical Bulls in the China Shoppe fair. Then they get noticeably better
(either remove negative mods or something) then have a decent adventure fall
into their lap; such as a guard posting for some riches or equipment that's
liable to sway the next few sessions.

Then the last 3rd have them execute the adventure. Since there's no pressure,
(they can't be killed) I'd probably go to town, where they can do some
serious damage but make it clear that if the robot is destroyed they jerk
back early and are out of things.

Might be fun to have the wizard as a crow or other animal that's usually in
the area and he can end the ritual (which might last 24 hours or so) if he
needs to.

Do few crazy things like having the AIs at the base fall in love with the
PCs so they end up with a few Allys in the future (the AIs think they're
other AIs natch) and can infiltrate the place and get free $ from the AIs
that control the TL10 ATMs or something (think fun, think freebies)
without it causing total mayhem. Maybe the base AI will assign the robots
to a different posting thereby causing weakspots...blah, blah blah. They
now know 10 security codes or something they can use in the future without
it being a total Monty Haul Giveaway. Have the AIs calling the robots using
language like a 976 number/line or something :) "I've always liked you T-38s
your after-carriage..."

Naturally the ritual fails after this session thanks to some sort of upgrade
and EM field the robots now possess or perhaps a salient component for
the ritual is out of season or otherwise unobtainable.

Depends a lot on what your group thinks is fun and the same for you.

>

Seneschal · 09-24-2009, 06:16 PM

Whoa, that's brilliant! And actually quite easy to integrate. A major plot-point later would be Muslim hashishins from an ancient dimension that received "enlightenment" by magically uploading their minds into constructs (TL12 stuff). I planned for a power struggle where the two other forces, the Frenchmen and the robots, would try to steal the procedure to ensure supremacy in the war.

So, a plot hook could be... the players acquiring an device/potion/macguffin that does exactly that, then getting beat up and thrown in jail and using it to possess their captors and liberate their own bodies (which could be behind loads of security checks and barriers that they have to access from the outside). In the current adventure, they're already knee-deep in trouble and I could get them jailed anytime.

The macguffin breaks as soon as they finish the adventure, of course, and now that they've used it, they catch the attention of the hashishin constructs and gain them as Patrons or something (since they "already know too much").

The beginning might be rough on them, with the railroad-incarceration and losing control of their characters for the entire adventure. They could transfer their skills, mental (dis)advantages and similar to their robot bodies, though.

Oh, thanks a bunch. ^^

Shrale · 09-24-2009, 06:55 PM

< puffs on fingernails > No problem :)

Part 1: Mage gets clobbered, has a nasty bump on head; leads to brainstorm.

Part 2: Ritual and Robot switcheroo, clumsy-clumsy but do-able.

Part 3: The adventure, play it straight, let them have fun; make sure they
get involved.

Aftermath: Bump goes away, along with the memory of how to perform the
magic...c'est la vie!

All aboard!

< wink >

>

Irish Wolf · 09-25-2009, 08:48 AM

You wouldn't even need to break the Scroll of MacGuffin, really. The AI control system's antiviral software would see their intrusion as an info-attack, and begin modifying its routines to block them. Eventually (read: when you want them out of the 'bots), the new code is implemented, and for the first time ever TL10 mechs are defended against magical possession spells.

Of course, the TL12 hashishim may well have ways around that "primitive" TL10 ICE...

Ian_M · 09-25-2009, 09:48 AM

Longer-term, you might want to check out some of the optional rules for reducing rolling during combat. There are various mechanics for basing damage on margin of success rather than a damage roll, and calculating defences directly into attack rolls rather than as a seperate roll. If they like action/adventure but dislike the mechanics you can houserule a lot of the mechanics away and go heavy on description.

For player 1) Labyrinths, trapped buildings, and collapsing ancient temples. Check out the old Grimtooth's books for some truly exotic traps.

For player 2) One or two lost loves, old enemies, or childhood friends turned rivals. Give them their own agenda so they have a purpose in the game when the casual gamer doesn't show.

For player 3) Car chases, dirt bike rallies, and fight scenes with big mecha. Make sure there's something big actually riding on the outcome, like in the pod-race scen from the first SW prequel.

Rocket Man · 09-25-2009, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_M

For player 3) Car chases, dirt bike rallies, and fight scenes with big mecha. Make sure there's something big actually riding on the outcome, like in the pod-race scen from the first SW prequel.

Just be careful *how* you play that pod race (chuckle) ... http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0101.html

Seneschal · 09-26-2009, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

Just be careful *how* you play that pod race (chuckle) ... http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0101.html

Oh, I remember that one. X_x That's one of the problems of my current campaign.

