The RPG Formula

DiceMasterNick

This is sort of a part 2 to my other "topic":http://forums.obsidianportal.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1272&page=1

RPGs have been around for a long time, and every video game designer/directer has struggled to create the perfect RPG formula.
Many elements can be incorporated into the equation.

1.*Reoccurring Villain*: There are many kinds of villains but they pretty much brake down into 3 groups. The Mastermind whom the players only hear about for a very long time but never see. The Thug, who arrives suddenly to the story and is dispatched immediately. And the reoccurring Villain who the players often times know about from the very beginning of the campaign. This villain shows up time and again to thwart the party and get away by slipping through the adventurer's fingers. Sometimes the reoccurring villain can drive the entire plot of the campaign. His/her initial appearance/betrayal can set the seen of the game and work as a reminder of what the players are really after each time they find a clue to his/her whereabouts.
I try to use all three kinds of villains in my campaign and make them all interconnected. There is always a master mind, often the players dont learn of him until he is revealed to be served by the reoccurring villain, and the thugs.

So that is one example. Please share with us some elements youv found to be components to a successful story and RPG.

DiceMasterNick

Here are a cuple more I thought of:

2.*The Mentor*: This is the Obi-one of the campaign. The character that serves to teach and guide the players through their experience. I sometimes use this character as a NPC that directly participates in the party, fighting along side the heroes. However, recently I've discovered that this roll is better filled from a position outside of combat. This way I am not obligated to "prove" that the character is wise and powerful by creating them at high level. Instead I give them a more strict advisory role, keeping them at home base while the real adventurers do the fighting.

3.*Dragons*: You cant have a campaign without dragons. I dont know why, its just a rule. (especially if you play Dungeons and Dragons). Dragons at their very lowest point are just challenging monsters to fight, at their highest they can be very dynamic characters in their own right.

4.*Shoot first, Ask questions later*: I always start a campaign with combat. Most times I'll tell the players a bit about the setting leading up to this combat, but day one of the campaign, everyone rolls for initiative. Players invest a good amount of time into creating what they think will be a fun, exciting, powerful character to play, and they are always eager to test their abilities. I like to get things started quickly, and letting the players get over the itch to kill something lets them relax into a more "role play" environment and begin to focus on other aspects of their character's development.

5.*Riddles*: Many table-top gaming books provide rules on how to create interesting challenges with monsters and traps, but one challenge that is often over looked is the riddle. I love using riddles because it puts every player on and equal playing field. No character is any better than another at solving a riddle. These enigmas are simple to use and with the right delivery add tremendous flavor to a campaign.

RobJustice

Recently a memo from David Mamet to a group of writers for the TV series The Unit surface. David Mamet tells me the formula for my games. While its written for TV writing, I think a lot of the same principles can be applied to campaign design. Early in the memo Mamet lays out what is Drama: "DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL." and THAT is the formula for a solid campaign to me.

http://www.movieline.com/2010/03/david-mamets-memo-to-the-writers-of-the-unit.php

I also disagree with your #3 and #4. First, I don't run many fantasy games and the ones I do are low-fantasy. Dragons just don't make for a good game in those cases. Number four, I loath combat in my games. I'd rather have my players ask questions and shoot only as a last resort. These are my personal play style though.

arsheesh

Good stuff Nick. The viability of #3, #4 and #5 are all context dependent. People who like high-fantasy, or even those like myself who are most at home in mid-fantasy, will likely want to encounter iconic figures such as dragons in a fantasy campaign. Those who are into low-fantasy will likely not, but hey, that's why there are different campaign genres. As far as starting out with an exciting action sequence, I like the idea, and my guess is that the average gamer does as well. Of course those such as Rob do not, but the key, as always, is to know what your players like and write your adventures accordingly. Dido for #5. Yet since most of us like a variety of gaming elements (such as exciting action sequences and riddles) I still find these to be, on the whole, good rules of thumb.

DiceMasterNick

Well Im glad to hear a your opinion on the elements I provided. But what about yours? What components make up a good campaign for you? Whats your bread and butter? How do you choose what to throw in and what to leave out?

Heres another one from me:
6.*Avoiding Disablers*: When designing an encounter one must consider how to make such things challenging. In general, I avoid having monsters/npcs that disable the hero or are immune to the power the adventurer possess. Players invest a lot of sentiment into the strengths of their character, take that away from them and you often get a "aww darn" reaction. Yes you might think it necessary to challenge your players to find new solutions to problems and not rely on the same old tricks, but Id recommend doing this to the party very rarely. Instead, I choose to build monsters and NPC challenges that are strong in their own way without dropping negative effects on the players or negating the effectiveness of their prepared strategies and tactics. Consider the difference between buffs and de-buffs, I just stick to the buffs. Obviously I dont avoid them completely but as a guideline I just think in this direction. In addition, I like to use terrain as my primary "de-buff". Having players fight on difficult terrain, like narrow bridges or under water serves to make things difficult enough without pitting them against creatures that may be the acid to their base. This also ensures that in each encounter, the payers are able to capitalize on all the strengths of their characters, maximizing there potential, and this serves to sustain a very happy player (regardless of whether or not they survive the encounter).

wsocrates

My gaming group tends to be the shoot first ask questions later so I can see #4. I tried the #1 but since the like #4 so much I would either have to over come them or have them take out my villian. I could never really find a good balance. We have never done #2. And you need a dragon in your game if you do fantasy. Riddles have their place and I am still trying to figure it out.


