Is there a good article/post on story ideas that work in RPGs versus film/literature

Sindri · 12-18-2014, 02:12 PM

Some groups find intricately planning out a caper to be deathly boring, but for others if you take away the ability to actually do the cool planning stage rather than representing it mechanically it doesn't feel like they are actually master criminals (or whatever) and the whole thing is rendered significantly less fun. With the first group you can simulate the actual form of most fictional capers, with the second you are doing something inspired by but fundamentally different due to the different medium.

The real issue is the common situation of having some of one and some of the other. There are some things that can help, for example having the standard formula being an information finding session, a discussion over email to develop the plan and then an episode to actually implement it.

It also helps to give the PCs constraints that show off their skills. If it's a mission where literally all the information can be acquired before the job and there is time for that and for tinkering with equipment that will naturally push to taking a long time getting ready.

Complications are both realistic and in genre but they shouldn't be used constantly. There is a kind of player who gets really tired of things constantly not going smooth and even just a rare mission once in a while where things go smooth will keep them satisfied.

Finally if the group just steamrolls a job and it's very anticlimactic take inspiration from fictional capers and imagine that as a quick job in the beginning of the episode that sets the stage for the rest of it somehow.

12-18-2014, 02:12 PM	#10
Sindri Join Date: Nov 2011	Re: Is there a good article/post on story ideas that work in RPGs versus film/literat Some groups find intricately planning out a caper to be deathly boring, but for others if you take away the ability to actually do the cool planning stage rather than representing it mechanically it doesn't feel like they are actually master criminals (or whatever) and the whole thing is rendered significantly less fun. With the first group you can simulate the actual form of most fictional capers, with the second you are doing something inspired by but fundamentally different due to the different medium. The real issue is the common situation of having some of one and some of the other. There are some things that can help, for example having the standard formula being an information finding session, a discussion over email to develop the plan and then an episode to actually implement it. It also helps to give the PCs constraints that show off their skills. If it's a mission where literally all the information can be acquired before the job and there is time for that and for tinkering with equipment that will naturally push to taking a long time getting ready. Complications are both realistic and in genre but they shouldn't be used constantly. There is a kind of player who gets really tired of things constantly not going smooth and even just a rare mission once in a while where things go smooth will keep them satisfied. Finally if the group just steamrolls a job and it's very anticlimactic take inspiration from fictional capers and imagine that as a quick job in the beginning of the episode that sets the stage for the rest of it somehow.