The 5 concepts of Doom

5 Concepts of Doom

Among Professional Wrestling critics there’s a term called the 5 moves of doom. In which a wrestler only wins due to having 5 moves which they use in tandem with each other in the same match and then as a result of using all of them wins. When a wrestler has 5 moves of doom they often get criticized for not being able to do anything else.  The Audience complains about this and the online critics complain about this as well.  As a role player one of the things I have run into among other gamers is something I like to call the 5 concepts of doom.

The reason I call it that is because like with the 5 moves of doom the 5 concepts of doom signifies that problem most role players run into in which they release the same 3 to 5 concepts over and over again, so they can always get good results. It doesn’t matter what race template you use if your always playing the guy with the big weapon who runs in and kills things your playing the same concept. A concept is the core of the character. 

        A characters core to me is what you get when you were to strip down all the abilities of the character all there allies and just examine them as an individual. A characters core is there motivation it is what drives them and what at the end of the day they are this.  All character cores can be wrapped up by one sentence. Now I want to challenge you that’s right you the reader.

         I want you to go and look back without the nostalgia goggles and see if you can get beyond 5 concepts of doom. Dig up your character sheet and test your own flexibility.  IF you can’t get past 3 you are the average role player. If you can get past 5 congratulations you have a lot of creativity and your probably going places.  If you can’t get past 1 Well, ask yourself this question. Is that because you can’t make more than 1 concept or is it because that’s the one concept you like to play. Part of being good at anything is challenging yourself so you can improve.  For me if, you want to get past always playing 1 concept than simply put don’t. 

          Go out of your comfort zone and play something that you normally don’t.   If you don’t know where to start I recommend talking to your game group to help come up with some more ideas on things you haven’t been exposed to that might inspire you.  If your still having issues after that then I recommend starting by trying to make small variations on a concept your comfortable with.  Like for example maybey the guy who charges in with the sword doesn’t like doing that and he’s actually a big softy at heart. That or maybey the reason he keeps charging in is because of some reaction they have. That every time conflict arises they have some sorta psychological break down and become a completely different person.  As you get further away from the core with these variations you can get to experience different angles that will allow your character to grow in different ways. 

            If you feel more comfortable trying a different concept than simply put do. Start by reversing your old concept completely if you want or playing a different angle entirely.  For example maybey your character doesn’t charge in maybey your characters a diplomat or a person who disarms traps and searches environments for things they can use to inflict pain upon there enemies.  Maybey they stay back and help out by healing people and making sure others stay up ala the healer archetype that mmos have made popular.  There’s a lot more, but I’m not going to fill this entire blog with examples.

                   Next game you play in challenge yourself and try to do a different core concept.  Design a new character concept that doesn’t work off of what you normally do.  Who knows you might enjoy it.   

Rewards: XP, treasure, resolution, etc.

Playing a fun game is its own reward, but part of the fun of any game is earning the rewards you get when you “win” something. Roleplaying games do not end when someone wins, but there are still victories. D&D rewards victories over monsters, traps, and other challenges that characters face with experience points and treasure. Experience (XP), the currency to advance a character’s abilities, is the usual carrot dangled before players as the main game-mechanics reward for their actions. Games about storytelling reward showing up for the session, having creative ideas, roleplaying well, learning and developing character, and other similar things with XP. Other games reward using skills with experience in those skills.

Experience points are a meta-game reward. They allow a player to make her character better at doing things. Other meta-game rewards are often more active - many games give players resources they can spend to get one-time bonuses, such as increased chance of success at a task or the right to describe elements of the scene instead of actions of their characters (a privilege normally reserved for the GM). Some games use the same resource for active expenditure in play and improving characteristics long-term, or at least link the two in some way.

There are also in-character rewards, such as money, status, equipment, and accomplishing goals. If a player really wants his character to marry the princess, then when that wedding finally happens, it’s a reward for him. He will probably get an especially big kick out of it if he gets to describe the wedding, or otherwise play it out, particularly if the other players share his enjoyment of it. This kind of reward is the meat and potatoes of the game itself: facing challenges in the hope of success, in whatever character appeals most.

The GM’s job is to manage challenges and rewards for the players. As the authority figure for the rules of the game and the story, the GM also has the opportunity and responsibility to manage his or her players as a social group. In-game rewards are usually best used to encourage certain in-character behavior; that is, the character is rewarded for her actions, not for her player’s actions in another context. To do otherwise harms suspension of disbelief, which is essential in any story medium. Meta-game rewards, on the other hand, can be awarded for meta-game reasons with impunity.

