Hello students. Professor Crunch here from the Academy computer lab where I’ve been working on the AcadeCon Kickstarter camapgin with Professor Fluff. But it’s time to take a break and talk about the sixth episode of Wrought Iron.
Once again, this was an episode focused on role playing. By this point, the players have really gotten into a groove with their characters. There’s a lot of interaction that feels like it has history and experience behind it. I’m very impressed with their performance. I owe much of this to their skill as role players, and to the length of time we’ve spent playing together. However, this is also due to the focus we invested into character development during our extended session zero. It’s important to remember that this type of intro session not only lays the foundation for the game world, but also gives players a chance to figure out how their characters fit into the world and interact with each other.
We did end up rolling some dice in this episode. You’ll notice that I still kept things heavy on the narrative side of things, though. Even though I am tasked with handling all the crunch of our games, I’ve found that leaning more towards the fluff makes for a more engaging story, both for my players and our listeners.
As a GM for an actual play podcast, I have to do things differently than when you’re running at home for your own game. Part of our job as podcasters is to tell a story that makes sense to you in an audio-only format. Detailed tactical combat maneuvers don’t always translate well into an audio medium and they aren’t always entertaining. Sure, sometimes they are. But we’ve decided on the Academy to favor story over structure.
With that style in mind, I try to keep these games loose and free-flowing. The 5E mechanics actually make this easier, with how non-structured they can be. As does our format of gaming at a virtual table. So yes, a lot of the time, I will only use dice and mechanics when they are necessary. It’s not a rule everyone can follow in every game, but sometimes, dice are best used only when a random outcome will be most entertaining or interesting.
For example, look at when Scott decided that Deign (yeah, that’s how it’s spelled) was going to sneak around in the temple and then climb over the temple roof. One one hand, I knew that I wanted him to learn the information that he needed for the story to move on. But on the other hand, I didn’t want this to just be me giving exposition and the players reacting. So I called for a few rolls. Since this is all about letting you know what I did, I kept the DCs very low. I wanted Scott to succeed, but I wanted an opportunity for something interesting to happen with a failed roll.
Ultimately, his narrative choices and the chaotic situation I introduced kept things moving forward. Did I expect his decision to grapple hook his way over the temple? Absolutely not. Did it make the story more interesting? Absolutely. So I decided to just roll with his choices.
A few people have already commented that there is a lot of comedy in these episodes so far. That’s very true. I did not set out to run a comedic game. While I am not trying to tell an extremely serious or dramatic story, I am also not trying to sit around and tell jokes. But comedy is part of life. Comedy is also a reaction to a more serious or horrific game subject. As humans, we tend to attempt distraction when a stressful situation is happening. Nothing too extreme is happening in the game (yet) but tension is mounting.
It makes sense that the characters and players feel this stress and react accordingly. It also makes sense that, because this is a recording of us actually playing this real game, we left in the jokes and tangents. Some of them, at least. Joking around is part of gaming.
Another thing that people have noticed is that this part of the story seems to be going along a different path from where the game started. That is intentional. Being honest, I didn’t have this planned. But the ideas developed as we played. And I’m actually very excited by what’s about to happen.
The events at the boat are the first steps of this new plan. My attempt was to introduce something that was drastically different from the normal island life that has been established. This is a good strategy in any story, but especially in a game. I generated a detail that the players and characters didn’t expect. This is the introduction to the story arc that I’m creating, but it’s also a way to generate more interesting role play moments. What better way to figure out how a character will react to something strange than to generate that strange element?
One of the takeaways from this episode is to just have fun. Make jokes and enjoy the game. Also, don’t be afraid to let crazy things develop in the game. It’s not always easy to roll with the punches, so to speak, but learning how to adapt on the fly is very important. Sometimes, these random elements can add something new and exciting to the game. And sometimes they can help take the game in a new direction or help solve one of those pesky problems we GMs face behind the screen.
Next episode will bring some action. I promise. There won’t be any magma sharks, though. Sorry.
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