RPG Design: Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies

 

If you recall my goals for 2026, you will have seen that I had been working on a game called Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies.  This is an RPG that came about after a lazy day watching Matt Helm movies on TUBI.  Who and what is Matt Helm?  Well, he is a photographer/super-spy played by Dean Martin in a series of not very serious Bond knock-offs.  I watched The Silencers, The Ambushers, The Wrecking Crew, and Murder's Row over the course of a few days.  About half-way through the third one I thought, "Self, this could make some fun and light-hearted rules-lite RPG action!"   

As an added bonus, most of these movies are now old enough to be in the Public Domain!  That meant movie posters, screen caps, and similar media would be accessible to populate my game rules!  Photos and images are always a problem, so this made it much easier and helped this game jump the queue to actually get worked on and done!  

So, before I get ahead of myself let's start by laying out the design goals, and then we can take a closer look at how I went about making the game.  The Design Goals were: 

1. Simple opposed dice rolling mechanic built into the design

2. Ease of Character Creation that intuitively creates role-play opportunities

3. Make Gadgets relevant but avoid equipment lists

4. Lean harder into the narrative than the crunch

5. Create space for various levels of "Groovy", play it straight or as wacky as you want with space to tell 1960-esque spy stories

Those were my design goals going into this project.  You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!  Let's take a closer look at how I did it! 

Simple, Opposed Dice Rolling Mechanic

Typically, when I create a rules-lite RPG I do not like the GM rolling any dice.  I prefer the players to do all the dice-rolling and the GM simply interpreting the results.  The GM all ready has enough on his plate with everything else going on, so no need to burden him with dice rolls too.  

For this game, I slightly diverge from my normal method.  However, I still want any dice-rolling to be simple with the Players doing most of the heavy-lifting mechanically.  In this game, the Players use their Attributes and other aspects of their characters to create a pool of dice called Agency Dice when they are asked to resolve a challenge.  

The Handler (or GM) determines how hard the Challenge is and that difficulty is between a 1 and 7.  This number is the number of dice in their pool called a Danger Dice.  Both groups roll their Agency Dice and Danger Dice at the same time.  Any Danger Dice and Agency Dice that match are removed.  If any Agency Dice remain with a 4+ the Challenge is passed, if more than one  Agency Dice with a 4+ remains it is Critical Success.  All other options are a Failure.  If all Agency Dice are removed and a Danger Dice remains with a 4+ it is a Critical Failure.

Therefore, the higher the Difficulty the more Agency Dice you will want to make that roll.  The Handler (GM) tells players the Difficulty before rolling.  That way, the Player can choose a different course of action if they wish.  

This mechanic is harder to put in writing than to actually use.  Therefore, it is a very simple opposed dice pool mechanic.  This mechanic is very simple and intuitive during game play.   

Easy Character Creation

All of my games focus on easy Character Creation.  The reason is so that players can get into the action quickly and start playing.  In addition, if your character is knocked out of the game it is easy to get a new one worked up and back in!

This one is not an exception, with character creation taking about 10 minutes.  There is a minimal amount of record keeping and very little math.  However, it still encourages players to round-out what makes a character a character beyond the basic profile.  It includes guidelines for new role-players about personality traits, quirks, and other things that make it easier to bring a character to life in game.  A character fits completely on 1 page with no long lists of equipment, gear, or other mundanity.  

Make Gadgets Relevant

This is a rules-lite game.  Therefore, I did not want a detailed list of 1960's specific surveillance gear, technology, weaponry, and other details.  That is too cumbersome and ties the Players down.  Super Spies always seem to have the right gadget for the job when they need it.  Therefore, in this game the Characters will always have the right gadget for the job too!  

A Character can trigger the use of a Gadget at anytime!  However, there is a cost to do so.  Doing so reduces your overall ability to manipulate scenes by expending a resource called Plot Armor.  Plot Armor can be used to use a Gadget, add Agency Dice, re-roll Agency Dice, or Reduce Danger Dice.  Instead of managing a long list of complicated and variable 1960's gear, you only need to manage your Plot Armor.   

However, Plot Armor is also your "health" meter.  Once it is expended, your Agent is out of the Scene.  Get knocked out of too many Scenes, and you fail the Mission.  

Therefore, you can use a Gadget to get a Character past a sticky situation BUT to do so reduces your ability to interact with scenes later.  It is up to players to decided when a Gadget will benefit them versus hinder their overall mission.  

If you need access to a cool car for a car chase?  No problem, spend a Plot Armor and it is there.  Do you need a grappling watch?  You got it.  A parachute with the Union Jack on it?  It is yours...... if you have the Plot Armor that is.  

Yes, THAT Tina Lousie was in it!

Lean Harder into Narrative Than Crunch

As a Rules-Lite game, the focus of the game is helping the Handler set-up a scene so Players can take actions during those scenes.  The core of the game is about how to create the Core Gameplay Loop of Inciting Incident--> Player Action ---> New Situation.  In addition, the rules discuss the most common types of scenes in the game and what Challenge Checks fit into these scene types.  Therefore, the players and Handler have a great structure for what a game of Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies looks like.  