Thanks for advices, everyone. Unfortunately, I think I'm gonna announce to my players that we have to switch campaigns because this is getting mind-numbing. The game mechanics of high-magic Frenchmen and TL10 robots are wholly incompatible and game-breaking. We spend most of our battles calculating injury tolerance, damage types, DR and armor divisors, penalties, bonuses and weapons still end up unbalanced. If you want to give a shotgun-nun a chance against a mecha, her gun must do at least 20d(5) pi++... which she abuses to mop up a whole squadron of regular enemies. And nun vs. mecha battles get old REALLY fast.

We're gonna try medieval fantasy (gasp!) for a change. I'm through with being experimental. Maybe it'll turn out that the reason why my players were bored of rolling is that we overdid the whole game-mechanics-thing. Their favorite combat encounter so far is a very simple knife-fight with kitchen utensils in a cantina.

So, we're gonna try that. And it'll be easier to implement all these advices, even the robot-possession adventure.

Ian_M · 09-26-2009, 12:30 PM

Yeah, if their biggest thrill to date is a cleaver-fight at the OK Cafe, I'd say go for the simple campaign over the baroque cross-time world-hopping nuns versus mecha thing. And when they get comfortable with the mechanics you can always bring in mana-powered mecha and spell-slinging battle nuns if they really want.

Shrale · 09-26-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian_M

battle nuns if they really want.

mmmm, Tactical Mother: shock-gloves, monomolecular rulers...Bene Gesserit gone wild!!!

>

09-24-2009, 05:13 PM	#1
Seneschal Join Date: Jul 2009	Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? Okay, so me and my group have recently began a campaign that proved to be a little more than I can handle. Basically, it's a trans-dimensional campaign where a TL4 French empire with loads of magic, flying fortresses and summoned creatures gets into a fight with a TL10 AI-controlled nation from another plane, with robotic juggernauts, tanks, mechas, etc. The balance was way off (but I'm working on that), so I had to tailor encounters to specific players and frequently split up the group. It has been demanding but a lot of fun when done in moderation, except that now I'm running out of ideas. The sessions are highly segmented and the characters are all over the place; I'd rather not start over from scratch but It has become complicated and I feel close to a burn-out. I'd appreciate advice as to what kind of challenges should I plan for specific players. They're all relatively new to the game. 1) The girl of the group tends to play action girls. She has played a lot of Tomb Raider in her childhood and even became an archaeologist. She's kind of a butt-kicker and prefers cinematic encounters and over-the-top plotlines. Her current character is a b-movie Mexican nun-with-a-shotgun with Unusual Background (Cinematic rules apply). I'm unsure if I should keep her spotlight-time shallow and bloody or to develop a more mythical story. I guess she's the "girl power"-type so I thought of introducing some recurring chauvinistic secondary villain. 2) The first guy is a casual gamer fond of storytelling and creating loads of backstory for his PC. I'm guessing he'd like for his character's past to come haunting him but he does prefer to remain off-screen a lot and I fear it may put unnecessary pressure on him. Current character - disowned French high-class mage with a tragic love story. 3) The second guy is a total butt-kicker and the only one with actual interest for learning the rules. He prefers tense, dramatic encounters like in the movies, but plans for some epic overreaching story-arcs involving cosmic struggles and everything. His current characters is a deserter mecha pilot. Despite the fact that they made combat-oriented chars, they rarely have patience for combat or excessive die rolling. In fact, they all love drama and high-action adventures, but resent it when they have to roll a lot. I had an off-hands approach on character concepts, which I regret now, but they had fun making up crazy ideas so I let them have it. So, what would you have in store for them? How would you handle their character development or treat them? Would you make them the villains, allow them to be free agents, give them a cruelly hard time? What's your usual approach to the above-mentioned player types?

09-24-2009, 05:31 PM	#2
Shrale Join Date: Jan 2007	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? Choo choo! I'd railroad them into a single night's adventure, something for the Mage Magnificante! Have him stumble on or discover a spell that will let the party "possess" robots of the enemy. Something over the top that would let them take over the bot, nobody knows and that they can be safely recalled from a distance. I'd probably spend 1/3rd the session on this (Mage: "Mais no! Don't bother me, I am busy, ho-ho!" and have him deep in research but close). Then a "surprise demonstration" perhaps using himself. But arrange it so it works better if the mage stays behind and can tag along via an Wizard Eye spell, otherwise they might not return to their bodies. I'd have the middle 3rd of the session start with some downers, some klutzy robot hijinx until they get used to things; AI interference until they can shut it off and have them ripping doors off the hinges, breaking things, typical Bulls in the China Shoppe fair. Then they get noticeably better (either remove negative mods or something) then have a decent adventure fall into their lap; such as a guard posting for some riches or equipment that's liable to sway the next few sessions. Then the last 3rd have them execute the adventure. Since there's no pressure, (they can't be killed) I'd probably go to town, where they can do some serious damage but make it clear that if the robot is destroyed they jerk back early and are out of things. Might be fun to have the wizard as a crow or other animal that's usually in the area and he can end the ritual (which might last 24 hours or so) if he needs to. Do few crazy things like having the AIs at the base fall in love with the PCs so they end up with a few Allys in the future (the AIs think they're other AIs natch) and can infiltrate the place and get free $ from the AIs that control the TL10 ATMs or something (think fun, think freebies) without it causing total mayhem. Maybe the base AI will assign the robots to a different posting thereby causing weakspots...blah, blah blah. They now know 10 security codes or something they can use in the future without it being a total Monty Haul Giveaway. Have the AIs calling the robots using language like a 976 number/line or something :) "I've always liked you T-38s your after-carriage..." Naturally the ritual fails after this session thanks to some sort of upgrade and EM field the robots now possess or perhaps a salient component for the ritual is out of season or otherwise unobtainable. Depends a lot on what your group thinks is fun and the same for you. > __________________ "Now you see me, now you don't, woof" -- The Invisible Vargr . . There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't. Last edited by Shrale; 09-24-2009 at 05:37 PM.

