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Old 01-07-2013, 10:04 AM   #15
Nymdok
 
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Houston
Default Re: High GM burden - Time saving tricks?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jovus View Post
You can even generate combat-relevant NPCs this way, if you like, though it requires some more knowledge of the system, like basic damage and weapon damage modifiers. It can be useful if the PCs start mucking around somewhere you don't have prepared, though.
This is truly the crux of it. Having this handy 'guidelines' to improv NPCs quickly is useful for when the PCs decide to go off the rails in combat or otherwise. This is why some of us decry the rigorous statting of NPCs as a fools errand. You cant ever stat them all.

When we say that as GMs we 'build a world' we dont mean that we stat and backstory every NPC for the same reason we dont stat and backstory every deer, dog, oaktree or mushroom.

Could we stat up an oaktree with a complete char sheet? Sure, but at the end of the day, its just a regular old oak tree. Sure someone could use Plant Empathy or commune with plants or someother such power, but even that player is not likely to chat with every tree in the forrest.

You see most of what we work up as GMs (certainly in my experience) is that my players wont discover 75% of the things that I work up for play (Subplots etc), I do those things for my own sake and if they find them and pursue them, GREAT, if not, I can sometimes recycle it for use elsewhere in the campaign.

See the game is OURS. Not mine. I build the playground, if they choose to ignore the monkeybars, they still can have a great time on the merry-go-round, swing set, or wibbly wobblies. As long as we're all having fun, the work I put into the monkeybars is not wasted. There may come a day when they say 'Hey...how bout them monkeybars!', but if they dont, then I still had my fun 'upfront' by GURPSing up the Monkybars and there being a story to be discovered within.

GMing kind of has a weird definition of 'fun' :)

Nymdok
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