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I was curious how other GMs approached a specific element of the Manor ...
I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation for maximum impact. On the one hand I think keeping the specic ones secret for that PC would make the most interesting scene, but on the otherhand I don't want to slow things down to a crawl. What has been your experience?
Thanks!
When I ran it,
When I ran it,
I had the players roll initiative when they entered the manor grounds, and they stayed in initiative for the next six hours while they did the manor. It really ratcheted up the tension.
This meant that I could trigger the haunts easily when they ought to be triggered, and I just described them out loud.
Nice idea. Consider it poached! Thanks.
I had the players roll initiative when they entered the manor grounds, and they stayed in initiative for the next six hours while they did the manor. It really ratcheted up the tension.
This meant that I could trigger the haunts easily when they ought to be triggered, and I just described them out loud.
When I ran it I typed up my own "flavor text" for each haunt and then handed them to the appropriate player and as they described what they did I in turn described what the others could see (or not see). It did bring up the tension level quite a bit and allowed the players to role play easier not having player knowledge of what was going on.
My solution was to just take the appropriate player into the corner and describe the situation to him/her. It really freaks the players out when you do stuff like that, especially if you occasionally bring someone over and just say, "Keep nodding like I'm telling you something important. Ok, good. Now get scared. . . perfect. All right, let's go back to the table now, and don't let anyone know what I just told you."
Evil DM grin >:-}
I'll be running this next week for my group. I went with all the great suggestions on this board and found some of my own.
1. Will have the pc's roll for initiative before entering the manor and have them stay in that turn order.
2. Using the word doc. of haunts off this forum "great stuff".
3. I have the maps already printed out, so theres no down time to ruin the mood. Used the maps of the manor off this forum somewhere, someone was nice enough to create player maps of the manor.
4. Once the pc's enter the manor, I found some really cool mood music and it's free on youtube. Music is by Nox Arcana, here is a link Manor music and it's really easy to create a play list - just hit play and when they enter let the good times roll!!!
5. Went to home depot got some red flood lights and purple party lights to really set the mood. Here are some pics (I had to turn the lights on so you could see, but you get the idea).
I'll post back and tell you all how it went.
p.s. How do you get links to work in here? Ahh, I got it!
I dont get why you have the PC's roll initiative when they enter the manor and stay in initiative. I usually think initiative sequence slows down action and makes it clunky (ie it is a necessary evil in combat) as everyone waits for everyone else to do stuff.
I am just trying to understand why it was done
Can someone please explain to me why this is a good idea?
I dont get why you have the PC's roll initiative when they enter the manor and stay in initiative. I usually think initiative sequence slows down action and makes it clunky (ie it is a necessary evil in combat) as everyone waits for everyone else to do stuff.
I am just trying to understand why it was done
Can someone please explain to me why this is a good idea?
To build suspense. Having the pc’s go in turns keeps them guessing and on their toes. I will find out how well it works next week.
Can someone please explain to me why this is a good idea?To build suspense.
It varies from group to group. If this slows things down for you then it's probably not what you're after. In our group, initiative can happen very quickly. It also makes the players tense, particularly when round after round passes without any antagonists appearing and yet I insist on keeping them in initiative.
It worked really, really well for my group. I would recommend that GMs evaluate how their groups react to being in initiative before deciding whether or not to do this.
The session went great! Here's what my players are saying on our forum:
WOW, I had a blast during this session . It's amazing we only had one combat. Post your thoughts on the session - any rules we need to go over?
do agree it was really fun...heh i think the reason why i "tried" to kick down the door was just cuz i wanted to kill things
the session was really awesome and it was a lot different from the other sessions ive played which made it cool. I have a feeling this next session is going to top it off though now that were in the house and have a little taste of what its about. So far so good
I have to agree, this session was a little different than the others, I actually found myself picturing what the house would feel like and what it would be like to be inside, plus the little forced character "RPing" via the notes was a good touch.
I feel that this session went really really well.... Not only did a fair amount of role play, inactive combat happened. Not the typical fight fight fight, but combat that involved us using our minds to navigate and feel out this house, that we still haven't gotten out of. I liked the fact that I felt the creepiness of the house, and I also liked the fact that we didn't get ambushed. Not because an ambush could have hurt our party, but because there were ways to keep us on our toes without throwing a group of minions at us in the dark environment. It was nice to have interaction that still had dire consequences without combat.
I'll be running this next week for my group. I went with all the great suggestions on this board and found some of my own.
1. Will have the pc's roll for initiative before entering the manor and have them stay in that turn order.
2. Using the word doc. of haunts off this forum "great stuff".
3. I have the maps already printed out, so theres no down time to ruin the mood. Used the maps of the manor off this forum somewhere, someone was nice enough to create player maps of the manor.
4. Once the pc's enter the manor, I found some really cool mood music and it's free on youtube. Music is by Nox Arcana, here is a link Manor music and it's really easy to create a play list - just hit play and when they enter let the good times roll!!!
5. Went to home depot got some red flood lights and purple party lights to really set the mood. Here are some pics (I had to turn the lights on so you could see, but you get the idea).
I'll post back and tell you all how it went.
p.s. How do you get links to work in here? Ahh, I got it!
Tbug, I basically followed this format with a little improvisation. Before the session I sent an email to all the players to bring a small flashlight, they bugged me all week to tell them what for! When they went into the manor I turned all the lights off, except a blue one that gave a really creepy feeling. They ended up using the small flashlights to read the haunts I passed out...good times!
When they went into the manor I turned all the lights off, except a blue one that gave a really creepy feeling. They ended up using the small flashlights to read the haunts I passed out...good times!
Brilliant and bravo ! I did this for a few Ravenloft games a way back, bonus xp for scented candles : )
thanks for bringing back memories; and judging from your game room your not a resident of (expensive real estate) Manhattan.
Dunno if this is useful to any of you, but I've been working on some maps and visuals for the Skinsaw Murders.
Player Visual Aids
This is a Picasa web album that I will be updating as I make stuff. The next few items will include the rest of the stained glass windows.
All of my Skinsaw Murders Content
This includes the handouts above plus battlemaps of the Hambley Farm & fields, and soon to include Misgivings at full 200 pixels / 5 ft resolution.
I will also be posting 4E conversion statblocks of any creatures I make, if they are different from those on the Tales from the Rusty Dragon blog that Scott has done.
Hope these help. I think being able to see the stained glass, plus seeing Misgivings in all it's putrid glory might put my players in the mood.
Misgivings WIP: lo-res