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I am new to the RPG world and starting to work on my first game. I have read the Narrator's guide on developing episodes but the books guidelines don't work for me. I have been trying out different format, such as outlines, but I haven't found my writing style yet. I was wondering what you all use. I know each person is different and have different ways of developing ideas. I thought maybe we could all share our different styles of developing a game. Thanks.
I usually start out with a bare bones outline. Beginning and ending first, then filling in the blanks with story moments or beats to get the characters from beginning to end.
I always leave the middle flexible, because the players will always come up with something unexpected. I'm a flexible enough GM to go with the flow and still guide the players to the ending I already have in mind. I also find that sometimes I riff off players' ideas, and that helps to flesh out the episode more as we go.
If there are specific skill checks or such that I expect the players will need to make, I'll plug those into my outline (for instance, "At this point, the engineer should realize that he needs to recalibrate the such-and-such; doing so is a TN 15 sys op test"). If the player doesn't get to it, it' s not a big deal. We'll find another solution.
I try very hard to not create a rigid story or outline, mainly because I never want my players to feel like they're being railroaded.
Well, I run CODA, but I have felt the LUG/ICON books helps you not only come up with ideas but how to put together your episodes such as: The Planets of the UFP; Planetary Adventures; Holodeck Adventures; A Fragile Path; and amongst other adventures LUG/ICON published. Find these books and they can help plan and help get an idea on how to construct adventures/episodes. I also have some old FASA stuff as well, but I think the LUG/ICON was better made. Also the LUG/ICON people are also the original CODA people so most of the information between the two are the same just mostly the system differs with easu convesion rules.
So hunt for them at used shops or the net they are worth it. Owen may be selling them still. :)
I draw out out a flow chart , with plot point like beaming down to the planet to discover wreackage . skill check succeeded - downed klingon bird of prey . skill check fail - miss id ship , unknown or need more time .
I was happy after the 1st time i tried this . The adventure writes it seft. Now you have think fast on detailing on what they see.
The ship's scanner picked refined metals . that is boring . You're called to the ready room. Lt. Reed is reviewing his padd . ect ect
If your new to Narrating & to the Star Trek RPG you might want to use the free adventures from Decipher first, to see how they were done. One of them also has 4 pre-generated characters which I've used in my campaign since I find it faster than people rolling up their own characters.
After you've tried the free adventures, you may getter a better idea of how to create your own adventures.
I'm also using the adventures from the old LUG Star Trek adventure books which are easily converted to Coda rules.
There's also a fair number of free fan-created adventures I've found on the Net.
I write up the bare bones of the 'episode' objectives I'd like the characters to get to, and notable NPCS, then improvise from there. Sometimes player players come up with a more interesting idea and I run with it :D
Generally, what I do is set a "scene" in mind and build it from there. In fact, once I had an entire campaign based on one scene. Turned out great too.
Best bet is to start with a published episode and see how it handles timing, and different branches in the plot.
Then, diagram that out, in a series of steps.
Modify the steps for your episode, changing all the details around.
LUG trek was great for suggestions as to how to write episodes. Each narrator's guide for TOS, NG, and DS9, is fuill of good stuff for stories.
I liked that Decipher's version did not copy that style, but added in even more hints and ideas as to how to present themes.
I took your advice and printed off the Decipher-made adventures. I am examining them to see how they develop "episodes." Thanks for the suggestion. I have no idea Decipher had such adventures pre-made.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jem'hadar
There are also a couple of adventures in the Beyond the Final Frontier webzine. Link here: http://home.mchsi.com/~gandalfofborg/Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerod
And the LUG Trek adventures on this site are good, to great.
Planetary Adventures from LUG is also a good source of adventures, and if you are running a Romulan Campaign, the Way of D'era boxed set is excellent. All easily convertible for plots to decipher.
Make it up on the fly, man.
Given the tight plotting that Star trek requires, I find it extremely difficult to make it up "on the fly."
Star Wars, perhaps, since it is simple stories and lots of action. You can always have tie fighters or stormtroopers show up.
But if a Klingon battlecruiser appeared every 10 minutes in a Star trek scenario, it would seem extremely unusual, to put it mildly.
I think the scale and scope of the differnet genres make gaming them very different.
Well, you might want to reevaluate what the situation needs to be dramatic. generally, making important NPCs less than immediately helpful, or giving important ones motives that work at cross-purposes, can have the PCs running around trying to get everything to fit. Social problems can be as important as people trying to kill the crew.Quote:
Originally Posted by LUGTrekGM
If you are going to wing it–which is possible, but not everyone's good at it–remember that the key to doing so is giving the PCs reason to be pro-active instead of re-active. Give them a reason to be plunging through 'plot' instead of waiting around for the next battlecruiser.
