[Dictionary of Mu & Sorcerer] How to prep a game with only 2 players
Judd:
Sanders,
You don't lead players towards a pre-determined end-point in Sorcerer. You put situations, called Bangs, for them to deal with (after the Kicker) and in dealing and responding to these Bangs tossed on the table by you, the GM, you will find an end-point; I promise, it will be a chilling and fun surprise.
2 players + a GM is how I playtested Mu and I think no further instructions beyond what is in the book are necessary. Sorcerer is great with 2 players and a GM and tops out for me at 4 players and a GM.
Moreno R.:
Hi Sander!
Do you have "Sorcerer & Sword"? The concept of "Driving with bangs" is well explained there, and I noticed you talked only about "Sorcerer" in your fist post.
James_Nostack:
Quote from: Shadow17 on April 03, 2008, 10:56:09 PM
Hello Forge
Hi Sander! Welcome to the Forge!
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1. How do I make an r-map for the Dictionary of Mu and how can I make valuable characters?
I was thinking about making NPCs in the city of Battlehymn, but how do I make relationships? Do I add these relationships as the story progresses or do I start with a fully-fledged r-map? How can I make an r-map for such a grim setting?
1. Start with the character(s) who must be there. In Dictionary of Mu, Battlehim is ruled by The Damsel Messiah and her demon. The book also mentions some merchants, some whores or lepers (or, just for fun, whores with leprosy), and her warrior-priests.
2. See if there's anything implied by the set-up in #1. For example, the Damsel Messiah is a damsel (i.e., old English word for virgin) and she's a queen, so maybe some of the Warrior-Priests want to find a suitable husband for their high priestess (see Khan).
3. At the same time as #2, discuss the facts of #1 and your loose ideas about #2 with your players. See what they think. Does it sound fun? Do they want to play a particular character? Do they have a character in mind that you didn't think of--but who has a place in this setting? Brainstorm!
4. Do character generation. Remember the back of the character sheet! Encourage the player to include stuff from the earlier material on the back of the sheet. Maybe the Damsel Messiah taught you Lore, but now that you are learning sorcery, the Merchants fear you (related to Price), etc.
5. Include any NPC's mentioned in #4 on your list of NPC's. Pay special attention to the NPC's involved in the kicker of your players.
6. Stop!
7. Figure out who interests you most as a GM. Don't include everybody! (I tried, twice, and it was a mistake.) But you should include the player's kicker NPC's. For example: I like the Demon, the Merchants, and the Warrior-Priests. (Let's pretend the kicker involves these characters.) Figure out some individuals to represent a large group; one from each is probably fine.
8. Figure out how the people who interest you, feel about each other. The Demon wants Power over influential people--the Merchants, by humiliating them and converting them into its worshippers. Tanak the Procurer, one of the most richest merchants, however, just wants to make money; they're too practical to care about religious ecstasy, holy wars, and scripture. In fact, Tanak might want to overthrow the Damsel Messiah and her crazy Demon: things were better before she came along. Bishop Esak-14, who commands the city's Martyr Brigade, enjoys the authority of his position... but also enjoys the bribes Tanak pays him.
9. Use #8 as background for the player's kicker. The kicker is what the game is really all about--your job as GM is to show the player a fun time with this kicker--but you can connect it into this other story too, weaving them together.
10. If you have a bunch of players, #8 may not be necessary. You might have enough background material just from your players' suggestions alone. And that's perfectly fine.
This is not the official way to make Relationship Maps, but I think it works pretty well in play.
2. How do I prep the 'feel' of the game I want to create?
Besides the grim setting of mu, I want to have a fast and lethal setting. Give the PCs the feeling of being in 'hell'.
3. How do I balance the PCs?
I want players to use their demons over and over, whilst also giving starting PCs some extra power in the form of abilities (which do not add dice, however). How can I balance stronger PCs, but still the high need to use demons?
4. How can I challenge the players to the limit, but keep them alive?
I want to throw in murder, natural disasters, traps, all the works. But how can I make sure my only PC stays alive?
5. Do I prep 'quests'?
I have made some starting scenarios including an assassination, a visit to a pyramid, etc. But should I do this or let the players guide the story more? Is there not the danger of the pacing hampering greatly? How much should I intervene, move things forward?