To help all players understand, the game also comes with an introductory Mission called; The Jet-Set.  There is also one pre-made character, a blank character sheet, quick reference sheets for both players and Handlers, and an Index to give you everything you need to have a great game.  

Creating 1960's Spy Stories

Spy stories in the 1960's ran a wide range of themes and tones.  They ranged from the very serious espionage thrillers like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the adventure and action oriented From Russia With Love to the tongue-firmly in cheek stories of Get Smart.  Therefore, no two Spy-Fi films or shows were the same.  Each had their own mix of serious spying, action adventure, and comedy.  The rules written in Super, Sexy Swingin' Spies is designed to give you what you need to go from James Bond to Maxwell Smart and everything in between.  If you want to center a story around a defector from East Berlin no problem, if you want a madman with a Bikini Bomb, you got it.  You are encouraged to decide how much "Groovy" you want in any given Mission or Season.  

Final Thoughts

If you have liked my other Rules-Lite RPGs than you will enjoy what I am presenting here as well.  The focus is on working as a table to tell the story and find out what happens.  The rules are enough to help you build and overcome compelling challenges.  These rules are great for experienced RPGers looking for something quick and light for a short campaign, people new to RPGs who know the Spy-fi film/TV genre, or folks who want to have a low-intensity story-telling experience. 

You can find these rules on my Drive-Thru RPG page.  Also, a special shout-out to my Patrons who got early access to these rules!    

I look forward to hearing about how you saved the world in the 1960's!  

Until next time! 

 

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RPG Design: The Essential Question of all RPGs

 

Most of you reading this post have probably been Role-Playing Gamers for a long, long time.  As a veteran gamer, it can be hard to put yourself back in time to that first time you picked up the dice and gave them a roll.  To think back to those first RPG experiences that led you down the path to playing these games for years to come.  I know I can barely recall those days, well at least with any accuracy.  They are all filled with the sepia toned tint of nostalgia.  I can't really remember what I was thinking or what if felt like the first time I met a Medusa in their lair, the first time I faced off against a Super-villain, or the first time I infiltrated a Corp lab.  

Thankfully, I don't have to remember.  Thanks to the True Grit Gaming Guild I encounter new players all the time.  These are folks new to the hobby or adventure gaming, whether it is miniature wargames or role-playing games.  I know the first thing that they think about when they play these games, and it is NOT the same thing that veteran players are thinking.  They always have one question, and it is up to a good set of RPG rules to be ready to answer it.  

The Essential Question?

Many veteran gamers will tell you that the most important question and the most interesting question is:

Why is my character doing this? 

This is essentially, the actor asking the director; what is my motivation?  This is an excellent question and one that experienced role-players will generate answers for.  Skilled GameMasters will tie into these motivations with their hooks and story lines.  However, the truth of the matters is that this question should not be answered by the rules of an RPG.  The answer to this question is intrinsic to the table, the players, and the GameMasters.  They are the ones who drive the answer to this question.  

It is a great question.  However, it is not the essential question for designers to consider.  For a designer, that is a different question.  

The Essential Question!  (For Designers) 

Okay, smarty pants if the Why is not the essential question that RPG Designers need to think about what is it?  I am glad you asked.  

Again, you have to go back to those first halcyon days of being a player.  The days when the broad world of RPGs was fresh and new, and you are taking your first steps into the world of cooperative story-telling and role-playing.  

The first question I hear come out of player's mouths is usually this one:  

Can I do X?

Initial role-players know why they themselves, as players are going to do something.  They are not interested in the why.  Often, they are not ready to Role-Play beyond the broadest archetypes such as fighter tough, rogue is sneaky, cleric heals, and wizard casts spells.  They are busy trying to absorb the fantastical adventure they have found themselves in.  

Instead, the focus of new players is often What?  The standard RPG response is, you do whatever you want as you control your character.  This is an unhelpful answer.  The paradox of choice overwhelms them, and instead they focus the question to the Essential Question of All RPGS.  Even experienced players trying a new game will face this same question.            

This is a question that designers CAN answer!  The answer is not intrinsic to the players of the game, but to the rules of the game.  They are what sets what CAN be done in the gaming space.    

Answering the Essential Question of ALL RPGs

Therefore, as a designer of RPGs you need to be able to answer "Can I do X?" in your rules.  Of course, those of us who have played a lot of RPGs know that the list of what X is can be very, very, very long.  It would be impossible to try and think of every single thing a player could come up with to try and do.  No matter how many things you write down and cover, players will come up with a new one.  It is impossible to out X players.  

If it is impossible to list and anticipate all the potential Xs a player can come up with, how can rules answer the Essential Question of All RPGs?  

There are three things to consider when contemplating this question: 

1. The Core of All RPGs 

This refers to the endless play loop of Situation + Player Action = New Situation

2. The Types of Scenes in RPGs

The idea that all scenes in an RPG have focus to them which suggests the action within them

3. Unified Rules Mechanics

The concept here is that all games should run on one basic mechanic that all other mechanics derive.  

These three concept work together to outline how an RPG Designer can help any player answer "Can I Do X?"  