As a GM, I often award players XP and other meta-game rewards for providing soda or food for the gaming group, enabling other players to get to the game, coming to play from out of state, buying the GM lunch during game, and other things which help the game happen more smoothly. I also award XP to players who draw their characters or other people’s, who write logs of game sessions, who keep quote logs, who bring props that add to the game experience, and so on. The idea behind this: invest time, money, and emotional energy into the game, and get back more of what you want. That could be more combat action, more detective/mystery scenes, more social intrigue, or more control over in-game scenes. Players who are more invested in the game make it more fun for me, and so I try to make it more fun for them in return.

Meta-Rewards
I will use a hypothetical example game here, in which there are three meta-rewards: favors, insight, and luck.

Favors are handed out by the GM for anything he is glad the player did, particularly things which help the game go. A hilarious in-character comment, a lunch bought for the GM, a story written about characters during downtime; each GM can decide when and why to hand out favors. It isn’t good to give out favors for too little, nor is it good to be too stingy with them. GMs, find a balance that works for you and your players. Favors can be used in three ways: exchanged for Insight or Luck, or offered to the GM. In this latter use, the player offers the GM the favor in exchange for reversing a decision the GM has made against what the player wanted; if the GM accepts, the favor passes into a pool of “bought favors” which the GM holds, and the ruling is reversed (Let’s be honest with ourselves here, GMs: no individual ruling is going to be so important that you can’t reverse it - work out with your players how much of a reversal is a fair exchange for a Favor). The GM uses “bought favors” to cause players to automatically fail at tasks - though each time he does so, the Favor passes to the player who was caused to fail. The player does not have the option to refuse this failure, not even using a Favor.

Insight is XP. This is your currency for the advancement of character traits. It is gained in play for learning experiences in character, and a certain amount is gained at the end of each session of play. The exchange rate between Favors and Insight is 1:1, and Insight cannot be changed into Favors. Insight can buy Luck, if it was not awarded to a particular trait, at a 2:1 ratio.

Luck is success. Each play session, all players gain one Luck at the beginning, and these may be saved. A point of Luck may be spent to succeed at any task the GM has allowed an attempt with a chance of success at. Favors can buy Luck at 1:1, but Luck cannot buy Favors. 1 Luck can be bought with 2 Insight, or 1 Insight can be bought with 2 Luck. It is intentionally inefficient to convert Luck and Insight, so that it will be a considered decision to do so.

The GM’s Bought Favors are a reward to the GM. The players get to play a certain way - whether it’s stacking certain modifiers that the GM wanted to rule didn’t, or changing the reaction of an NPC. In return, the GM gets to control how the game goes a way she normally wouldn’t: dictating when a player will fail. When the Bought Favor is expended, the player is refunded any Luck spent to make the action succeed, but any endurance lost by taking the action or other in-game resources all remain spent. The GM is free to describe any degree of failure for the action, though it would be bad form to cause a character’s death or crippling injury from the result of an action which wasn’t inherently dangerous to begin with.

Luck is normally gained at a constant rate, but Favors and Insight can be handed out at varying rates. How often to give these out, and when to do it, depends on the nature of the group and the story. Insight at the end of the session is relatively simple:

Realistic/Gritty Game - None (gained only in play through learning experiences). This produces characters who reflect entirely what they have done, and who grow slowly through practice and dedication.

Heroic Game - 1-5 per play session. This creates heroes whose power grows when the story needs it to, but not by leaps and bounds until the story has had a chance to progress a little.

Over-the-Top Game - 6-10 per session. This much Insight allows characters to improve vastly, rapidly.

Favors are another tricky beast. Since they can double as Insight or Luck, GMs should consider how many they want to hand out carefully. There are several options to limit yourself so that you don’t give away the farm:
- Grant Luck instead. This has less impact on character advancement, and still lets a player get what he wants by succeeding at a task in game.
- Grant “Limited Favors” which must be used that game session or be lost, so they can only be used for advancement if the player is buying it that session.
- Replace Insight awards with Favors, making the reward increased flexibility of what to do with that meta-game point.

On the other hand, sometimes the cool-factor the players bring out is just that awesome, and makes you not care about pacing anymore. That’s great! Go ahead and just award Favors flat out if you’re having that much fun, because you can probably trust your players to use them wisely at that point. After all, fun is the objective, so it is also the main criterion for whether something is working out.

