Hello everyone. In a few months, I'll be running a module set in a dystopian underwater city (think: Bioshock, Rapture). And I wanted to try my hand at a few different ideas commonly present in survival-horror video games.
One big project that I've been toying with would be a series of collectible items that would present background information from the citizens of the city from before they went bananas crazy. Similar in function to the voice-recordings you find laying about in Rapture, or the holo-tapes you find in Fallout, or the Archive Logs in Alien: Isolation, or...well, there are many examples.
In some cases, they could be part of treasure hoards, or maybe "rewards" for exploring.
I come to the forums today to ask: has anyone tried something like this? How did it go? If you have no experience, how do think it would go? Any tips, or words are warning? If you were a player, would this be interesting/compelling to pursue, or would it be kind of worthless? I'm interested in general opinions, if anyone wants to share those as well. Thank you very much!
This sounds like an interesting idea.
My only warning would be this: don't be surprised or upset if the players aren't into it.
Not only have I made extensive histories for settings and characters in my games, I've also left breadcrumb clues... Only to have players ignore them. I've watched people play the games you're drawing inspiration from and hit skip to get past "the boring stuff". You know your players (hopefully), so you should have an idea if they'll be into this. If they're not don't take it personally.
I once did something similar in a zelda themed campaign where my players found tingle's game boy advance, then whenever anyone rolled a natural 20 on perception checks they would find a game for it, it took a DC 15 int check to beat the game if they did they would learn about an area tingle hid some of his rupees(the money in zelda) it was really fun
Are you asking how to include narratives that the PCs can use to learn about the setting's past?
Journals, histories, and haunts might work.
If you want the PCs to have a mechanical reason to search them out, you might need to have puzzles that can only be solved using in-game information. Like the portal will only open if you type in the Black Knight's middle name.
If you want the PCs to have a mechanical reason to search them out, you might need to have puzzles that can only be solved using in-game information. Like the portal will only open if you type in the Black Knight's middle name.
Hey, that's a fantastic idea! I do know the players, and I think they would be at least somewhat interested in it. I just fear the classic Dungeon Master problem: spending hours of work only to have it ignored.
...whenever anyone rolled a natural 20 on perception checks they would find a game for it
Did you have them in pre-fabricated locations? Or simply "appeared" whenever someone rolled a natural 20 on perception, regardless of area?
If you want the PCs to have a mechanical reason to search them out, you might need to have puzzles that can only be solved using in-game information. Like the portal will only open if you type in the Black Knight's middle name.
That would be a little railroady to my taste. What about giving some benefits for finding them but not being necessary to advance? Maybe the location about a secret room, or information about the ancestors of an important NPC (or PC), or something alike.
Be careful, this sort of thing works in video games because the primary means of communication to the players is visual information. The sort of "collect the maguffins" quest works because a team of artists and programmers spent weeks or months designing and rendering that area, and they want people to look at it. Whereas in tabletop roleplaying, the primary means of communication is verbal, and there's not really a need for an external inducement for the players to pay attention to you since "paying attention to the DM" is how you play the game.
One way to do it, I figure, is to make really detailed maps of the environments would be in, and have some secret doors to rooms with things the PCs would already want (clues, treasure, etc.) and have the maguffins there. I think I would leave their purpose mysterious so the party's goal in assembling the set is more "what do these do" than "need to complete the set."
One thing that strikes me that might be an effective model for this sort of thing is the masks sidequest in Skyrim. Specifically, throughout the game you could come across several extremely powerful undead, and from their bodies you recovered a mask with a minor magical effect. Later on, you can stumble on an altar with empty slots for a bunch of masks, and whatever masks you picked up to that point fit neatly in a shot (and result in a magical glow to show you that you're on the right track.) I think you could do something like that where the PCs find something mysterious and magical in a cache of goodies (like a key, say), and they find out where they're supposed to put it before they get the whole set, thus providing an incentive to keep a eye out for the rest.
