LibriumArcana.Games

Today I'm going to start a tabletop game, and I just wanted to ask for tips and so on. What do you do to plan and then start your campaign? What are some of the things you worry about? What are some of the details you focus on?

biggest thing that's always, always a problem for me...
how to bring the players together as a team in game

B4UTRUST wrote:biggest thing that's always, always a problem for me...
how to bring the players together as a team in game

For my game I've made it known to my players that I intend the campaign to follow a Star Trek style exploration mission into relatively unexplored space, looking for one of their lost ships initially and from there, well, wherever the arc takes them.

As such, characters should be of the Scout class (this is Traveller 20) or one of the Service classes (Navy, Marine, Army) or have some kind of background that can be tied into it. (say, an Academic who's an expert on alien cultures or xenobiology, or xenoarcheology, for example)

This is good, because I'm projecting starting the game with the characters in the spaceport when an urgent call comes out for all current and former service members to a long mission. The only problem I've had is a player who hasn't made his character really a part of the setting or the campaign. He wants to play a grifter and con artist... and he was the one who was going to be the 'mouthpiece' for the away team. (I'll probably end up dropping him)

Working with the player's and their separate character histories is also important. One of the players I have has a character that's essentially a war legend, youngest recepient for the Starburst of Extreme Heroism. But he refused to fire on a civilian habitat and so was quietly 'retired' from the Navy. He begins the game at a backwater starport with practically the clothes on his back and a few doodads to his name. We're talking desperate for work here, a pilot ticket for anything that needs flying. The other player is a socialist Brazillian Doctor who has been trying his best to get as far away from his mother and Earth as possible; ergo, he volunteers for a Scout long mission to places and parts unknown!

It's a shame that I only have two solid players though. I'm trying to get other people I know interested.

Well, for starters, I try to come up with a way to get the players together. Their initial motivation has to be solid if I'm putting them onto a campaign and don't expect them to do whatever they damn well please. Then I try to find a way to make it personal. If the players just feel like they're doing a job, they may quit. If you slap them silly and then taunt them a little, they'll be out for revenge.

I've tried games with looser alliances, and it can be amusing if all of the players are competant, but it can quickly devolve into a PK-fest.

The last game I tried to run with an actual arc (which ran out of steam due to things like schedules and other fun bits) was a Stargate-based game where the team (SG-15) got started on a quest to find a Goa'uld Queen who was sympathetic to the Tok'ra cause. This was easy, all of the players were members of the SGC, either military or bound by following a military commander. Their motivation was simple - save the Tok'ra and a powerful ally against the Goa'uld has another chance at survival. Their reasons to work together, again, simple. They're members of the SGC.

While I suppose some people might find it stifling to be forced to play memeber of an organization with rules and guidelines, I find it immensely helpful in getting the players together and keeping the bickering to a minimum. I think if I were to run a fantasy game, I might attempt to make the players part of a guild or something. Because sometimes, not even saving the world can keep the players from initating a TPK because the thief wants to show off.

I've found that also linking two characters prior histories together can also help the game. "These two people actually know each other and are already friends" works so much better than "You meet this person for the first time, try not to kill each other straight away."

Because sometimes, not even saving the world can keep the players from initating a TPK because the thief wants to show off.

I hate that Lone Wolf shit. There's a reason why Wolverine is the gruffest and least popular X-man (in-universe), it's because he's a goddamn loner. If you just want to play with yourself then go do it in private, but at the table you're expected to be a member of a team.

I hate that Lone Wolf shit. There's a reason why Wolverine is the gruffest and least popular X-man (in-universe), it's because he's a goddamn loner. If you just want to play with yourself then go do it in private, but at the table you're expected to be a member of a team.

Bit of a sidetrack but for the least popular (in-universe) X Men, he ends up on alot of teams. Also how do you prevent ingame lone wolf behavior?

Well, in my case, making them answer to a higher authority usually works. Players are less likely to kill innocents if they're police officers and could face an IAD investigation, or if they're military and face courts martial. If they go rogue, then make sure they know that unless the entire group goes rogue, they don't stand a chance in hell against their former employers.

Ultimately, if there is one player who's overly disruptive, you have to kick him out of the game, though only after attempting to resolve the problem peacefully away from the group. Some people just can't be team players, and the best solution is to get the rest of the group to take them out somehow.

Well, in my case, making them answer to a higher authority usually works. Players are less likely to kill innocents if they're police officers and could face an IAD investigation, or if they're military and face courts martial. If they go rogue, then make sure they know that unless the entire group goes rogue, they don't stand a chance in hell against their former employers.

Tryed that once. Went through a couple dozen characters before they would believe me. I'm talking Knights of the Dinner Table insanity. I don't have to deal with that with my present group.

Anyone else have a suggestion?

frigidmagi wrote:Also how do you prevent ingame lone wolf behavior?

By my notorious willingness to kill characters when they do stupid shit, if the wrath of the other players isn't sufficient to dissuade them.