Here is how these three concepts interact together during the nuts-and-bolts of playing a Role-Playing Game to answer the Essential Question.  Every scene is a Situation that your rules need to be able to "process" from point A (inciting incident) to point B (end of scene).  The Player asking the essential question is the supplier who begins the process of playing out the Situation.  Their input is any information on their character sheet that could apply to the situation such as attributes, skills, equipment, etc. or even information about their character from going beyond the numbers.  The heart of the GMs job will be to process those inputs into the outputs, which is the world's reaction.  If your game has a universal mechanic, than this process will often be a ruling or dice check that aligns with those Universal Mechanics.  The output will be how the scene reacts.  This is all for the benefit of the initial Player who asked the Essential Question.    

Therefore, as an RPG Designer your rules need to be able to reflect and set guard rails for this game play loop.

The Essential Question in Play

Here is a quick example of how this would work using Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition as an example.  The Dungeon Master explains that some Orcs have been sighted ahead on a distant ridgeline, carrying the stolen halflings with them.  The characters being run by new players are in pursuit.  The DM says that the Orcs are about 600 feet away, or two football fields and uphill above where the players are.  

The new player looks at the sheet for their Elven fighter and sees he has a Long Bow and says, "Can I Shoot them?"  They want to know if they "Can Do X?"  

The DM knows that the scene will react to what the players do no matter what.  They also know that this scene is intended to be a Chase scene where the main objective is to get closer to their target by overcoming some obstacles using either skills like Athletics or Attribute Checks to close the distance.  They also know that the Long Bow in D&D 5th edition has a maximum range of 600 feet with disadvantage, because that is what the Character Sheets tells them. Therefore, the answer to the Essential Question in this case is Yes, you can shoot them BUT you will have disadvantage (Mechanic), notify the Orcs you are in pursuit (Reaction), a Critical Failure could hit one of the Halflings instead of an Orc (Mechanic), and you may need to make additional skill checks to close the distance (Scene).  

The DM, with the help of the Designer and an understanding of the Core Gameplay Loop; has been able to answer the Essential Question. 

Tips to Make Sure Your GMs Can Answer the Essential Question

Here are some tips when designing your rules to make sure you are helping GMs answer "Can I Do X?"  

1. Be Clear about your Gameplay Loop

Be very upfront with the GM about how to structure a scene and the intended gameplay loop of your game.  The Players need to explicitly know how the mechanics translate to action resolution.  Do not be subtle about this process, be crystal clear.  That does not mean that you need to make a chart of resolution for all key actions, but you do need to be clear about what success, partial success, critical success and their opposites mean in your game.  

2. Be clear about the type of scenes your game is supposed to play out

Is your game focused on combat and chases?  Is it primarily sneaking about and subterfuge?  Is it about crafting for the big art show and running a local gallery?  Be clear what types of situations and scenes you expect your players to experience as they play your RPG.  Will the challenges be Social, Political, Spiritual, Physical, Combat, Crafting, etc.  Of course, it maybe some of all, but be clear about the mechanics involved in all these scene types and which ones are the focus of the gameplay loop. 

3. Avoid Mini-games, keep to unified mechanics! 

If your rules always roll a dice pool of attribute + Skill looking for a number of 4+ success threshold to determine success; always use that same process to determine a success.  Do not make tracking a coin flip, stealth a game of paper, rock, scissors, and combat a d20 looking for a TN = to the Armor rating of the target.  Always use the same method of resolving a test so no matter what happens the Players can fall back on that for any tests not specifically called out in your rules.  Make the resolution mechanic universal! 

4. Give guidance in your game

Where possible, explicitly give guidance on how to resolve the most common scene types.  If the game is focused on tracking and avoid detection from big, bad, scary things than make sure as a designer you are very clear about how this is resolved.  

5. Make Inputs That Matter

Players are looking to their Character Sheets to understand what they can and can not do.  Make sure they can get a feel for what is possible from the sheet itself.  Make the details on the sheet relevant to the gameplay loop you are creating.  In our D&D example, the range of a Long Bow was needed to answer the Essential Question.           

Final Thoughts

People playing your game will be looking to the rules you design to understand the Essential Question.  Players need to know "Can I Do X?"  Do not make them guess, where possible tell them explicitly in your rules. 

Of course, you can not tell them the answer to every "Can I Do X?" question, because someone will always come out of left field.  However, your rules can give the information and structure to help the Players decide for themselves if they "Can Do X?"  These tools do not accidentally end up in a rulebook, they have to be built into it by you, the designer.  

If your rulebook does not guide players on how to answer the Essential Question of RPGs, than you need to go back and revamp it from the ground up.  

Until next time! 

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RPG Play-Through: Flashlight: Tales of Terror - Blood and Spectacles

 

I am trying something new on the blog today.  I have never done this before, so I would love your feedback on this post.  Comment down below if you want to see more Play-Throughs like this one.  

Today's blog post is a play-through and discussion of a game of Flashlight: Tales of Terror using a scenario I wrote called; Sleepers in the City.  I was the GM of the session and I had three players from my weekly RPG group.  We normally play Dungeons and Dragons 5E.  Therefore, this was a departure from the norm, but not the first time that they have played a horror game that I have GMed.  The three players were experienced RPG players.  