In-Game Rewards

Every time you place a challenge in front of players, it should be rewarding to conquer. This can happen either because the challenge itself is something the players and/or their characters want to see done, or because beating it will give access to the desired rewards. When the challenge is defeating a hated rival or seducing a courted affection, completing the challenge itself is rewarding. Killing dragons may be rewarding in itself, but in that case the main reward is usually the vast sum of treasure to be gained by looting the beast’s lair.

Leading the players along a path of rewarding challenges is always best, if it can be managed. This can be assisted by very small things, like describing behavior quirks in NPC minions, henchmen, and villains. In a game I ran, players learned to distinguish zombies animated by a particular necromancer from others because only this particular necromancer’s creations’ parts would continue moving independently. The trick is to make the players remember, and thus make them care. It’s not rewarding to defeat the plots of “that whats his name guy who plants bombs,” but it’s hella rewarding to defeat “Pews Smith, the mad bomber we’ve been chasing since he blew up our car.”

It’s easier to make the challenges rewarding for themselves when there’s a mix of non-combat mental, social, and physical challenges in with the shooty/stabby/beating-y kind. It’s important to provide good context to make an encounter worth caring about, and that’s what these challenges are all about. When the game starts to take place in a featureless white void in players’ heads, the challenges are boring, and the rewards afterwards don’t feel well-earned.

Here’s a checklist to make sure you’re hitting the highlights:
- Have the PCs talked to any NPCs in the past 10 minutes?
- Have they talked to each other about in-character, non-tactical subjects?
- Have you described any sounds, smells, tastes, or textures in addition to the sights in the past 5 minutes?
- Do the NPCs in this scene have any interesting quirks?
- How about annoying ones?
- Do you know what the PCs are motivated by, have you dangled any hooks baited with that so far this session, are you currently reeling them in on such a line, and/or if not, are you talking with your players to change this?

If players and characters do a good job, eventually, there should be at least a temporary happy ending. This is the after-challenge reward: you get treasure to blow on ale and wenches. You get one or more wenches (or lusty lads depending on preference) enamored of you. You get declared prince of the kingdom and betrothed to the princess. Players are looking for this closure, and also for the benefits they’ll get out of it if they keep playing the character. So, at least half of your challenges should give something back when they are done well, especially those which come at the end of a story arc of some kind.

Not all challenges are like this - surviving a truly professional stealth assassination is its own reward, for example. But most have at least a small reward. Investigating the location indicated by the angle of the would-be assassin’s shot, for example, could reward the player with a clue where to look next.

Hard Work Pays Off: Players

Games are fun, so playing them is the opposite of hard work, right? Simply put, no. The opposite of hard work is sleep. Really satisfying play is work, but it’s not the work you have to do to get it out of the way, and it’s not the work other people make you do so you can earn a buck and buy the things you need to live. Play is the kind of work you choose to do because you want to do it, from beginning to end. Playing a role in an RPG in particular is part of a hobby which increases its emotional rewards in direct proportion to the effort invested in the play experience.

I wrote an essay on hard work for GMs first. Go ahead and read that part, and consider the first thing you need to do as helping the GM work all those things out. The play space, scheduled play time, and little extras like props and minis can be contributed to as easily by players as well as the GM. When it comes to planning, communicate with your GM, to help him know what you want as a player and what your character can do. Your GM is your friend, with whom you’re trying to play a fun game together. He’s going to control the opposition to your character, but if he didn’t, you’d be pretty bored. So tell him about all the fun things your character is able to do so that he’ll know you want to do those things, and will be able to give you a chance at them. Helping the GM with his job is only part of yours, though.

To play the game well, all the players need to work together. So your first priority, after helping your GM get the game to run, is to talk to the other players. You should all agree on what you want out of the game - which isn’t to say you should all want exactly the same things, but after talking about it you should all agree on what you will allow and help each other to pursue in the game. Since you should all be talking to the GM about what you want as well, this will get everyone on the same page as far as what the game will be about. Even if some players love to just talk to NPCs and emote in character and others are very driven to seek out and solve mysteries, they can have fun together in the same game if they talk to each other and come to an acceptable middle ground. The emotion-roleplaying lovers probably won’t mind pursuing the investigation as long as they get some intense scenes to roleplay out of it; on the other side, the mystery-lovers will probably even enjoy roleplaying through getting their information more than they would if it were presented more dryly, despite the fact that it is likely to happen more slowly.

