A momentous day - the inauguration of President Donald Trump's second term!
And since it was also MLK day and some folks had the day off, I decided to run one of my infrequent 90-minute, text only, 18+ Cha'alt one-shots via Roll20. I got 4 players, and adventure was had.
I'm not going to go into detail because the bones of this particular scenario might be used for one of the sessions I'll be running at Gary Con in a couple months. However, there are some black pearls of wisdom I could furnish, if one were keen...
If the story setup rushes past the quest-giving, as this one did, the GM should provide another form of social interaction. In this case, a rival adventuring party was at the starting point, and there was some interesting back-and-forth which pleasantly kept up through the middle and end of the session.
I do think it's important that all 3 pillars are represented, even in a micro session that only lasts for an hour-and-a-half. That's one of the things I like about 5e.
For the first time ever, someone played a lizardtaur PC. And sure enough, a special ability was suggested - summoning a lizard man who looks suspiciously like Mark Zuckerberg (henceforth known as Mark Zardberg) that can ride on the lizardtaur's back and send out mind control blasts. I allowed it without a roll since this was a one-shot... and because it was so fucking gonzo that I didn't have the heart to refuse.
The metaverse requires your personal data... stop and watch this cute cat video. The lizardtaur's player rolled a 17, and effectively distracted the NPC he wanted to stop. Success!
In a moment of in-character social disarming sabotage, one of the PCs suggests they (the rival NPCs) don't even know about the cyborg worms. I hadn't considered cyborg worms, but they will definitely show up in a future Cha'alt adventure. It's cool when off-the-cuff remarks and throwaway lines manifest into some part of the campaign setting. Borg-Halud and Shai-Borg were offered, but I prefer Cy-Halud.
A player asked if his character had enough explosives to make an IED later. I told him he brought supplies to make just one. Usually, I like to give the PCs just enough rope to hang themselves - metaphorically speaking, of course.
Narrating inaction is one of my favorite unsung aspects of GMing. When everyone is taking action, those who aren't - such as the droid mentally doom-scrolling through cat videos - can participate, too, sort of. So, while the PCs were saving others or attacking, the droid NPC wondered aloud, "Why doesn't the cat just jump off the roomba? Why is he continuing to ride it around the kitchen?"
Is it a major plot-point that furthers the story or affects the wargaming math in some way? Nope. Not one bit, but I like to think amusing asides make the difference between a solid session and a truly great session.
If a PC mentions something like his meow-meow beans flying everywhere after a fall, do your best as the GM to utilize that new piece of information. Treat it like a ball thrown to you. Do you let it sail past or try to catch it and throw it back? In today's game, I had an NPC help the PC pick them up. Not only was this a bit of imaginative fun, and I would say theatricality, but it showed that the NPC wasn't just a too cool for school, standoffish dick. He was trying to do something kind, and that action colors the way he's perceived.
I could just as easily had the NPC laugh haughtily or kick a few stray meow-meow beans into a nearby tunnel, but I didn't. He had a reason for doing what he did, and it happened to pay off.
More and more, I try to incorporate more heccaeity into my purple prose, my purple alien demon-worm prose...
"It looks demonic... and disturbingly unhinged as if the entity had gazed too long into the burning black void." What does that facial expression actually look like? Is the void actually burning? Is it on fire? Those are all fine questions, but answering them is not the point. Deepening description, layering it with stuff you wouldn't expect but that leaves a definite and unusual mark - that's our aim.
One of my favorite lines came from the barbarian, "His suffering will improve him, but only if he lives."
The thing I love about virtual text-only sessions is that it gives me an extra few seconds to consider my options before responding. Sometimes, an extra 5 seconds can separate the wheat from the chaff. But if we had played in-person, the session would have been longer, juicier (I don't think there was even a hint of sleaze mentioned), and I could have busted-out (there it is, Lol) this lovely map I recently finished.
So, yeah. A great session to commemorate a great day! I encourage you to think about the topics I brought up in this post and see if you can use them in your own GMing. If you do, please share what happened with the rest of us so we can continue to learn and grow.
Enjoy,
VS
p.s. Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy? here's how! Want to join the Kort'thalis mailing list to stay up-to-date on what's going on in the skinematic Vengerverse? This is it!! Last but not least, I'm organizing a based-as-fuck RPG convention in Madison, WI this July. Grab your weekend badge for VENGER CON IV: Post-Modern Apocalypse!!!
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