5 GM Mind Games - Running RPGs
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 лип 2024
- Here's a few simple tricks Game Masters can use to get into their players' heads, keep them guessing, and increase the tension in your games.
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON (Tip Jar): / sskorkowsky
A heartfelt thank you to my 225 Patrons for their continued support in making this channel possible.
______
CHECK OUT MY NOVELS
If you want to support my channel, or just want to read an action-packed Urban Fantasy about modern-day monster hunters and their sentient weapons, check out my four-novel Valducan series. They feature gun fights, sword fights, car chases, monsters, and a smattering of horror (except Book 2, which is mostly horror). Audio book editions narrated by the badass R.C. Bray: amzn.to/3rehNnJ
I also write pulpy Sword & Sorcery thief adventures in my Tales of the Black Raven series. It's 21 short stories packed with action, intrigue, and daring heroics. Audio editions read by R.C. Bray. amzn.to/3faj4cX
And if you want a kickass and dark revenge story about a modern-day sorceress hunting across the multiverse for lost Carcosa, my novel Ashes of Onyx is available in print, ebook, and audio book: amzn.to/3sfh1IA
If you enjoyed my stories, please leave a rating or review on Amazon, Audible, and/or Goodreads
/ 4088554.seth_skorkowsky
__________
MY PUBLISHED RPG ADVENTURES
A Mother's Love (Call of Cthulhu 7e). This collection of adventures won the 2020 Gold ENnie Award for Best Digital Adventure Book: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Mysteries on Arcturus Station (Mongoose Traveller 2e). This is two adventures. One is written by me, and the other is my update to J. Andrew Keith's brilliant Murder on Arcturus Station: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
And while I didn't write it (Marc Miller has that distinction), I did greatly expand and update the classic Traveller adventure Death Station to Mongoose 2e, which is TOTALLY FREE: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
And while not an adventure, here's Mythos Artifacts I wrote with Jon Hook of some neat magic artifacts for Call of Cthulhu: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
__________
GOT DICE?
Check out the Q-Workshop Seth Skorkowsky RPG Icons Dice, a 10-die set that I designed with Q-Workshop: q-workshop.com/en/rpg-dice-se...
For individuals of the 12-sided D6: q-workshop.com/en/single-dice...
__________
SHIRTS!
Check out the Channel Store for some shirts: teespring.com/stores/seth-sko...
__________
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
I mostly ramble about movies, tabletop roleplaying games, and random other things as they occur to me:
/ sskorkowsky
__________
I HAVE A PODCAST
Check out the Modern Mythos Podcast where veteran RPG writer Jon Hook and I discuss horror and gaming, especially Call of Cthulhu: modernmythos.libsyn.com/?fbcl...
You can find the podcast on UA-cam as well (You should totally subscribe): / @modernmythos5229
__________
As an Amazon and DriveThru RPG Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases from those websites.
#ttrpg
00:00 Intro
00:55 Mystery Rolls
03:13 Watch Your Phrasing
04:06 Ask Very Specific Questions
05:18 Use A Prop But Don't Explain It
06:41 Give Them Something to Protect
08:59 Looming GM Currency Pools
10:14 Don't Overuse Any Mind Game
10:49 Sometimes It Needs To Be True
11:22 Closing - Ігри
"Watch your phrasing" was splendidly applied in the movie Pitch Black when the guy asks Riddick how it looks and it says "it looks clear" and then some monster spooks the the guy and he's like "I thought you said it was clear!" and Riddick replies "I said it *looks* clear." That's the moment when I learned to use that trick as a GM.
My friends who are also GM's still reference that scene!
My favorite part is when he said "what does it look like now?"
Player B looks. GM rolls. Player B turns back; "looks clear."
My gut tells me that was not scripted originally as VD is a Dungeon Master.
My old DM loved that trope. He also loved making "it" not actually clear on a regular enough basis that we didn't trust that phrase at all.
I use that one frequently...
You forgot the classic: “Are you sure?“
Loved your examples. Literally had me laughing out loud.
Let's not forget: "Well, you can TRY."
*Player:* "I open the door."
*DM:* "Okay, so you're putting your hand ON the doorknob?"
*Player:* "Um..."
