Read this and it really got my mind going.
To sum up, this piece of fiction tells about a Russian experiment in the 1940s regarding sleep deprivation that goes horribly awry.
Depending on the game, there are a few different ways this story can be handled at the gaming table.
SLA Industries: Operatives are sent to investigate a Soft Company and the lab is found a) intact while the experiment is in progress, b) after the experiment is over and they have to investigate what happened (hope someone turned off the gas...) or c) again, after the experiment is over, but the subjects are running loose...
Star Wars: What have the Imperials done with some of the people on a remote frontier planet? Well, lets check out the Imperial outpost and find out!
Rapture: The PCs are sent to rescue people from a prison camp that has been set up, only to find that some of the people have been taken for experimentation. What will the do when they discover the subjects have been possessed by demons?
D6 Adventure: duh...Russian (or Nazi) lab raid.
Asylum: Either the characters stumble across the lab...or have volunteered to be test subjects!
Talislanta: Rumors that the Rajan, or Kang, or Quan, or Farad, or Ur (after discovering some long-lost Alchemical texts on chemical warfare), or even possibly a Quaranian Necromancer-King, have reached more civilized lands and the PCs are hired to rescue the test subjects and destroy the lab if possible.
DnD: A Necromancer has been using a new kind of undead to kidnap people in the middle of the night. But the new undead is actually the people being experimented on and turned into nightmarish creatures to be controlled by the Necromancer. These creatures are then used to kidnap more victims for the Necromancers deformed army.
Vampire: Hunting out test subjects for Pentex to experiment on
Werewolf: The tribal shaman or Ragabash has met one of the test subjects while traversing the Umbra and they pleaded with him for help, to save him from a Pentex lab. The PCs are instructed to do so. This would also explain what happens when the test subjects brainwaves flatline.
Hunter: Vampires are out kidnapping people, Werewolves are creeping through the forest...time to get to work boys!
Mage: The Progenitors and New World Order have teamed up with this new way to control the populace, at least that is the idea. When word hits the Traditions, something must be done to stop it.
Cyberpunk/Shadowrun: A contact, or friend, or family member, tells the PCs about this great job they found, it sounds a bit fishy so the PCs did some rooting, only to find out the lab hiring the guinea pigs manufactures toxins for warzones! The PCs have to save their friend before it is too late!
Obviously, this story can be adapted to just about any RPG (Toon might be an issue...) and would make for a great creepy night of role-playing, or a fun night of killing baddies depending on play style of the group.
Me, I prefer to go with the creepy.
Showing posts with label RPG Tabletop Gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RPG Tabletop Gaming. Show all posts
Friday, August 16, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
GM Notes: Random Encounters
A friend recently asked about random encounter tables for Dungeons and Dragons, I posted some suggested places to look according to the best remembrance available to me, then it hit me, I have rarely used random encounters.
This struck me a bit funny, I mean, Dungeons and Dragons is based off of Random Encounters...right?
Absolutely not.
I mulled it over a bit and realized that I never really used random encounters because there was no reason to.
I know where I want my story to be about, why waste time with pointless encounters? If the PCs are fighting against the Thieves Guild and have to go through a nearby forest to get something...why fight random orcs or goblins, when you can fight orcs or goblins that are in league with the guild?
This, of course, takes a little more preparation, but in the end it will fit the story and still seem like a 'random' encounter.
Random encounters are, I believe, meant to show that there is a world outside of the story, to "bring the world to life." I fail to see how this can be accomplished when you roll some dice, check a chart, and put the game on hold while you get all the stats and encounter notes drawn up.
If I am going to pause a game for 5-15 minutes, I am going to take a break as well, not sit at the table gouging my eyes out while getting writers cramp.
Now, I realize that there are reasons for random encounter tables and I am not saying that they should not be used at all. What I am saying is they should not be used during the game because it kills momentum, possibly sends the players on a wild goose chase and has a good chance of putting a player death in the hands of some nobody wolf or catablepas.
The best use of encounter tables I can think of is before the game, while you are still writing the notes for the adventure.
Three days of travel through woodlands? No problem. You know the PCs are going to have to do this, so you grab your d6, roll 4 times for each day (morning, afternoon, evening, overnight), consult your tables and voila! The 'random' encounters have now become regular, planned encounters.
