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Gouf
Seeker
USA
75 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Mar 2011 : 15:15:40
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In the currant campaign I’m running, I decided to try a few things different just for fun and they have really worked out well.
There come points in the campaign were individual characters will discover (if the correct rolls are made or the correct questions asked) key plot points, background info, or personal info about NPC’s.
Example: the full blooded elven mage decides to risk entering revelry with a dying mythal. He would learn things help to the party, but also glimpse things pertaining to High Magic, but would not share anything pertaining to high magic with the human and dwarf PC’s.
So I decided to type up a number of private hand outs with info only certain characters would learn and let them decide what to share or roleplay with the other players/characters. To take the fun one step further, after I typed them all up, I bought a pack of parchment from an office supply store to print them on. I then rolled them up and tied them with ribbon as a series of scrolls.
So now when a player unlocks something key or major, I hand them a scroll across the table.
It’s been great fun.
Additionally, since we can only get together every couple weeks, we have been sending out, via group email, ‘campfire stories’, basically short stories that would be shared in game around the nightly campfire. Written by the players and telling of things that have happened to them in the past, (with in reason of coarse), that provide clues to the other players about why any given character is the way he/she is.
Thought I would share the ideas as they have worked out well.
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"Why is the torch burning blue?" |
Edited by - Gouf on 29 Mar 2011 18:28:24
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4460 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2011 : 14:27:38
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| Those are really good ideas. I've always been one to increase the RP at my gaming table and I've used player hand-outs too. Though I've never done individual hand-outs, it sounds like a good idea. |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator |
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe
USA
527 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2011 : 14:34:59
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| I used to do things like that for my players in the weekly TT game. Now that I play more often I don't really have the time... |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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chamber101
Seeker
57 Posts |
Posted - 13 Apr 2011 : 22:18:39
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My players love handouts and when I get the time I love to prepare props. The easiest props (and most effective) to make are 'ye olde' scrolls for when the group find a map or a letter from ages past by tearing the edges, screwing the paper up then straightening it back out then dyeing the paper in coffee/tea/colouring before drying it out on the radiator to give it a lovely, brittle and aged look/texture.
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 13:27:18
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| Yeah we got a folder full of Handouts for my campaign right now. Maps, puzzle pieces, even recipes. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Fizilbert
Learned Scribe
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2011 : 19:49:09
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I've done props before and my group likes them. The last one I just handed out was a blood stained letter they got off a mage hit squad that had been sent after them. I had printed it on some parchement like construction paper and created some fake blood to stain it with.
My next prop, which they have yet to find, is a burnt scrap of paper with some key information on it, however parts of that information has been burnt away.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a custom-made wax stamp so I can make some letters/scrolls that are stamped with the seal, but that would involve a significant investment. |
Fiz
Level 10 Vice-president
World of Elethril |
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Brynweir
Senior Scribe
USA
436 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 04:55:00
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I don't think sealing wax is all that expensive at the craft store - and I think you can also use crayons. You could possibly make your own stamp using metal buttons or something similar - also found at the craft store. Maybe super/ hot glue them to a handle. I would recommend cooling the tip before you use it - just let it rest on an ice pack while you get your other stuff ready.
I'm not really sure that would work, but it's worth a try before paying for that stuff, and with buttons you can have a variety of different stamps.
I don't mean normal little buttons either. I mean decorative buttons or ones with strong details.
If you do it, let me know if it works please 
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Anyone who likes to read something that's really dark and gritty and completely awesome ought to read The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. You can check out a little taste at www.BrentWeeks.com I should probably warn you, though, that it is definitely not PG-13 :-D
He also started a new Trilogy with Black Prism, which may even surpass the Night Angel Trilogy in its awesomeness.
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Laerrigan
Learned Scribe
USA
195 Posts |
Posted - 16 Apr 2011 : 05:48:23
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I love the campfire stories idea. I do something sort of similar with my PC's journal entries, making them available for reading what's going on in him at the time. That kind of approach makes it more difficult to keep IC and OOC knowledge separate, though.
Yyyyeah, playing more often certainly increases IC time, but proportionally decreases time for special preparations.  |
"Your 'reality,' sir, is lies and balderdash, and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever." (Baron Munchausen)
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was not made for this world." (C.S. Lewis, "Surprised by Joy") |
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Gouf
Seeker
USA
75 Posts |
Posted - 18 Apr 2011 : 23:08:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Laerrigan
I love the campfire stories idea. I do something sort of similar with my PC's journal entries, making them available for reading what's going on in him at the time. That kind of approach makes it more difficult to keep IC and OOC knowledge separate, though.
Yyyyeah, playing more often certainly increases IC time, but proportionally decreases time for special preparations.
The campfire stores have worked out really well. It also allows more time for play at the table while allowing individual players to sidebar for a story.
The most recent series of hand outs involved the PC's getting the 6 part back story of the elder dwarven caravan master they are traveling with. It pulled out both his back story, provided a few insites to his travels around the cities he has lived in around the Shining Sea, and gave the PC cleric of Tyr a conundrum that tested his faith. If anybody wants I can upload them and post links.
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"Why is the torch burning blue?" |
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Expanding roleplay fun with players