I HATE “are you sure?” As a player it just makes me feel like I’m missing something that should be obvious. Th stating back their action with a specific detail to the player is much better.
Instead of “are you sure?” Ask “are you jumping feet first?” Or “so you are touching the doorknob?”
I reserve this phrase when my players are going to to something rly stupid and they know that
@@Tasfarel that is an appropriate use 😁 I just had bad experiences with a dm who was way stingy with info and say “are you sure?” When he thought we were making a bad decision but there was no way for us to know…
During the 70s, I created a dungeon. In it, one corridor had a note: tell the players, "You see...," then open the book to the demons secrion, then close it and tell then that they see nothing .
I freaked my players out once playing Aftermath! by flipping to the bio weapons section of the rules when a nosy player was looking over my shoulder.
That's devilishly clever
@@craigforrest6548 What's Aftermath?
@@gavinboyer4634 A post apocalyptic RPG from the 80's. Its mechanics were terrible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath!
I'm stealing this 🤘😎👍 thank you
Also note that the reverse is also true. If you just want to move the story along "the corridor is clear of traps" is much better than "you don't discover any traps".
oh, this double negative is evil!
That's the thing about a "plot device". It's a tool. Just because you have it, doesn't mean it's THE way to do things. I do a LOT of woodwork, so I have several hammers for various reasons. I actually don't use any particular one of them very often. Of the bunch, more "miles" get put on the carving mallet for my chisels than even my claw hammer, because I so rarely drive nails... and hardened steel (like a claw hammer head) is HELL on wooden pegs and wedges.
SO think before you employ the plot devices of choice. WHAT is the goal of your plot at this particular situation? Are you moving things forward intentionally, or do you want to get the Players up on their toes again? Neither answer is particularly right or wrong, and the ARTISTIC value of the storyteller is figuring out when filler should be employed to slow down the plot for emotional substance and when to let the emotional experience go for increasing the pace.
The tool, itself, simply is the tool. You have both tools, so pick the appropriate one correctly for your situation, which will change from one adventure to the next or even just from one situation to the next, depending on your intentions in the Campaign as a whole. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 I'll agree. Sometimes you get a player who is already on the edge of analysis paralysis and kicking them in the anxiety won't make for a good story, it'll make them fold up, and bring the story, or at least their part in it, to a screeching halt.
My players want to keep searching and searching, especially when there is nothing to find. There comes a point where I have to tell one player in particular, my wife, there is NOTHING TO BE FOUND!
@@Tomyironmane Yeah, so sometimes I invent the intensity inducing "scritch scritch" noise... only to have an ordinary alley cat jump out of whatever closet or cupboard the Players track the noise to... hilarious and frequently good for shenanigans, to let the anxious Player settle and breathe a little bit. ;o)
My favorite “where are you standing exactly?” You find out who the honest players are
Where are you standing is a great one. I do prefer mini's for this
We use tokens, with our names on it, so I think that if I use this, and include, "What direction are you facing," they are going to be SO VERY VERY NERVOUS that they might explode.
Heheheheh
"I'm standing facing the door with my sword raised over my head, in a perfect position to bring it down the moment it opens, and I have my left leg forward, right leg behind, almost like a lunge, to provide optimal balance and power for a swing if someone comes through the door, or to turn and run if necessary."
Gm: you open the chest and find 10 gp.
"Oh..."
Years ago, during a D&D game, I noticed most of the players (it was a large group) were drifting away from paying attention a bit. I jotted down something on a note and passed it to the one player who was still paying attention. The player read it, chuckled, thought a second, then wrote something on the note and passed it back to me without a word. The whole table was suddenly paying attention again, and the game went on, more engaged.
What did the note say? "Read this, write something down, and pass it back to me."
I'm borrowing this for next time I have a bunch of players not paying attention. Thank you
Love this. Its fun being in a conspiracy
I had a DM, back in my college days, who would take a notebook from his pocket, open it up, say "oh, yeah", laugh, close it, and then put it away. 🙃 I miss him.
When DMing for a paranoid party I have been known to have failed perception checks result in the character missidentifying something innocuous as a trigger for a trap. For example an old spider web being confused for a tripwire, or a mossy tree stump for a troll.
That's kind of brilliant
That's good, and accurate to failed appraise checks.