Busting it down to basics as a player of an RPG, you are portraying a single character. You act and react in a shared world with the other players’ characters alongside characters and settings provided by the GM. The players’ characters are the heroes of the story, because everything that happens is about them. So, since the story is about you, make it interesting. The other PCs are a good place to start: make up reasons to interact with them. If you have some time during play, have a conversation with them, in character. Connections between your characters give you reasons to help each other pursue goals, and make the game more fun and memorable, because of the vicarious emotional connection through your characters. That is, since your soldier cares about the other player’s technician as a friend, there’s an emotional reaction when you find out the base was attacked while you were out. Is your friend ok? You want to run and find out, and get back at the people who did this.

One of the most important times a player can work hard is during the game itself. The GM doesn’t have infinite attention. Try to do as much game-system bookkeeping as you can for yourself and help other players to do the same. Your initiative count, result for your most recent action with the traits used and the reason you were doing it, what you’d like to do next and why and what traits you think apply, the effort and/or wounds you’ve expended or suffered, and other details are all within your power to track. Use the time when the GM isn’t directly paying attention to you to prepare for the next time he is able to, and pay attention to what the other players are doing and where your character is among the action. You shouldn’t waste people’s time by needing to ask questions like “what’s going on?” or “what should I roll to climb?” You should shine when the spotlight is on you, and contribute to everyone’s enjoyment by helping things go smoothly.

Studying the rulebooks is another way players can put more effort into a game. It is very helpful to know which dice to roll when, and what the right modifiers are for a situation. Don’t be tempted to try to twist the rules always in your favor, and never argue for more than a minute with the GM over a point of the rules while the game is going on. Even if the GM is dead wrong on the particular point, wait until a break in the game to have an extended discussion over it. Disrupting the flow of the game because things don’t go your way is childish, selfish, and no fun. That’s the kind of behavior which has led to the negative term “rules laywer,” and general suspicion of players knowing the rules too well. Knowing the rules is actually a good thing; combine it with a helpful attitude towards the GM and all your fellow players, and it’s a great thing.

A selfish attitude is a terrible thing to inflict on a game, though, and knowledge of the rules isn’t the only thing it can and will taint. So, don’t be “that guy.” He’s the one who uses connections with other characters to get his way, but never lets others have theirs. He does things everybody else hates but defends his actions with, “It’s in character! I’m just playing my character!” That doesn’t make it right. Don’t play a character who makes things unfun for other players. Don’t, in general, be selfish. This also means you shouldn’t hog the spotlight, meaning the GM’s attention. Let everybody have their own turn at it.

Ability Creation Preview

Ability Creation


Soul Essence is filled with many unique abilities and characters. As such, many characters have abilities from organizations and defined martial arts styles, it is not uncommon to see people pull out strange and powerful unique abilities in combat. This chapter deals not with creating Essence, Chi, or Arcane abilities, but rather creating unique character techniques. These are called Unique Dramatics.

Unique Dramatic Traits

Much thought and care must go into the design of a unique dramatic; these techniques are, in a large way, what defines your character, whether through their combat style, or the unique flair they bring to social situations. Dramatics are a combination of the following traits: Power, Priority, Precision, and Effects. While designing your Dramatic, remember that you do not need to necessarily have all of these traits; it is quite possible to create a Dramatic which only uses a single trait. An example might be the ability to simply set your sword aflame, by using just an Effect. In this example, since no points are spent in the other traits, your weapon would merely deal Fire-typed damage. Each of these traits is purchased using the Dramatic Flair your character obtains by leveling up. Each point of Dramatic Flair is spent from your total pool; note that these are permanent expenditures.

When Creating a Unique Dramatic, you must decide on what the Dramatic will use as its focus. If the focus is an attack Dramatic, you use the appropriate attack skills, if it is a social Dramatic, you would use the appropriate skill.

Dramatic Traits

Power: This is the base damage that is applied upon a successful hit using the technique. 1 point of extra damage is bought for 5 DF. The base damage cannot be more than doubled in this way. The base damage is based upon the weapon used in the technique.

Priority: This is used in determining the speed that the technique goes off on. Techniques created via DF have a base beat cost of 5, and cannot be reduced in cost to a value less than the beat cost of a basic attack. Priority has a DF cost of 25 for every 1 beat of reduction.

Precision: This is used as an added bonus to the black draw when using the technique. A +1 bonus is purchased for 5 DF. You cannot purchase more Precision than half of your base Mod.

Dramatic Effects

These are the various effects that are added onto Dramatics. If the player wishes to add on an effect that is not listed, it should be discussed with the GM for costs and approval.

