Difference between revisions of "Quick Events Guide"
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==Structure== | ==Structure== | ||
| − | 1. <B>As a game runner, you want each event to have a logical beginning, middle and end</B>. If you are doing a longer arc, the end can obviously | + | 1. <B>As a game runner, you want each event to have a logical beginning, middle and end</B>. If you are doing a longer arc, the end can obviously be a cliffhanger or a lead-in to the next event. But even then, by the end of the night, <B>there must be an ending for that night's events, win or lose</B>. Do not leave players without a sense of accomplishing <I>something</I>, either a victory or at least the sense of having progressed to the next step for the next event. |
2. <B>Keep things moving.</B> To this end, you need to know in advance what the outcome of the night will be (what you will have wanted to set up, and what the <B>victory conditions</B> are (that is, what do the players need to do to win, or what can they do that will trigger a loss.) Additionally, if you see <B>by the end of the first hour</B> that the players are stuck, you need to start giving them clearer hints or indications as to what to do next, or at least, what they need to be thiking about to advance. You don't need to spoonfeed it, but at the same time, you're not here to keep everyone spinning their wheels and getting frustrated and tired. You're here to entertain and tell a a good story-- and for a story to be told, you need to keep it moving forward, even if you need to help a bit along the way (usually via some support characters you might be running). | 2. <B>Keep things moving.</B> To this end, you need to know in advance what the outcome of the night will be (what you will have wanted to set up, and what the <B>victory conditions</B> are (that is, what do the players need to do to win, or what can they do that will trigger a loss.) Additionally, if you see <B>by the end of the first hour</B> that the players are stuck, you need to start giving them clearer hints or indications as to what to do next, or at least, what they need to be thiking about to advance. You don't need to spoonfeed it, but at the same time, you're not here to keep everyone spinning their wheels and getting frustrated and tired. You're here to entertain and tell a a good story-- and for a story to be told, you need to keep it moving forward, even if you need to help a bit along the way (usually via some support characters you might be running). | ||
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To keep fights fluid and fast, there's some new commands: | To keep fights fluid and fast, there's some new commands: | ||
| − | <B>/powerup</B> - Fills up your lifebar | + | * <B>/powerup</B> - Fills up your lifebar |
| − | <B>/atk</B> [action] - use this to fight as long as you have energy in your lifebar. | + | * <B>/atk</B> [action] - use this to fight as long as you have energy in your lifebar. |
| − | <B>/def</B> react to the hits. After 5 successful hits you are out. | + | * <B>/def</B> react to the hits. After 5 successful hits you are out. |
There are no /specials or /combos or /sell multipliers. This is meant to keep fights quick. If you're running a miniboss you have the option to /powerup again (so 10 hits total) and for a magaboss, three times (so 30 hits total). The system won't block you if you do it more, but the idea here again, is to keep thinks quick and consistent. | There are no /specials or /combos or /sell multipliers. This is meant to keep fights quick. If you're running a miniboss you have the option to /powerup again (so 10 hits total) and for a magaboss, three times (so 30 hits total). The system won't block you if you do it more, but the idea here again, is to keep thinks quick and consistent. | ||
Latest revision as of 20:24, 31 December 2017
So you want to run a quick event in #ss3 to help your plot along, or just as a one off to have fun. Great!
Here are some guidelines to help make this a fun and enjoyable time for all:
Structure
1. As a game runner, you want each event to have a logical beginning, middle and end. If you are doing a longer arc, the end can obviously be a cliffhanger or a lead-in to the next event. But even then, by the end of the night, there must be an ending for that night's events, win or lose. Do not leave players without a sense of accomplishing something, either a victory or at least the sense of having progressed to the next step for the next event.
2. Keep things moving. To this end, you need to know in advance what the outcome of the night will be (what you will have wanted to set up, and what the victory conditions are (that is, what do the players need to do to win, or what can they do that will trigger a loss.) Additionally, if you see by the end of the first hour that the players are stuck, you need to start giving them clearer hints or indications as to what to do next, or at least, what they need to be thiking about to advance. You don't need to spoonfeed it, but at the same time, you're not here to keep everyone spinning their wheels and getting frustrated and tired. You're here to entertain and tell a a good story-- and for a story to be told, you need to keep it moving forward, even if you need to help a bit along the way (usually via some support characters you might be running).
It's always fun to challenge the players, but if they're not getting it, remember that they're not here to do homework, they're here to have an adventure. Help them have it.
3. For quick events, try not to overload the board with enemies that take forever to beat. We've set up a new, faster fight system for events, but still you need to moderate. At most, have three waves of enemies (mooks, miniboss and boss) for the night. You can always escalate the battles across several nights if you need to make the challenge harder. If you are building a longer plot, just chain things so the next week you fight the next echelon of bosses (think of how Sailor Moon does it). This prevents fatigue and lets people know they are progressing.
Play
1. Try to let everyone look good. This RP is not life and death. It's like Pro Wrestling in that you want to make your side look good and the other side too. At the end of the day you're trying to tell a story, not gain ego-points by saying "oh, I kept them utterly confused and got nothing done for two and a half hours and beat them into pulp so hard they ain't never coming back."
Obviously for some events you DO want this, but those would be longer, special events we might book for a special day or a weekend. I'm just talking about quick battles here.
2. Mechanics
To keep fights fluid and fast, there's some new commands:
- /powerup - Fills up your lifebar
- /atk [action] - use this to fight as long as you have energy in your lifebar.
- /def react to the hits. After 5 successful hits you are out.
There are no /specials or /combos or /sell multipliers. This is meant to keep fights quick. If you're running a miniboss you have the option to /powerup again (so 10 hits total) and for a magaboss, three times (so 30 hits total). The system won't block you if you do it more, but the idea here again, is to keep thinks quick and consistent.
Ideally we want an event to flow like this:
- Players /join
- Runner sets the stage and the stakes.
- Players do some investigating
- First wave of attacks. (/powerup, /ATK, /DEF)
- Some more investigation if needed. (optional) By now your players should have some idea of what they need to do to win the NIGHT, not necc. the arc.
- Miniboss attacks (/powerup, /ATK, /DEF, boss /powerup 2, /ATK, /DEF) (optional)
- Players do some investigating (optional)
- Boss Attacks (/powerup, /ATK, /DEF, boss /powerup 2, /ATK, /DEF boss /powerup 3, /ATK, /DEF) (optional)
- We wrap for the night making sure players have accomplished something, be it a win, or a loss with some info on how to move forward next time.
