The Game Play’s the Thing
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… wherein you’ll catch the mind of the players.
Once upon a time, GM’s were the Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger of their gaming story, which were almost by default a species of fantasy/horror. The accursed random encounter his weapon of choice:
“What luck finding a proper privy in this dungeon. The fur-lined seat is warm and inviting, until the MIMIC’S CLAWS FORM BETWEEN YOUR KNEES AND …!”
The tradition has been kept alive on a pile of dead characters; their tear-stained and balled up sheets stuffed into a pillow for the veteran GM to sit upon like a throne of honor - speaking their accolades and soaking their flatulence - hopefully. Now, this current generation is talking about story games - mechanically letting the players assert some authorship into how their characters behave, aspire and expire horribly. What’s a GM to do?
I’m not talking about simply loosening or eliminating the plot rails, listening to what they wish will happen next nor mining their Oliver Twist length and tone back stories for plot ideas. I’m talking about full authorship. “Axehaft Furrypiece leads the group through the tundra to a small barbarian village, not unlike the one he grew up in. Tell us, what we see.” The player creates the exposition and you’ve got nothing planned outside of a note reading “barbarian village in peril”.
Many a game master can’t get into this loss of control, like an ambush predator being hand fed in the zoo. The king has become committee chairmen, the game master is mere participant. Others have grown to enjoy the crafting of an intricate tale that they gradually reveal to their quasi-captive player audience, and now would have to endure listening to large chunks of their awesome world get soiled upon by these rank amateurs: “This road leads to Rainbow Village, where beautiful topless female centaur-unicorns frolic all day in tickle fights, make magic weapons for pleasant visitors and pee cure potions.”
Story games need not be this way, and may still capture the shared creativity of the entire group. Here are methods of managing a shared story:
1. Genre Convention: Put your Sailor Moon dress away! The genre of the game you’re running should be or implicitly is agreed upon by everyone that joins the game. Unless you’re playing in a setting with randomly opening … rifts to other dimensions (shame on you) your setting is going to have some tropes going into it. D&D doesn’t have starships … good D&D doesn’t have starships. Besides technology there is also certain a tone all should agree upon. There’s no Smurf village in Ravenloft, unless the little imps attack in zombie swarms.
2. Delegate to Democracy: Your disapproval of something can get you labeled as exercising unfair fiat - a lavender F stamped on your screen. Players will stop volunteering ’cause you may just shut it down. When something weird rubs you wrong, open it to the whole group. “Does it make sense to everyone that the orphaned rogue has a rich philanthropist Uncle that loves and showers him in gold?” “No” is the obvious answer, but if they say yes to something else be ready to roll with it. If they say yes to the ridiculous - it’s probably pay back for your past ridiculousness (a barrel full of stirges or chuul in the bath tub) and they’re likely just testing you. Control your instinct to set up a TPK! It’s time to level up as a GM.
3. Compromise: this can be the most fun and creatively challenging. Work your own vision into the player proposed idea while letting it remain true. The devil, the DM, is in the details. There is a Rainbow Village populated by female centaur unicorns that craft magic weapons - so they‘re kind of high leveled. They do tickle fight and have Tasha’s Hideous Laughter as a spell-like touch attack. They give pleasant visitors swag, but are very sensitive ladies. Rude visitors have their XP harvested via fey ritual to craft their items. A single snide remark or unflattering perkiness comment will trigger a high level magic item equipped battle hard enough to get the characters leaping for every puddle on the prairie hoping it’s cure potion.
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