I do the same. Miss it by a little, and you detect no enemies/traps. Miss it by a lot, and you detect enemies and traps that aren't even there.
that's a good one. I'm going to trying have the person with lowest passive perception in a tense situation just see lots of wrong stuff :)
That's a great one! Recently I've been playing systems with fixed successes (i.e. roll dicepool, 6 pips = success), and while they're great for speed and clarity, the lack of qualitative results means these kinds of tricks aren't available outside of the GM rolling modifiers against the player. 🤔
The skits with Seth and The Gang show how devilishly clever Seth is when he is playing with, uh, …himself.
I love that look on players faces when you start asking them to be very specific on their placement, direction they are facing, what they are holding in thier hands, where there equipment is placed, etc. So priceless to watch the dread spread across their faces *maniacal GM laughter*
Just have to be careful you don't ask a question that could lead to unneeded debate (i.e. DM: "Your sword sheath's metal, right?" Player 1: "No." Player 2: "Hold on, its an ironwood sheath, right? It's not *actually* metal but it *is* as strong as metal. Does that matter?")
I always like to ask where everyone is sitting when they get into a car, even if nothing's gonna happen.
Yeah, but also, this is inevitably going to lead to metagaming. A more general rule is that, "If you don't tell me what you are doing, I can assume facts about what you are doing based on what I think is the most likely thing to do." This leads to players generally phrasing things more explicitly when they do things. Instead of "I open the chest" you get "I crouch down beside the chest and open it, trying to take care to keep my body away from the opening." This solves lots of problems.
I remember during a LOTR game, a player said he was going to sleep, and I asked him if he intended to remove his heavy armour and helmet for that purpose. He said: "Emm no! I keep it on!"
The next morning I gifted him with a -5 in all movement because his character's back and neck were hurting XD
@@frandumont Well done!
If a player makes a certain decision, I find it fun to dramatically slam a book shut, as if to say ‘well, everything in here has gone out the window, even I don’t know what’s coming next’
Bonus points if it's the rulebook.
ROFL I forgot that one.
When they kill an NPC on sight and the GM grabs a random piece of paper and sheds it shaking their head woefully.
Grab your ketchup and crunch away my friends.
Related to this, it’s also fun, when a player successfully does something unpredictable, to pull out a random piece of scrap paper (preferably with something printed on it) and casually rip it in half before carrying on as normal.
Sometimes, the scariest monster is the absence of a monster.
Fear is the ultimate monster. Learned that from the Twilight zone.
"There is no fear in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."
-Alfred Hitchcock
To the best of my memory
Nothing is scarier.
One of my favorite gags with the treasure chest is setting a clicker or squeaky hinge, no actual danger, just something to worry them about a trap going off
Oh, that's a good one. It's good environmental storytelling, too.
The fake die rolls and oddly specific wording are excellent for building tension in any situation. It in a way negates metagaming when it comes to those amazing rolls that the players think couldn't possibly have failed. Two of my favourite tricks to use.
The problem with too much of #1 and #3 is that the players might overcomplicate everything. If the players believe every minor action is important, they will be forced to calculate every action. There's a point where you need to rollback on red herring details in order to keep the pace up and give the players a relief from analysis paralysis.
It's similar to using traps. Too many, and the game slows down because the party is paranoid. Not enough, they get careless.
@@thomasbecker9676 Sometimes it doesn't even matter how many you use. I was DMing for some new players and intentionally not using many traps and doing basically the opposite of this video and trying not to spook/troll them precisely because I didn't want them to wind up paranoid. But it turned out they already were. And, since they were new, it's not like this came from experiences with a previous DM. At this point, I think there's this sort of cultural understanding surrounding ttrpgs in general and d&d in particular that has people thinking that stuff like tomb of horrors is the norm.
@@Kidneyjoe42 It's like new players thinking D&D must be like CR.
I think most of this advice is good, my only caveat (I know, I can make my own video to say this sort of thing, but 2 kids means good luck with that) would be that you have to be able to read the room on when to bust one out. If your players are already really invested and tense, it MIGHT be a good idea to twist the screws further...or you might want to release that tension a little, so they don't decide to bail on the mission/quest for their own safety. Or if they're in a bad mood for some reason, pulling the "where are you standing/how do you open it" could change it from a tense moment to a player being pulled out of the mindset and getting annoyed. It's all about the session and the group, as always.