As the GM, I wrote the scenario BUT based it on the 1998 movie Dark City. I am sure people here will see the spirals when they read through it. However, adapting a single POV movie into a multi-player game has some of its own challenges even if the plot is mostly being lifted from elsewhere. Since this is a Horror, one-shot based on a movie, I decided on a Trad/Neo-Trad cinematic framing for the design. Railroad ahoy!

First off, the Flashlight system does not set the players up for success and is a bit of a death spiral itself. The players have played before, and the system has a high lethality. Before we started play, I reviewed some of the common ideas in horror and reviewed how the system worked, noting that it is a high lethality system. Thankfully character building only takes about 10-15 minutes and allows for some surprisingly well-rounded characters for role-play.

Make Good Characters

The setting for the game is a post-WWII Noir city. Therefore, everything is in Black and White, there is darkness and long shadows everywhere, and all the Characters had to have a reason to be “on the Outs” of society.

Our Cast of Characters were:

1. A war veteran who suffered from a traumatic-Brain Injury and a limp- so had a hard time recalling things. However, they loved to collect rocks and were the most physically imposing of the characters.

2. A street Preacher for the homeless who had a fall from grace in their past. They ran a soup kitchen and small chapel for the needy, building up a small community of outreach. They were rather social in nature.

3. A female nurse who was also a serial killer/stalker. The other players were unaware of their lethal tendencies. They were the most brains oriented of the group, with a dash of sneakiness thrown in.

The group all knew each other as the Vet was a member of the Preacher’s community, and the Nurse often went there to minister to the poor.

The Game

The players awoke sitting in chairs around a table in a Flop House. They were all sitting around a table with a dead street walker on it, with strange spiral markings carved into her body. They immediately began to try to figure out what was going on!

In the search they found a few clues:

1. The woman had been strangled to death
2. In the woman’s possession was a postcard for a place called Sandy Beach and written to her by someone named Emma Murdoch
3. A newspaper that detailed a recent string of street walker murders that matched the one they were looking at. They immediately noticed no dates on the paper.
4. A receipt for an Automat called “Just Like Ma’s”
5. A small, ornate and broken syringe flung against the wall with an unknown substance in it.

As the Preacher searched the upstairs of the flop house for anyone else, an old-fashion phone rang. The Vet answered it, and a voice urged them to get out as “They are after you!”. At this point, the Preacher heard glass break upstairs and when he checked he found a group of men in dark coats, bowler hats, and round sunglasses, and unnaturally long spindly fingers.

Passing an insanity check he ran downstairs and urged everyone to flee. That combined with the phone call and the situation, and no one argued, they hoofed it fast. They were easily able to escape in a crowd of factory workers just getting off-shift.

They took a moment to decide what to do next. They all shared their last memories from the previous night, which led to some solid RP as none of this was scripted. They talked about what those trench-coated men were, and too their credit none of them jumped straight to Vampires! Because they weren’t, but Nazis did come up; I mean this is post-war.

From there, they found a few clues pointing them to a place called the Silver Dollar Club. They decided to go there. On the way to the club, the clock struck midnight, and suddenly all the people in the city around them slowly fell asleep! Then, it got really weird as buildings began to shift and change shape, and new ones sprung up and old ones fell away and vanished. They tried to play along and managed to pass more insanity checks. Unnerved and unsure what happened they continued to the club when everyone else awoke, seeming to not notice what had happened.

At the club, they met Emma Murdoch. After some investigation and social activities, Emma greeted the Vet and told him they were engaged to be married, met at Sandy Beach, and had been working with a man named Dr. Franz. The Vet just played along, because they weren’t sure if any of it was true or not. However, Emma seemed to believe it! The Preacher had met Emma before but she seemed to not recall them at all.

After a bit of RP, they decided to go find Dr. Franz. On the way, they experienced another situation where the clock struck midnight and everyone fell asleep. They were very confused. They played along, and this time they observed some of the black coated men flying around and carrying people to various re-formed buildings. They were creeped out but managed to not lose their minds.

At this point, they started to try to recall the date, year, and other details but they could not. They tried to think about things in their backgrounds but they couldn’t! They weren’t even sure what city they were in or what year it was. The players did a great job playing on this via RP.

Concerned they rushed to meet D. Franz. There they met the man who had called them at the flop house. He began to explain how he had been having bad dreams and restless sleep, and a combination of drugs allowed him to stay awake and see “the Others” that the players had seen. The players had been part of Dr. Franz’s clients and had reported the same dreams and sleep problems. He gave them the same drugs, and now they also seemed immune to the Midnight Sleep. Emma thought they were all crazy, so the Nurse knocked her out with chloroform and then dosed her with the same drugs Dr. Franz had used on them.

At this point, a police detective and some cops showed up at Dr. Franz’s door. The players elected to talk their way out of it, and eventually the cops harassed them but went about their business. They wanted to talk to Dr. Franz about the psychology of the street walker killer.

After getting rid of the cops, Dr. Franz told them that he had seen the strange men use a hidden doorway in the industrial district. The Players armed themselves with flashlights and some makeshift weapons from a hardware store and had Dr. Franz lead them to the doorway. After moving through spiralling and maze-like corridors that kept getting smaller, and tighter, they eventually got to a big, sealed bulkhead.

