The party is resting. They’ve received their healing from their priests, clerics, and salves. A restful calm flows over the group following an intense combat that shook the very foundation of the earth. With rogues counting their loot, paladins praying to their deities, and fighters sharpening their blades for the next row, a messenger named Steve enters the common room. “The archmage wishes to speak with all of you.” Everyone thinks congratulations are in order for a job well done. They enter the archmage’s office, chests full of pride. “Have a seat,” he silently speaks, “we need to talk.” Uh-oh.
The “big reveal” in RPGs is that moment when all manner of things hit the fan. Someone who was thought dead no longer is; a party member has contracted some sort of remora spy, who has fed information to a big bad; or, simply, the party’s greatest ally turns out to be it’s greatest foe. As an effective dungeon master/storyteller, it is my job to provide the party and its characters with story rewards that hopefully rival some of their favorite dramatic moments in television, novels, or other modes of fantasy fiction. These moments are the icing on the cake, the story elements that they all have been fighting for. But, just like everything in RPGs, there is a process, I believe, in doing it right. And, just like a good film or television series, it’s first about pacing. Dot the landscape with info rather than create a deluge of story.
O hai, I’m actually the demon king you’ve been fighting. Gotcha!
Here are three more big ideas to help your story reveal go more smoothly.
1)Take your time: I wholeheartedly understand the temptation to reveal ALL of the secrets during the second or third night of gaming. If you’re an avid fantasy lover like myself, you want the juciness to explode as quickly as possible. But, what’s more satisfying? I’ve learned to emply the “sprinkle” method of story revelation. Let small, seemingly irrelevant, bits of the story trickle through into each night. Or, just have one or two nights in a row where most of the roleplaying is with the party members themselves, and you only provide environment, background, and combat richness.
2) Involve the NPCs: You created these guys to first serve as doormen and redshirts that get spanked by a roving gang of miniature kobolds. Yes. Miniature kobolds. Mix it up. Provide the actual charcters with some rounded non-player characters that — surprise! — have interesting lives, backstories, and connections to your major plot. That’s where some amazing roleplaying can occur. The characters can become attached to these individuals, which makes it devilishly delicious when those particular NPCs have to go for one reason or another. This forces the characters to follow alignments, characterizations, and previous decisions.
I’m Steve. I greet you at the door and burn demon souls.
3) Improvise: Definitely have a super objective outline that leads your characters toward the big reveal, emphasis on the word toward. Between plot points, however, improvise the how and why these elements will eventually come together. Dungeons and Dragons makes a series of great adventure modules that I use to frame my larger story. And within those modules (which I normally use mainly for background and flavor), I’ll have certain NPCs — both allies and enemies — become involved in the greater story arc.
4) Make it big: When it hits, let it hit harder than a frozen brick waffle in the middle of January (as a side note: I have absolutely NO idea where that came from; I think I just picked the first few words that entered my head — I’m going to do it again right now: let it hit harder than a metal lamp tie book in March). We all have been desensitized to big story reveals in our beloved fantasy books, shows, and films due to shows like “Lost” and “Battlestar Galactica.” I should say, however, that these shows still rock my world and I heart them hard. People expect episodic game nights with story elements to be revealed each time now. So give them a little at a time and then perhaps blindside them with an epic story reveal night. They will love it and will hopefully leave feeling greatly fulfilled.
But, seriously: if you do nothing else, make sure that when the big reveal occurs, you make it rain.
The post The general is a what?!: Negotiating the big reveal in RPGs first appeared on Pixelated Geek.