05-08-2021, 10:02 AM | #11 | |||||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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Note that pre-gen characters still have a learning curve for players. First, it is customary to let the players choose among the pre-gen options, which still takes time. Then the players' burden shifts from deciding what capabilities they want their character to have to figuring out what capabilities come with the character they've been handed. At least with a bespoke character they know what concept they were trying to achieve. Quote:
A surprising number of published Traveller adventures start from the premise that the player-characters are the only off-worlders available for some task. A setting where "adventurers" (however defined) are useful but thin on the ground offers a continuing rationale for odd-job offers. If steady, well-paying, or safe jobs are scarce -- for them, anyway -- there may be more incentive to take what comes along and make it work with whoever is at hand, or to chase after a rumored payoff with a rag-tag crew. Quote:
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Player hesitation may also be an indicator that the situation you presented is not as clear-cut as it seems to you, the GM. It might be time to drop another clue in their laps. Quote:
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05-10-2021, 01:29 PM | #12 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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If you know your players and they've played in the setting before, perhaps maybe. You could just say "Next session we're doing a one-shot in Dave's Fantasy Setting, Everybody make starting characters "normal" chargen, no demons", and you're golden. If you have some new players or if you're dropping a new game world, pre-gen characters or characters built on template makes getting beyond the more frustrating and time consuming aspects of character generation easier. In my book saved time is always an asset you can use well in a pick-up game. Quote:
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A surprising number of published adventures start from the premise that the player-characters are the only off-worlders available for some task. Code:
I agree about "convoluted," but I'm not sure about "plots" in general. There needs to be room for the player-characters to resolve the situation you've presented them in whatever way works for them. In true short story or movie script fashion, however, the GM should be ready to dump maybe two complications or reversals on them Code:
Player hesitation may also be an indicator that the situation you presented is not as clear-cut as it seems to you, the GM. It might be time to drop another clue in their laps. Code:
Not sure about this one for a low-prep game. |
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05-11-2021, 04:45 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
I'm beginning to think that Magical Kitties Save the Day is an ideal pick-up game. Easy rules. Silly but clear concept.
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05-11-2021, 11:08 PM | #14 | ||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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I haven't had any problem with throwing additional challenges at a pick-up group. The first one usually comes after character selection/generation and an introductory scene to build some familiarity with the game system and the other players. This one reveals the full nature of whatever they've set out to do, including obstacles that wouldn't be apparent until they actually become engaged. After the player-characters have worked through those issues for a while, a second challenge re-focuses them and sets up the final climax and resolution. The difference here is that I don't have any pre-conceived notion of how the player-characters are going to go about addressing the issues that I present. In that sense, there is no "plot" to be "flat" -- the introduced complications are the "plot elements." Quote:
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05-11-2021, 11:18 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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On the other hand, I feel as if comedy games are cheating a bit for this discussion: for them, absurd results can be a feature rather than a bug. Player expectations are generally lower, as well. |
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05-12-2021, 09:56 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
Analysis: Spirit of the Century
As I was going through my library, I noticed that this Fate-based game bills itself right on the cover as "[a] Pulp Pickup Roleplaying Game." So I wanted to look more in-depth at what the authors mean by it, and what features they thought were important. In their own words: Quote:
Fate characters are rather more involved than I prefer, with ten Aspects, fifteen Skills, and five Stunts -- that's a lot to keep track of and use effectively. Aspects, at least, are supposed to be flexible and evocatively titled. Both Skills and Aspects are mechanically simple, with consistent rules and few exceptions. Stunts, on the other hand, are rules exceptions by definition and there are a ton of them to choose from. I would be tempted to do without them entirely, or restrict the players to just one that requires active management. The most valuable part of the book, however, is the section entitled Tips and Tricks, particularly "The Power of the Pick-up Game" (pp. 276-303). The discussion here is sometimes tied to the Fate system or the Century Club setting, but largely consists of advice applicable to any pick-up game. |
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05-12-2021, 12:38 PM | #17 | ||
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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Coming up with good Aspects is HARD. Coming up with 10 of them is neigh impossible. Later versions of Fate narrow this to 5 -- One High Concept, One Trouble, and Three more general ones. SotC also has a huge list of pre-defined Stunts. Later versions simplify that with a simple mechanic for creating your own. I like the flavour of SotC stunts, but the mechanics can get in the way of pick-up game. I love SotC character creation tho -- essentially the characters together come up with a set of back-blurbs for three pulp stories each -- one where a PC is a star, and the other two PCs are supporting characters, and two others where the PC appears as a supporting character. Three of the aspects are supposed to be related to those stories -- this gives the PCs some backstory, and helps give the GM some ideas about who these characters are. (I also love Dresden RPG city generation, but that's another topic.) Last edited by L.J.Steele; 05-12-2021 at 12:47 PM. |
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05-12-2021, 03:44 PM | #18 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: traveller
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
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05-13-2021, 11:27 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
Check out my Ellis Affair adventure in Worlds in Shadow -- it's essentially a pulp/SotC adventure ported to Fate Core.
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05-20-2021, 02:03 PM | #20 |
Join Date: May 2021
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Re: What makes for a good pick-up game?
Simple with pre-gen characters is the staple "pick up". My go to is Paranoia - skill or less on d20 to do a skill thing. I always have a print out of a scenario and characters on a shelf.
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