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Things I Have Always Wanted to Run a Game For But Have Never Been Able to Pull Off
Posted On: 04/21/2008 16:56:26
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In all my years of gaming (and there are many), there are certain things I have wanted to run as a game that I have either been unable find the time, or that I have not been able to figure out how to run. Many of these are niche games or one-offs that really won't or would be difficult to run as ongoing games. Here is a brief list of ideas -
SOMETHING IS HAPPENING...
This is the game idea where my players make characters completely blind of the situation at hand. Usually taking place in the real world, these game ideas often involve the players playing regular folk.
The action in this concept takes place as some event unfolds around the characters either involving them directly or indirectly, at first, but ultimately leading to them to having to figure it out and help resolve it. This idea is different from a regular mystery-based RPG in that the players themselves have no idea what sort of genre they are playing in.
PEASANT HEROES
This is one that I have played before but never seemed to work well. It involves the players making really low-level characters with common professions who find themselves in the roles of heroes. My current D&D game "Homeland" is sort of like this, but even in this game the characters started out as 1st-level in regular classes.
This setting appeals to me because of its connection to classic folklore, myth and popular fiction. How many times have we read the story where the local peasant boy, home-body hobbit, or reluctant slave makes good?
TRAGIC STORY
Tragedies are always fun to watch, but are a bitch to play. First of all, who wants to play a tragedy? I mean, if you think about it, you really are setting yourself up for some sort of failure, right? The answer to this is that tragedies make for good stories and good drama.
It is easy to incorporate tragedy into a game, but this usually occurs and an aside to the players/character and seldom actually involves the fates of their characters. A superhero may lose his beloved uncle, but he continues on. The party may lose their favorite NPC henchmen who has bee ntheir constant companion, but they still get to count the coppers at the end of the campaign.
I have actually played a tragic character on a couple of occasions. The one that stands out most was the heroic death of my droid character in a Star Wars game where the often dismissed and ridiculed, wannabe bounty hunter droid saved the whole party when I chose to have him sacrifice himself to cover the escape of the other heroes. It was great to play and I remember it being a nice dramatic point in the game.
But I have still been unable to run a game with a tragic twist.
EPIC COMING OF AGE HERO'S TALE
A staple of fiction once more, but seemingly impossible to conduct. I once tried this with a Star Wars game where I pregenerated four Force-talented youths and created a backstory that involved them being hidden at the corners of the galaxy and then brought back together to save their homeworld.
This game went well for the first few sections, each character made for a particular player and capitalizing on their talents and likes and dislikes. There were many characters and cameos by known personalities in the SW universe. Much fun was had by all, but it was killed by a long pause in the gaming schedule which evidentally killed the spirit of the game.
In any event, there are more, but this is a brief smattering of some of the ideas and the problems I've encountered in running them.
Thanks again for reading,
-Eli
Tags: Rpg Commentary Star_wars
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11/14/08 New feature “The Tavern”
Check out our newest feature “The Tavern” located in your account profile. The tavern is a place to talk to people on your friends list. If someone is not on your list they won’t see your post. If you don’t want to see someone’s posts you can just delete them from your friends list. This feature gives you the ability to say what ever you want when ever you want. So have a blast!
Thank you,
Staff
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