They opened the door and went in, making sure to try and wedge it open after them. Some D&D experience showing through! Inside, they found a huge mural/billboard that looked identical to the Sandy Beach postcard they had found before. They investigated and pulled it away, which revealed a massive window that looked out into the void of space! This was too much for some of them, and they failed some sanity checks.

Just then, they heard a raspy voice and turned around to find several of the strange creatures behind them, brandishing a bronze syringe. They said, “Do not worry, soon this will all be a forgotten memory.” A fight broke out, and it was clear that the Others were not human and could manipulate the world around them in unnatural ways. However, the Flashlights could temporarily blind them.

The Preacher was taken down by a knife wielding Other, but the Nurse got him back up. The Vet managed to knock the syringe away from the lead bad guy, but in a cinematic moment it kept being kicked around the room. Eventually, the Nurse got it but, in the struggle the bad guy managed to wrestle it from her and give her an injection.

Eventually, the Vet managed to use a hammer to smash the glass out to space, and the Others and Dr. Franz were sucked out into the Void. The Preacher barely manages to hold onto Emma! The group managed to get to the bulkhead and seal the room off, however the strain had been too much for the Vet and he started to babble about being turned into a void dragon and flying across space and time. The Preacher succumbed to his wounds shortly after, but Emma was saved.

The end and roll credits.

The Strangers from Dark City

Conclusion

Body Count: Vet went insane, Preacher died, and the Nurse lost her memories and was re-programmed into a different person. Dr. Franz was also sucked into space!  The Others kept running their experiments and everyone in The City was still stuck in their endless experimental loops. 

Notes as the GM

This session lasted about 3 hours including character creation and was completed in one sitting.  Character Generation was about 15 minutes using the system Flashlight: Tales of Terror rules.  This was an in-person gaming experience. 

Initially, there was not going to be a final fight, BUT we had the time so we played it out. I am glad we did as it led to some memorable moments and the players getting some small wins. Ultimately, they “lost” and could never actually escape from their fate BUT at least they felt like they had accomplished something.

The players did an amazing job Role-playing the characters and it really made the whole scenario breathe. Sure, it was an investigative railroad, but they knew it was a one-shot and followed the path. They made decisions about what to investigate, dealing with the cops, and how to handle the Others when they appeared. No one tried to solve all their issues with violence, and they seemed genuinely invested in the outcome and interested in where it all led.

The idea of being trapped on a spaceship or station did not seem to impact them as much as the idea that their memories were constantly being reprogrammed and re-written over and over for some unknown reason by an unknown other. Some of them made some comments about how it was a meta-commentary on RPGs in general, which amused me to no end.

The players were very gracious and gave kudos all around to the game. They “hated” the system because it was hard to succeed at any test, but when you did succeed you felt amazing! However, dice rolls were not a common occurrence and often having a score above a certain level or the right occupation/interest in an Attribute granted progress.

Otherwise, they enjoyed the departure from our usual game and it felt suitably different from what we had been doing. One of the players even talked about trying to run a Horror themed mini-campaign after our D&D session ends. Therefore, I guess they like the genre a bit.

There you go.  I did not detail every dice roll or game mechanic and just did an overview of the game session.  I can get more detailed on mechanics or process if you want but to me the focus of RPGs is not the "can you do this" to "why are you doing it".  

Until next time.

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RPG Design - Writing One-Shot Scenarios from Other Media Sources

 

I think we have all been there.  You are the GameMaster for an upcoming RPG session and you want to deliver a fun experience for your friends and fellow players.  The clock is ticking as you only have a week to put it all together and help make the magic happen.   There is only one problem.  You have no idea on what to do!  

In order to avoid this problem, I often try to keep a short list of pre-made scenarios handy for the 2-5 times I get to GameMaster in a year.  When it is my time to shine, I will trot out the list and let the Players pick what they want me to GM.  Once I use a scenario, I start looking and working on a replacement.    

One of my biggest inspirations is other media such as televisions episodes, books, movies, artwork, or actual "real-life" events.  However, translating these into a multi-play, open-ended game can be a challenge! As discovered, they do not always translate well to the tabletop.  It can be as difficult as writing a historical scenario for a wargame, because the rules for the game can not match the sources.  As the writer, you have to make decisions and adapt your media to fit the RPG space.  It is not usually a simple 1-for-1 adaption.    

What Makes Adaptions Fail?

The number one reason that an adaption fails is because the source materials was design with one particular character and their character arc in mind.  It can not be expanded to include more than one character or characters with different arcs or motivations.  Most stories, television shows, or movies have a Point-of-View character that the audience follows.  The way this character develops is the entire point of the show.  RPGs are often an ensemble cast with a variety of characters with differing needs, wants, and arcs to accomplish.  

Secondly, most movies, TV shows, and even books follow a three act structure.  There is a beginning, a middle, and a finale.  The plot or focus on the film has certain beats that happen during each part of these three acts.  For example, the beginning will have an inciting incident to kick-off the plot where the character decides to participate in the story.  The Middle has rising action and often ends on a down/happy note depending on the ending of the story.  The Finale often is the climax of the plot and action with the main character completing their character arc and moving to an epilogue.  These nice segmentations often do not work the same in an RPG session as players are free to make their own actions and decisions.  

