To Be Quite Frank, I Don't Like Elevators

Today's #RPGaDay2016 prompt is: supposedly random game events that keep occurring.

I rely on random generators to add variety to my games now, but I didn't used to. This question has a clarification on the BrigadeCon site: "Tense outcomes are resolved using dice or other randomizers in the majority of our hobby's games, and devices such as charts, or lists are popular in some types of games. What random series of events or outcomes in your game ended up feeling not at all random?"

One of the bizarrely regular "random" events I remember is actually the result of -not- using random generation. Whenever the PC's met an otherwise unimportant NPC and wanted to know their name, I would just make something up. And it turns out that the most random name I can think of is "Frank". Once my players had met about five or six Franks, across several different games, they started to just assume any NPC would be named Frank. Often I'd just roll with it, and the cheeky bastards would make a big deal of how many jobs this one Frank must have, given that he's a cab driver, security guard, shopkeeper AND arms dealer.

Another recurring element in pretty much all of my modern games was established as the result of a random roll in the first adventure I ever ran (barring an aborted one-shot which ended in about 20 minutes after a single skeleton TPK'd my roommates). To introduce the setting and tone of my d20 Modern dark urban campaign The City, I ran a prequel one-shot where the PCs were agents of Department 7 investigating power outages at an underground research facility. As they took the elevator down into the sub-basements, I rolled percentile dice to see if anything went wrong. And it did, spectacularly. The power outage and an electrical storm combined to short out the brake system, sending it plummeting all the way down and dealing significant damage to the PCs who didn't make their reflex saves. Purely by accident, it was a pretty awesome way to get them down into the basement with no turning back.

That would have been the end of it, but once The City campaign actually started, the PCs would often end up in elevators. I rolled every time, and -every time- something went wrong, from simply getting stuck to getting attacked by monsters during a blackout as the elevator screeches downwards. My players eventually just stopped taking elevators. I should have some horrible things happen on the stairs...

My random event check was mostly based on intuition: I'd roll d% and vaguely intuit that something really bad would happen 15% of the time, and negative up to 30%-50% depending on the situation. But given that I enjoy making an "elevator check", let's have a table! (and because I've been messing around with normal distributions for random generation lately, let's do that too)

2d6	Elevator Mishap
2	roll twice and combine
3	CABLES SNAP—the elevator plummets!
4	a ghostly elevator attendant manifests and will only take you to the non-existent 13th floor
5	odourless red mist begins seeping in through the vents
6	a Cheeky Urchin has pressed all the buttons before the PCs got in
7	the elevator arrives at the expected floor
8	men in black suits have suddenly always been in the elevator
9	bad wiring—the buttons electrify and deal 1d6 shock damage
10	emergency brake activates, the elevator screeches to a halt between floors
11	the elevator becomes sentient and is attempting to eat the PCs
12	roll twice and combine

Off on the Right Foot

Today's #RPGaDay2016 prompt is: What makes a successful campaign?

Boy, I guess they got tired of the softball questions! I'm just going to come right out and say that there is no one correct answer. Reams and reams have been written on this and I don't think we're going to come to a consensus.

However...

I think it's crucial to get the first session right. That means in-game and out-of-game.

In-game, the PCs need to be tied together in a way that motivates them to work as a team -and- to go out into the world and help each other with their problems. This needs to be more than "you meet in a tavern and already know each other". Why are you meeting and how do you know each other? It can be built into the system, like the way Fate character generation has players create aspects that tie the PCs together (for example by guest-starring in each others' past adventures in Spirit of the Century). Or it could be part of the story: uniting the PCs through a faction (maybe they all work in the same guild), or through a common problem. I started my urban horror game The City by having all the PCs share a horrifying experience.  After a crowd of hundreds of people around them all collapsed and they were the only ones left conscious, they were transported into an alternate dimension full of booming voices that threatened them, and left each PC with a forehead mark that only the other PCs could see. That pretty much guarantees party cohesion for at least a few sessions. Tying the players together isn't that hard and I think it's a crucial step to player buy-in--and buy-in, ultimately, is what keeps campaigns going.

Out-of-game elements are just as (if not more!) important towards buy-in. A Session Zero might be the way, or bankuei's Same Page Tool, or any other variation of the social contract. The point is to make sure all the players agree on details like the level of commitment to playing regularly, what genre conventions should be followed, and understanding what content is ok or not ok. This also involves finding out if the players are actually into the proposed system and setting and playstyle--and if not, collaborating to find a combo that works for everyone. It might be possible to do this implicitly by playing with a gaming group of peers that you know really well already, outside of gaming alone. However, making at least some elements of the social contract explicit will always help, especially if you have a diverse group of players.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be harping on about buy-in a LOT here. I genuinely believe that no campaign will last without it, so we should try to get it right.

Better Late than Never

RPGaDay 2016 has been going on for more than a week already, but I'll jump on the bandwagon. This year it's being hosted by BrigadeCon, so check their site for more details and the full list of questions.

Today's #RPGaDay question: Largest in-game surprise you have experienced?

About a decade ago I was GMing an urban campaign using d20 Modern, with dark fantasy, near-future sci-fi, conspiracy and horror themes. It's not as grimdark-serious as it sounds--often I'd twist up genre conventions to mess with the tone. Also, my players knew when to open the release valve, so often we had moments of genuine comic relief.

During one session, the PCs headed to the laboratory of a mad scientist NPC who was one of the few people they could trust. He was nowhere to be found, and was possibly in danger. During this moment of tension, the PCs started searching--investigating other rooms, looking for notes or other clues, checking in the supply closet. A player cracked: "and then he jumps out and yells "SUPPLIES!"

We laughed pretty hard. I'm pretty sure someone did a spit-take. It was spontaneous and unexpected, and worked a lot better than the joke originally did in UHF. Thank goodness for players that are that switched-on! The City campaign lasted for about three years, and taught me a lot about GMing and engaging with players.