I will now tell you what I am doing in my current campaign. I set up from the begining what the end game was. I then put them in a place where they can start following the clues. I desinged up a number of adventures that will take them from point A to Z. I also put in a few thing to let them skip steps. I have put in several secret groups that are also interested in the campain goal. Some they will meet some they will not. Some will help others will not. So there is no overwelming villian per say. Just different groups with different goals. In Earthdawn the game that I am running Dragons are always to powerful to confront directly. They also tend to deal with people indirectly . In fact one of the short cuts is coming from a dragon. Now will the players find it it is up to them. If the players play smart I will try to match the game to their level. but I will also leave it open for them to do what they want. If they want to charge head long into a dragon den I am going to let them. So now that I have the frame work set I have several short adventures for them. I do not want to push them into one direction or another I have seen to many campaigns backfire on that one (see below.)

So I guess you can say this is how I have it laid out
1. Campaign fram works
2. Hints to parts of campain frame work
3. Random adventures
4. Hints to random adventures that look like hints to parts of the campaign frame work.

wsocrates

ok this is see below sorry I wanted to tell the tale with out stopping my thought. I played in this one campaign. We were all neutrals. We were hired by a gold dragon to go spy on this blue dragon. And the campaign was us doing various jobs for the gold dragon. Well we did not know this. So we get to the blue dragon and we liked the deal he was selling so we joined up with him. Now the GM converted what he could but he waisted a lot of energy for a campaign we changed and did not realize it.

VegasDM

I'm developing #1,
#2 is my player's dragon patron, though "Splurg":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadowsofthedragongod/characters/splurg is a close second,
#3 is all over the place in my campaign,
my players have NO PROBLEM with #4,
I wish I could use more of #5,
I totally agree with #6,
And here's my version of a number 7:

*7. Suggest, But Don't Lead:* I try not to push my players in a specific direction because they always, without fail, derail my well-laid plans. Instead I've given them an overarching quest goal and told them to accomplish it however you want. Of course, this leads to me making at least 3 whole adventure plans between each pit stop, but I think it's worth it.

Example: My players are heading to Waterdeep from Cormyr. It's along way, and there's all sorts of trouble along the path. And for that matter, the path isn't clear as it once was before the Spellplague, so there's a million obstacles to deal with. I had an entire battle and dungeon crawl planned for this one town they were in, and they purposely ignored the battle going on at the gate and went instead to get on a ship and get the hell out of Dodge. Hey, it happens, and I think the game is better for it.

(You can follow along in my campaign here: "Shadows of the Dragon God":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadowsofthedragongod )

jemmasmum

I would also suggest being flexible, Im sure as the Rulers of the universe we would like to control a lot of things including how the players deal with situations, sometimes you just have to go with it (sorry if this has already been said)

gaaran

One thing that I always do is say "yes" to my players. In my campaign that I'm finally going to get started next week this philosphy has gotten me a party comprised of a sharakim, a tiefling, a cat person, and a dragonborn (I'm running 3.5). This might not work for some people, but this group has gotten me a unique opportunity for a starting point, where none of my players are standard races. I started at level two and I told my players that they could hve up to a one level adjustment for free. I didn't expect Their choices, but I look forward to it. If it's technically within the rules, I'll generally allow it, and we've had some fun situations because of it.

JimTriche

jemmasmum and gaaran, I agree, I try to give the player as much freedom as possible. Especially in plot. If your plot relies too heavily on the players taking one specific course of action, or a DMPC telling them what to do next, I don't feel you've done your job well as a GM. If you study the matter, you should always have multiple paths to plot exposition and resolution. It helps to not overwrite the plot too. Have a loose timeframe and a setting, and use bumpers rather than rails. They should get hints and an easier path if they're following your plot, but it shouldn't be their only option. One thing I used to hate in a former GM of mine was that if we came up with an idea, he would play the "GM=God" card and artificially make things work against the plan, or simply say "You can't do that"

I think it's deserving of a _reward_ if the players come up with a clever plan that totally borks your BBEG's plans or your traps. Clever thinking = reward in my games. Always.

gaaran

yeah Jim, it's just not as fun when your DMs PCs are more powerful that you. But that's not to say that NPCs are never more powerful than the PCs, but either I make them not involved directly, or in one instance, my players managed to make a plausible deal with a solar using greater planar binding (or something like that) where they basically had the solar take care of the enemy for them (I think they were only level 13). Rather than saying no, that won't work, I added in a ritual that the enemy cleric managed to complete before they arrived that summoned a sorrowsworn demon. This effectively neutralized the solar for what I had planned, but the PCs felt awesome that they summoned a creature that took on that demon. And then the PCs got to take care of the enemy cleric anyway. It made for a pretty epic fight (especially since I wasn't rolling for the angel and demon, I just "knew" that the angel was going to barely win) that literally shook the foundations of the temple.

That's my take, always say yes, and then adapt to what the players do. Flexibility is the most important thing for a GM. The players don't know what you have written on your sheet, for all they know, you planned it all along :).

jemmasmum

"I think it

Dyluth

I defineitely agree with point #1 regarding the reoccurring villains. I'm sure this goes without saying for the veteran gamers here on the boards, but I've just realized how the actions, apparent motivations and even the settings that the reoccurring villain or villains shows up in can be a fun way to drop important hints and clues as to the nature of "the Mastermind" and the meta plot the Mastermind may be crafting.