[Twilight Time] Parties in Roleplaying Games

[Heather Grove]

February 18, 2002 - Time to Celebrate!
Volume 3, Issue 3

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Good morning!

Lately we've covered a lot of serious issues: character death, free
will, game tension, and so forth. It's time to have a little fun this
month - hence the topic of parties and celebrations!

In other news, we moved our site to a hosting provider just over a week
ago. For the most part this didn't change a thing. Since the hosting
provider runs their own list services, however, we moved the list over.
Old links to the list info page shouldn't break since we put in a
redirect. However, if anyone wants to update their links, the new URL
is:
http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/twilighttime

I apologize for the extra emails this month as we migrated the list. I
promise it's worth it - our traffic has been steadily ramping up for a
while now, and there was only so much we could do with a 56k connection
(it didn't help that our blurry kitten photos are inexplicably popular).

So life has been exciting around the Void this month. One of our kittens
broke *two* mice this month. And yes, I do mean the kind that attach to
your computer! I'm still learning to use voice recognition software to
give my tendonitis a break. Luckily this article was written before I
started using it; I'm still finding it difficult to ferret out all the
extra weird word substitutions. :} (So if you see anything particularly
strange in an article that goes up on the web site, please do let me
know!)

In the meantime, our thanks to Johnn Four and his Roleplaying Tips
newsletter:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/
By saying some nice things about the zine, he's single-handedly boosted
our subscribership by 25 readers since last night alone! Thanks Johnn!
:)

Have a great day!
Heather


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Parties in Roleplaying Games

I'm sure you're wondering what on earth I'm going off about this time.
Parties? Roleplaying games? Parties *in* roleplaying games? Just hear me
out for a little while, and I think you'll find this useful!

Most gaming groups forget about and ignore party occasions. How often do
player characters (PCs) have in-game birthdays? What about New Year's
parties? How often does a character get married (PC or NPC) and throw a
reception? And why should you care, anyway?

Some of you might remember our "instant plot hook" issues (they're still
some of our most popular issues). Instant plot hooks are brief things
that you can drop into your game at a moment's notice. They're designed
to use up a spare half-hour or so when your players totally
short-circuit what you had planned and leave you stranded, but they also
tend to make very good fodder for longer-term plots. At times they can
inspire some pretty weird stuff - since you didn't plan the plot out,
you often have no idea where your players will take your instant plot
hook.

In-game parties and celebrations are gift-baskets of instant plot hooks!
Such an occasion can be a bit like tossing a handful of plot hooks up in
the air and watching your players scramble to catch the falling pieces.
Parties can have repercussions for game-months afterwards. Here are just
a few of the ways in which you can use celebrations in your games.


Celebrations Are Great Places to Start Big Plots

Parties are fantastic places to kick off unusually high-epic or
high-intensity plots. Who hasn't read a book where the big event that
starts off the adventure happens at a party? Everyone remember Bilbo's
disappearing trick at his birthday party in "Lord of the Rings"? What
about your average dinner party murder mystery? I guess you could say
that weird things like an audience!

I believe this approach is so popular because the switch in tone is so
remarkably effective. You're going from an atmosphere of celebration and
joy to one of shock and surprise with hardly a moment's notice. It also
makes a certain sense - some characters *like* a flashy entrance or
exit. They enjoy showing off and surprising lots of people. This premise
lets you set up a scene that's as dramatic as you desire!


Gifts as Instant Plot Hooks

One of the categories of instant plot hook in the original article was
the gift. You can use presents as an excuse to slip all sorts of weird
and wild things to people. These don't have to be terribly powerful
items (see next month's article for more hints on creating cool things
that aren't super-powerful). They can appear simple but have unusual
properties. They could be totally normal yet come with unusual
histories. They might be stolen items, with former owners hot on their
trail. They could be magnets for trouble of one sort or another. They
could have emotional import to the PCs.

All of these are possible even if the giver has the best of intentions.
But what if he doesn't? What if an enemy of the party wishes to take
advantage of the situation to slip in something dangerous? He could sell
something that seems initially harmless to one of the gift-givers. He
could switch a dangerous item in for a real gift. He could send the gift
anonymously, or the gift might not appear to be gift at all, but for the
timing.

