The Icy Tomb an ICRPG One Shot on Roll For Effort

playthrough
roll-for-effort
oathsworn
#21

Visuals are great and having ‘correct’ and fine looking visuals is awesome. Yet a game is way more than just looking at pretty things. Just like you say, it is the experience that matters and that can be achived drawing simple lines with stupid looking stick figures if need be.

Trying to make all visuals perfect will kill your motivation. Maybe it’s just me but I find it very stressful.

Your example is great. Allow me to put some dents in it. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Creating a dozen ‘filler’ NPCs serves no purpose. You feel prepared but actually you are not because you had spent your valuable time on pointless things like irrelevant NPCs instead of maybe focusing on the contant or creating something interesting/important/memorable right in the bar.

You see what happened there, right? You overprepared and it got totally ignored but at the same time you underprepared because you didn’t spend your time on things that truly matter (like the contact in the bar). That is what Alex and I are saying.

To make it a bit more concrete, next time you can concentrate on a single event and on a single motivation for the contact and maybe one other important NPC that is also present in the bar. Or maybe some important NPC (a villain perhaps) has an agent in the bar whatnot.

As you can see, I only focused on what is important for the story and nothing else. Everything else can be shot from the hip during the game but this way it has a simple structure and the story progresses forward no matter what the pesky players will do.

Also if you like having lots of NPCs and whatnot ready, I suggest that you use random generators for that purpose. If one of your players wants to talk to a dude, click on a button on a website to create a full NPC with character traits and motivations. I’d like to call this Preparation on Demand ™ lol.

#22

Yes. But it also cuts both ways. If you’re making a Warp Shell map and you drop down a piece of cover, let’s say a concrete column, then you just fixed a point of cover for that map. But if the big bad is shelling them with a rocket launcher, that barrier suddenly becomes a super important treat for your players. Similarly, something you never intended, a planter with greenery, suddenly becomes a useful piece of concealment for a creative player. Maybe someone else decides to topple the column onto the big bad! Oh. I never thought of that. Let’s roll with that premise and see what happens in the moment.

#23

@rpgerminator
This is what we mean by making the game fluid by underpreparing. The less you set in stone, the more can emerge during play. Only important, pivotal, exciting etc. things should be determined in advance, and to a minimum.

#24

I would put the 20 bystanders in the bar, but I wouldn’t devote a single note about them unless and until a PC interacted with them. But they might have a purpose for the encounter. When the shooting starts, they might run haphazardly in all directions, becoming a nuisance and a reason for players to be heroes (oh no, this lady just went down and is now bleeding out). But none of them will have names or any information until the moment in the fiction where a player shines light on them. At that point, then I get to RP just like the players. “My name is … uh … Tammy. Yes. It’s Tammy. OMG, please help me. I have three children.”

#25

This is a fantastic way of making that happen, so much less stressful and time consuming!

#26

Lol, I would do the same. I didn’t mean that I would keep the bar empty.

#27

Yep. We are on the same page.

#28

I’m a chapter or two behind but intend to catch up! :laughing:

Thank you both for your helpful ideas!

#29

Did it and session was amazing :metal:

All that stood on my session note card was.
Timer, threat and treat.
Damage, duration and Disruption
Wonder, to give the room flavour.

A small sketch of how to Setup my udt

And if required a couple of DM notes, as reminder of my thoughts I may like to share at the table.

The mechanical base is down, now I have to work on my Presentation, the way I tell the story

#30

My humble little room design

Wonder - the Dwarven forge is on fire, Gremlins crawling out of tunnels from all sides and one Dwarf is fighting alone against Foe and Flame.

Timer - Heat and Smoke, increase Target
Threat - 3 Gremlin spawns, d12 Gremlins per turn
Treat - Gremlin spawn tunnels instable

Damage - Heat and Smoke 1hp dmg
Disruption - Gremlins and Fire
Duration - destroy spawn or put out fire.

Dm Notes -
Dwarf has 4HP, does basic work against
Fire, basic work :heart::heart:
Per turn d4 gremlins try to get wet :metal:

Room features
Fire, 3 spawn tunnels, forge, water source and one Dwarf

The whole room ended that the dwarf hat 1hp left, we had 30 gremlins and one got wet.
Wet Gremlin in our setup spawns further d8 and upgrades the one to an elite Version