| From: | Pete Sims <petesims@********.demon.co.uk> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Get a Clue |
| Date: | Wed, 25 Sep 1996 03:03:39 +0100 |
<dbuehrer@****.org> writes
>I and one of the guys a game with were talking about giving
>clues to PCs. We've both run across the problem of how
>much to give out. What seems to be an obvious clue to the
>GM leaves the players clueless. The PCs founder and the
>players get bored and start playing Magic. But if you bash
>'em in the head with a clue they give you that "What do you
>think I am, stupid?" look. How do other GMs on this list
>deal with this? And to be all inclusive, what do the
>players think would work best?
>
>-David
>
I tend to be really generous with clues, but they're only very small
hints at the big picture, I'm also very generous with red herrings, and
will throw NPCs, and clues at the players in an effort to draw them off
at a tangent. Occasionally this works, much to their chagrin.
I don't hold with clue bricks, but do help the players when they are
trying to put the clues together, by giving them little hints
occassionally, or a gentle nudge in a certain direction. After each
game, the players will sit around drinking coffee, and eating whatever
munchies are left until sunrise talking about the game and analysing
some of the things they've done, to see if they could have done it a
different way, or asked different questions. This is the time when they
usually go over what they think are clues that I've given out, the only
thing they have to do, is seperate the past from the present from the
future.
There are occassions when a player will contact me during the week, and
discuss certain aspects or ideas that he/she has had, and I will answer
them accordingly. If it's a group thing, we arrange for everyone to
meet that evening and hammer out whatever the idea is. It does mean,
that the game is virtually running all the time, which makes my life
more difficult, but the players enjoy it, and now that they've really
got the hang of the way I give out clues in the game, they are getting
quite good at it.
The only way to really decide how to present clues and game guidance to
the players is to watch how they deal with what you do give them, and
their reactions to the ingformation they gather, and then alter your
style a little to allow for it. Some players are extremely dense and
couldn't see a clue if it walked up dressed in neon, and kicked them in
the teeth, others will see it if it's concealed behind three feet of
plassteel with an invisibility spell cast on it. I'm also a great fan
of taking individual characters aside and giving them information
(especially if they are contacting any connections they have that are
not "team" contacts, this also gives the other players a chance to
discuss what they know, which helps. If the player has information that
the team needs, I will either let him/her roleplay the sharing of that
information, or if there is still research going on, take the next
player aside.
There are many different ways to drop hints and pass out information,
one of the most successful I have found is one I use in my game and that
is, a regular newsletter, admittedly I have a lot more time on my hands
than a lot of GM's (what with school/college/uni/work etc.) so I can
take out the time to write a twelve page newspaper for them, but I will
always hide in the paper clues about a run they are on, and whatever is
up and coming. At the moment they are desperately scanning back issues
to find some of the information for their current run, two of them have
come up with enough information to give them a reference point, and it's
possible they might be on the right trail this time, but I shall see.
Play it by ear, to start with, and feel your way along. It may be
better to start handing out only a little, and slowly increase the
amount of information, until you reach a level you are happy with, and
that your players can deal with.
Hope this long winded waffle of mine was at least a little help.
TTYL
Pete
--
Pete Sims
Civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations which we
can perform without thinking about them.
