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gridloreBecause campaigning is prohibited at polling places!
Hahaha, I slay me. I'll be here all week, be sure to try your waitress and tip the veal.
The other day I nattered a bit about what would motivate characters in FRPGs to take the insane risks that are the standard fare of the wandering adventurer. That post seemed to be well received, so I thought I'd tackle the harder question: motivations for a party sticking together. Because let's face it, most FRPG parties are wildly improbably associations of classes, races, and alignments that are assembled for tactical reasons. They kind of remind me of my first fire team in the Army; four people with nothing in common thrown together in common cause. But the difference is I had to be given a legal order to work with PFC Kosut (a right-wing religious fanatic with no tolerance for anything that varied from his bigoted views.) Given a choice, I would have rabbited from that team at my first chance. So what motivates these PC groups?
Creating a good party is much harder than developing a single character's motivation. A character and his/her back story can be highly individualized, and doesn't need to be meshed with others. Modern fiction is filled with such solitary heroes (and anti-heroes) who move through the world on their own, or with an ever-changing cast of temporary companions. The Doctor, Samurai Jack, James Bond, Wolverine... all great characters, but lousy for a social activity like gaming. I once ran a Champions game where everyone brought their own Moody Loner Hero. Lasted three sessions. sigh
So, how do you do it? Traveller and other SFRPGs have a great dodge if you start the characters off as the crew of a starship. Firefly took this one step further by making a couple of passengers part of the team in the first episode. We'll return to that example in a bit. But you still face the problem of why the crew doesn't break up at the first port after a successful job. Then there's the cliche that's so old that even Tolkien used it. "You meet in (place) and a mysterious (stereotype) offers you a (quest/job/threat)." Seriously, I first read the Lord of the Rings after I had been gaming for a couple of years. When I got to that scene, I actually said "I didn't know a railroad ran through Rivendell." (Note: I have never actually finished The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's leaves me cold. Thank Halford for the movies.)
To build a good party you need to go back to the characters. I am a huge advocate of the GM sitting down with the players and working on the character story with each player. The GM knows the campaign setting better than each player and can suggest details and work with the player to create a story that encourages future scenarios. Take the example from the previous post of the fighter who is the lesser son of a minor baron. Working with the player, I can place the family holding on a border that I know will eventually be engulfed in war, set up family connections, and so on. The player can help build the world at this stage. If s/he shows enough interest, I might hand over the details of the barony to the player while retaining editorial control.
This is the stage where you create a true party. Because once you know what everyone is playing, you can establish links. Let's create a fairly typical low-level party:
OK, so why are these people traveling together?
One of the easiest ties to establish are bonds of family or obligation. Marie is Amaury's older cousin, and feels a sense of obligation towards him. When he straps on his sword belt and declares his intention to venture out into the world, she decides to join him. Work with the players to develop the history of this relationship. How does Amaury feel about his cousin's protectiveness? Do they bicker? Are they close? Annubn was one of the foresters for Amaury's father. A childhood friend of the fighter, he too choses to accompany the cousins on their journey since he feels unwanted at home.
There, a close-knit group. Where do these other guys come from? One big error many GMs make is to insist that campaigns start at the absolute beginning. This is mistake. Let's look at Firefly again. We start with Mal, Wash, Zoe, Jayne, and Kayleigh already established on the ship. We learn their reasons for joining at various times "pre-game" later in the series. The first "adventure" introduces Shepard Book, Simon, and River. This is perfectly acceptable. There is nothing wrong with creating off-camera background material with your players. Want a reason for Br. Benito to be there? Have the players come up with a story. Rahde joined after a particularly satisfying brawl. The party got caught up in one of Jebwicket's scams, and now find themselves tied to his enemies. But he's useful. The key is establishing story ties. Then comes the personal ties. This really depends on the players, but I can see a fun relationship developing between Benito and Jebwicket.
Sustaining the party requires tying the various character motivations together so that the party become mutually supporting. As a GM, this means making sure that each character gets at least an occasional starring role in a scenario with ties to another character's goal. Clues to the fate of Rahde's lost clan lies in a crumbling monastery's records. But once there, murder and betrayal reveals a heretical sect backed by.. you get the idea. Each plotted non-Place of Mystery adventure should showcase one character's story with a strong sub-plot for another character's story.
