jameson (ST) Posted April 11, 2011 Share Posted April 11, 2011 Inspiration Strikes!Intro. I took a vacation from work last week. To paraphrase from Office Space; I did nothing, and it was everything I dreamed it could be. Some might say that I wasted the opportunity, by not traveling, or doing copious amounts of home improvement work, but I didn't take time off from one form of work just to do other work. It makes me wonder why adventurers put up with side quests. Here's a life and limb threatening adventure that will do nothing to help you vanquish the evil overlord. Nah, I'm good, I like my +4 sword thanks...[end_news_blurb]Issue #15: Take a Vacation, Do a Side Quest So there you are, on the trail of the artifact that will help you kill the evil lich, or tracking down the only shadow-runner to ever survive contact with an AI in digital combat, or ... well, any number of "main quest-y type things." You arrive in a new town, new planet, or new airport (hey, not ever game has teleportation and space ships). You think, "OK, now we just have to find this guy and get the goods," but the GM says, "You see a child, perhaps five years old, looking alone and scared. What do you do?"Well, crap. Yeah, you just stepped into a side quest, and there isn't a stick or a garden hose that will help you scrape or wash it off. Your hero, all corded thews of muscle or arcane cosmic power, sees the child and you get sucked in, no save required (sorry rogues). Next thing you know you're tracking down a kidnapped mother, or locating some long lost temple. You might even be enjoying it, and you do get some experience at least, right?The question then is why can't the side-quest feed back into the main quest? I don't mean the "go fetch" kind of side-quest either; I mean something less obvious, and more optional. GMs have a tough job, and sometimes they need more time to prepare for the next big download of plot and XPs. Side quests came out of this need to stall. It's easy to grab a handful of goblins, robots, or a ready made villain with a penchant for calendar themed crimes and seven (or twelve) thematic minions, and toss together a quick side mission, something unrelated to the story, that buys the GM a week or two of extra prep and keeps the players from forming a brute squad. As games and gamers get more sophisticated though the transparent charm of the simple side quest can begin to tarnish. "OH, John isn't ready for this week's game so I guess we're gonna hack up a bunch of gobbos again." Ouch. Player groups luck enough to have multiple GM class people can avoid this by having multiple games running in parallel, but not all are so lucky.So what can a GM do? Use call backs. That is have an NPC or a piece of loot from a prior side quest take a larger roll in the main plot. The NPC that the heroes assisted turns out to have a key item or information for them. The magic thingamabob they got off an earlier side villain turns out to be a rare and powerful artifact with a one use power which will aid the heroes greatly. The (nearly) inescapable prison the characters were in (and maybe escaped from) turns out to be the perfect holding place for a major baddy. The sky's the limit really, perhaps the annoying chant that an insane ork shaman wouldn't stop muttering is a protection spell against the evil mage the part must face... The reward need not be obvious, and, in fact, the more obscure is often better. Call backs are also not something to use for every side quest, but occasional use will let your players know that a side quest isn't always just an excuse to buy more time, nor always a way to provide a "concealed bonus" to the group. Have you ever used call backs as GM? How were they recieved? As a player has your GM ever done this, and if so did it make you appreciate his efforts more? Previously On Inspiration Strikes! Issue #1: The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas ...Issue #2: I'm Sick of This! Issue #3: Making Your Own InspirationIssue #4: It's Electric! Issue #5: Revisionist Character History Issue #6: That's No Moon.Issue #7: The Big Game(s)Issue #8: TurboSwine!Issue #9: The Emerald Death CapIssue #10: Do I Know You?Issue #11: Do I Know You? - Part 2Issue #12: Do I Know You? - Part 3Issue #13: Recipe for DisasterIssue #14: Everything on Sale, All Sales Final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn OOC Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Originally Posted By: jameson (ST)Have you ever used call backs as GM? How were they recieved? As a player has your GM ever done this, and if so did it make you appreciate his efforts more? In my days of unplanned gaming (as in, I had the loosest of plots and just winged most of it - doesn't work real well in PbP) on TT games, I used callbacks in the reverse way of above. I would have something appear in a game, something that appeared meaningless - and was, even to me. Then I'd find a way to weave it into the main story.My best example is Micah. Micah was an NPC who my D&D group found in prison at level 1. They needed a guide and he was it. He was in prison for murdering his family - which he confessed to. The cleric had him released on the agreement that she'd watch him. He agreed to help the party and he would have to stay with them.Micah proved to be helpful. After they didn't need their guide, they kept him as a servant. The cleric worked on reforming him, turning him into a model citizen, which wasn't hard. He seemed a truly good person, until they'd forgotten even where they'd found him.At that point, all I knew was that he was guilty of the crime but that'd he had a good reason. I wasn't sure what it was but one day I had no real plot for game day. I whipped together an idea about a parasitic life-form that could infect and possess people. I wasn't sure how to introduce it - and then I remembered Micah. After he saw the signs of the lifeform, I had the NPC bug out and try to run away. Since he was still in their custody, technically, they chanced him down and started to question him. He explained about the lifeform, adding that he ran so that he wouldn't have to kill the PCs like he did his family. It was a moving moment and rounded out the NPC for the party. Anyway, I like throwing things out there and then going back to pick them up later. It's always awesome to tie things back to something that happened before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fox Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Definitely agree.My best was the Gehenna game (my own verison, this was before WW released their crappy end of the world), I ran in which my PCs had played both the good guys and the bad guys in separate campaigns over the course of about three or four years total. I brought both groups together at the 'end of the world' and the separate actions of the two groups saved the day. One thing they liked was how stuff that had happened to one set of characters actually tied into the other set without them realizing it until the finale. It gave the big climatic scene more depth and impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jameson (ST) Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 I'd still refer to that as a call back Carver, though I suppose having the NPC stick around like that may be more of a long slow simmer ... a crock-pot call back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin OOC Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 Nexus Earth is Rife with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.