[The Pool]
Latreya Sena:
Hi all,
I'm thinking of running the Pool (first time) with a small group, however, because of the nature of the game, I'm a little baffled about prep. It probably doesn't help that I am thinking of a "Brotherhood of the Wolf" scenario either.
I want a horror/fantasy/noir investigation tone; you know, the good old beast hunts man thing. The characters enter a village that is being stalked by some unknown monster, everyday villagers go missing, despite the curfew.
So, I think it’s pretty cool that the Pool’s not good for railroading plots but instead takes a “throw toys in the sandbox” approach and lets the players develop the story.
How is this exactly accomplished though? Do I make a page of relationship maps and a list of ambiguous clues? (e.g. the mayor had blood on his shoes).
Do you think going by a heap of “random objects/people” the players will make a good story out of it and solve the mystery?
How have you prepped for a game like the Pool?
Ron Edwards:
Hello,
My first and most straightforward answer is that you should prepare a simple but exciting situation for player-characters to encounter. The key is not to improvise the back-story, but to prepare it. If there's been a murder, then you, the GM, know who did it. If there was a war with goblins 100 years ago, you say so; if there wasn't, then you say so. The Pool is actually much more traditional in its preparation requirements than many people initially thought. It's easy to get distracted by the player-narration of conflicts' outcomes and become wrongly fearful that they might interfere with back-story content.
Anyway, my point is that preparing for the Pool requires some solid work from you in terms of immediate setting, your non-player characters who are currently embroiled in something tense and colorful, and opportunities for the player-characters to take action. In other words, what's going on. I recommend that you not prepare in terms of ordered scenes and a planned climax, because they don't work well with this game - in other words, don't prepare what's going to happen after the first couple of scenes of play.
Here some threads which might help. Although a lot of the discussion is more concerned with conflicts and dice, there's a fair amount of stuff about preparation as well.
[The Pool] Dragons and Jasmine (this one contains a number of older links too)
[The Pool] A very satisfying first attempt
[The Pool] Stagefright and questions (a lot like your questions)
Silent railroading and the intersection of scenario prep and player authorship (a big thread, but there's some Pool-specific talk that's relevant to your questions)
I know that's a lot of reading for what is, when all's said, a pretty simple question and answer. There are some really good points in there, though, so I recommend it.
Best, Ron
Latreya Sena:
Thanks for the reply,
I’ve got some reading to do; thanks for the links. Perhaps I should read them first but a few initial responses:
Quote
If there's been a murder, then you, the GM, know who did it.
Well, I was wondering, given the player control of the story, if I could not know who do it. It could be interesting, but on second thoughts it might end up being a lot more work in-game than actually prepping as we all try to keep track of a coherent plotline.
And what if a player gets a MOV and says “I pressure NPC X to confess to the murders”, when I had NPC Y in mind for the murderer?
I think your approach may be best but I would have to make it clear to the players beforehand that there are a number of definite clues and there is a specific murderer/s behind it all.
I’ll go check out those threads now.
Cheers,
Latreya.
P.S. I forget to fill out my subject title properly, it should be:
[The Pool] How to prepare a scenario
Ron Edwards:
Hi Latreya,
I think you'll find the "Silent railroading" thread most relevant to your questions. This is what I was talking about for the difference between what's going on (who killed the guy) vs. what happens (what we do about it). I guess the best way to put it is that authority over how he tells me the truth is not the same thing as authority over what the truth is.
A lot of people think The Pool is like InSpectres, in which players make suggestions about what's going on via the actions and investigations of their characters, and if successful, they actually invent "the mystery" and its solution into existence through play. To repeat: The Pool is not like InSpectres in this way. "Player power" in The Pool does not include co-GMing regarding what is happening external to the characters, in terms of the larger scale of prep. It does have a lot of potential to make things move and change, but it doesn't have any power to alter where things start.
I was thinking about this thread some more and decided to change the way I would approach this conversation.
Latreya, please describe for me exactly how you prepared for the last game you GMed. It'd be good to know what game it was, how well it went, or anything like that, but I'd really like to focus on exactly what information and what planning went into it.
Given that, I know I can help make prepping for The Pool coherent for you.
Best, Ron
Lance D. Allen:
Quote
And what if a player gets a MOV and says “I pressure NPC X to confess to the murders”, when I had NPC Y in mind for the murderer?
Hipshot answer: NPC X confesses. NPC Y is still the murderer, though, so you've got the interesting case emerging where X has confessed under duress, but the murders are still going on. The players then have to react to both your content and the consequences of their own actions.
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