I think this almost goes without saying for anything in TTRPGs, whether as a player or GM.
You know how magicians get angry when other magicians reveal how tricks are done? I feel that.
I love to have an NPC call out the players for being so jumpy and paranoid (like in your chest scene) and it's also funny if that NPC gets his goose cooked later because he doesn't take precautions
"I don't why you're being so paranoOOIIIAAAAAGGGHH!!"
This was shown aptly by the survivor speech in Deep Blue Sea
I've done exactly this, but it was to impress upon some new players the threat of mimics.
The Fable 3 collector's edition included a big brass guild seal coin with good and evil facings, and it's been my go to prop for deciding things that I hadn't necessarily figured out in advance, seeing just how bad a mistake is, NPC responses, etc. Once in a while I'll flip it in response to completely arbitrary questions and actions just to keep them on their toes. It's so ingrained that sometimes someone will blurt "oh shit, he's going for the decision coin!" when I reach for it.
Two-Face approves.
I used have this bad habit of rolling my dice while I waited for players to make decisions, it seemed like it would take forever for them to make the simplest decisions, one day I asked what the deal was and one of them just asked me back “well what are you always rolling for?!” Since then I try fidget with something else while I wait, mostly, stopping all table conversations dead in their tracks with a random clatter of dice is pretty fun. ❤
Plus, nothing quite gets a group of players out of a spiral of dithering like the clatter of dice. It makes them remember that time is the essence, and events may happen on their own if the party does nothing but deliberate.
One of my absolute favorites is to place a large very readable die on the table. Then randomly at set intervals triggered by player actions, just tick it up or down.
Sends players up the paranoid wall faster than a cat on a hot tin roof.
As usual, all the complaints I have jotted down in the course of watching your presentation are completely addressed by you at the end of your video. I don't know, just thanks for the effort and nuance you put into your videos.
I like occasionally using an hourglass when players are supposed to make spontaneous decisions.
If your players are used to that, you can make them nervous by conspicuously checking where it is or moving it closer to your notes or dice.
I have another good one for games that have a bunch of intrigue:
If your players start spiraling into paranoia and theories, don't try to correct them. Let them spiral.
In my Vampire: The Masquerade-campaign, an NPC of mine is a Malkavian girl (Malkavians are basically Vampires with the powers of Mind Control and Invisibility, but in return suffer from at least one mental illness), who is a rather stereotypical Stalker who is obsessed with one of the players. (showing up at their house or at work and invisibly following them, but for now being very harmless)
Thing is, I made it into a quest for my players to find out what Clan (Vampire-"Race) she belongs to, so they don't know she's a Malkavian. I gave them all the powers either she, or the person who turned her, used, as all Clans learn a certain combination of vampiric powers. So if you know which powers a Vampire used, you can get a good guess which Clan they belong to.
For example, Clan Malkavian - in the current 5th Edition - has the unique combination of Auspex (Supernatural Senses), Domination (Mind Control) and Obfuscation. (Invisibility and supernatural disguises) She mainly uses Obfuscation - which the players know - and also some minor Auspex. The players also know, her Sire used Domination on her to make her forget his name, which means they know all three powers. They simply never combined the dots.
Now one of my players got it in his head, that her ability to become invisible - combined with my love for middle eastern themes - means, she belongs to Clan Banu Haqim (formerly known as Assamites, or the Clan of Assassins) and is actually set on the group to kill them off. Even me telling him, that Clan Banu Haqim doesn't use two of the powers they discovered (Auspex and Domination), couldn't convince him otherwise that she's in reality a trained and cold-booded assassin putting on a disguise as a shy bookworm.
After realizing that he's literally getting paranoid over a character, who has no interest in him (as long as he doesn't get between her and her obsession) - I just let him spiral. It was glorious just nodding along to his theories (or rather, not refuting anything he said), how she already gained access to every facet of their lives and planned his demise for acknowledging her being a bit suspicious. I repeat, she doesn't care about him, while he thinks she's literally behind every corner waiting with a knife for him.
So GMs - if you players start making paranoid theories and get scared over nothing - don't fight it. Just let them become paranoid until you drop the bomb.
