Narrating Tips

[Vaebn]

I am about to narrate my first game. Does anyone have any tips for me or old games I could study?

Many thanks

[Thundergod]

Running a game is like doing an open book Test in a college class. I have found that the same efforts that I use for that also work for running a good game. Take your mission outline and write down notes on 3x5 cards. These notes usually take the form of stats for NPC's, information that NPC's might have, and item information. I have found that it works well to note what various items do and Who has them. In example...
(Tien picks up Jubae's Tricorder, then later tries to run a geological scan. Jubaes Tricorder is a medical one, and it has been modified by her to read only Andorian male porn.)

This fact could have easily slipped the GM's mind and ole Tien might have gotten some info that he shouldn't have had yet(or some really strange porn).
The next big help is to use post it notes and create book marks in my books. That is to say that if I have a Vorcha ship in my game it is best to have that page bookmarked so I can jump to it.

Also I have found that for first time and Long time players it is essential for the GM to establish the course of Play. What I mean by this is who talks when. Fist the GM then the players react. Often right in the middle of a GM scene discription the Players will shout out..."I Stun Him" and it will mess up the scene. Let your players know that when they can act is when you have finished the scene discription. Stunning the ugly alien as it lumbers through the door seems like a good idea, until you realize it was only captian picard in his halloween Horta costume. My Cue to the players is that I say..."What do you do?" It usually comes out as whuduoudo?!

Maps are cool. Players dig maps. If you have a building give them a map. If you have an alien ship draw them the hallway. You dont have to be meter for meter specific(some freaks that think you do go back to computer gamming thank you) but try and give them basic scale.

And DRAW. My freind Ben Pope cant draw anything but stick figures, but let me tell you those are some of the funniest coolest neatest stick figures ever drawn. Just scribble it out, but give them pictures!

And lastly I have found that props are really cool but often times distracting. Feel free to use props but remove the batteries from anything you want to use. REMOVE THE BATTERIES FROM THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and hypnosis is great. Learn group hypnosis and hypnotize your PC party. Make them run around naked like chickens with six wings. Then tell them they had a great game wake them and hide the video camera. Hide the camera first, it is hard to explaine afterward.

To see how some of my games have turned out go to LCARSCOM.net and see their fan fiction section...Star Trek the Virtual series.

[SIR SIG]

Use your Trek knowledge to the advantage, especially if you have more then the PC's

But like Thundergod said, plan ahead with atleast a outline/overview of what is meant to happen in the game and where it should flow to. Include keypoints such as a problem that the PC's must solve before continuing.

That way if you get off track (and PC's will do that), you can quickly scan your notes and bring this puppy back in line.

OTOH if the PC's start taking the mission in a new direction, flow with it if you are comfortable with 'on the fly' narrating.

Try not to limit the PC's to your rigid guidelines of the mission. Allow them within reason to mold and shape the mission to reach the same goal but from their perspective.

[Lt.Khrys Antos]

I find that changing my voice to simulate the different people and races encountered sets the mood nicely. If my Admiral happens to have the same voice as Shaun Connery then I give my best performance, I do a damn good impression .
Secondly, a little narrated pre-episode information set in a captains log works great. Otherwise I have several cue cards with info waiting on them for easy access.

And remember have a blast while doing it, if your bored or yawning, your players will soon follow. Good Luck.

[Fortunae]

Some additional tips...

Make your players keep Notes...particularly names of NPCs. Sure, you will keep notes too but it's good to have *them* remember who the guy that fell down the turbo shaft two episodes back was as well.

Take time after sessions to hear Comments, Complaints and Concerns... see what sort of stories they enjoy, listen to their ideas about what might be cool.

Select a background arc for your first season and then fill in your episodes as you go...

Example:
My current series
Season One: Starfleet Academy Year 1-4, Solo Seperate Tours adventure based on package picked.

Season Two: U.S.S. Lancer -- 2373 to 2374 as a pick up crew for a Saber class vessel emergency staffed during the Borg invasion of 2373 and then Escort Duty for a construction task group.