Acrobatic Stunt Shop 10 Dramatic Flair
This effect is applied after a successful Acrobatics check. Upon the check being successful, (Target Number 0), you may add 1 extra Power and/or Precision (player's choice), to the attack check for every 4 points above the target number you score (minimum 2). This bonus only applies for this Dramatic.

Arc 5 Dramatic Flair
This technique allows the user to shoot at a target that is behind cover. There must still be some way for the projectile to reach the target, (they cannot be in an enclosed space) and the “arc” only has a range of 10 meters. Shots fired using this technique ignore half of the target's cover bonus to their defense check.

Air Swoop 5 Dramatic Flair
This technique can be used if your enemy is below you at least at a jumping distance away. You may use this technique and make a leaping attack upon them. This attack not only counts as a flank automatically, (even if the target is aware and facing you), but also enjoys double the normal bonus.

All Out 15 Dramatic Flair
Drop your defense score to zero until the next action. In exchange, treat this attack with your total defense as additional points to be split between Power and Precision.

Ballsy 10 Dramatic Flair
Take 3 points out of your defense stats until the next action. For every time you do this reduce the enemy’s armor Toughness by 2.

Blast 30 Dramatic Flair
All targets within 10 feet of the target of this attack take damage. Unless the Focused effect is taken, this does not distinguish friend or foe. This effect can be taken multiple times, each time it is taken the blast radius extends another 10 feet.

Breakthrough 25 Dramatic Flair
This attack ignores your opponent’s armor toughness.

Burning 30 Dramatic Flair
The enemy is considered on fire and suffers a -4 penalty on all actions and suffers 2 levels of heavy damage per action they take. They may take a 5 beat action at any time they have the beats available to attempt to put themselves out. This check is a simple card draw with no skill modifier and does not take the normal penalty that this effect inflicts.


Charging 50 Dramatic Flair
This technique can be charged up to make it more powerful. For every 2 beats you charge up, you may overturn an additional black card.

Crushing 35 Dramatic Flair
This ability simulates a huge amount of weight coming down on the enemy. Power is applied as automatic reduction to the enemies parry and block ability. This ability cannot reduce an opponent’s parry or block to less than 1.

Concussive 10 Dramatic Flair
If you critical with this ability you daze your opponent for beats equal to your success levels. While an enemy is dazed, they take a -2 penalty on all actions.

Defensive Follow-Up 40 Dramatic Flair
This ability can be used out of a successful defense check, to perform an automatic counterattack. The player must specify dodge or parry. You cannot add the All Out ability for the maneuver that has Defensive Follow-Up.


Destructible Scenery 25 Dramatic Flair
This effect causes the enemy to be knocked into scenery, and take extra damage equal to your character’s Style. If your Style is greater than foe’s they are also dazed for the difference between the two.

Dreadful 35 Dramatic Flair
Upon successful use of this unique Dramatic, the enemy must make a Conviction check in order to take defensive actions. The target number of the Conviction check is half of the attack check made.

Elemental Assault 10 Dramatic Flair
This move is considered an element of the user’s choice, decided upon when the user creates the Dramatic. Natural effects of this element (such as a water technique putting out a fire, or a fire technique setting off gunpowder) still apply.

Extreme Potency 40 Dramatic Flair
This effect raises the damage code of the Unique Dramatic by one stage. It may be purchased multiple times to raise the damage code all the way to Fatal.

Hit and Run 20 Dramatic Flair
This Technique allows you to hit multiple enemies at once. Each time you purchase this effect, you add an additional enemy which you may include in the strike. These enemies may be up to a full movement action apart each.

Inspiring Attack 35 Dramatic Flair
Upon this ability being used successfully, your allies feel enthusiastic, and cast off any distractions, assuming that which placed the effect on them does not have a higher Style than you.

Invigorating Strike 40/50 Dramatic Flair
When you successfully use a move with effect in it, you regain 20 drama points back. There are two options for this effect. If you wish to only take it once, then it costs 40 Dramatic Flair. Taking it more than once requires 50 Dramatic Flair per the number of times obtained.

Kiai! 5 Dramatic Flair
When you use this ability you must call out your Dramatic’s name. Doing so will grant the ability a bonus of 2 additional points of Power or Precision.

Knockback 5 Dramatic Flair
This technique knocks an enemy back 5 feet, plus additional feet for the degree of success on the attack draw on a 1 for 1 basis. This technique sends the opponent away from you in any direction of your choice, including into the air.