Some will be easier than others. Amaury would appear to be the main hero of the group. He has the most straight forward goal of the group: Gain power to claim his place. This makes him the hardest to write for! More often than not, Amaury is going to be the secondary hero until near the end of the campaign when he really comes into his own. Depending on how the player handles the character, Jebwicket could be an eternal secondary character, providing comedic relief and support, or might come to the fore for several adventures. Some players might not really have a good story line for their character, take Annubn. So far, he simply seems to be a loyal retainer (a perfectly good character type) happy to go along with the others. But a good GM will look for a chance to develop a plot line for this type of character.
There are other great binding methods. A party can be an actual religious group. Paladin, clerics, and other classes of appropriate alignment and faith. A fun version of this is the pilgrimage party, traveling or escorting pilgrims to a religious site. Read up on what pilgrims to Jerusalem went through in the Middle Ages. Having the entire party be members of a group like the Knights Templar can make for interesting adventures. Having the characters thrown together by fate and facing a common foe can be a bit of a railroad, but is great for bringing together wildly different character types in a "we hang together, or hang separately" style game. The great British SF series Blake's 7 is probably my favorite example of this. There are more esoteric ways of banding together (you all wake up in a room with identical sygils burned on your arms) but they are more deus ex machina than I like.
Finally, handling change. Characters die. Benito's player may get a better job and move, leaving the campaign. The GM should always have a couple of "Very Special Episodes" in his pocket to handle these events. If you know in advance a player is leaving, work with the player for a great farewell episode. Establish ground rules for what happens with PC death. If someone just gets tired of their character and wants a change, have at least an outline to account for the change.
Well, that was fun to write.
Any requests for more RPG blathering?
Hahaha, I slay me. I'll be here all week, be sure to try your waitress and tip the veal.
The other day I nattered a bit about what would motivate characters in FRPGs to take the insane risks that are the standard fare of the wandering adventurer. That post seemed to be well received, so I thought I'd tackle the harder question: motivations for a party sticking together. Because let's face it, most FRPG parties are wildly improbably associations of classes, races, and alignments that are assembled for tactical reasons. They kind of remind me of my first fire team in the Army; four people with nothing in common thrown together in common cause. But the difference is I had to be given a legal order to work with PFC Kosut (a right-wing religious fanatic with no tolerance for anything that varied from his bigoted views.) Given a choice, I would have rabbited from that team at my first chance. So what motivates these PC groups?
Creating a good party is much harder than developing a single character's motivation. A character and his/her back story can be highly individualized, and doesn't need to be meshed with others. Modern fiction is filled with such solitary heroes (and anti-heroes) who move through the world on their own, or with an ever-changing cast of temporary companions. The Doctor, Samurai Jack, James Bond, Wolverine... all great characters, but lousy for a social activity like gaming. I once ran a Champions game where everyone brought their own Moody Loner Hero. Lasted three sessions. sigh
So, how do you do it? Traveller and other SFRPGs have a great dodge if you start the characters off as the crew of a starship. Firefly took this one step further by making a couple of passengers part of the team in the first episode. We'll return to that example in a bit. But you still face the problem of why the crew doesn't break up at the first port after a successful job. Then there's the cliche that's so old that even Tolkien used it. "You meet in (place) and a mysterious (stereotype) offers you a (quest/job/threat)." Seriously, I first read the Lord of the Rings after I had been gaming for a couple of years. When I got to that scene, I actually said "I didn't know a railroad ran through Rivendell." (Note: I have never actually finished The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien's leaves me cold. Thank Halford for the movies.)
To build a good party you need to go back to the characters. I am a huge advocate of the GM sitting down with the players and working on the character story with each player. The GM knows the campaign setting better than each player and can suggest details and work with the player to create a story that encourages future scenarios. Take the example from the previous post of the fighter who is the lesser son of a minor baron. Working with the player, I can place the family holding on a border that I know will eventually be engulfed in war, set up family connections, and so on. The player can help build the world at this stage. If s/he shows enough interest, I might hand over the details of the barony to the player while retaining editorial control.
This is the stage where you create a true party. Because once you know what everyone is playing, you can establish links. Let's create a fairly typical low-level party:
- Amaury de la Montagne, Human Fighter (NG). Seeking his fortune away from his squabbling older brothers.