I'm in a campaign currently that features something similar to this.
Basically, one of the recurring villains has just been defeated and imprisoned for the time being. The entire time, we were effectively trapped in the city (which was built in a dead magic zone) until we could defeat him to escape, and there were lots of dangers around the city.
We knew were to go to find him and fight him, but we also knew we would be slaughtered in a fight. However, our group is roleplay intensive and we made lots of plans and tried to come up with ideas.
One thing we started to discover is that if we went to some of the shadier places in town (the abandoned hospital, the creepy haunted house, etc) we could find clues about how to defeat him as well as amazing weapons that were effectively dead magic items. They had magical properties inside a dead magic zone, but none outside of it. The secret clues we could find if we looked in the right places gave away some of his weaknesses so we could defeat him.
That would be a little railroady to my taste. What about giving some benefits for finding them but not being necessary to advance? Maybe the location about a secret room, or information about the ancestors of an important NPC (or PC), or something alike.
Yes, I don't plan on having the "maguffins" (new favorite noun) be 100% necessary to collect. I plan on having them do exactly as you suggest, provide clues to treasures or secret hoardes. I also plan on having them reveal key/interesting background information, such as why the city is the way it is, where the bad guys came from, why the BBEG is the BBEG, things like that. I think requiring one or two of them to advance would present an interesting quest. "In order to get into the next area, you'll need to find maguffin #21", but I don't think that would be great for every advancement.
I think you could do something like that where the PCs find something mysterious and magical in a cache of goodies (like a key, say), and they find out where they're supposed to put it before they get the whole set, thus providing an incentive to keep a eye out for the rest.
I don't exactly want the maguffins to be keys or fragments that unlock a larger set, because I want them to be more story involved. I want them to tell a story in lieu of having an NPC explain every detail about the environment.
The secret clues we could find if we looked in the right places gave away some of his weaknesses so we could defeat him.
Do you find that this helps progress both the story and game play? Is it worth it to go to the shady parts of town for more than just the mechanical advantage?
I don't exactly want the maguffins to be keys or fragments that unlock a larger set, because I want them to be more story involved. I want them to tell a story in lieu of having an NPC explain every detail about the environment.
A little extra work, but if you want the collectibles to be story elements that provide background details, imagine that they're letters say, and actually make the letters as physical objects (as best you can) and give them as handouts to the players. In my experience this not only makes sure they read it and pay attention to it, but that they'll refer to it later on if they're stuck or unsure about how to proceed.
You can signpost "there's more to find" by having the stack of envelopes on the table, and just hand one to the PCs when they find one. If there's more envelopes on the stack, there's more for the PCs to find.
if you want the collectibles to be story elements that provide background details, imagine that they're letters say, and actually make the letters as physical objects (as best you can) and give them as handouts to the players. In my experience this not only makes sure they read it and pay attention to it, but that they'll refer to it later on if they're stuck or unsure about how to proceed.
You can signpost "there's more to find" by having the stack of envelopes on the table, and just hand one to the PCs when they find one. If there's more envelopes on the stack, there's more for the PCs to find.
That. Is. Fantastic.
I really like this idea. I'm always a big fan of props to add to immersion, and this sounds like an excellent way to not only capture the party's attention and make sure they know that they're somewhat important, but also lets them know that they've got more searching to do if they actually WANT to complete the set.
A little extra work, but if you want the collectibles to be story elements that provide background details, imagine that they're letters say, and actually make the letters as physical objects (as best you can) and give them as handouts to the players. In my experience this not only makes sure they read it and pay attention to it, but that they'll refer to it later on if they're stuck or unsure about how to proceed.
I did that in one of my last campaigns. I can only recommend it: my players loved it!
Just an aside, but technically in writing terms a "macguffin" is the object that everyone is seeking, good and bad guys alike. ;)
Unstable it was whenever they rolled a 20, if you know who tingle is then it makes sense