Season Three: Dominion War -- U.S.S. Davy Crockett: They have just been transferred as the command staff of the Steamrunner Class Davy Crockett (King of the Wild Frontier).

My series started in 2362, the third season should end in 2375 and the 4th season should be about exploring a far border sector with the Romulans, contesting with the Breen and protecting some new Colonies.

Once you select the premise for the season, you should ensure you have a mixture of Main Plot lines... a ratio that has worked for me more or less is...

Ship Episode -- Mission
Planetary Episode
One PC Character Personal Plotline
Ship Episode -- Battle/Conflict

That works out to about 6 of each per season, and with 6 PCs means everybody gets one personal plotline per season.

Just some thoughts, Peace

[Liquidator Queeg]

The above advice is good food. There's also three major things I try to remember when Narrating Trek episodes (or any RPG really)...

Steve's Narrating Rule #1:

The single most important thing to remember is that your players are the stars of the show. Make sure you give each one of them something important to do during each episode. It seems like an obvious thing to do, but very often episodes get sidetracked or one or two players may grab most of your attention and unintentionally usher others into supporting roles for the evening.

Don't let this happen. Sure, it's fine to have one character be the "focus" of an episode to bring out her personality or background, but always make sure you have something important for all the other players to do in every episode.

Steve's Narrating Rule #2:

Good guest stars make for good adventures. Even the most cliche, thrown-together episode can be great fun if your players really enjoy interacting with your extras and guest stars.

Even if you've constructed a masterfully intricate plot and mystery, it's not too often that your players will reminisce about "the subtle way that the clues were laid out in a self-replicating encrypted computer virus, and that when we touched the third button on the left on each console on the bridge that the program initiated a holographic projection of a Romulan that mocked us for our lack of brilliance for taking so long to figure out the mystery behind why our computers were messing up."

But they will remember "Navek, that smooth-talking, eye-patch wearing Romulan who could drink like a fish and loved Wagnerian operas, and who charmed our pants off with humorous stories of Romulan senators at the diplomatic dinner in Ten-Forward while one of his subcommanders was infecting our computers with a self-replicating encrypted virus."

Steve's Narrating Rule #3:

Go with the flow and have fun! Sometimes, your players can write the script of an episode better than you can. If what they're talking about or what they think is going on is more interesting or fun than what you had planned--take their cue and run with it! They'll never know they wrote the episode while playing it!

These rules of thumb have always served me well when I'm in the Narrator's (or "Director's") chair. I hope they're useful to ya'!

Cheers!

Steve

[Captain Zymmer]

There are two hard fast rules I narrate by...

1] Make your NPCs come to life...know them...speak in their voice so that the players know who it is just by the way you speak. Never say "So he comes up to you and asks you where the warp core report is" Instead be him and ask the PC where the report is. As already suggested different voices and accents can go a long way to helping with this. But never let the NPCs overwhelm the players. Havr them defer to the players whenever possible. Never have them come up with the solution, have them suggest an idea instead. Remember this game is for your players.

2] Never, ever railroad your players. Nudge them, guide them, but if they don't want to open the box, don't make them open the box. Once you learn to roll with it of "wing it" as is commonly said, you will have muc more enjoyable sessions, and so will your players.

Now as a general rule, all the information found in any RPGs "how to narrate" chapter are good and solid ground rules...you would be surprised how many of us "old timers" forget them.

Let us know how it turns out

[ghosty]

Some tips of gaming:

3 things you have to remember:

Story
Make sure you have a solid story. It doesn't have to be written out in full, you just have to know how it begins, how it should end and how the PCs should get there although they will inevitable go off on their own tangent, be flexible to change the story. Sometimes you'll have to brute force them back in line with obvious plot hooks but try not to it too often unless they've gone so far off track they'll never get back on the right path.

Atmosphere
Create the atmosphere for the game. Narrative voice is important, change your pitch and tone to suit the atmosphere you want to create. Change your voice to differentiate between NPCs. If you're not sure how to describe scenes, read a few ST novels to get the feel of how a starship interiors are described.