- Annubn Warlyre, Half-Elf Ranger (CG). Outcast by the elves, unwanted by humans
- Marie-Léonore Girard, Human Sorcerer (CN). Questing for ever more power.
- Br. Benito Conrad, Human Cleric (LG). Inspired crusader for the Church.
- Rahde Shalecairn, Dwarf Fighter (LG). Tracking down a lost branch of his clan.
- Jebwicket, Gnome Wizard (Illusionist)/Rogue (CN). As usual, on the run.
OK, so why are these people traveling together?
One of the easiest ties to establish are bonds of family or obligation. Marie is Amaury's older cousin, and feels a sense of obligation towards him. When he straps on his sword belt and declares his intention to venture out into the world, she decides to join him. Work with the players to develop the history of this relationship. How does Amaury feel about his cousin's protectiveness? Do they bicker? Are they close? Annubn was one of the foresters for Amaury's father. A childhood friend of the fighter, he too choses to accompany the cousins on their journey since he feels unwanted at home.
There, a close-knit group. Where do these other guys come from? One big error many GMs make is to insist that campaigns start at the absolute beginning. This is mistake. Let's look at Firefly again. We start with Mal, Wash, Zoe, Jayne, and Kayleigh already established on the ship. We learn their reasons for joining at various times "pre-game" later in the series. The first "adventure" introduces Shepard Book, Simon, and River. This is perfectly acceptable. There is nothing wrong with creating off-camera background material with your players. Want a reason for Br. Benito to be there? Have the players come up with a story. Rahde joined after a particularly satisfying brawl. The party got caught up in one of Jebwicket's scams, and now find themselves tied to his enemies. But he's useful. The key is establishing story ties. Then comes the personal ties. This really depends on the players, but I can see a fun relationship developing between Benito and Jebwicket.
Sustaining the party requires tying the various character motivations together so that the party become mutually supporting. As a GM, this means making sure that each character gets at least an occasional starring role in a scenario with ties to another character's goal. Clues to the fate of Rahde's lost clan lies in a crumbling monastery's records. But once there, murder and betrayal reveals a heretical sect backed by.. you get the idea. Each plotted non-Place of Mystery adventure should showcase one character's story with a strong sub-plot for another character's story.
Some will be easier than others. Amaury would appear to be the main hero of the group. He has the most straight forward goal of the group: Gain power to claim his place. This makes him the hardest to write for! More often than not, Amaury is going to be the secondary hero until near the end of the campaign when he really comes into his own. Depending on how the player handles the character, Jebwicket could be an eternal secondary character, providing comedic relief and support, or might come to the fore for several adventures. Some players might not really have a good story line for their character, take Annubn. So far, he simply seems to be a loyal retainer (a perfectly good character type) happy to go along with the others. But a good GM will look for a chance to develop a plot line for this type of character.
There are other great binding methods. A party can be an actual religious group. Paladin, clerics, and other classes of appropriate alignment and faith. A fun version of this is the pilgrimage party, traveling or escorting pilgrims to a religious site. Read up on what pilgrims to Jerusalem went through in the Middle Ages. Having the entire party be members of a group like the Knights Templar can make for interesting adventures. Having the characters thrown together by fate and facing a common foe can be a bit of a railroad, but is great for bringing together wildly different character types in a "we hang together, or hang separately" style game. The great British SF series Blake's 7 is probably my favorite example of this. There are more esoteric ways of banding together (you all wake up in a room with identical sygils burned on your arms) but they are more deus ex machina than I like.
Finally, handling change. Characters die. Benito's player may get a better job and move, leaving the campaign. The GM should always have a couple of "Very Special Episodes" in his pocket to handle these events. If you know in advance a player is leaving, work with the player for a great farewell episode. Establish ground rules for what happens with PC death. If someone just gets tired of their character and wants a change, have at least an outline to account for the change.
Well, that was fun to write.
Any requests for more RPG blathering?
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no subject
Date: 3 Feb 2011 04:32 (UTC)Hands down the character/party creation session I was involved in was the best such session I have ever been a part of.
I was lucky in that my regular Denver gaming group only had emo loner as what who alones all the time.
The Eugene gamer group ( of which the Good Cmdr_Zoom was a member ) had no such players and was a great all around gaming group.
Also, the natering, keep it up.