#19: Is That What I Mean?

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/wing/wing19.phtml

Summary:

Improvosational background--and Lum the Mad.

Go to the column (http://www.rpg.net/columns/wing/wing19.phtml) for more information.

[KenHR]

Sorry to see this column come to an end; I was particularly interested in your Hunter campaign. Your articles have been a lot of help to me in my quest to improve my GMing.

My online Traveller game actually had a moment like the one you recount in this article. The first session was constructed to give us all a chance to get used to the task system we were using, as well as the basic combat system. They got into a brief tussle with a few street toughs planetside. Bullets were exchanged. The PCs managed to defeat their assailants with one of their number ending up unconscious.

The encounter was just a throwaway, a chance to give them a feel for how deadly the combat system was before we got into the meat of the game. But one of my players made a throwaway comment about gangs, territory, and the fact that they had to pass through this section of startown again the next day to meet their contact.

So I've used that comment to spin off a subplot for the game. The PCs have killed the nephew of a gang lieutenant, and the lieutenant's out for revenge. There are some internal tensions in the gang, and someone who'd like this lieutenant out of the way to satisfy his own ambition might become an ally to the party. I've also discovered through play that the homeless guy that got them into the whole mess will be an asset, as he knows the alleys and vacants of the spaceport's rundown sections, allowing the PCs to find hiding places and little known shortcuts that could prove invaluable in chases down the line.

I haven't nailed down too many specifics yet, but I've got a new conflict in the game that has arisen organically from the game, and I can see quite a few opportunities there, not just armed thugs, but negotiations and shady deals galore.

Anyway, this post is getting too long and my story probably isn't anything amazing, but your column helped me approach a looser GMing style with a bit of confidence. Winging It has added quite a bit to my personal toolkit, and I feel more assured than I have been at the reins in a long time. I might not have pursued that little lead without those tools. So thanks!

[red_bee]

Thanks for your kind words about the column. While I've been having a blast writing it, my day job (colouring comic books) has just gotten way too busy lately. I've even had to postpone the last couple of week's worth of my BATTLEWITCH webcomic (and the next two week's worth from the look of it as well).

It's even affected my gaming, so you know it must be serious ;)

I've even got a few ideas on what the next half-dozen or so columns would be - one was dealing with the fact that one of the players was leaving for a year, and how we approached getting her character out of the game, doing play-by-phone solo games with her, then eventually bringing her back into the Hunter game. Another was dealing with dangling plot threads from a previous Vampire game in the context of Hunter.

*sigh* At this rate, I'm gonna have to start writing it again :D Ah, well.

Oh, and I like the way you took a player's comment to heart and incorporated it into further story ideas - that is really what 'Winging It' is all about :)

[Col. Orange]

*sigh* At this rate, I'm gonna have to start writing it again :D Ah, well.

If you do, I don't reckon you'll be short of readers.

Thank you for writing articles that were both enjoyable and useful.