The RPG session

[42]

Okay, so I'm pondering writing a series of RPG adventures. Actually, I've already written one that is in the process of editing and rewriting.

So what I'm wondering is, when playing RPGs what do people like to do? Particularly between combats.

[The Jade Knight]

Character progression!


Erm.  What else did you have in mind?

[JP Dogberry]

Role-Playing!

[Entsuropi]

Yapping to NPC's, and stuff.

[Spriggan]

Think he's talking more about weither or not people like to investigate things (like mysteries), trying to make their characters money, or other like things.

[Entsuropi]

I dislike making money for my character. It generally feels dull and un-interesting. I LIKE having my character financially troubled. Means buying stuff is that much more important.

I prefer plot, story.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I think what I liked about Brandon's campaign is that interesting stuff was always happening to us. Sometimes we had to make a decision about where to go, sometimes we had to escape trouble. Sometimes just funny things just happened.

For example, remember when we had to spy on the military camp and also effect a prison break? Or when we got chased through a dungeon? Or when the Deck of Many Things came along? Or when we found that Griffon?

"Cool Stuff" is what needs to happen. Is anyone ever impressed when they hear about someone beating up a monster with brute force? No. But it's those stories about what happened to the character that always get retold.

[Spriggan]

I think what I liked about Brandon's campaign...

Ahhhh! You broke the fourth wall!

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

I like to punch the fourth wall till it falls down and then kick it in the ribs and gut till it cries.

I didn't say who Brandon WAS.

[42]

so talking to NPCs and having weird stuff happen to the PCs.

Anyone have good examples?

[Spriggan]

what setting/era you planning on doing?  that would help me.

[The Jade Knight]

For me the most enjoyable stuff is stuff on par with that Nerdery article on giving the DM more control (particularly the secret stuff).  I played a campaign once where I discovered halfway through it that my character was somehow the reborn son of two of the most evil people in the previous age.  Another character seemed constantly destined to become a special destiny-bound paladin for his deity of choice.

It was all rather cool.

Generally, though, if you're going to be between combats, you should be doing plot-stuff.  You only go out of your way to get money if you need money, and if you need money, that's a perfect opportunity for the GM to get you where he wants you (plot-wise).

[42]

what setting/era you planning on doing?  that would help me.

I'm looking at a few different settings/eras and possibly a few different game systems. So I'm looking for what people do between combats in a more general sense. From the different systems I've played there seems to be some similarities regardless of setting. If you can think of some distinct differences that would be helpful.

Examples of non-combat rpg sessions would be helpful.

[Fellfrosch]

Some of the non-combat RPG things I've enjoyed quite a bit:

Trying to negotiate a treaty in a tense diplomatic situation.

SE learning that his character was actually the lost child of a God we'd been dealing with for a while.

Mistress of Darkness falling in love with every male NPC in the game.

Non-combat scenes from books and movies that I find fascinating:

The dinner scene early in Dune has more intrigue and strategy than any battle scene I've ever read. Just get a bunch of NPCs who all want to kill each other and the PCs, but have to do it covertly, and you've got a lot of potential. You could swap out the dinner for a cocktail party, a royal ball, or even a masquerade of some kind--anything where the character have to remain civil and use social skills instead of combat skills.

The Poseidon Adventure put the characters in a normal situation that was completely backward: a cruise ship turned upside down, and slowly sinking. They had to navigate through a wrecked boat, avoiding fires and the ever-rising water level, but they had to do it in a situation where none of the stairs, ladders, or rooms worked the way they were supposed to (ie, the door out of the ballroom was on the ceiling instead of the floor).

In the movie The Fugitive, Dr. Kimball has to do a lot of unconventional stuff to track down the killer, because he doesn't have access to any conventional forms of research: he had to talk to old friends, sneak in and out of hospitals, and come up with weird cover stories when he called people to keep them from becoming suspicious. Typical RPG research is really easy: you look up a bad guy in a database and get his picture, his important info, and so on; Kimball can't do any of that, so he had to actually go into the prison and request an audience with the guy, made all the more difficult because he was a wanted man. Denying the characters their typical resources can make something as simple as recon into a very interesting situation.

I know there's more, but that's all I have time for right now. Anybody else have a favorite scene that could provide cool non-combat RPG fodder?

[Entsuropi]

My group specialises in sitting around and talking about potential possible explanations for what's going on and the NPC's actions for hours on end. We have paranoia down to a tee (i'm very very good at it actually) but the game itself is banned. One of the people helped... break... someone with a 24 hour continuous game of 1 on 1 paranoia.