I'd suggest having a few 'set pieces,' places or arrangement that you want to have happen–like a space battle, a play in the king's court, a standoff with the computer, hallucination in the labyrinth-comet–and just find ways to tie them together in play, based around what the PCs are doing.
If you want some printed advice, one of the LUGtrek authors, Robin Laws, wrote a slim book called "robin's laws of gamemastering." Warehouse 23 should have it in stock, or you could get your store to order it.
Ah, I misinterpreted your meaning.
Most GMs I have seen "Winging it" treat Star Trek (or other games) like D&D in Space.
I like to run games with an A plot, B plot, plus an A plot Twist, that may or may not relate on a harmonious / theme level to B (which usually involves character backstory or ongoing development.)
I find that if I wing it, and it is not an action-based game, like D&D, Mechwarrior, Twilight:2000, or Recon, I lose the theme, and focus of the story, relatively rapidly.
If it is an action-based game, then the action becomes the drama. Character development, wha? "I just leveled and bought a +3 sword / M-60" and bring on the charging hordes, and a bag full of dice. I like running, and playing those, also.
What I consider to be theme-based games like Star Trek, Traveller, Top Secret (although it is split action/theme) and Skyrealms of Jorune, I really must have a plot, with some wiggle room left over for PC input and decisions.
Robin's Laws is a good reference.
I also have
Grey Ghost Games' Gamemastering Secrets
Sean Patrick Fannon's Fantasy Roleplayer's Bible
Gamemaster Law by ICE
Master of the Game, and Roleplaying Mastery by Gygax
Dicing with Dragons by Ian Livingstone.
I personally would be hard pressed to game Star Trek on the fly, and have it feel consistent with what I have done before. I try to write 2 or 3 episodes in advance, and keep it as much on track with the evolving / planned major story arc as I can.
I was mistakenly under the impression that you meant, "Okay, you guys are on the bridge, and [consult random encounter chart]." My apologies.
Traveller used to urge this, and I hated it, with a passion.
How is this, btw? I saw it around when it first came out but never picked it up. Some big names on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by LUGTrekGM
Well, without going into a full review, if you are new to GMing, "Gamemastering Secrets" is written in the style of a series of essays on gamemastering, setting up campaigns, handling players, how to do maps, etc etc from knowledgeable DMs, and that is interlaced throughout with Dork Tower cartoons.
It's like a nice how-to, especially if you are a beginner.
As a long-time GM, I didn't find anything really new or breathtaking, but the essays were written in an informative, useful style, rather than the somewhat arrogant from on high style that I saw in Gygax's "Insidae." (which Gygax edited, but didn't write.)
I truly disagreed with a lot that "Insidae" had to say, but kept it notheless as a GM's Reference work, and the charts and tables were really useful. I would not recommend Insidae, though, again because I disagree with a lot of it.
At 34.99, Gamemastering Secrets is somewhat steep, considering that it's no rules, and mostly opinion. If you could find it on eBay, I'd say it's worth 20 - 25 USD.
That being said, I paid full price when it came out, and bought a spare off of eBay recently as a birthday present for a GM I've known for 10 years, since he kept borrowing my copy.
Hope that helps.
I, too, have found that for more combat oriented games it's easier to "wing it." That's not to say that such games lack more sophisticated plots - that's up to the GM. But a show like Trek is more about themes, arcs, character development, moral conundrums, and other things that tend to require the GM to have a pretty good idea how things will unfold.
It's like writing a book. It's clear from reading them that some authors start writing before they know how the book will end, while others have a structure mapped out ahead of time. Each method works well for certain situations.
For me, the overall story arc is the most useful tool to have been invented / brought in from cinema in gaming.
Star Wars d6 radically changed my games for the better when West End Games really detailed out how to present a scenario in terms of scenes.
I enjoyed dungeons, but it always somehow felt like I was not conveying the flow of the action, especiallly when "Dungeon Crawl" Techniques were used. After the main battle, I didn't want to say "you clean out the rest of the place...you spring 6 traps, and here's the rest of the loot" expressly because I had taken so much time in drawing the places out.
Once I laid it out in scenes, story artc, and character development, it became much more like a film / TV Show episode, which is what I always deeply wanted.
Now I am much more satisfied, since I still need a diagram, but it is a plot diagram, rather than a dungeon. All of the side rooms in a dungeon led the stories to being flat, or without a general theme.