09-24-2009, 06:16 PM	#3
Seneschal Join Date: Jul 2009	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? Whoa, that's brilliant! And actually quite easy to integrate. A major plot-point later would be Muslim hashishins from an ancient dimension that received "enlightenment" by magically uploading their minds into constructs (TL12 stuff). I planned for a power struggle where the two other forces, the Frenchmen and the robots, would try to steal the procedure to ensure supremacy in the war. So, a plot hook could be... the players acquiring an device/potion/macguffin that does exactly that, then getting beat up and thrown in jail and using it to possess their captors and liberate their own bodies (which could be behind loads of security checks and barriers that they have to access from the outside). In the current adventure, they're already knee-deep in trouble and I could get them jailed anytime. The macguffin breaks as soon as they finish the adventure, of course, and now that they've used it, they catch the attention of the hashishin constructs and gain them as Patrons or something (since they "already know too much"). The beginning might be rough on them, with the railroad-incarceration and losing control of their characters for the entire adventure. They could transfer their skills, mental (dis)advantages and similar to their robot bodies, though. Oh, thanks a bunch. ^^ Last edited by Seneschal; 09-24-2009 at 06:20 PM.

09-24-2009, 06:55 PM	#4
Shrale Join Date: Jan 2007	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? < puffs on fingernails > No problem :) Part 1: Mage gets clobbered, has a nasty bump on head; leads to brainstorm. Part 2: Ritual and Robot switcheroo, clumsy-clumsy but do-able. Part 3: The adventure, play it straight, let them have fun; make sure they get involved. Aftermath: Bump goes away, along with the memory of how to perform the magic...c'est la vie! All aboard! < wink > > __________________ "Now you see me, now you don't, woof" -- The Invisible Vargr . . There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

09-25-2009, 08:48 AM	#5
Irish Wolf Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Earth, mostly	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? You wouldn't even need to break the Scroll of MacGuffin, really. The AI control system's antiviral software would see their intrusion as an info-attack, and begin modifying its routines to block them. Eventually (read: when you want them out of the 'bots), the new code is implemented, and for the first time ever TL10 mechs are defended against magical possession spells. Of course, the TL12 hashishim may well have ways around that "primitive" TL10 ICE... __________________ If you break the laws of Man, you go to prison. If you break the laws of God, you go to Hell. If you break the laws of Physics, you go to Sweden and receive a Nobel Prize.

09-25-2009, 09:48 AM	#6
Ian_M Join Date: Sep 2009	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? Longer-term, you might want to check out some of the optional rules for reducing rolling during combat. There are various mechanics for basing damage on margin of success rather than a damage roll, and calculating defences directly into attack rolls rather than as a seperate roll. If they like action/adventure but dislike the mechanics you can houserule a lot of the mechanics away and go heavy on description. For player 1) Labyrinths, trapped buildings, and collapsing ancient temples. Check out the old Grimtooth's books for some truly exotic traps. For player 2) One or two lost loves, old enemies, or childhood friends turned rivals. Give them their own agenda so they have a purpose in the game when the casual gamer doesn't show. For player 3) Car chases, dirt bike rallies, and fight scenes with big mecha. Make sure there's something big actually riding on the outcome, like in the pod-race scen from the first SW prequel.

09-26-2009, 12:30 PM	#9
Ian_M Join Date: Sep 2009	Re: Player Types - what would you veterans do for them? Yeah, if their biggest thrill to date is a cleaver-fight at the OK Cafe, I'd say go for the simple campaign over the baroque cross-time world-hopping nuns versus mecha thing. And when they get comfortable with the mechanics you can always bring in mana-powered mecha and spell-slinging battle nuns if they really want.