Thirdly, stories, movies, and books often rely on key actions or scenes to happen when they need to happen.  They run on a single rail and the character is propelled along this plot and action trajectory.  In RPGs the players themselves have the freewill to move away from the rail and do something completely different and instead of facing the challenge of a Big Bad Evil Guy, they might decide to start their own casino, or raise cabbages; therefore taking the game in an entirely different direction.  It happens.  Therefore, expecting them to "follow the storyline" doesn't make a lot of sense.  

Fourth, a story, movie, book, etc. may be really good.  However, if the players are familiar with the source it can derail the experience for them.  There is no need to "play to find out" because they think they all ready know where this is all going.  That makes it even more likely for the players to go and try to make their own fun in a scenario.      

What Makes Adaptions Work?

Despite those challenges, I still find media to be a great source of inspiration for creating great modules, short campaigns, and one-shots.  The hardest part of creating is looking at a blank page. By starting with an adaption, you bypass this problem right away.  You can start by simply recreating the Inciting Incident and build around it.  Now, you have begun and nothing makes finishing easier than starting! 

The whole point of an adaption is for the Gamemaster to see how different characters and players would react in the same situation as what you saw or read.  Sure, in the book the character did X but what will my friends do when faced with a similar dilemma?  Will they make the same decisions?  What will they say, do or feel compared to what happened on screen?  

There is very little reason that an RPG can not also use a literary structure.  It is a tried-and-true method of storytelling and a great fit for a storytelling game like RPGs. The languages and structures of storytelling also work very well for One-shots as the Gamemaster needs to keep the players moving along the continuum of opening scene, through the middle, and to the end of the session.  Many of the same tricks used in other media work well in the RPG space as well; especially for One-shots.  One-shots needs to be able to have a condensed structure for resolution in the time allotted for play.    

How Do You Bridge the Gap?

Here are some key points that I have learned in order to make a successful One-shot adapted from a book, story, TV show, or movie.  This is not an exhaustive list but enough to get your going and thinking about adapting your own favorite media into successful RPG One-shots.  

1. Deconstruct the Genre 

In this case, spend time understanding what makes the genre or type of story you are trying to tell work.  What works in one genre, does not necessarily work in another.  For example, a Western or Frontier story often focuses on choosing to do the right thing, when no one else will.  Horror stories often focus on the natural and ordinary world become twisted into something unnatural.  You have to understand what makes the genre work, so you can lean into those same factors during your One-shot.  

2. Set the Expectations for the Players

By that I mean, let them know what you have learned about the genre, tell them the setting, and give them the theme of the game before you begin.  If they still agree and have a good character they are more likely to play through from the beginning through to the finale.  

3. Make Good Characters

It is vital that the Gamemaster work closely with the players to make strong characters for the one-shot.  At this stage, the Gamemaster must ensure that the Characters have an ironclad reason or motivation to keep moving through the adventure.  This will help the Players also want to keep moving forward, even when things get hard.  Make sure the Players are crystal clear on what these motivations are before your even begin to play.  

4.  Start the Characters "In the Action"  

I typically structure my games to have a strong Inciting Incident.  This Inciting Incident assumes that the Characters are all ready engaged in the story such as they are beginning on the journey.  There is no Meet-in-a-Tavern as the Characters are swept up in the story waking from a Cryo-pod, riding in a carriage towards the abandoned castle, boarding the cruise ship to start their Love Boat cruise, etc.  Why they are there can be narrated to them later but throw the Characters into the action immediately.  There is no time for any other way to start.  

5. Use a Networked Approach

The Middle should be a series of interlocking encounters where players can decide what they want to do during any encounter, and where to go next.  However, no matter which path they take they will hit all the key scenes from the source material.  Therefore, the players are not on a railroad, but more like in a funhouse that inevitably leads them to the exit.  You can go anyway you want in the mirror maze, but eventually the scenes lead you to an exit.  This will keep the Players moving forward but not on a railroad as their choices are leading them between scenes.  

This also allows the GameMaster to control the timing of the game.  If players are running out of time to complete the One-shot, you can always cut out scenes and go straight to the Big Finish!  As a rule of thumb, most 3-4 hour games should have 1 Inciting Incident to kick-off the game, 3-5 interlocking encounters or events; and then a Big Finish.  The module may need to contain more than 3-5 interlocking scenes but only 3-5 should be playable in any One-shot.   

6. Not all Encounters are Combat

The 3-5 interlocking encounters or events should not all be combat.  Indeed, most of them should be interacting with NPCs, uncovering clues, or other set-pieces or scenes from the source material to help set-up the threat and the stakes.  These encounters or events act as the "rising action or tension" in your One-shot and will mirror the rising action or tension from your source material.  No single encounter or event in this interlocking set of scenes should reveal the bigger picture but instead should hint at the Final Scene to come.    

7. All One-shots have to end on a Bang!

The Big Finish has to be memorable and follow logically from scenes that have come before.  Thankfully, when you are adapting an existing source material, the hard work of making it all make sense has often all ready been done for you.  If you present the clues and rising tension of the source material to the players, they will probably be able to see how it all foreshadowed the "big finish" 

The most important aspect of the Big Finish is that it should be the Ah-ha moment where the Players see how what came before works together.... for the most part.  They may not have the full "For the GM" section of the module figured out, but they should be able to see enough of it.  

