From the article archive
Expanding and Idea: Change Up
How I love vacations! I love not having to be anywhere I don’t want to be, no working (unless I want to), just relaxing… it was great. The only thing I always regret about them is that they eventually must come to an end. So, now I’m back at work and getting into the swing of things again. Figure I’d best get back on the article wagon as well, so let’s take a look at Mark’s Waltz article and see were that leads us.
“I say I have my favorites; but there is one particular style which I have never enjoyed. I don't care for the waltz.”
A simple statement, but it really caught my eye when I read the article. It got me to thinking about the various different likes and dislikes of the players in my groups. One group likes horror, the other doesn’t. One likes Sci-Fi, the other not so much. One likes to develop character personalities above anything else, the other wants to kill the monsters and take their stuff.
Every group has a particular style of gaming that fits them best, be it traditional D&D style dungeon delving or complex character and sub plot development. Same goes for the PCs. Lots of players have their favorite character classes and character personality types that they prefer to play. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you like and what you don’t like in an RPG.
One of my players always plays an older male, mage/occult type who hates technology and is rather surly. This player enjoys the heck out of these PCs and plays them very well – which he should after years of practice. I asked him a few years ago if why he didn’t want to try something different. I was told that over the years of gaming he found this PC type to be his favorite and that he had the most fun in games where he was playing his favorite PC. Hard for me to argue with that. RPGs are about having fun so I figured if he’s having fun, there’s no problem right?
Well, after a few campaigns, and a few chargens later, I was running into a problem with this player and a few others who were playing their favorite PC types - I was out of ideas to challenge them. I don’t like to repeat myself too often in my games, but I was finding that I didn’t have many options left because some of the PCs were basically the same in the current game as they had been in the last four games. The players and I were getting into a rut. I hate being in a rut.
I contemplated forcing the players to make new PCs that were against their normal types for the next campaign. But I was afraid that would cut into the players fun as I knew my players made these “same old same old” PCs because it was fun for them to play them. I didn’t want to stress out or alienate my players so I had to come up with a different solution.
I finally settled on what the players and I found to be a nice compromise and a good change of pace for everyone. I told the players I’d like to run a totally different game, different rules set, different setting and everyone was to try something new. We’d only play this new game for a few sessions and after we’d go back to our regular game.
The players thought it was a good idea and everyone sat down and made new and different PCs. Because I was basically running a one shot style mini campaign the players felt they had a chance to try something new and that if they didn’t like it – no big deal. After all, this wasn’t a PC they would be stuck with for too long and all the other players were doing the same thing. No long term consequences gave the players a willingness to take a risk with their PCs they normally wouldn't.
After the mini campaign the players all told me they had fun, but wanted to get back to their regular PCs and the old campaign. I was also ready to slip back into the regular game, having recharged my creative batteries by doing something different myself.
I’ve done this a number of times over the years and I’ve had good results each time. My advice is that if you find yourself in a rut, either as a player or a GM, try something different for everyone. New rules, new setting, new PCs – the works. It not only gives you a chance to try new games, or to revisit a game you haven’t tried in a while, but you’ll also get a needed creative break so you can return to your regular game with some new ideas and a fresh mind.
Well, now that I’ve written this I’m thinking that my vacation was a bit of a “new game” change for me as well. While I didn’t plan to tie that into the end of this article it’s worked out nicely now that I think of it. Sort of helps to bring things about full circle and all that. More proof that sometimes a break from the normal is very helpful. You can get good results even if you weren’t expecting them.
That’s all for now. See you in the forums!
“I say I have my favorites; but there is one particular style which I have never enjoyed. I don't care for the waltz.”
A simple statement, but it really caught my eye when I read the article. It got me to thinking about the various different likes and dislikes of the players in my groups. One group likes horror, the other doesn’t. One likes Sci-Fi, the other not so much. One likes to develop character personalities above anything else, the other wants to kill the monsters and take their stuff.
Every group has a particular style of gaming that fits them best, be it traditional D&D style dungeon delving or complex character and sub plot development. Same goes for the PCs. Lots of players have their favorite character classes and character personality types that they prefer to play. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you like and what you don’t like in an RPG.
One of my players always plays an older male, mage/occult type who hates technology and is rather surly. This player enjoys the heck out of these PCs and plays them very well – which he should after years of practice. I asked him a few years ago if why he didn’t want to try something different. I was told that over the years of gaming he found this PC type to be his favorite and that he had the most fun in games where he was playing his favorite PC. Hard for me to argue with that. RPGs are about having fun so I figured if he’s having fun, there’s no problem right?
Well, after a few campaigns, and a few chargens later, I was running into a problem with this player and a few others who were playing their favorite PC types - I was out of ideas to challenge them. I don’t like to repeat myself too often in my games, but I was finding that I didn’t have many options left because some of the PCs were basically the same in the current game as they had been in the last four games. The players and I were getting into a rut. I hate being in a rut.
I contemplated forcing the players to make new PCs that were against their normal types for the next campaign. But I was afraid that would cut into the players fun as I knew my players made these “same old same old” PCs because it was fun for them to play them. I didn’t want to stress out or alienate my players so I had to come up with a different solution.
I finally settled on what the players and I found to be a nice compromise and a good change of pace for everyone. I told the players I’d like to run a totally different game, different rules set, different setting and everyone was to try something new. We’d only play this new game for a few sessions and after we’d go back to our regular game.
The players thought it was a good idea and everyone sat down and made new and different PCs. Because I was basically running a one shot style mini campaign the players felt they had a chance to try something new and that if they didn’t like it – no big deal. After all, this wasn’t a PC they would be stuck with for too long and all the other players were doing the same thing. No long term consequences gave the players a willingness to take a risk with their PCs they normally wouldn't.
After the mini campaign the players all told me they had fun, but wanted to get back to their regular PCs and the old campaign. I was also ready to slip back into the regular game, having recharged my creative batteries by doing something different myself.
I’ve done this a number of times over the years and I’ve had good results each time. My advice is that if you find yourself in a rut, either as a player or a GM, try something different for everyone. New rules, new setting, new PCs – the works. It not only gives you a chance to try new games, or to revisit a game you haven’t tried in a while, but you’ll also get a needed creative break so you can return to your regular game with some new ideas and a fresh mind.
Well, now that I’ve written this I’m thinking that my vacation was a bit of a “new game” change for me as well. While I didn’t plan to tie that into the end of this article it’s worked out nicely now that I think of it. Sort of helps to bring things about full circle and all that. More proof that sometimes a break from the normal is very helpful. You can get good results even if you weren’t expecting them.
That’s all for now. See you in the forums!
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