Gosh VTM being the best yet again. Sounds like a great game you were running and a great cast of characters you had there
Hey...just because youre paranoid doesnt mean the world ISNT out to get you.
The ONLY thing I'll do in those situations (as the DM), is ask for a History (or relevant check) to see if their character might realize one of their "facts" is wrong or if they might remember something that contradicts their conclusion. Other than that, if their facts are accurate but they're just connecting the dots incorrectly, they're free to draw whatever conclusion they want. AND, if it's more interesting than the story I'd planned/expected, that conclusion will be correct ;)
I just hope he doesn't strike first, cause she could either be a good ally or a terrible enemy if provoked.
A mind game I like (although have not had much chance to use myself) is, if a player is affected mentally by something, don't TELL them that they are, simply give them information in the way their mind has been altered. If they're put into a confused or hazy state by some spell, give them vague and muddy information, instead of just saying they're confused so they can't really make something out. If they're put on edge by some drug, tell them that they have this overwhelming feeling someone npc's gonna betray them, or that they're being watched. Let them figure out why it is on their own (Oh, that potion that trap spilled on my head, that's why I can't figure anything out. Oh, that synthcoke I had before leaving the house this afternoon,) instead of telling them directly.
I have done this a number of times when I used to run games. It eventually made my players start metagaming, making their characters act in a way that was being influence by my actions, rather than what their characters would have done.
You always tell us hello but who says hello to the Seth?
"It sounds antagonistic"
"Good, because sometimes, GMs need to remember they're there to set a CHALLENGE...There has to be stakes to the story, or victory isn't fun"
Right before a very import but very RP heavy meeting with a bunch of faction leaders I wanted to keep things interesting so I did 2 things.
First I put one of the characters rivals in the meeting knowing they couldn't confront them during it.
Second I rolled dice and asked everyone's passive perception and then I made every player a note on an index card, folded it up and handed them out and immediately jumped into the meeting. Each note said "you are yourself, act normally"
It was the most serious and most careful moment of the entire campaign
That is absolutely brilliant, and I am totally going to steal this for my campaign!
Re: Point #5: I'm reminded of the notion that my PCs were wise enough to invoke logistics and bring carts/wagons at the entrance of a dungeon so that they can more easily empty such a place of their haul. Unfortunately for them, they were less willing to verify the security of said cart of treasure when they went into a pub (it was too late for them to cash things out). Voila, suddenly these players were all-in to track down the thief and I could start the next leg of the adventure.
I'd say the main purpose of such bluffs is to make sure that when something IS there, they're not tipped off to it even on their failed roll/etc.
Seth rolling dice behind the screen for the pizza toppings I KNOW YOUR WILES GMAEMASTER
My favorite trick as a DM is to keep a list of NPC's that the PC's interact with. As they become engaged with these characters, I formulate how to make the best use for them. Example: I had one group who rescued a NPC and then befriended him. All the while this NPC was available to either aid or hinder the party. I ended up using this NPC as a spy for an opposing lord that the PC's were up against. When they finally found out what had happened, [no actual harm was done to them, but that of betrayal], their reactions were priceless. They were actually more angry at that NPC then the actual baddie I had planned for. So I used him as a mid level boss fight. It was awesome. Point is, keep track of NPC's that the players become fond with their are so many other uses for them, most of all, make the NPC's valuable, atttractive and/or vulnerable to the PC's. I hope this is helpful.
For a mystery rolls my DM once while playing curse of strahd would have us all stop and roll a d20 every now and then note the outcomes. It always made us wonder what was happening at the end of the campaign we asked him what was happening there and he admitted it was nothing but made us feel paranoid as we should in Barovia
8:33
Literally rewatching VOTJ and that scene came up. I hadn't noticed before, but this time i could see that you had no physical reaction; no stutter, flinch, not even choking on your drink. Great job playing it off smoothly on the surface!
The line delivery at the end was too perfect, great vid
Its hard sometimes to remember...all the people you see in the videos...are Seth.
I use the Mystery Dice Roll from time to time. I'd love to add a GM token pool to Cyberpunk Red. There's so many times in that game where upping the stakes/danger can be telegraphed and make sense.
