I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.

I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.

I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.

I feel like I’ve become a decent arbiter of rules, and practiced GGG to the best of my ability. People generally seem to have fun at my virtual table. But I realised there is still much to learn.

One of my players actually kicked me in the feels ( Jennifer Erixon​​) when her character totally 180’ed and turned from a plucky and quirky Druid to a disheartened and distant shell of herself. Upon meeting the deity she worshipped and being disappointed in it’s deceptive practices and narrow ideals. It was well done, through no effort or intelligence of my own.

I then realized how I can take my GMing to the next level: I must learn to craft better stories and help facilitate these emotional moments when I can.

Just a general discussion question: If you feel you are a good GM; How did you learn to make your stories more emotionally engaging?

34 thoughts on “I think many could benefit from a little discussion here.”

  1. I think it’s via allowing mistakes, bad decisions, and bad rolls to play out. This I think creates true risk and consequence. Which can’t be undone by a “load savers game” button.

  2. I think it’s via allowing mistakes, bad decisions, and bad rolls to play out. This I think creates true risk and consequence. Which can’t be undone by a “load savers game” button.

  3. Paying close attention to what is important to player characters, then playing that up, making it more central to the story or just bringing it on screen more often. Taking the time in “make camp” or other down time types of situations to explore more emotional types of things. Playing other story games besides DW that are more focused on emotional things also helped me see lots of different ways to engage with them.

  4. Paying close attention to what is important to player characters, then playing that up, making it more central to the story or just bringing it on screen more often. Taking the time in “make camp” or other down time types of situations to explore more emotional types of things. Playing other story games besides DW that are more focused on emotional things also helped me see lots of different ways to engage with them.

  5. When those moments happen don’t be afraid to lean into them and then build upon them after the fact. It’s hard to say exactly what one should do but when a moment like that occurs you can challenge, empathize, provide a foil that still has the previous view the character has, show them the possible path they could be walking down, give them a change to make a meaningful choice to their personal situation, and if it ties into the larger game then so much the better. Those a really just a few thoughts.

  6. When those moments happen don’t be afraid to lean into them and then build upon them after the fact. It’s hard to say exactly what one should do but when a moment like that occurs you can challenge, empathize, provide a foil that still has the previous view the character has, show them the possible path they could be walking down, give them a change to make a meaningful choice to their personal situation, and if it ties into the larger game then so much the better. Those a really just a few thoughts.

  7. I use a lot of emulation: when I find an emotional beat I like in another fiction (book, film, whatever), I look for opportunities to match that beat in my gaming. Sometimes that means pitching a whole game around capturing that emotional resonance, but often it’s just recognising when an opportunity arises spontaneously and exploiting it.

  8. I use a lot of emulation: when I find an emotional beat I like in another fiction (book, film, whatever), I look for opportunities to match that beat in my gaming. Sometimes that means pitching a whole game around capturing that emotional resonance, but often it’s just recognising when an opportunity arises spontaneously and exploiting it.

  11. Find out the mood and tone of play the players are shooting for, and build the story with that in mind. If they are looking for a lighthearted romp, getting them to really feel joy during the game will be a lot easier than sorrow.

    And difficult choices. Don’t be afraid to hand a character a problem that can’t be solved by rolling dice. The player has to become invested in it to figure out a solution.

  12. Find out the mood and tone of play the players are shooting for, and build the story with that in mind. If they are looking for a lighthearted romp, getting them to really feel joy during the game will be a lot easier than sorrow.

    And difficult choices. Don’t be afraid to hand a character a problem that can’t be solved by rolling dice. The player has to become invested in it to figure out a solution.

  17. I don’t know if I’m a great GM, but I do know that I feel a lot more confident running games than I used to, and a lot more confident in playing close to home myself and in enticing players to play more risky and engage more deeply in the story, not just their own characters.

    Part of that comes from playing story games and LARPs – both have really helped me develop my roleplaying skills and techniques toolbox. From story games I learned pacing, scene framing and prompting, from LARPs I learned body play, immediacy and improv dialogue.

    Daniel Lugo, are you interested in specific games to salvage for techniques? Or in the techniques themselves? There are a few collections out there that are really good (mainly LARP techniques), and a few story games I consider canon that I’ve learned a lot from.