And Star Trek is sort of fuzzy, so it is more forgiving, say, than Traveller.
I enjoy both, but my Traveller campaign hardly ever gets any air time, because it was expressly designed for the ref to focus on the little details, and also generally has smaller ships which are very mission specific.
Given the chance, I am more than happy to take weeks to generate all the scientific details of even one world. Fun, and creatively challenging, but very time consuming.
I usually start with a broad plot and start to narrow it down to a series of encounters/scenes. It's almost like writing a program in BASIC, sometimes, because it boils down to "if this, then that, or else, this...".
A lot of times the players create their own ideas for adventures- use them! For example:
"My character has a hot girlfriend" reads, "character is romatically involved with a romulan spy...."
"I like to carouse in underground gambling dens" equals "character frequently gets into trouble with local governments and undcovers a plot to overthrow the planetary magistrate...."
You get the idea.
And I recommend avoiding the "There it is" set up of adventuring.
GM: Sensors detect a protostar forming in the adjacent sector...
Player: Comm, inform Starfleet to send a proper science vessel to investigate...(turns to you) what else you got?
It's like the difference between 'proactive' and 'reactive' approach to gaming. I prefer 'reactive' or the 'anvil drop' approach.
GM: Sensor detect a protostar forming all around the ship and collapsing quickly.
Player: Get us out of here!
GM: The ship doesn't respond.
Player: SH*T!
And high stakes- always think big! I always put the Federation at risk, and if the players flub the adventure, it just opens a whole series of new adventures to make!
Well, that's just my 2 cents....
I'm not so much a fan of high stakes as much as personal stakes.
I would use your protostar nebula as "Background scene art."
Since they are scanning it, it is happening, it doesn't require a decision, thus it is usually going to be an event, not an ancounter, unless there is an "Inciting Incident."
But as you say, it forms around you.. requires action....exactly. I totally agree.
Or
A strange radio signal emanates from the nebula, on an unusual frequency.
It forces the CO to make the call, and "Ask for the science team", or "Ignore it and move on."
A command decision.
If by ignoring it, the CO just passed up an alien distress call, then some other power or faction helps those aliens, and it shifts the balance of power in the region, or the CO gets a reprimand, or a court martial scenario.. which leads to nothing, or.. something bad, with the crew as reluctant witnesses.
Or
Witnessing the protostar nebula forming, suddenly the system disappears, with the resulting subspace shockwave, or whatever. Turns out, after checking the charts, a lot of mapped systems have disappeared.
Or
A non-Federation ship is sportted, moving toward the Protostar system. If the captain lets this other power get the jump on some new scientific advance, there's hell to pay, not next week, not 3 months, but 6 months of campaign time down the road, as a trail of evidence leads back to this incident as the key to why something critical is all messed up for the Federation, especially the sector that the crew's ship patrols.
That being said, if A CO player turned to me as Starfleet, and said "What else you got?" I'd just move on, and have one of the above things happen, because really, to me a protostar or solar flare or anything like that, is just chrome and shininess on the campaign, as background filler.
But, IF they had some kind of silly smirk going on to boot, I mean, it's a challenge to me as storyteller. I'd have the Admiral call up the ship, and have the Comms officer say, "Captain, Admiral Morrison is on the line from Starfleet Command, with new Secret, Sealed orders for your eyes only."
And in a private communication in the ready room, 5 minutes later, the Admiral says, in a quiet voice, very flat, disinterested tone, "What do I got? A take-charge, agressive Commander currently commanding a Destroyer that is going to get your chair in a week, if you don't figure out why you were sent out there in the first place. Consider yourself reprimanded, and get back on task. Report your findings in 2 solar days. Morrison out."
And I've had players smile and walk out on the "Bridge, and say, "Ah, we have been ordered to scan the protostar. Priority Mission, many things I can't reveal at this time depend on our mission success...Sciences, I want you to prepare an Astrophysical Team..." and we game on.
I've also had players quit. And I let them go. and we game on. The regular players know I play seriously, for the most part. Some might do that, because they want to portray a role that way. And we do that dance. Maybe one day, a Captain like that recovers, and takes the Admiral's own job, earning his respect in a very lnog-term story arc.
But I don't need some smart-alek player as a Captain.
I, and the rest of the crew work too hard writing and playing scenarios, doing maps, and all the rest, to have BS like that going on, with players trying to "Crack the Scenario" or "Shortcut to the Chase" and the rest of that kind of crap.