The great thing about this latter possibility is that you have the
perfect opportunity to hand the party something dangerous that will make
their lives interesting rather than smush them. After all, in order for
that enemy to pawn something off as the perfect gift, he has to make it
appear harmless, or even beneficial. The dangerous effects have to be
subtle or slow in order to avoid initial detection. Besides, what
long-time enemy could resist the temptation of a party? What bitter
rival could see the PCs having a joyous celebration and not try to ruin
it?

So bring out your bundle of instant gift hooks. Spend a little time
coming up with interesting things that have some fun background to them.
See what the party does with them, and where things go. Plan some of the
things to come into play weeks or even months on down the road, so your
gifts will last you a long time to come. Throw some completely normal,
mundane items in there just to make things seem halfway normal (or at
least to confuse the PCs). Throw a couple of really nice things in to
give them a little bonus (and to keep them from swearing off parties
forever after ;). Heck, send some gifts from people the PCs have never
met before as a way of introducing them to a new & different part of
your world.

You can also turn the entire gift idea around. What if your PCs have to
find an appropriate gift for an important person before attending *her*
party? Perhaps getting her the right gift could get them later favors or
alliances, or getting the wrong gift could be disastrous to some plan.
You could get weeks of plots out of the PCs' attempts to find and
procure the right gift!


Parties that Catch the Wrong Sort of Attention

Really want to have a wild night? Maybe the party in question attracts
all the wrong sorts of attention! A cabal of evil wizards shows up,
thinking it's the perfect place to hold dark rituals. A gang crashes the
festivities. Vampires decide the party looks like an all-you-can-eat
buffet. Someone uses the party as the perfect place to ambush their
enemies (who, of course, nicely put themselves in one place by coming to
the party). Your PCs could spend most of the night running from crisis
to crisis, trying desperately to keep the whole thing from tumbling down
around their ears. If they keep enough people alive, they could also
forge some great new bonds and alliances out of the night's festivities,
or at least rack up some future favors.

An additional source of concern when you have a wild party is - the
neighbors! Who lives nearby? How loud does the party get? Will anyone
call the police? This can be yet another source of plots and plot hooks.
Who takes an interest in the PCs because of the party? Whose ruffled
feathers do the PCs have to soothe? Who do they have to pay off or do a
favor for in order to avoid trouble with the law?


Putting All the Wrong People in One Place and Shaking Them Up

Have your PCs been making friends on both sides of the fence? Have they
been trying to keep their darker friendships secret from their nicer
allies? Have they been hiding a few too many skeletons in their closets?
Have you been dying to find a way to shake things up a bit?

Maybe the PCs go to someone else's party (New Year's party? Birthday?
Grand re-opening at their favorite night club?) and find that a few too
many of the people they know are there. Maybe they throw their own party
and some of their less savory friends find out and decide to crash. How
do they keep their differing friends apart? How do they choose who to
make happy and who to anger? What lies do they tell? Which secrets come
out? How many weeks of game-play does it take them to patch things up
afterward by running around, explaining everything, and doing favors for
people?

Be a little careful with this one - it *will* shake up the PCs'
alliances and friendships. If they've put a lot of work into those
alliances your players might not be so happy about this - and
understandably so. Try to make sure they're okay with this sort of thing
first (ask them point-blank if they mind you shaking up the game), and
particularly try to make sure that there are ways for them to repair the
damage afterwards. You should be able to get half a dozen great plots
out of the favors they have to do and contortions they have to go
through in order to win their friends back.


Parties as Villain Weaknesses

What about your villains' celebrations? What about their birthdays and
triumphs? Even bad guys have friends and allies who want to be wined and
dined, after all. A party could be the perfect chance for the PCs to get
creative about destroying their enemy. A party could be the perfect
chance to slip in with a disguise. Or to waltz in openly and trade
thinly-veiled threats in a situation where open violence would be a bad
idea. Or to sneak in the back door while the normally effective guards
are distracted by party problems.