Linking 50 Dramatic Flair
This effect allows the Unique Dramatic that, if successful, to immediately allow the user to use another Unique Dramatic at no beat costs. The Unique Dramatic that is activated cannot have Linking as one of its effects.

Latching 5 Dramatic Flair
If the Unique Dramatic this effect is attached to succeeds, the opponent is automatically grappled.

Overbearing 10 Dramatic Flair
When an opponent parries an attack with this effect in it, they cannot make use of any automatic counterattacks.

Passive X Dramatic Flair
This effect causes the Dramatic to grant an effect for a period of time. Depending on the amount of time the Dramatic remains active, determines the cost of the effect. This costs 25 Dramatic Flair if the duration is a Scene or 10 Dramatic Flair for a single Round.

Pursuit 10 Dramatic Flair
Upon successful use of a Unique Dramatic with this effect, whenever your opponent gains a movement action, you gain an equal movement action. This movement action must be used in pursuit of the target who you used this ability on.

Pushdown 10 Dramatic Flair
This technique does not knock an enemy back, but forces the enemy to the ground for 2 beats if successful.

Spring Loaded 40 Dramatic Flair
This Unique Dramatic containing this effect can be performed on anyone’s turn, as long as you have the beats required to do so. You may choose to pre-empt another character’s action using this effect.


Negative Dramatic Effects
These effects, unlike the normal effects, give a flaw to your Unique Dramatic. However, they also refund a number of Dramatic Flair points.

Background Dependant +5 Dramatic Flair
This effect requires a specific object to be in the scene in order to use the ability, such as a table or a tree.

Diving +10 Dramatic Flair
This technique can only be used while you are diving through the air, or underwater.

Easily Read +5 Dramatic Flair per
Sometimes an attack is easily readable. As a result your enemy may add +2 to their attempts to defend against it. This effect can be taken multiple times, each time adding an additional +2 to the opponent’s defensive check.

Element specific
Must have the element present in order to use this technique

Grappling +5 Dramatic Flair
This technique can be used when you have an enemy grappled.

Lacking Any Grace +10 Dramatic Flair
You cannot benefit from Priority when this effect is added.

Leaping +5 Dramatic Flair
This attack requires you to be jumping towards or with the enemy.

Old School Tough +5 Dramatic Flair per
This effect adds +2 to the difficulty to Target Number needed to successfully pull off the Unique Dramatic this is attached to. This effect may be taken multiple times, adding an additional +2 to the Target Number.

                One of the things I have always loved about role playing games is the ability to create special abilities.  Soul Essence has a lot, of unique characters in it. One of the challenges I had while writing this book was creating a system that allows one to make many of the unique attack types in the games story.  I went through many renditions in the end however I and my editing team came up with this and I am very satisfied with it.   Please enjoy this and try it out if you want to get some ideas for abilities you one day might wish to create when the game is released.

Ability Creation works off of Dramatic Flair because well thats what i feel alot of peoples imaginations like to work off of when creating abilities.

I hope you all enjoy this preview.

Harry Ashton Thompson IV

Hard Work Pays Off: GMs

The hard work of running a game is mainly in preparing for it. Various maxims have been created over the years, saying a GM should spend X hours preparing per Y hours of gaming, but it’s not just about time spent. If you don’t take your players into account and have a clear picture of how to get what you want to happen done in the game, you’ll end up preparing a lot of material that won’t be used because you assumed something would happen... and then it doesn’t, and you’re off your map. The PCs don’t stay in the town you’ve intricately detailed. They don’t respond to the cries for help they hear. They slaughter all the enemies too quickly for word to get out so more will come soon.

While being ready to improvise can help, it is often more obvious to the players than you think. If you don’t miss a beat, it can be perfectly plausible that the Big Bad Evil Guy was scrying on the enemies fighting the PCs the whole time. But if you just have more enemies show up because that’s what you prepared, and then scramble for the explanation, it’ll be less fun for the players, who will feel like their choices don’t matter. Putting them on the rails is OK, but you have to at least be ready to give them different scenery depending on where they go. It would be even better to have prepared for your players - knowing they are sneaky, quick, and deadly in combat, you could have planned ahead that the BBEG is always constantly scrying on all his mercenary forces to keep them in line.

