Baldwin and Sheratan's Website : Advices for Gamemasters

Building the Scenario

Basis of the game, the scenario obey strict rules which allow to make it intersting and even palpitating. TYhe following advices will allow you to construct a real scenario.

The Scenario :

The most important point is to determine the scenario type. Many types can be enlivened :

1) The "Dungeon" scenario where Players go into a castle. It can sum up to a succession of fights (very uninteresting) or pure moments of anguish.

2) The "Investigation" scenario whre Players must discover who stole something or killed somebody or to rescue an hostage. These scenarios are interesting but thinking is more important than action or, action is important for the rhythm of a game. Try to include action in those scenarios.

3) The "Action" scenario like infiltrating into a base, rescueing hostages or sabotage. Very dynamic and easy to create.

4) The "Atmosphere" scenario, more descriptive which allow the Game Master to drive his Players into romantic, fear or fary tale atmosphere. You musn't use it too much.

5) The "Intrigue in the Court" scenario where the Players must discover who plotted by speaking because using weapons or force is impossible.

The Facts :

At first, you must determine the action. What's happening and mostly why it is happening? A scenario must indeed drive to a goal, goal of the Players or of the enemies. Moreover, the facts must be coherent. If the Game Master see clearly the facts, he will be able to set the indications correctly. Take a paper sheet and try to answer to the following questions to prepare your scenario :

1) What is happening? (or what happened for the investigation scenarios?)

2) Where is it happening? (or where happened it?.)

3) Did the "enemies" made a mistake? (Yes, indeed, because nobody's perfect! If they did not, the Player Characters cannot succeed in finding solutions!)

4) What are the stakes of what happened? (local or global threaten about security or something else!)

If you give simple answers to those questions you will "clear" your mind about your story.

The Protagonists :

You have to determine who the Non-Player protagonists are in your scenario. You must also determine who is (or are) the enemy (or enemies) and his force. The enemy must be able to resist to the Players but he musn't be invincible or it will be boring for your Players. The main problem is that the Game Master likes some of his NPC. He musn't consider any NPC as his Character, because he should be tempted to make him evolve and then this NPC may act instead of Players. To organize your NPC, try to answer to the following questions :

1) How many NPC do you need? Too many NPCs in an investigation scenario may disconcert Players.

2) What is the proportion between male and female NPC? In fact, interactions with opposite sex NPX (or same sex) can stimulate the imagination of Players.

3) What is their relative force? Don't forget that NPCs are frequently less powerful than Players!

4) What are their relative weaknesses? (For instance psychological!)

5) What is the role of each NPC? Might they help them or will they try to harm them?

6) What does the NPCs know about Players and their actions? Classical error! NPCs are not omniscient and may be surprised by the actions of Players! It's difficult for the Game Master to ignore the actions of Player but you have to do it! If the NPC can't know what's happening, he doesn't know it!

Now, there's one (or several) fundamental NPC : the "Great Enemy". He must be more worked than others and you have to try to answer the following questions :

1) What's his appearence?

2) What are his forces, powers and weaknesses? The great enemy must have a weakness, even psychological (such as an obsession or a phoby), which can be a person (NPC or PC)

3) What's his temper? Is he clever, impulsive, stupid, merciless... ?

4) Who is his surroundings? Maybe, allies of the Great Enemy can be corrupted be PCs or NPCs?

5) The main question is : What are his motivations? Nobody acts freely : the Great Enemy has a secret or obvious goal. Nobody is evil just to be evil. The connected question is : Can the Players counter his actions without fighting him? This can allow the Game Master to correct a too powerful NPC or to push Players to think instead of fighting.

The more complicated your Great Enemy is the more captivating your scenario will be : Players must have to challenge the Great Enemy and a "Mind" victory is as satisfying as a "Force" victory".