The one about asking oddly specific questions is pure gold, because every now and then you'll be running a scenario where you actually DO need to know which side of the chest the player is standing on as they open it, for some reason. If your players are accustomed to the idea that you occasionally ask weirdly specific questions, they're more likely to answer honestly as opposed to changing their tune just because you asked.
I did that "Give them something to protect - Then threaten it" quite by accident several years ago. I'd run things as a GM before, but wouldn't exactly call me experienced at the time.
I was introducing players to Warhammer 2nd edition and used the introduction scenario from the book.
At one point a mutant shoots someone with a Hochland Longrifle, and the scenario makes it pretty clear that it's supposed to get away and that a weapon like that shouldn't be given to the PCs
However, one of my players decided to shoot the mutant at long range with his bow, made an outstanding attack roll and proceeded to one-hit-kill the mutant. So... I couldn't *not* give them the gun.
Instead I started hinting once in a while that an NPC showed particular interest to this gun.
By the end of the second session they were so paranoid thinking that *I* would steal it from them, that they started hiding it in their room at the inn and setting up elaborate traps, and spending off-game time trying to figure out how to keep this gun safe!
None of them could use firearms, and they were scared that it would be recognized as stolen if they brought it with them.
They ended up selling it far below market price just to get rid of it, because they didn't want to get caught up in whatever I was planning - which was nothing. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I was just BS-ing my way through the whole thing, hoping they wouldn't sell it to a collector at premium
"How do you like that mind game bitch?" Had me dying at the end, completely unexpected 🤣🤣🤣
"The room seems empty" and "You don't detect any traps" are two that I have used for decades. They never stop working for me, always putting the PCs on edge. Also, if you want to make your players look like fools and clowns, try the following: "Using this door, show me exactly how you open the door." Never will they simply open the door like a normal human, instead you get the best gymnastics you've ever seen.
As mentioned, this absolutely runs the risk of being overdone, and the tolerance point will vary widely depending on the player in question. The worst case isn't that they cease to be effective, but that they suddenly have the opposite effect and anger your players. See also the GM sin of the ass-pull.
It's been said that Gary Gygax once said the only reason the GM rolls dice is for the sound they make.
My classics are, "you find no traps", "are you sure?", and randomly rolling mystery rolls. But my absolute favorite thing? Preparing a super atmospheric or cinematic scene where the players get a very vivid description of what their characters see and hear, but it's unexpected and they don't QUITE know what is happening. A huge, dark, partly flooded chamber, where they suddenly hear splashing and movement across the room. Someone innocently touches a magical item and a shockwave of air ripples through the room, knocking books off shelves as they suddenly vanish through a warp in space. A rider comes barreling through town yelling "get back inside!" as the bells by the gates begin to ring.
Speaking of mindgames, I had an idea. Do a video as Jack. Start in B&W saying, "Hello, Intanet, as Seth says." Then right to the review, with no explanation.
At the end, you appear as you. "Man, I hate having fevers. What a weird dream. Huh, I left my webcam on." Cut to black.
When I have had players attempt a simple maneuver, such as jump across a five foot space over a chasm, cross a rickety bridge or navigate a ledge, I tell them"just don't roll a one". This check is on a d20, so the player actually has little chance of failing and he doesn't know that if he fails, he will get a chance to grab the ledge or bridge to avoid falling to his doom. I have been pleasantly surprised by how effective this is for scaring players. If a player rolls a one (which has happened far more than 5%), the moment is long remembered and a subsequent check stands a strong chance to terrorize the players.
Your point around using these sparingly is super important. I've played in games where the GM used these tricks constantly and it made for an adversarial, paranoid experience where the players didn't trust the GM or each other. You're absolutely correct to say use these at the right moment.
I recently bought these 6 sided skull dice. One player laughed and said what are those for. I just smiled. During a certain point in the session I put one of the skull dice down on the table. every few minutes I would change the number on the dice clearly showing the dice counting down. When it got to 3, I let them know they heard a noise. Then again when it moved to 2. The players got so paranoid they started running away certain it was some big bad monster. It was nothing, just theatre. So much fun.
The one about being careful about your phrasing is a great one that I always try to use. My players are cautious (somtimes to a fault), and it drives them mad !