I have decided to do my game in acts and chapters, to enhance the feeling of an epic story.
Thanks in advance for any advice and have a nice day,
Sander K.
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James_Nostack:
Quote from: Shadow17 on April 03, 2008, 10:56:09 PM
2. How do I prep the 'feel' of the game I want to create?
Besides the grim setting of mu, I want to have a fast and lethal setting. Give the PCs the feeling of being in 'hell'.
Use devious, twisted "bangs" to do this. Don't worry about fast and lethal. The setting will do that for you.
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3. How do I balance the PCs?
I want players to use their demons over and over, whilst also giving starting PCs some extra power in the form of abilities (which do not add dice, however). How can I balance stronger PCs, but still the high need to use demons?
Don't worry about this in your first few games. First, because you will have enough to worry about. Second, the game is self-balancing (you'll see this after a while).
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4. How can I challenge the players to the limit, but keep them alive?
I want to throw in murder, natural disasters, traps, all the works. But how can I make sure my only PC stays alive?
This is not your job as a Sorcerer GM. Your job is to come up with devious, demented "bangs." Sorcerers are very hard to kill in this game: see the combat rules, particularly page 109. If a sorcerer does die, it is probably because the player made a deliberate, informed decision to risk the character's life. If that happens, and you cheat to keep the character alive, you've robbed that decision of its meaning.
At the same time, you might want to use the optional rule for second-rate enemies (they go down after one hit), etc., just to make the PC seem that much more special.
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5. Do I prep 'quests'?
I have made some starting scenarios including an assassination, a visit to a pyramid, etc. But should I do this or let the players guide the story more? Is there not the danger of the pacing hampering greatly? How much should I intervene, move things forward?
Don't prep beyond the next session. I tend to prep too much--way, way too much.
Here's what you do:
A. Take the situation from #10 above. You've got the kicker, connected in some way to a complicated background.
B. For your first session, you probably have a rough idea of certain things the player might do in the very first scene. Figure out some likely options, and how these options would affect the NPC's identified in #7 above (remember, this includes the NPC's involved with the kicker, and maybe other characters from the back of the character sheet). Also, figure out what the player's demon will probably think about this situation (look at its Desire).
C. What do these characters try to do in response? Don't be shy or too-subtle. Think exciting, dramatic, violent, sexy, that kind of thing. The player's reaction to the kicker is like throwing a big stone into a pond. The NPC's react to the player's choice, and that sets ripples in motion. Especially, the player's DEMON will have an agenda of its own. This is your first session: kick the player, player makes a choice, NPC's react -- and then the player and his demon each begin to pursue their own (possibly separate) agendas.
D. Don't prep more than that. if you run out of material in your first session, just call and end to the game. Chat, eat, drink. Get to know people.
E. After the first session: what did the player accomplish? What did he fail to accomplish? How will the NPC's and the player's demon try to twist those events to their desires? This is your prep for the second session, and so on for later sessions.
F. When figuring out how NPC's react, keep an eye out for really surprising, sick, demented, open-ended things. Throw the players in a lot of hot water--but other than throwing them into trouble, don't plan for any particular solution or player reaction. It's enough just to hear them splashing around in the boiling water, trying to think clearly.
Shadow17:
Thanks everyone for the replies!
After re-reading the bangs and combat I have a clearer view of how to do this now. Thanks James for also explaining how to handle the prep and especially the r-map! It really all comes together now and I think I am quite ready to begin my first session. In any case I'm pretty good at improvising so I'll guess I'll see where it goes. I will probably post a play report later. By the way, I only own sorcerer and mu, although I plan on picking up sorcerer & sword sometime too. I guess instead of clear end points I think as you guys pointed out, it is more flowing, using bangs and the like. I still want to add in a book kind of set-up with acts and chapters, but it will be more free-form, chapters ending when the players have concluded something, instead of me leading and ending a chapter.
Really, I am intrigued by both the setting and sorcerer as a system. I think it light enough for any of my players, who donīt like the gamist/simulationist approach, but still has enough meat and customizability to allow me to make it something special. Especially Mu took a load of my shoulders by providing me with such a great setting. It really provokes me to add to it!
In any case, thanks for the quick replies! I really appreciate it!
Have a nice day,
Sander K.
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