I'm Running My First Gaming Session, A Little Help Please!?!

[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

I'm new to Castles & Crusades and I'm going to be running my first module in just a few days. I've decided to run the only free module I could get my hands on and so I'll be running The Rising Knight. However, after reading through it a couple of times, I'm stuck on how I'm supposed to run conversations and the slow revealing of information in the town itself. How do I introduce the NPCs to the characters in a believable way? And how much information is too much from and NPCs? Also, my group doesn't have a rogue, assassin, or a ranger, might that become a problem later on? If so, how should I get Ian Meanz to join the group?

[serleran]

Conversations should be played naturally, and not forced; if the players miss some important bit of information, then it can be revealed in others ways...perhaps they stumble upon it, it comes to them, say as a dying man clutching his chest speaking of dark and terrible things in the woods, with long nasty (you get the point.) As for the other NPC... they may need to hire someone, and this particular person may be in need of gold; don't feel as if you have to play everything exactly as it is written -- change motivations, alignments, names, and even stats and everything else... the module serves as the synopsis, but you fill in the details.
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Serl's Corner

[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

serleran wrote:
Conversations should be played naturally, and not forced; if the players miss some important bit of information, then it can be revealed in others ways.

When you say naturally, do you mean that I should act out the conversations with the players? Again, I'm totally new so I don't have a clue.

[serleran]

If that's how you want to do it, or you can say "OK, after some drinks in the tavern, you learn the following: Bob is a cross-dresser, Sheila likes vodka, and Sheila is Bob." You can even make them roll, if that's your preference, and based n the result, give them X amount of information. There is no right or wrong way -- there is only your way, whatever works for you and your group.

Have you played a RPG ever? I'll assume you have been on the player side, and are new to running the game. It works the same as it did for being a player... only you're the other side.
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Serl's Corner

[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

Thanks Serleran, you've been a big help.

[gideon_thorne]

Well, that's part of the general role of the game master. To take over the 'voice' of the various personalities that players will encounter in the game. Its like having a conversation naturally. If the player asks a question of a given villager, you, as the CK would then provide an answer. You don't necessarily have to go into full actor mode with different accents and hand gestures, but it does add a nice element to the scene.

With Rising Knight, the characters have been made aware of a given job, and a certain threat. It then becomes the players job to seek information about the job and the nature of the threat. Beyond that, its like any movie or book, where the plot is revealed at the pace the players choose to seek.

This module can be run in an evening, or it could take days or weeks to complete. It just depends on how interested the players become in the story.

Feel free to add or subtract information in the module to change it to suit. The adventure is only a start point. The players, and the CK, write the rest of the story.
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Peter Bradley

[Treebore]

If you have SKYPE I could talk you through a couple of scenarios to get you familiar with doing such things as the CK.
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[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

No I don't have SKYPE but thank you for you generous offer. And thank you Gideon, your input is very clarifying.

[CharlieRock]

One thing I used to do, and still do, when running an NPC during a dialog sequence is imagine somebody you saw on a movie.

Stressed out Lawman NPC: Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry

Bartender:Woody Harrelson from Cheers

Plucky Halfling Farmer: Joey from Friends

Baron Thinly-disguised-Badguy: Bela Lugosi

etc.

Then just keep that mental image when you are delivering the NPCs dialog.

Because, here's a secret, players cant remember NPC names. And no amount of CK exposition is going to change that. They are always going to say something like "Isn't he that one guy?". But if you gave the NPC a "color" like pretending the NPC Prime Minister acted like Arnold the Governator (and sounded like him, if your good at that) then the players can use that handle to keep track of NPCs. And dont worry about overusing cliches. That's why they are cliche.
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The Rock says ...

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[Sir Osis of Liver]

CharlieRock wrote:
One thing I used to do, and still do, when running an NPC during a dialog sequence is imagine somebody you saw on a movie.

Stressed out Lawman NPC: Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry

Bartender:Woody Harrelson from Cheers

Plucky Halfling Farmer: Joey from Friends

Baron Thinly-disguised-Badguy: Bela Lugosi

etc.