Typically, this climax and Big Finish involve a confrontation that is resolved by violence.  However, depending on the genre, that may not be the case.  It could be resolved by revealing the plot, a courtroom scene, or something similar.  However, it is always the catharsis or resolution of the main plot of the storyline.  I.e. the Muppets have the big show to earn money to save the theatre, the five lions can finally unite to form Voltron, or the legal team has enough evidence to confront the main antagonist and get him to reveal why he ordered the Code: Red.  It should always be a memorable scene or moment.  Thankfully, most other Media has that covered.  

8. Pacing is Everything

As the Gamemaster, it will ultimately be up to you to move Players through the One-shot from scene-to-scene.  You will decide when to trigger the Finale.  You will manage the transitions.  Keeping up a rapid pace will avoid lag time and help keep the Players in your encounter path.  Each scene should end on a cliff-hanger and decision point. 

The players should be asking, "What could this all mean?" and want to move to the next scene to find out what it all means.  Therefore, they are keeping themselves on the path of the One-shot.  If you let the pacing drop, they will stop thinking about "What could this all mean?" and start thinking about "What is happening in Social Media?"  That is death for any One-shot no matter the source material! 

Not all Media naturally lends itself to such questions at the end of a scene.  Therefore, when making an adaption, cut-out any scenes that do not end on a cliff-hanger, reveal new information, or propel the story towards the big finish.  Thankfully, most other Media will have done the hard work for you but when adapting, look for scenes that slow or drag the pace and remove them.  You can also remove most sub-plots as well, because you will not have time for them in a One-shot or the Characters will create their own anyway. 

Final Thoughts

That's it.  Pretty easy!  

Okay, it isn't but adapting something is much easier than coming up with something from nothing!  Plus, you can crib the successful elements of other works and lean into what made them successful in your own One-shot.  At the end, it is always a good idea to tell the players what the original source of your idea came from.  Then, they can investigate it and see who did it better; them or the original characters!  

You can see if I am any good at it with Sleepers in the City, Insanity at Snowden Manor, or The End of the World in the Flashlight: Tales of Terror rules.  

Well, hopefully that helps you.  Good luck Gamemastering out there.  The only way to get better at it is to do it over, and over, and over again!  Until next time! 

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RPG Design: Types of Scenes

 

Why, look at we have here.  It has been a long time since you have seen that banner on a blog post!  Sure, I primarily design Wargames, but I have been expanded my portfolio to include RPG Design as well.  Every good business needs to diversify!  Plus, I find that writing RPGs can be a nice creative break from just doing Wargames.  Lastly, they don't need miniatures to be painted to get them done, which helps get them finished faster!  

I tend to come from RPGs from a cinematic perspective.  For those familiar with the parlance of RPGs, I have a Trad/Neo-Trad approach to them as opposed to simulation or Old-School Revival.  I tell you this so that you know my preferences straight of the bat.  Not everyone prefers this approach, but I do.  I want my RPGs to be a collaborative story-telling adventure where ALL the players get to help put the story together, including their character arcs, the plots the GM wants to tell, and the story lines that evolve as the game develops.  In my RPG world, there is no winners, only players with stories to tell. 

If that is not your RPG bag, that is okay with me.  Play what you like!  Honestly, there is more RPG content out on the web than wargaming, so there should be plenty of stuff for your preferences.  However, you might want to stick around and see if any of what I write might be useful to you.... even if it is just to laugh at!  

Solid Bones

Most RPG games are composed of scenes.  If you think of a movie, a scene is simply the various set-pieces that help to tell the story.  In cinema, the camera tends to focus on the scenes that are important to the themes, plot, or characters.  Scenes that are not important to these elements are glossed over or happen "off-camera".  

Think about Star Wars, I use this example because we have probably all seen it.  On camera, we see Luke, Obi-Wan and the Droids go to a cantina looking for a pilot to get them to Alderaan.  We see them go into the bar and find Han.  That is the important scene.  What we do not see is Luke going to Toshi Station to pick-up some power converters, because that scene is not important.  Those scenes were deleted.  George Lucas decided to focus on the scenes that drove the story he was trying to tell.    

A good RPG encourages players to focus on the right scenes too.  Therefore, as the Designer it is important for the game itself to help the Players know what scenes are important for the game.  Some games are better at this than others. 

For Example, Legend of the Five Rings: 5th Edition explicitly breaks down the game and lays-out rules and details for the following types of scenes: Intrigue, Martial, Investigative, Exploration, Big Battle.  The rulebook tells the Players that these scenes are the heart of the L5R experience, and details how to play such scenes.  

The Anatomy of a Scene

Establishing Shot

This is a simple scene or narration that sets where the characters are physically in the world.  It is a great way to transition between larger set-piece scenes and gives a momentary break in the action, signaling that the game is moving on from where it was in the previous scene.  

Think about all the times in a movie where you see an exterior shot of a building, or a wide shot of an interior, or even a matte painting.  These basically tell your players where they are going to be playing out their scene.  However, these scenes are a mere transition to the details.  