The most important kinds of preparation are these:
- Know your players. If you have a talker who loves to interact with NPCs, target any “NPC knows this” hooks at him, for example. If you have a combat monster who loves to see his modifiers stack up and describe his glorious kills, make sure you have some satisfying battles for him. If you have an explorer who is always seeking out the far corners of the game world, make sure you have something interesting for her to find when she goes into a weird corner.
- Know their characters. You don’t have to design challenges based on their stats, but you do have to know ahead of time whether the challenge will be easy, difficult, or impossible, and describe it accordingly. If you don’t want them to get to the BBEG’s fortress, a lava moat won’t cut it if half the party can fly. You’ll need lava wyverns and magma cannons too, bristling from the volcano fortress. Alternatively, you can leave it at the lava moat, and decide that getting in isn’t the difficult part. Just don’t be caught by surprise when they tell you, “I’m carrying him, she’s carrying him, and he’s carrying him and her, and we’re flying over.”
- Know your goals. You probably want something out of the game, just like your players do. You’re the GM: prepare to make it happen. Make sure you have a list, written so you don’t forget, of the main things you’d like to accomplish. Keep one for each play session, and a list for the overall arc of the game. Don’t treat them as set in stone - go ahead and update them if your desires change. Do keep a record of what you changed it from, so you’ll know where you were before in case you change your mind again later.
- Have a Plan A. Let’s be honest, people are often predictable. Be ready for things to go in their normal course. Have all the stats, NPCs, locations, etc. you’ll need for this.
- Create broad contingencies. There are probably a few ways your Plan A is most likely not to apply. Have something ready for all of these, something flexible you can adapt to the specific actions that break your mold. Elements which can be found in broad types of setting like “rural” or “urban” are good for this, or catch-all hooks aimed at particular PCs which can help pull the group’s interest back to the flow of play you want.
- Identify critical points in Plan A; create specific backup plans for these points. So, following your plan, the PCs are sure to come up to this one fight with the BBEG’s henchmen, while you plan to have him taunt them and leave. You’ll need a backup plan for the henchmen dying too fast, the PCs ignoring them to engage the BBEG, the PCs wussing out and running, and the PCs catching the BBEG’s interest with an interesting bargaining chip to negotiate.

These elements of planning are in the order of importance. So if you do nothing else, know your players, because that will give you a basic read on who has fun doing what. If you haven’t had much time to prepare, you can just throw some challenges of your players’ favorite flavors together, and they won’t mind - it’s the GMing equivalent of mom’s casserole. Just make sure you’re the mom whose kids love her casserole, not the mom whose casserole prompts dad to order pizza. So keep the right ingredients ready to hand - fight scenes for your combat lovers, investigations for the mystery lovers, potential lovers and rivals for the social-fu crowd.

Knowing the characters and your ultimate goals are about equally important. Both of these prevent you from getting stumped in play. Stumped GM, stopped action, no fun. If you know what the PCs - and, equally important, all your NPCs - are capable of, you’ll be able to decide how the action goes easily. If you know what you want to do, you’ll go ahead with it smoothly. To this end, keep a cheat sheet of your PCs’ biggest bonuses and powers, and don’t be afraid to ask to look at their character sheets frequently. You could even be the one to keep everybody’s character sheets between games so you can use them for planning.

Besides planning for each play session, there are other kinds of preparation you can bring in to make things more fun. Some of these are extras which add to the immersiveness or simply the enjoyment of a game session, some are factors outside the game that affect it and are important for a GM to consider.

Play Space
Are you hosting the game? I usually am. Sometimes a game store, college, or convention is the game’s host. Sometimes it’s one of the players rather than the GM. Whoever it is, as GM, you can improve your game by making sure you finish your checklist for the space you’ll be playing in every time your game meets:
- Is the space large enough for the number of players, with enough seats? This is pretty basic, but in a new space, or a public space, or one you haven’t thought about in a while, you can end up being surprised. Pay particular attention if the number of players in your game has just changed, or if your space has changed on you.
- Is it clean? You don’t want to be playing alongside last week’s pizza boxes and dirty plates. You’ll be happier if it’s been vacuumed, and the trash and recycling cans are emptied. This doesn’t mean you need to put out decorative pillows and scented candles, or otherwise be anything at all like Martha Stewart or that one guy’s obsessive-compulsive mom - it just means you’ll be able to have more fun with your game if a messy gaming space isn’t constantly getting in your way.
- Are the appropriate snacks and beverages provided? This is especially important if you have long games. If you’re playing for 3 hours, no big deal, though it’s still nice to have soda on hand. If you’re playing for 5, you’ll want snacks handy, or to make sure everyone ate right before game started. 6+ hours, and you might want to schedule yourself a meal break. Hungry, thirsty gamers are not happy gamers - this is especially true of you, the hard-working GM.
- Will anyone else be trying to use the space at the same time? Convention games and those meeting at game stores will have to deal with this partially, as will those meeting in other public spaces like college cafeterias. The real problem is when conflicting scheduling or space needs stick you with someone’s parents or wife hosting a party in the same room you usually play your game in, or trying to work on their computer in said room and objecting to the noise of the game. If you are an adult GM who owns his or her own home and have a space there to hold your game, that’s great, this part is fully covered - otherwise, make sure you talk to whoever else has a claim on the space you’re using ahead of time for each time your game meets.