3- my favorite question that calls back to OSR roots- what's your marching order?
5- Shadows of Brimstone growing dread mechanic
Two things: first, these are all super useful and fun. Second, my players must never ever ever find this video.
The Angry GM has a mechanic called the Tension Pool. You get a dish or bowl, place it on the table where the players can see it, and you add one d6 to it after every in-game 10-minute round to track time. After you put six d6s in the bowl, take them out and roll them. If you get any 1s, something bad happens such as a random encounter. After rolling six dice, clear the pool. Alternatively, if the characters do anything noisy, risky, or dangerous, add a d6 for the round, then roll all the dice in the pool to see if something goes wrong, then return the dice to the pool. You only clear the pool after six die representing an in-game hour, in-game day, whatever unit of time, and you start over for the next unit of time.
Love the brass skull.
Yup just like the X-49 robot in samurai jack and it's pet dog LuLu, sweet thing. Totally protecting that dog.
Where are you standing, love it. Though honestly I like to use minis to avoid needing to do this.
“ I opened up the chest.”
Do you kick it?
“ no.”
Love the "what color shirt are you wearing?" Definitely going to use that
So yeah, I think I've done most of these.
One of my favorite mind games was a dungeon room with a door opposite the entrance, which was unlocked. Centered in the middle of the room was a big switch. The switch actually didn’t do anything but make grinding noises (alternately, the switch could turn on a red light or some such, be creative), but watching players squirm over what to do about it was hilarious.
It’s actually fascinating watching different types of players choose what to do. More reckless players just rush up and flip the switch, paranoid players don’t touch it and get stuck, cautious others debate about it, smart players actually think to check the door first. I had one really curious player start dismantling the switch mechanism. I think I had to stop him and tell him the switch was just there to screw with people. It's also fun to watch people try to figure out what the switch did once thrown, most assume it unlocks the door.
The phrasing is always a good one. It works equally well whether there is or isn't something to find and how well their dice roll went. "You don't find anything" after a *_low_* roll is especially terrifying.
My personal favorite is to just start asking backstory questions sometime between sessions. A player told me out of game that he was scared after I just started asking oddly specific questions about his character's family
The Specific Questions, getting standing locations specifically, is a great one to use as a bluff otherwise whenever you ask "where are you exactly" players know something's about to go down & get behind cover.😄
Similar to the having a pointless prop I like to put a statue, shrine, altar, portrait, table, etc on a map describe the room in great detail but not mention this detail. The players swarm around it thinking it must be important or have a puzzle, where as it's actually benign. The best thing about this is that I have told all of my players from my various groups that I do this and they all fall for it anyway. They tell me it's because they think me telling them means that map detail will be important one time and I'm trying condition them to not investigate for when it is.
I love asking oddly specific questions, especially before they open a door or walk into a forest. "Do you have a weapon drawn?" Is a good one. If they don't they always do a few seconds later.
Tokens! There was a system I played at Origins about 9 years ago. I can't remember the system but the GM had smashed Doctor Who and The A-Team together, and whenever a player would do something incredible, very in character, or otherwise, we would get a token that we could use, I think to re-roll the lowest dice in saves.
I was pretty blasted, as you generally are at an event where you don't have to walk outside for a whole week, and I still remember that session vividly.
Best video I've seen all week! Thanks Seth!
Great vid as usual! I'm including these in my GM book of tricks. :)
Awesome... Now to re-watch it and takes notes. Thank Seth, quality video as usual. I have begun to feel like your characters have taken on a life. So good.
I've got to change up my using non-committal wording all the time. There is a time and place for it. And sometimes its better off to say everything is safe and you can tell the person is not lying in normal situations. For instance, I have my players meet a contact who is going to pay them to retrieve an artifact. The players want to roll an Insight check to see if the contact is being deceitful and I say "You don't detect her being deceitful", but now they expect her to betray them later on. And can sometimes lead to too much caution on the players' part because now that idea hasn't been concretely denied.
This is all fantastic material. Great video
I love your videos.
Keep them going
Excellent video! Thanks for this free content!
Great episode Seth! I'm using some of these tips for sure!
Wow i absolutely love the new video quality, especially on the skit! And thanks for the tips!