  18. I don’t know if I’m a great GM, but I do know that I feel a lot more confident running games than I used to, and a lot more confident in playing close to home myself and in enticing players to play more risky and engage more deeply in the story, not just their own characters.

    Part of that comes from playing story games and LARPs – both have really helped me develop my roleplaying skills and techniques toolbox. From story games I learned pacing, scene framing and prompting, from LARPs I learned body play, immediacy and improv dialogue.

    Daniel Lugo, are you interested in specific games to salvage for techniques? Or in the techniques themselves? There are a few collections out there that are really good (mainly LARP techniques), and a few story games I consider canon that I’ve learned a lot from.

  23. I place relatable NPCs into my Dungeon World games. One of the most successful ones was a golem who lost his memories. They named him Friend and taught him the ways of the world as they adventured with him. He grew to learn from both the noble Paladin and the carefree Bard the most, becoming a really kind and caring individual. They discovered he could awaken other golems later, which caused him to take on fatherly traits towards them. He was willing to sacrifice himself for any of the party, and anytime he came to harm, someone would try to save him like he was a real person. There have been some close calls when he’s been injured that they all get these “Oh no!” looks. He’s appeared in multiple campaigns now (we skip forward in time in the same world a lot), and every time they find him they all get really happy. He has got to be their favorite character in my games. It’s NPCs like Friend that add emotion to my games. You have to make them care about something, whether it’s a person, belief, place, etc. That’s when you’ll get the reaction you are looking for.

  24. I place relatable NPCs into my Dungeon World games. One of the most successful ones was a golem who lost his memories. They named him Friend and taught him the ways of the world as they adventured with him. He grew to learn from both the noble Paladin and the carefree Bard the most, becoming a really kind and caring individual. They discovered he could awaken other golems later, which caused him to take on fatherly traits towards them. He was willing to sacrifice himself for any of the party, and anytime he came to harm, someone would try to save him like he was a real person. There have been some close calls when he’s been injured that they all get these “Oh no!” looks. He’s appeared in multiple campaigns now (we skip forward in time in the same world a lot), and every time they find him they all get really happy. He has got to be their favorite character in my games. It’s NPCs like Friend that add emotion to my games. You have to make them care about something, whether it’s a person, belief, place, etc. That’s when you’ll get the reaction you are looking for.

  27. Jason Cordova I think this is a good thing to explore. I talk about character deterioration a lot in real life. Facilitating that should totes be a topic.

  28. Jason Cordova I think this is a good thing to explore. I talk about character deterioration a lot in real life. Facilitating that should totes be a topic.

  29. Daniel Lugo Story games and RPGs that helped me feel more confident about pacing and crafting stories (focusing on this now, as I feel the emotional play stuff is covered in the LARP links):

    – Setting interesting stakes: Dogs in the Vineyard

    – Prompting: Monster of the Week, Apocalypse World

    – Scene framing: Microscope (Ben Robbins)

    – Playing to find out: Monster of the Week, Sagas of the Icelanders

    – Crafting entire story arcs: Fate Core, Spark

    – Zero-prep quest one-shots: Follow (Ben Robbins)

    – High-stakes political play and intrigue: Kingdom

    – Cutting scenes: Microscope

    – Long-form epic character and troupe development: Ars Magica

    – Taking risks and playing to lose: Fiasco, obviously.

    – Swords Without Master goes here for everything I love about story games but can’t put a name on. Man, this is such a good game, and I still can’t run it!

    Hope this is what you were interested in.

  30. Daniel Lugo Story games and RPGs that helped me feel more confident about pacing and crafting stories (focusing on this now, as I feel the emotional play stuff is covered in the LARP links):

    – Setting interesting stakes: Dogs in the Vineyard

    – Prompting: Monster of the Week, Apocalypse World

    – Scene framing: Microscope (Ben Robbins)

    – Playing to find out: Monster of the Week, Sagas of the Icelanders

    – Crafting entire story arcs: Fate Core, Spark

    – Zero-prep quest one-shots: Follow (Ben Robbins)

    – High-stakes political play and intrigue: Kingdom

    – Cutting scenes: Microscope

    – Long-form epic character and troupe development: Ars Magica

    – Taking risks and playing to lose: Fiasco, obviously.

    – Swords Without Master goes here for everything I love about story games but can’t put a name on. Man, this is such a good game, and I still can’t run it!

    Hope this is what you were interested in.

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