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Set up events before they occur.

This tip sort of relates to the last one. Many stories rely on a breach of the normal state of affairs - this only works well when you set up what the normal situation is in the first place. For example, we see Conan's village before it is raided by Fulsa Doom (or however you spell it!), all peaceful and happy. This gives us something to prepare the coming carnage to. To breach something, you must demonstrate what it's normally like first.

You also need to set things up to create tension. Give hints as to coming events so that there is some kind of build up. I always used to get really annoyed when no one found the terrible war/sudden death of ruler/other large event shocking. They just bounced along happily. For something to have impact you need to build up to it. Use prophesies, hints, and small clues to allude to the coming large event. Have NPCs fear it for a while. Wait until the PCs fear it before having it happen. The Shadow War in Babylon 5 would have been far less interesting if the story had started with it, and without all the hints and dire predictions.

Finally, you need to set up the normal way of doing things, and why it is so incredibly dangerous to do it some other way. That way when the PCs invariably chose to do it the dangerous way it will seem cool and challenging. Try showing what happens to an NPC who does it the dangerous way (something bad!), or have NPCs talk about what they think would happen. Try to make it so that the players really think their characters could get seriously fried doing something the wrong way. That way when they choose to do it, it will be more intense and rewarding.



From: Delos

To solve this problem, I chose to not award experience for (say) killing monsters/npcs and allow their loot/death to be its own reward. But I do award xp for these kinds of actions:
1. Came up with own consequences (Ex: Remembered to limp after being wounded in the foot.)
2. Played a Disadvantage (Ex: I didn't have to remind Tom that he's colorblind at any point in the session.) [I don't award xp for taking disadvantages, just playing them.]
3. Player contributed a Goal at the end of the game. (Ex: The next game, Tom decides that he'd like to meet his evil twin.)
4. An extra Sign is added. (I use Signs like Over the Edge does.)
5. Played an NPC well. In those times when the party is divided, I have an NPC prepared (pregame) for a player to play. I record the relevant stats and skills just for the purpose of the encounter, along with a few Signs and other mannerisms. I usually have to tell the npc-player how difficult or easy to be and they take it from there.

The interest in character traits is in the breach.

In most stories the heroes make mistakes, they have fatal flaws, and they must overcome difficulties. Part of the interest in stories comes from the development of the main characters, and their movement from one point to another - which is usually the result of the characters changing and learning from mistakes.In gaming many PCs become quite static, the PCs resist change and the characters start to seem two dimensional. This is frustrating for both the player and the GM.

As a GM it can be important to remember that the PCs are clinging to their concepts for a reason. When players create concepts they usually have in mind a series of events which will challenge and highlight their character traits, in my experience they will cling to these traits until they have been sufficiently highlighted, and then they will move on.

As far as I can see, one of the best ways to highlight character traits is to give the PCs the opportunity to be "forced" to break them. (I use the quotation marks because they don't necessarily want to be forced into a corner as players, but they may like to roleplay their characters out of corners created by the character's personality.)

For example if one of the PCs is always polite, the player is probably thinking about how freaky they would be when they finally snap and get angry. They don't want them to be angry all the time, but they probably would be grateful for an excuse to have that character's self control waver briefly - try giving them something to get really pissed at. Or, perhaps one of the characters is very callous and cold. The player might be interested in seeing what would happen if they were presented with something they cared about (eg. the assassin rescuing the small child).

Remember, the same goes for NPCs. They will seem much more interesting if they occasionally break established character traits. For example, Darth Vader was so cool because he eventually decided that he wasn't evil, and saved Luke. Additionally, endless action movies have been based on the idea of the good, kind normal guy who goes nuts and takes horrible bloody revenge on the people who've pissed him off (usually by killing his family or something). Both of these concepts are interesting because they break the pre established character traits.

Ultimately, some players will reject or fail to see these chances to express their characters (the polite PC might never snap, the assassin might kill the child) but many will jump wholeheartedly on the chance to express that element of their concept. Some players will make these opportunities all on their own (wouldn't we all like more of them!) but most will need these opportunities to be presented, and once they have expressed this element of their character to their satisfaction the character will probably become much more dynamic.

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From: Riina
1. Design general descriptions and encounters before the game.

Usually when GMs prepare for a game they work out the main plot encounters and so forth which are going to happen, with a general notion of when they'll happen. This is definitely a useful thing to do! However, I've also found it very useful to design some bits of description and minor encounters which can be inserted anywhere in the game. They can be used whenever you need time to think, when you need something to do right now, or just to enhance the imagery of your game world.