One of the best videos for newbie DMs. The purpose of the mind games here is to create tension; however, I mostly use them to prevent meta-gaming. This means I use these approaches more than recommended here, since my goal is to make the players stop reading too much into what I do.
Great stuff, Seth!
I always enjoy your "tips & tricks" episodes, they are VERY helpful, both for players and for GMs. Thank you.
Fantastic advice and as usual killer humor, especially the ending. Top notch, always a pleasure to watch!
Great stuff, I'll be using at least one of these in my game tomorrow.
I did some similar tactics when running curses or diseases to watching your language. One time, my players were fighting werewolves and a couple of times my players got bitten by them. When I asked for the save against the bite, no matter the result, I just said "ok" and moved on with the combat. My players were on edge. After the combat, one of my players got the idea of testing if they got lycanthropy by touching the bite marks with a silver coin. I liked the idea and described those who failed their save felt a burning sensation from the metal's touch. It feels more realistic to me to withhold the result of curses and diseases since you never know when your sick until symptoms arise. Also it ramps up the tension quite a bit.
Seth you continue to have an amazing ideas. Definitely gonna implement these ideas into my next game.
Love it when you drop a video Seth. Waiting on the Kult episodes.
Wonderful advice I have been doing this stuff for years!
Hi, Seth. Good stuff. Nice to keep them on their toes
Glad your reno process is coming along well. Best of luck with that 🙂
I remember a game where two players had broken into an office and were searching it. As they were telling me what they searched I kept pausing and rolling dice. I could see them getting more and more nervous until they just bolted out through the window. It made the whole thing much more tense and exciting for them. I think everyone benefits from this kind of thing.
Excellent video!
👏Beautiful! Wonderful video! I use #2 all the time as my standard operating procedure.
Loved the ending Seth!
As always, a fantastic video. I'm glad to see the methods I've used and experienced being more common than I thought, as well as perspective that I hadn't had previously on some.
The random dice rolls especially, though I usually incorporate some simple binary oracle function to them for integrity.
The final gag gave me a genuine belly laugh. LOL God bless you, good sir.
Content like this really makes me want to start recording and referencing your videos.
I love your videos! It's very pleasant to listen to you; I think you express yourself very well. By the way, I find it curious how some of the tips had occurred to me after many games purely by intuition, such as making meaningless dice rolls or introducing elements that players don't know the function of. I'll try to incorporate the rest. Great video! Greetings from Spain.
When I put this on I did not expect to see my face! Great vid as always Seth
And you absolutely stuck the landing on that one. Great end gag.
These are excellent tips, really good to cement player engagement. I use "something to protect" heavily at the moment in my Symbaroum campaign. Specific questions ...what a great idea.
An old GM of mine had a trick he loved using: When a player rolls a crit fail on a perception/mental check, be completely honest with them and tell them *exactly* what is going on, what is happening, what an NPCs true devious motivations are, etc. because the players will never believe you or never believe all of what you say as true and will tend to assume the opposite
Oh that's devious
Great advice! I especially liked the unexplained prop gag. I gotta try that one at my own table. 🙂
I love the brass skull! I never would have thought to use something like that.
Great video like always
Great vid. It's a cool paradox in that, with the exception of protection and tokens, most of these tricks are forms of misdirection, but misdirection that creates a tension enhancing the players' immersion in the game.
On red herring props, I'm now inspired to bring a bunch of sand hourglasses to my table and set them up for player view at irrelevant moments in game, but that inspiration needs to be shared with John Wick 4.
Oh and I kinda like the temp set up, with the window dressing and the bench it gives a sort of "Confession booth" vibe you could use for Kult reviews if things go behind schedule, hope the reno work stays on track though.
Love these!
I've used all of these, so it wasn't all that enlightening for me personally. But...I so love that you're passing this along to an entire host of prospective GM's who can use it. Keep it up!
Great stuff! I've been doing these things for years, but never considered what I was actually doing. It's always been ways to create uncertainly to limit what the players can count on -- because certainty is rarely a thing in reality. Thanks for another gun video!
Love these tips! I have used all of them for years, except the clever brass skull...now grinding through some ideas of what I already own that I can "just have lying about", at an upcoming session. 👹
Solid Gold, Seth!!! Thank you. Btw hope your birthday was groovy.