Pacing
This is the most difficult part of the game. Like a movie a badly paced game can spoil a game. Keep the players interested and if they PCs are split up change from group to group frequently. Use cliffhangers if you can to keep the players on edge. The best way to learn about pacing is to watch some of the better trek episodes to get an idea of how a story should be paced out.

Keep these 3 principles in mind and your games should run just fine.

[Vaebn]

Thanks for all the advice! It shall be put to good use

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Vaebn
Thanks for all the advice! It shall be put to good use

We've given you the powers of a Game Master use it wisely and well and you will become a true Master.

[Captain Zymmer]

Indeed, and beware the dark side of Narrating...you are not more important than the players, you are a cooperative...now go young Padewan and tell your stories

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Captain Zymmer
Indeed, and beware the dark side of Narrating...you are not more important than the players, you are a cooperative...now go young Padewan and tell your stories

...and don't kill PCs unless they absolutely deserve it...

But seriously don't give into temptation when they piss you off to become a "killer GM". No fifty borg cubes appearing out of nowhere just because they planted the NPC you spent hours creating in an early grave before he had five minutes of screen time.

Oh yes, create NPCs who aren't two dimensional. Don't archetype them as that makes them boring. How I do it is that I create the PC I would run if I was playing that particular NPC and there you have it.

One last thing, don't confine your reading to game material, read a wide variety of books from history to technothrillers because you never know where ideas will spring. Also if you go beyond the usual material you may just catch the PCs by surprise.

[Imagus]

I found I got the best episodes by remembering the suggestions in the Narrator's Toolkits - treat it as a TV show.

Things don't have to make sense from a realistic point of view, if they make good drama, so ignore die rolls and complicated scientific facts if the inaccurate version is more enjoyable (sounds like Voyager doesn't it? ). Speed of response tends to be more helpful to maintaining the atmosphere than perfect detail.

Never let the players drag you into tedious canon/detail debates, but at the same time follow their more interesting ideas. Do not stick rigidly to any plan - the players will always screw it up ("no plan survives contact with the enemy").

Also, I did my best to round off each session as one episode, follow the season arc concept, and when I introduced guest stars, I told the players who the actor was. It really seemed to help them visualise what was going on.

Also, a game working on a TV reality allows you to do cinematic type stuff like foreshadowing, flashbacks, cut scenes and all kinds of other little television tricks.

OTOH, I try to limit humour dissing the setting. Ok, a lot doesn't make sense, but pointing out the problems with the Federation tends to ruin the atmosphere.

Top rule: Above all, have fun.

Oh, and the players aren't the enemy, you're all there to have a good time!

[Capt Daniel Hunter]

Originally posted by Imagus


Oh, and the players aren't the enemy, you're all there to have a good time!

Good advice. I remember my first ever role playing session. It was a Trek game using the old FASA system, back in 1988. The GM ahd the strange impression that the players should be able to do things that the charcters can do. In one session (second I think) he required the player who was navigator to actually physically calculate the elliptical course we wan't to perform to dodge the 3 Klingon cruisers we were facing. needless to say, or non-mathematically minded player couldn't do it. We died.

After a couple more sessions like that, we kind of mutineed, and I started to GM.

[ghosty]

Originally posted by Capt Daniel Hunter


Good advice. I remember my first ever role playing session. It was a Trek game using the old FASA system, back in 1988. The GM ahd the strange impression that the players should be able to do things that the charcters can do. In one session (second I think) he required the player who was navigator to actually physically calculate the elliptical course we wan't to perform to dodge the 3 Klingon cruisers we were facing. needless to say, or non-mathematically minded player couldn't do it. We died.

After a couple more sessions like that, we kind of mutineed, and I started to GM.

What Captain Hunter is trying to point out is that it is fine to make the players role-play certain skills (mostly those that involve interacting with other PCs and NPCs) but don't be absurd and make them role-play out things they are clearly incapable of doing. Calculating an eliptical course, unless you have an advanced degree in physics and probably some knowledge of astrophysics its probably impossible. So keep the game simple but fun and don't be bogged down by attributes and skill levels.

So go young apprentice and tell your tales, one day you may earn the accolade as being a TRUE GAME MASTER