Examples -
o Work out some generic descriptions of the weather. Make them as detailed and evocative as possible, and use them to enhance or contrast the mood of the game. eg. "The rain pours down onto the darkened cobblestones and drips from the eaves of the small wooden houses. You see no one but a few huddled beggars as you make your way to xyz." Try to describe light sources, smells, sensations and noises, appeal to all the senses. Insert these whenever you want to make the gameworld seem more vivid, or to evoke a mood.
o Work out some generic descriptions of the location of the game world. Devise and note down in point form some basic imagery for your game world - eg. descriptions of the city the game is set in, or the mountain range they are passing through. Include people and animals and minor, mundane mishaps (broken cart wheels, fallen trees on the road etc.). Insert these whenever the PCs are moving around in the world frame. Have them reflect the state of affairs (has there just been a war? Is there famine? Is the market bursting with goods? Are their a lot of soldiers around? etc.)
o Devise generic NPCs. Invent a series of normal people of different ages, genders and social classes. Give them names, physical descriptions and a couple personality traits. Wheel them out when the PCs talk to someone you didn't expect them to, or put them around the place to demonstrate the reality of the PCs actions (eg. the inhabitants of the house they break into). Again, have their situations and concerns reflect the mood/theme/events of the game world. Or for something different have it contrast.
o Devise minor encounters. For example, the PCs could be robbed by a common thief, or come across a "domestic dispute", or a lost child. These events can be inserted to illustrate all sorts of points about the nature of the world, or to take up some time when you need to think, or to break up the more important events of the story. They can be used to add interest to the unexpected actions of the PCs. Make sure they are simple and mundane, otherwise you defeat their purpose of giving you time to think, or of reflecting the normal events of the game world.

All of these things can be devised without the exact context in mind, and then inserted in wherever you like. Their advantage over just making things up on the spot is that they will fit better with your game world, they will be more complex and you can use them as a subtle way of controlling the mood of the game. They will also look pre-planned, which helps to keep the players from trying to pin point the "real plot" and then pursuing it to the exclusion of all else.

1. their actions any more. I can remember all the fights I had until we started to use miniatures...cause they all had some special kind of action you imagined in your mind...I remember even our first session, just because I can remember the fun we had imagining a giant elk jumping out of the bushes, everyone dodging, and our brave dwarf saying: I´ll block his path... He went flying hahaha, he was not injured a lot, but his pride was so down, he hated all elks ever since >:-)
2. Do NOT give players powerful magic weapons...if you let them know they are soo powerful they won't bother talking, they just do not need it. We have been playing for 3 years in the world of DSA (the BEST german system, and the system with the most consistent world worldwide...) There ARE almost no magic artifacts in DSA, only the most powerful NPCs may have a wimpy "sword +1" or such... Also, there are no permanent magic items, they all have only some 1 to 10 charges, then they are gone...to slay a big dragon in that world, you would need an army, so there IS simply no way other than talking. Just make the players clear that they will die trying to fight this fight.

The better you describe your actions, the easier they will become, so roleplay is greatly encouraged. EVEN in combat. Try it that way: if a player describes beautifully how he TRIES to attack, give him a bonus on the hit dice or on the damage, or make the enemies' block more difficult.
3. Do NOT always stick to the rules, the people who make the rules are no superhumans, they are no demigods who exactly can tell you what would be wrong or right. Adapt the rules to your style, not your style to the rules. As long as a rule is the same for all (PCs and NPCs), it is fair. And even if NOT, it is your right as GM to tweak the game so everyone has max fun...so do it (you do not need to tell the players if they do not like such things). Like this you can discourage players who always seem to know the monsters Attacks, Blocks, Hitpoints....better than you do. Be chaotic, but be fair. If your player has a character he really cares for, a character with history, friends, family, tweaks, fears, hopes, dreams...do NOT let him die.

BUT if a character always goes out of his role, like a paladin always killing the enemies the most cruel way possibly, talk to the player...ask him about the char, ask him to write a story, to make a kind of blueprint of his chars personality. If he is not able to do it, if he regards his character only as a bunch of optimized numbers on a piece of paper...KILL HIM. It is cruel, but it is the only way to stop combat-addicted groups. Let them be killed or be heavily injured in combat. Let them have a trauma, a shock. Force them to develop fear of dying. No sane hero would fight till he dies (except the nice guys in AD&D with St 18/99 and Wis 6 Int 5 hahaha)
4. To make them fear death (combat with only dice rolling) make it worth living (roleplay). Let them fall in love, or get a province they have to care for, let them have pets like small dogs (pets who cannot FIGHT, so Basilisks or Dragons don't count ;-) ) When I played a Mage he always had a small monkey with him, who did tricks for children and the guys in Bars. He had found him in the jungle, with his mother dead, so he started to care for her like a mother. Imagine a powerful mage with a small monkey always asking for milk in medieval bars hahaha :-) If the mage would die, who would be left to care for the poor monkey?!

Let the players spend hours on thinking how their character is going to go on living...make plans, give opportunities. It's all called incentives...incentives to go on living. We were playing DSA for 3 years and no one ever died, cause it just would have been a tragedy. We were spending hours, days and weeks thinking about what our char was going to do next. I even knew how many buttons my coat had :-) When combat got hot it was not unusual for us to run away for a while to regroup/to rethink the action. We were REALLY afraid for our chars, cause they consisted of much much more than some simple numbers on a piece of paper.
5. Get a good system...YES, you have heard right :-) In my opinion it is very difficult, especially for beginners to do good roleplaying in AD&D, cause it encourages fighting. Get something like Vampires, and let the atmosphere thrill you.