The Inciting Incident

The Inciting Incident is a decision point that invites the players to take-action with their characters.  The Game Master often sets up a scenario that transitions into asking the player's how they are going to proceed.  The answer to that question is up to the players, but the GM has to set-up a scene in order to ask the question "What does your character do?"  

Arguably, this is the most important part of any Scene as it now opens a game session up to what the players will do.          

The Scene Itself

This is where the Player's dictate what their Characters are doing, and the GM has the world react to these actions.  This may involve role-play, a challenge check, or other mechanics.  However, it could be as simple as a narrative response to Character actions.  This interplay of Action -> Reaction can continue as long or as quickly as the Players (including the GM) wish it to last, and the Players are having fun.  

Honestly, this is the bulk of any given scene in an RPG.  

Epilogue

The scene will end with a quick wrap-up to provide closure.  The players or the GM no longer wish to react to the scene.  There is nothing left to do and no where else for the scene to go.  The GM can choose to end the scene or the players can let the GM know that they are ready to move on. The Epilogue is simply closing the scene and then starting the next scene with an Establishing Shot.

You can see how the Epilogue seamlessly can loop back to the Establishing Shot to create a virtuous circle until the player's reach the end of their allotted session time.    

The Types of Scenes

L5R gives a great start for a list of scene types that a GM and designer need to understand when thinking about their RPG experience.  I want to expand a bit on this with a few other thoughts and even detail the ones listed a bit further.  

Social Scene

In such a scene, the main driver of the action is interactions between characters and each other, or with the NPCs of the world.  In a social scene, the focus is on exchanging ideas via dialogue.  If their are challenge checks, typically they are of a Social nature.  This includes lying, detecting lies, convincing allies, intimidating opponents.  Scenes focusing on intrigue are often Social scenes.  Political games use a lot of Social Scenes.   

Notable games that make strong use of  Social Scenes are Legend of the Five Rings and Pendragon.

Stealth Scenes  

These are scenes that are focused on moving quickly and quietly without being detected. Opposed rolls often take the form of stealth checks, with the occasional bit of fast talking.  Stealth Scenes are often important in heist focused games. 

Notable game that uses Stealth Scenes are Shadowrun and Blades in the Dark. 

Investigation Scenes

These can overlap with Social scenes, but the focus here is on detecting and uncovering clues from the surroundings, including NPCs.  Typically, I do not like to hide information behinds challenge checks, but here is where key skills like investigation and perception can come into play.  

A few notable games that focus on Investigation scenes are Call of Cthulhu, Hard City and Gumshoe.

Travel Scenes

Here the focus is on exploring the unknown and discovering new things via movement.  This can use a variety of checks, but the focus is on getting from Point A to Point B successfully.  You discover new or forgotten things along the way.  

A notable exploration game is Forbidden Lands and any Hex-Crawl focused OSR game.   

Combat Scenes (Duels, Skirmish, or Big Battles)

It really does not matter of it is a one-on-one fight, party versus enemies, or the characters commanding regiments of soldiers on the field of battle.  The focus here is by solving problems with violence.  There are a lot of games that make this a big focus for gameplay and there are a variety of different mechanics for these types of scenes.  

Notable games are Dungeons and Dragons and G.I. Joe: The Role-Playing Game.

Crafting Scenes

These are scenes where characters are building or creating new things to introduce into the game world.  Thes can take many forms from magical equipment, technology, or even works of art. 

Many games incorporate some sort of crafting, but it is often focused on -or-2 character-builds or is a side-quest of the game.  Rarely is it the main driving factor of an RPG. 

Shopping and Planning Scenes

In these scenes, Characters are gathered together to come up with their plans for the next few scenes by gathering intel, making plans, and acquiring the gear they need to accomplish their goals and objectives.  These scenes are usually player driven and depending on the group maybe critical to game play, or the least exciting part of the game. 

Like Crafting Scenes, most RPGs do not focus on this aspect of the game play.  However, players engage and often initiate these types of scenes themselves.  

Putting It All Together

As an RPG Designer, it is important to give your players some idea of how scenes should work in your game, and how they flow together.  The Game Master should also have an idea of what Types of Scenes may occur in a game, with suggestions in the rules on how to resolve the most common scene types.  

As the Designer, you should also have an idea of the most common types of scenes the game likes to lean in with, and build mechanics for the key scenes.  Scenes types that are not the focus still need some rules, but the level of detail can be different.  

For example, Glittering Void: The Role-Playing Game of Space Mecha Theatre is focused on two main scene types.  Those are Battle Scenes and Social Scenes.  Therefore, there are rather complex rules for fighting and for negotiations that extend and expand options using the Universal Mechanics.  However, scenes for upgrading mechs, investigations, sneaking around, and shopping are slimmed down to more basic rules using the Universal Mechanic to resolve. 

In Conclusion

As an RPG Designer, and a GM; it is important to understand how Scenes work to drive an RPG game.  It is also important for the Designer to know the type of scenes your game wants to lean in on and give guidelines for all scene types.  I offered only a handful of broad scene types to give you a starting point.  As the designer, you will want to think about specific scene types your game will be recreating. 

Until next time.....

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