So today was not so bad, a good time was had by all, I think. It was a transition game and I played a little fast and loose with getting the party to go where I wanted. I know the PCs all have different jobs but they all want you to go to the same place for “training.” It was a little hokey and was not a well planned out way to get the party to go somewhere. I will have to do better next time. In this game I had them all go to Raleigh and meet the Ahroun’s fixer (for lack of a better word). In other words when stuff needs to be cleaned up quickly and quietly this is the person he calls. Now she is asking him for a favor. I was trying to give the group another thing to do and another goal to work towards. I am giving my group the ability to decide amongst themselves what things are possible to achieve their goal. I am not going to penalize them for picking one goal over another, however I do have to keep in mind that they picked the primary goal of finding out about B.A.R.E. (you know the corporation that Mr. Montgomery works for that is trying to take the house) as opposed to the secondary goal of helping the fixer. I should make note that by not helping the fixer she may occasionally bring up her goal and ask if there has been any progress. That does not mean that she should be upset, I mean anyone would worry about keeping their place of residence over this secondary goal, which is to find a book (the diary of Alexander the Great). I know it would actually be scrolls, and I know that it is not a real thing, but wouldn’t it be interesting if he had written a diary, and would it not be neat to find it? That’s the hook. My group was a bit skeptical about meeting the fixer and it took a while to get through with this section, and that happens sometimes which means I had to cut short the other sections.
(TANGENT) I read on reddit where someone was frustrated with their players going off on tangents and talking about things other than the game. Don’t worry too much about this, if you’re a stickler and try and mention it too much that you are here for the game, the players may not want to come back. The purpose of playing the game is interaction, the players with one another, and the Game Master with the players. If they get sidetracked go with them, get caught up in the conversation, but be mindful of the time, let them wonder for a bit. Then steer them back to the game, wait until there is a pause in the conversation, don’t just but in, “…but what about the game?” In our games, because our group plays many, someone will eventually say, “Squirrel!” or, “No shit there we were.” to imply that we have gotten off on a tangent and need to get back to the game. As a Game Master, this does not have to be you all the time. One way to get people back into the game is to talk about something related to the conversation that happened to a Player Character or an Non Player Character. Sometimes this will bring on another round of tangent, and sometimes after a short discussion of what the PC or NPC did, then the person talking will say something about getting back to the game to see what the PCs and NPCs will do next. (TANGENT OVER)
So there they were, all worried that I was sending them into a trap. I had them go to my tavern/diner/meeting place. It took awhile, but I think one of my players recognized the place from where I introduced it in a previous game, which is ok as they were pretty good about not metagaming (I.e. using out of game knowledge to have a character do something in character). We will discuss metagaming a bit more in depth in a future blog. (Boo, no tangent, LOL) After they had been there a while one of the other characters noticed the back room with city names on it. That character opened one of the doors and noticed another tavern/diner/meeting place. At the end of the game session I have the group go into a meeting room, that doesn’t fit into the diner from the outside, and have them meet a gentleman. I know I am dating myself a bit, but I show them a picture of Pat Morita, if you don’t know who that is you should IMDB him. That’s the end for now.