Tabletop RPG Podcast and Roleplaying Resources

Month: September 2016

Fr. Rodrigo’s fevered dream

concepting_a_medieval_street_by_gycinn-d7jzbtfAs Torquemada’s minions battered me into unconsciousness, I found myself drifting, in a timeless float towards a familiar place.  Old Valencia, and the Via Pared d’Azul (Blue Wall Street).  When I was a child, I knew every corner, every shoemaker’s stall, every flower vendor, every fishmonger’s bucket.  As I grew up, I would return to visit.  The old smells of the street would instantly transport me back to a time of comfort, of safety and innocence.  But this time, when I returned, things were different.  My old street, always so full of life, was dark.  Instead of fresh flowers, I smelled death and decay. No vendors opening their stalls.  No fishmongers yelling out that day’s catch from the Mediterranean. Only decay and darkness.  I walked the street, and in the distance a cowering figure walked slowly in the distance.  I quickly approached, desperate to inquire as to what had befallen my street.  Plague? The Moors? The French on a sea raid?

I caught up to the figure, grasping its shoulder, and spun it around.  Of course it was My grandmother, Mi Abuela.  At first I exulted.  She was free from that Inquisition prison cell! She frowned, turned back walking.  I was confused.  I called out to her. She kept on walking.  I rushed in front of her and stopped her in the street.  I grasped her shoulders and pleaded for her to explain.  She pointed her old, boney figure at me, and nearly spat in response, “You are not allowed on the blue street yet. You are not finished. El Mundo Agua necessitate. Yo espera hasta se regrese.” With that, she faded.  I saw the bars of her cell once again.  I knew she had talked to me from her cell, although I did not know how. Then light began to fill the street.  Vendors began to open their shops.  The smell of death started to fade.  At that, I knew the street and my body were the same.  As the street healed, so did I.

Flesh Out Characters With A Character Connections Chart

Here’s a system I developed after being inspired by both mind-mapping software I have used as part of story-creation as well as the very innovative Smallville RPG techniques of character building. I call it “character connections.”

Developing Character Connections

Creating a character connections chart is a great way to chart relationships and conflicts and build some depth for your characters before you launch a campaign. Taking this extra step can make your two dimensional characters come to life and make your roleplaying experience more enjoyable.

Create a grid which maps all the characters possible connections such as the one below.  As you go through each stage, players add sentences to a square in the row with their name next to it.

The process has a number of steps equal to the number of other characters in your group (for example, a party of five requires 4 steps to complete this process.

  • If you have three characters, the steps are: Person and Trouble
  • If you have four characters, the steps are: Person, Trouble and Event
  • If you have five characters, the steps are: Person, Trouble, Event and Place
  • If you have six characters (the maximum recommended), the steps are: Person, Trouble, Event, Place and Heritage

In the Person stage, you create an NPC (maybe a father, captain of the guard, an ex-girlfriend, etc.) which somehow connects you to another player. Alternatively, highlight some interesting aspect of the relationship between you and the other character.

In the Trouble stage, you determine some conflict between you and another player. This should add drama but not be something that would hamper teamwork. A “vowed to kill you” aspect doesn’t exactly lend itself to working together!

In the Event stage, you identify some past event which effected both you and another player.

In the Place stage, you pinpoint a location which connects you and another player.

In the Heritage stage, you develop a shared ancestry or other origin related event to connect you and another character.

Example

In this example we’ll have three characters from Star Trek.

In the Person stage, Kirk writes “Knows Spock’s ambassador father Sarek.” For McCoy, he writes “Friends with McCoy since the Academy.” Note that the Person connecting them may simply be a past friendship between the two, so the person is simply the other character. Spock writes “Kirk reminds Spock of his Human mother’s influence on his DNA” and “McCoy’s nurse, Christian Chapel, has a crush on Spock.” McCoy writes “Always tries to may Jim (Kirk) think” and “Spock should be more human.”

In the Trouble stage, Kirk writes “Why can’t Spock see the value of human emotion?” and “McCoy is always acting like Jiminy Cricket.” Spock writes “Kirk is simply not…logical” and “McCoy is a loose canon, letting his emotions cloud his judgment.” McCoy writes “I’ll put Kirk on medical leave if he goes off the deep end” and “Spock is like a green-blooded computer.”

There’s simply a few summary sentences in each box, but behind those sentences are deeper stories which have been fleshed out during the banter between the players (if you’re at a tabletop) or in a paragraph or two per stage (if you’re doing this online via text posts).

Tips for Online Usage

If you’re doing this online it may be a good idea to post your idea as a ‘Draft’ (put the word “Draft” in the title or at the beginning of the paragraph). This gives you a chance to essentially ask permission from the other player to do something with your shared history.

Note that conflicts can add drama and excitement, but do be careful to make sure you give affirmation in OOC posts and continue to stress that this is just story-conflict not actual conflict between the players. I should all be in good fun; not something personal.

If your RPG system has the concept of alignments or values, make sure the relationships reflect this. Don’t allow one lone wolf evil character whose actions sully the group’s fun!

Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion — Episode 11

The rebels journey to the ruins of Fort Tuscan. Here they meet a man named Quist who claims to be an old friend of Adar Tallon seeking to warn him of the Imperial threat.

A herd of stampeding banthas causes the heroes, joined by Quist, to jump in their speeders and flee. The rebels realize the stampede was a distraction and three bounty hunters are on their tail. Doubling back to a ridge they begin a long-range sniper battle.

After surviving a bloody conflict, the heroes journey to a local farmstead where they find Adar Tallon! He and his wife greet their old friend Quist. One of the rebels notices Quist activating a homing beacon. Suspecting Quist of treachery, they summon their ship the Tyrannus. Before it arrives,  a Stormtrooper transport appears led by Jodo Kast, the foe behind the search for Adar! After a furious battle, the rebels emerge victorious. The Tyranus arrives with Tie Fighters in hot pursuit. Can the heroes escape Tatooine and evade the orbiting Star Destroyer? …

Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion — Episode 10

The rebels continue to investigate the Tatooine wastes, desperately trying to find war hero Adar Tallon before the Imperial bounty hunters. The heroes follow the trail of Tuscan Raiders to their camp. Bearing the body of one the dead bounty hunters, the heroes are able to parlay their way out of a battle.

It’s a good thing too — the sand people had set a trap with numerous raiders hiding below the sand! Instead of blaster fire, the confrontation ends in peace.

Following a tip from the sand people, the rebels journey to ruins in the desert where they encounter a Dim-U priest and his acolytes. Around the night campfire, the monastics reveal they have heard of Adar Tallon and have leads to his whereabouts.

Suddenly, a herd of womp rats invade the camp. The heroes quickly realize it is a diversion — the bounty hunter IG-72, murderer of several locals in pursuit of Adar Tallon, is bearing down upon them!

A furious battle ensues, and IG-72 soon finds himself defeated — and disassembled — by the victorious rebels! …

© 2024 Dicehaven

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