Posted:
Thursday, January 07, 2010 4:35 PM
Here are some small tricks I've done to help players (specifically newer players) get into the game after a week or more from playing.
+ Review 'Game Show' - When you start your game up, ask the players questions about what happened in the last few games and award them XP based on the difficulty of the question. Good questions could include names of NPC's they met, the outcome of a quest, or even what they're currently questing for. Be careful though not to give out too much XP!
+ Status Effects - Before you start your game, determine a way to distribute possible status effects to the players. For example, I always end the game when the PC's sleep. One day after they re awoke, they were instantly told to roll. Their roll determined whether they had a good, bad, or neutral dream (which then applied an appropriate status effect).
+ Quick Gift - This one isn't necessarily a gift, but it is hard to describe. Prior to one session, I set out three mechanical pencils of different colors (one for each PC). They didn't know it at the time, but I had assigned XP amounts to each pencil which they had subconsciously snatched up when they were at the table. Combine this with the Status Effects example for an easy game opener.
+ Exploration - Instead of playing a whole session around a table, why don't you put a live-action spin on it? No I'm not talking about toy foam swords or goofy capes, but exploration around your home or city. Give the PC's clues and lead them through puzzles that take them around outside. Periodically throw in a few encounters and you're practically in the game! Make sure to award them XP for solving puzzles and have some good loot at the end (like a shiny new book from RCG!)
Until next time,
Matt "Lumiar" Christian