Learning from Odd Sources

[Dmitri]

So it seems that most pencil & paper games also play video games. Not all, but most of the ones that I know, at least. So I was playing Call of Duty: Black Ops the other day, and it really struck me - this game actually has a heck of a good narrative structure. Like, not just a little good, but really good. So, a few hours in, I was still enjoying it immensely, even though the main campaign is relatively short, like most CoD games. When I got to the end, I enjoyed the twist, and had to leave to pick up Nate from school. Anyway, on the drive there I got to thinking about video games and DMing.

Now, I am not going to say that DMs should run P&P games like video games - if we did that, we would all just jump on line and play WoW together and save the gas money! But... there are some neat things to learn and to consider as we play video games. Some of the narrative elements, and some of the mechanical decisions that we make, bear striking similarities to those made by designers in video games. Realizing this can help us, as DMs, to make better experiences for our players. Recently this has become a bit of an obsession with me, as I realized the strides I have made in DMing over the past few years... and just how few of those strides have come from memorizing hundreds of pages of mechanics out of the PHB or DMG or various splatbooks.

So... here is a thread for interesting DMing advice, with a few videos I found on the Escapist forums that bring up cool ideas for DMs. Feel free to contribute, one and all, though I was envisioning this not so much as a "read XYZ pages in WotC product ABC" as much as a shot of adrenaline from outside the usual venues. Not all the sections and points are relevant, but enough is relevant to make it worth watching, at least in my not-so-humble opinion...

First, here is a two parter by some game designers on how to "play like a designer" or essentially, how to view a game that we are playing to become better at creating other games.

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2713-Playing-Like-a-Designer-Part-1

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2738-Playing-Like-a-Designer-Part-2

Additionally, here is a neat clip on narrative technique, a thing that I have been working on developing more in Albion, in terms of variety and intensity.

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2681-Amnesia-and-Story-Structure

Some cool stuff on horror and atmostpere can be found here...

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2264-Symbolism-101

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1933-Where-Did-Survival-Horror-Go

A little less here for DMs, but still made me think some interesting thoughts...

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2590-Choice-and-Conflict

And finally, a very interesting little blurb on non-combat gaming - while much of the video focuses on mechanics for console or PC gaming, the central idea reminded me of some interesting thoughts I once had about use of skills and such in D&D.

www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2633-Non-Combat-Gaming

Sorry this is so long... but I found it interesting, and thought others might too.

[grond]

Well, spelling in the title aside, I have been in the process of learning a difficult lesson about combat and strategy, a lesson learned in part from Shining Force and Age of Empires. That is, for each situation, pre-plan a strategy, and stick to it. This way, if you plan a good strategy there will be a difficult fight, if your strategy is dumb, the fight will be easy, but either way players get the chance to use tactics and try to adapt.
Games like shining force (turn based tactical combat games) have set strategies for each encounter which allows the player (players) to decide how to proceed, or when to retreat if they seem overwhelmed. Also, a predetermined strategy makes retreat a viable option, which normally it doesn't seem to be, at least not without someone taking one for the team.
As for how age of empires works into this, each computer controlled opponent has a general over-arching strategy that it sticks to throughout. I think that this is a good model for long term villains, allowing the PCs to figure out how the enemy thinks in order to figure out how to trap or trick him/her.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is not about using strategy, but rather using consistency in order to reward your players. A DM thinking on their feet is great, but it can be dangerous when the DM adlibs things to get a result he/she expects. Instead, if the basic plan and all of the pieces are already laid out, this allows very effective strategies, or brilliant ideas, by the players to be well rewarded.
Of course, all of this requires many many details to be planned out well in advance, which is why video games are so good at this idea. They are completely planned out in every detail. Anyway, if that didn't make sense it is probably because I've been very distracted while typing.

[Dmitri]

That is a good way to look at it. Adlibbing can be great in some situations, but in combat it can get out of hand - you shouldn't play against the players per se, and try like mad to frustrate good strategies - but I do like them to only work for so long, and then force new ideas.

[grond]

Well, encounter to encounter changes are reasonable, but mid encounter 180s are frustrating, and slightly childish (in my opinion) sort of "I can do this cause it's MY game, not yours!" (tongue out, fingers making moose antlers beside head, mouth trumpeting a flatulent sound). Or, "Nanny nanny boo boo!!!" I am a big fan (not a perfect practitioner) of pre-designed (even if it is self designed) battle fields with preset numbers, and per-thought conditions for events like "Back-up arrives to support the enemy" or "The party is able to cut off the enemy's route, stopping his advance" or "The guy who should have been there to help from the beginning cause I said he would be there last time toddles along to help out now cause I forgot, but I remembered when you all really needed help, but he wasn't too much help anyway cause he was weak cause I didn't want the NPC to do all of the heavy lifting" (that one usually doesn't happen). The pre-planning represents the idea the the world was there before the game got to it, and the strategies show that the enemy did all of his thinking before hand, and won't make any brilliant plans well under the stress of a battle going badly.