Schedule
Time is as important as space. Arranging the confluence of the two is often difficult, and more so as the number of people to be brought together increases. A good play session usually needs to last at least three hours to be satisfying, and longer the less often the game meets. That’s something like a minimum five hour commitment between travel time, setup, and teardown, under usual circumstances. That’s often challenging for people with changeable work schedules, family commitments, schoolwork (particularly college or university courses), and other draws on their time. While it’s every player’s job to help make the game come together, as GM you are the center of communication for your game, and so managing the schedule ultimately falls to you. Get help from your players, but check off all the points on this list yourself as well.
- Set a regular meeting time. This could be every week (possibly multiple days a week for groups gifted with open enough schedules), every other week, every month, every few months... But make it regular and stick to it. Habit is a powerful thing, and if you turn it to your advantage, you’ll still have a game to run years down the road. Knowing exactly when the next time your game will meet gives you, and all your players, something to look forward to, and prevents things from coming up and ruining your plans at the drop of a hat.
- Establish standard channels of communication. This could be a twitter account for updates about your game, a series of facebook events for your game sessions, an email list, or phone calls to each player every time you’re going to meet. It could be all of the above. Make sure your players expect to hear from you, and make sure they know you expect to hear from them, about anything relating to the time you’re supposed to be playing your game.
- Create game-time ground rules. Is it acceptable for players to play games on their laptops during the play session? Listen to music on earbuds? What is the signal for pre-game chatter and friendliness to settle down so the game can start? When are people expected to eat/have eaten? Are there any other time-sharing issues you need to address with your group, like homework, or significant others? Take care of these so your game can be enjoyed with the level of focus you desire.

Extras
Audio and visual aids, even tangible, edible, or fragrant props can add excitement and immediacy to a game. All these things are extras; the main part of the game is in the mind, and is communicated through words. Whatever you do with extras like the ones I’m about to suggest, don’t let them distract from the game.
- Music: Opening Theme. Choose a song which you could picture the opening credits to your game showing to the tune of. Use it to mark the start of game time, it’s a great way to catch players’ attention. It also helps set the mood and tone of your game.
- Scene music. You might have something high-energy for a fight, or something in minor key for a horror investigation scene to heighten suspense. A little goes a long way. Choose it carefully, and don’t feel the need to fill the air with music the whole time.
- Sound effects. There are a lot of sound boards available on the internet, and all kinds of sound files and ways to find or make them, so do a little foley work for your game. Have a gunshot ready when you describe someone shooting at your PCs, or a motor revving when you describe them starting a road trip. Use these tricks for some of the most important sounds you want your players to remember.
- Food props. Serve your players something interesting their characters eat.
- Weapon props. Get yourself a prop that looks like the weapon your main antagonist uses, so you can gesture with it and create an image in your players’ minds. Preferably this should not be a real, dangerous weapon, because those are not toys. Even if you do own a real, sharp sword, for example, you should know better than to swing it around unsheathed in a room full of your friends. If your players are mature enough, you might use such a thing as a displayed prop, but exercise all due caution with such dangerous objects.
- Miniatures. Even if you’re not using any kind of map, it can help to visualize a scene for everybody to have a representation of their characters, and the NPCs in the scene with them. Miniature scenery can be a nice touch too.
- Character art. A picture is worth a thousand words, and can be shown to your players a lot more quickly to say, “this is who is talking to you.”
- Movie and television clips. Use a clip of the intro of the evening news before describing the in-world top stories, or play the movie that’s playing on the screen in the video store window while the PCs pass by, or maybe use an establishing shot from a movie set in a similar locale to your game to set up the kind of scenery you’re using.

Welcome

Welcome To Misunderstood Creature  Blog

Ill be bloging about my experinces, in roleplaying and realife.

The creature above was drawn by Elon Shaffer and is my logo and seal of approval.

Elon is the artist, who drew the Misunderstood Creature for me.


I hope you all enjoy this blog and following my gaming and writing exploits. I will do my best to update when i can.

Thanks

Harry Thompson