Author | Lightnews

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 5d

In our groups, the GM tend to pre-gen characters to fit the stories, conflicts, & milieus. So, it is largely the demands and opportunities of the setting and plots that determine what kinds of PCs & NPCs partake. As a GM, I try to find story avenues and setting slots where PCs will snugly fit.

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 6d

Ouch! 😬

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 11d

Almost invariably, the PCs start out as nobodies but gets noticed quickly by more and more people and power factions. By the end of a campaign, the PCs are sometimes very much high players themselves.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 11d

Thus far, IIRC, our campaigns tend to end with the bad guy being defeated and I don't think we've ever had a big-bad seeing the light and laying down their arms (although a few have been imprisoned). This is party because when we reach the end, the players are very dialed in to killing the baddie.

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 11d

Since I find combat excruciatingly boring (as a GM), a single big-bad fight is what I prefer. But we do what we must as GMs 😊

(As a player, combats are cool whatever we're fighting 😎 )

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 14d

'Tis the worstest!

Good luck!

Here's a picture of Bolla begin silly 😆

1 1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 14d

Hi, folks!

I have tried my hand at making a book trailer (read: I actually got talented people to make it for me), for the Bronze Age Fantasy Thriller -- 3 1/2 MURDERS TO WAR.

Have a look! 😎

youtu.be/SMRLDLrcwRg

3 1/2 Murders to War, a book trailer

YouTube video by Vidar Edland

youtu.be

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 15d

I have backed a few, the main ones being Alien RPG, Blade Runner RPG, Fading Suns PA. Apart from some delivery delays connected to recent years' shipping issues (which the game publisher can hardly be blamed for), I have never had any troubles with crowd funding RPGs.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 19d

GM rolls behind the screen. Players roll in the open.
Sometimes, the GM will roll in the open when big stakes hinge on a single roll (but more often than not, we'll set the stage so that it such big stakes hinges on a player roll instead)

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 20d

We split the party all the time, especially with social intrigue/investigation stories. Rather than slowing the story down, splitting up can increase the reach of the group.

3

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 21d

Typing and research skills 😎

I'm also a historian and fantasy author, which helps a lot, too.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 22d

Rulebook + how-to-play/actual-play vids.

Moreover, we always play with tentative lets-learn-these-dang-rules-together mechanics the first couple of sessions, being open and meta about it.
Example: "So, peoploids, let's see how 4 heroes fighting 10 Stormtroopers work in this iteration of Star Wars"

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · 26d

What waits characters after the completion of a campaign is typically retirement and normal life, with exciting stories to tell their grandchildren.

Sometimes, however, retired PCs will become high-power NPCs in our settings, taking on various leadership positions and the like.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Oct 2

WoD became increasingly preposterous as the setting grew.

WFRP3 was a bit too crunchy & fiddly a departure from the already crunchy game, I found.

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Oct 2

Generally speaking, I find new editions tend to be an improvement on the old, but not always.

For L5R, each new edition grew more and more vanilla (less dangerous) and D&D-esque/WoD-esque.

1 1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 25

Is this... is this a naughty thing?

I guess I'd say xenomorph but that could be interpreted wrong 😬... or right? 😅

1 1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 24

Space Western and anything-Horror.

1

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 23

GMing in settings/periods that my players know better than me is difficult.

Being an introvert, GMing for people I don't know is also hard, but mostly at first.

GMing without inspiration/drive is like going up hill all night and disappointing the group all the way. I need support from my muses.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 20

We constantly subvert expectations & turn tropes on their head.

Recently, the PCs attacked a goblin-infested keep ruin only to find the goblin mystic boss a reasonable dude they could negotiate with.

In Alien, the PCs encountered a AI mainframe dedicated to protecting the well being of the crew.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 11

Yes, but...

...as a GM, running deeply character-integrated stories where PC backgrounds and arcs mesh with the overall plot, I do find it difficult to handle when PCs exit a campaign. Sometimes you can pass a particular story beat or arc onto a new character, but I tend to try and avoid PC deaths.

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 10

Basically, I typically spend 2-5 times as much time prepping a session as I do running it.

It can get a bit much, but I'm an obsessive personality, so...

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 10

Lots of notes here. I basically write out full/semi-full published-type scenarios for myself when I have the time to prep that much. I often also write out NPC dialogues and briefings and whatnot in advance, to get the tone and characterizations down (without necessarily using it as written, though)

1 2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 6

Alien RPG

The horror stuff is fun, but the real strength is the rich & varied setting allowing for lots of different story genres. You can easily do espionage, politics, exploration, action adventure, military stories & more, with the option of throwing in xenos whenever you feel like it. Awesome!

2

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 5

In my campaigns, although it obviously varies, the PCs tend to be small-scale people enacting large-scale changes in the world, for good and bad. Often, they attract a lot of attention, with NPC VIPs going: "Who the hell are these peoploids who came out of the blue and are now doing all this stuff?"

3

Vidar Edland @vidaredland.bsky.social · Sep 2

A whole organization. That way, I can present several bosses without getting into trouble when the players devise some clever way to kill them off that I cannot honestly thwart. By having the big-bad as a shadowy organization/company/faction, the overall story is less vulnerable.

2