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  Carnarvon Registered User regular

  May 2011 edited May 2011

  Most of my sessions end up like that, to the point that I don't even bother coming prepared with anything more than a few basic encounters.
  
  I had Gamma World session go awry when a character with +11 Interaction managed to get the BBEG to go on a date with him. The party ended up spending an hour breaking into a bistro and cooking a three course meal for a what is essentially a giant, radioactive beetle. They decided to leave through the window when she said that she had to eat her mate after intercourse.
  
  I remember the exact words I said to the player. "Stop rolling so high, I want to kill you."

  Carnarvon on May 2011

  Taneli

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  Void Slayer Very Suspicious Registered User regular

  May 2011 edited May 2011

  Take a small child hostage. In the game or real life either works.
  
  Or do what you think the antagonist would do in reality, the players are not your enemy. In terms of game mechanics imbalances, remember that in a real world people would take notice of things happening. If he can counter magic send a variety of threats, from non-casters with "abilities" to groups of sorcerers where one would have to carefully pick and choose who to effect.
  
  Having a single character who takes over the narrative may be an negative effect of some systems, but even if it is unavoidable you can create situations where a single character acting will not be enough.
  
  In terms of a single encounter though, yeah having your big threat simply thwarted can be agonizing. But if you respond with a change in the story it does not have to be devastating. An antagonist shouldn't "go to hire bandits" a dozen times if the first group of bandits do not do anything. Capture some hostages, blackmail, get positions of power or diplomatic immunity, have them go crazy and become desperate or hateful of the players.
  
  It may feel unfair to the players to make up new threats or create instant counters to their plans during a gaming session. However it is perfectly reasonable for those opposing them to learn from the mistakes of others.
  
  This is from a mostly player perspective, but these are the kinds of things my best DMs have done.

  Void Slayer on May 2011

  He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!

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  Hahnsoo1 Make Ready. We Hunt.Registered User regular

  May 2011 edited May 2011

  I always try to roll with it, so to speak. If something spontaneous happens that you weren't expecting and the players are enjoying it, then you should try to showcase it, even make it the central feature of that session. Nothing makes me more happy when I can look back at my sessions and see my carefully laid plans rent asunder. "My players are just that cool!" is what I think.
  
  If it is one player's antics that is disruptive to the other players' fun overall, then it is something to address, of course, and that's probably best done after the session. If one player is just getting lucky or just getting in the right place at the right time to counteract your plot, though, this is where you can shine as a versatile GM.
  
  Sometimes, you just have to let it happen. We play roleplaying games not because we ONLY want to experience the content of the session created by the GM, but because of the random stuff that happens due to letting the dice (or whatever game mechanic) fall where they may.
  
  In a recent session of Godlike, the Big Bad of the week was in a giant mecha robot. The super scientist in the group had recently created a Shrink Ray. The creative solution that the PCs came up with involved shrinking the giant robot and tossing it out into the sea very quickly. Even if the giant robot was able to counteract the Shrink Ray the next turn, it would go "glub glub" and sink, eliminating the threat. I could have given the Big Bad a higher Willpower pool and canceled out the Shrink Ray. But the thought of a creative solution that didn't involve combat (this combat was the climax of the session) and the fact that the players were excited that it could possibly work made me think "Okay, you guys win this time." We will probably always remember that session as "the one where we used the Shrink Ray on the Robot... that was so cool!"
  
  Another example was at the beginning of a Castle Falkenstein session where all of the PCs get arrested by the London police. The game uses a playing card mechanic, and an Ace of Hearts gives the best social result. One of the girls was playing someone staying at the Chinese consulate at London, and argued that she would have diplomatic immunity. I said something to the effect of "Your diplomatic immunity doesn't apply here" hoping to railroad the PCs into the jail (the next event was supposed to happen there). She played the Ace of Hearts. I paused and said, "Oh. I guess your diplomatic immunity DOES apply here." She was let out of the jail, and I thought of a way to have the rest of the PCs relay the information they learned at the jail to her (the so-called "Power Word: Blah"). While it did reduce her participation in the next scene, we loved the thought of this lovely Asian lady waltzing out while the rest of her companions were put into irons.

  Hahnsoo1 on May 2011

  

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