Variation

If you're going to play with parties now and then, vary the kind of
party. There's your loud, raucous, destructive party. There's your fancy
dinner party, or your big, pompous affair of state. There's your
intimate gathering of family and friends. There's your strained
reception with family you don't like. There are costume parties, theme
parties, club parties, and more. Do something a little bit different
every time!


Fostering a Party Atmosphere

Okay, this one's a little tough: if you really want to do that whole
atmospheric about-face we talked about earlier, then how do you build up
a party atmosphere? It can be tough to get your players into the mood
just by telling them that they're at a party, and not everyone enjoys
roleplaying small-talk, which is how these things usually start out.
What, then, can you do to help?

To start with, if you're up for it, try to make the game-night itself a
little out of the ordinary. Serve a nice dinner to start off with
(home-cooked if you're into that; delivered if you aren't); begin the
roleplaying at the dinner table if people are up for it. Pull out the
table-cloth and the nice glasses if you have them. If you don't want to
go that far, at least bring something a little nice (a cake? Some
sparkling cider?), light the candles, and clean up the gaming room a
bit.

Put some quiet-but-upbeat music on in the background. Remember to smile
a lot as you roleplay the guests at the party. Think of a few fun and
interesting things to chat about as you set the stage (keep notes around
- maybe a list of guests with a potential topic or two for each). Talk
about past successes the PCs have had and amusing anecdotes from their
history - making it personal should help to draw them in. As always,
remember your details. Describe the room, the decorations, and what
people are wearing, and make it sparkle. If you have any friends who've
been wanting to play an NPC for a night, invite them to come play party
guests.

Try to keep the pace moving. Every time things slow down too much, bring
in a new guest. Have one guest insult another's taste in clothing and
almost start a fight. Describe a late arrival's weird taste in clothing,
unusual bodyguard, or ostentatious gift.

Most importantly - have fun! Enjoy yourself. An in-game party should be
fun for the players and the GM, even if it drives the PCs crazy!


What's Your Opinion?:

Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic
requests? Drop me a line at (heather at burningvoid.com). If I pass any of
your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG resources
page), I'll attribute them to you. Be sure to tell me if you don't want
me to use your name and/or comments!


Next Issue:

How do you give the PCs cool stuff without unbalancing your game? Coming
in just a few weeks (mid-March).

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SITE UPDATE:

Burning Void Roleplaying Resources:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/uniquepcs.html
Players Playing Characters III: Unique Character Choices
People seem to have a real thing against unique player characters. Why
is that? Here I'll give you all the reasons why unique characters can be
a *good* thing!

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/rpworld2.html
Game Worlds Designed for Roleplaying II: Reasons to Get Involved
Your PCs need *reasons* to get involved with all of the plots going on
around them. Sure, some of that is the responsibility of the GM and
players. But some of it can be dealt with during the process of game
world creation.

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/mainadvent.html
Providing Adventures in Roleplaying Rulebooks
A discussion of the merits and disadvantages of the different sorts of
adventure material that you can include in a roleplaying book.

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/rpworld3.html
Game Worlds Designed for Roleplaying III: From Party Play to Law and
Leeway
Mythology, practicality, party play, legal systems... a handful of
things to consider when designing your roleplaying world.

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FOR THE WRITERS OUT THERE:

The following are articles from the writing resources page rather than
the roleplaying resources page, but I thought some of you might be
interested (since there are so many roleplayers who like to write). I'm
putting together a series of warm-ups and exercises to help writers like
myself get started when they're having trouble sitting down and writing.

http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/ms/essay/exer1.html
Writing Warm-Ups and Exercises 1: Intro and the Review

There are many more (we're up to 18 so far) - just follow the "Next
warm-up" link at the bottom of the warm-up, or go to the writers'
resources page for the full index:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html
Some are of particular use to people preparing RPG material, such as
"The Portal," "Visit Your World," "Character Variation," and more. I
have no idea how many we'll eventually end up with, but I expect we'll
continue to add a few more here and there.

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