The helps in a couple of different ways:
Party Strength - low to mid level party, and you just rolled an early morning red dragon. Following 'random encounter' usage, your party is now toast (literally). But now, with the 'planned encounter,' you can tailor to the group. Instead of said dragon pouncing out of the forest onto the party for an early morning snack, the party is awakened by a roar and leathery flapping of wings as the dragon flies over the forest. This still provides the feel that there is a world out there unrelated to the story, but has the benefit of not killing the party without a fighting chance or breaking momentum.
Party Gear/Abilities - especially important in low-level or low-magic campaigns. Using the random encounter method you may end up pitting the PC's against something they have no means to damage and then the monster just trounces them back to character generation. Never fun, players prefer to die by adversaries, not random stuff.
Storyline - here is where it gets good. So, lets say the random encounter is 5-10 orcs, you roll your trusty player-killers and get a total of 7. Since this is before the game starts, you jot down that 1 of the orcs is bigger and stronger than the rest, the leader. Another is his second-in-command, and the rest are just scabs breaking union lines because the rest of the orcs are on strike.
Taking it a step further, the main orc is written in as a hireling of the Thieves Guild and his small band of bandits bandies about preying on merchants and passerby's for the guild as well as scouting the area protecting the forest hideout.
Due to them actually being in the guild, they may even be better equipped than the standard orc. Maybe a couple low level magic items, a few healing potions, a map to the hideout or a letter of reference including basic instructions from the Lord Mayor.
And that is how it works, the 'random encounter' of the orcs has now become a 'planned encounter' that actually moves the story forward instead of breaking momentum, and as a bonus even provides more threads in the story to follow.
Enjoy your game.
This struck me a bit funny, I mean, Dungeons and Dragons is based off of Random Encounters...right?
Absolutely not.
I mulled it over a bit and realized that I never really used random encounters because there was no reason to.
I know where I want my story to be about, why waste time with pointless encounters? If the PCs are fighting against the Thieves Guild and have to go through a nearby forest to get something...why fight random orcs or goblins, when you can fight orcs or goblins that are in league with the guild?
This, of course, takes a little more preparation, but in the end it will fit the story and still seem like a 'random' encounter.
Random encounters are, I believe, meant to show that there is a world outside of the story, to "bring the world to life." I fail to see how this can be accomplished when you roll some dice, check a chart, and put the game on hold while you get all the stats and encounter notes drawn up.
If I am going to pause a game for 5-15 minutes, I am going to take a break as well, not sit at the table gouging my eyes out while getting writers cramp.
Now, I realize that there are reasons for random encounter tables and I am not saying that they should not be used at all. What I am saying is they should not be used during the game because it kills momentum, possibly sends the players on a wild goose chase and has a good chance of putting a player death in the hands of some nobody wolf or catablepas.
The best use of encounter tables I can think of is before the game, while you are still writing the notes for the adventure.
Three days of travel through woodlands? No problem. You know the PCs are going to have to do this, so you grab your d6, roll 4 times for each day (morning, afternoon, evening, overnight), consult your tables and voila! The 'random' encounters have now become regular, planned encounters.
The helps in a couple of different ways:
Party Strength - low to mid level party, and you just rolled an early morning red dragon. Following 'random encounter' usage, your party is now toast (literally). But now, with the 'planned encounter,' you can tailor to the group. Instead of said dragon pouncing out of the forest onto the party for an early morning snack, the party is awakened by a roar and leathery flapping of wings as the dragon flies over the forest. This still provides the feel that there is a world out there unrelated to the story, but has the benefit of not killing the party without a fighting chance or breaking momentum.
Party Gear/Abilities - especially important in low-level or low-magic campaigns. Using the random encounter method you may end up pitting the PC's against something they have no means to damage and then the monster just trounces them back to character generation. Never fun, players prefer to die by adversaries, not random stuff.
Storyline - here is where it gets good. So, lets say the random encounter is 5-10 orcs, you roll your trusty player-killers and get a total of 7. Since this is before the game starts, you jot down that 1 of the orcs is bigger and stronger than the rest, the leader. Another is his second-in-command, and the rest are just scabs breaking union lines because the rest of the orcs are on strike.
Taking it a step further, the main orc is written in as a hireling of the Thieves Guild and his small band of bandits bandies about preying on merchants and passerby's for the guild as well as scouting the area protecting the forest hideout.
Due to them actually being in the guild, they may even be better equipped than the standard orc. Maybe a couple low level magic items, a few healing potions, a map to the hideout or a letter of reference including basic instructions from the Lord Mayor.
And that is how it works, the 'random encounter' of the orcs has now become a 'planned encounter' that actually moves the story forward instead of breaking momentum, and as a bonus even provides more threads in the story to follow.
Enjoy your game.
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