Then just keep that mental image when you are delivering the NPCs dialog.

Because, here's a secret, players cant remember NPC names. And no amount of CK exposition is going to change that. They are always going to say something like "Isn't he that one guy?". But if you gave the NPC a "color" like pretending the NPC Prime Minister acted like Arnold the Governator (and sounded like him, if your good at that) then the players can use that handle to keep track of NPCs. And dont worry about overusing cliches. That's why they are cliche.

I don't like my bartenders as dim as Woody. If I'm going to run a bartender, I look to either Coach from Cheers (lovable grandpa-type role) or the guy running the canteen in Star Wars (grizzled, gruff dude you probably don't want to mess with).

Seriously, though, I think this is a great idea. Accents are fun to play around with. The RP aspects of the game are where you really build the story into it. As you start putting a campaign of your own together, these interactions will shape the direction everything takes. You're playing out a scene. The only thing is, you as CK get to work off a script (albeit a loose one) while everybody else at the table is doing improv. Have fun with it, and welcome to the Crusade.

[sieg]

Good advice above. Also, I recall that the NPC Killian is a hireable nigh-ranger type. When I've run A0 for groups he inevitably gets hired by the party and handles most of the range duties.

Good luck DPR, and let us know how it goes!

Mike
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Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[CKDad]

One thing that newer CKs / GMs run into is that speaking in character for NPCs all the time can be surprisingly tiring. Heck, just talking as much as we need to can be pretty tiring! So don't feel like you have to hold every conversation in-character. The more you can do, the better, but it can take some getting used to, so don't worry if you have to a revert to a "He tells you a story about seeing lights on the hillside" style.
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[CharlieRock]

Of course, NPCs with accents are why Monty Python has been banned from so many tables.
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The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

[Relaxo]

CKDad wrote:
One thing that newer CKs / GMs run into is that speaking in character for NPCs all the time can be surprisingly tiring. Heck, just talking as much as we need to can be pretty tiring! So don't feel like you have to hold every conversation in-character. The more you can do, the better, but it can take some getting used to, so don't worry if you have to a revert to a "He tells you a story about seeing lights on the hillside" style.

+1

I recomend saving it for important NPCs. But then again, do it with an unimportant one once in a while too so it's not predictable and doesn't become a red flag...."Oh this guy speaks in character, start checking for traps..."

[Sir Osis of Liver]

CharlieRock wrote:
Of course, NPCs with accents are why Monty Python has been banned from so many tables.

It isn't so much Python that's been banned from my table as it is Mel Brooks.

[sieg]

Its Black Adder at my table...
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Always remember, as a first principle of all D&D: playing BtB is not now, never was and never will be old school.- Tim Kask, Dragonsfoot

[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

Haha When my local constable sounded like Hulk Hogan and the High Priest of Hrueset sounded like some sort of fortune telling Dom Deluise, our group decided that the different voices were the most fun. And a strange old man had the world's thickest Minnesotan accent, with a "Hey dere, hi dere, ho dere."

[Sir Osis of Liver]

The Dread Pirate Robbins wrote:
Haha When my local constable sounded like Hulk Hogan and the High Priest of Hrueset sounded like some sort of fortune telling Dom Deluise, our group decided that the different voices were the most fun. And a strange old man had the world's thickest Minnesotan accent, with a "Hey dere, hi dere, ho dere."

Don't mess with the law when the wheels of Hulkamania are turning, baby! Ooh yeah!

[CharlieRock]

The Dread Pirate Robbins wrote:
Haha When my local constable sounded like Hulk Hogan and the High Priest of Hrueset sounded like some sort of fortune telling Dom Deluise, our group decided that the different voices were the most fun. And a strange old man had the world's thickest Minnesotan accent, with a "Hey dere, hi dere, ho dere."

I do a pretty good Macho Man Randy Savage.
I've also been told that my "standard" narration voice (like when I'm doing room descriptions in a dungeon) is like a game show host. Heh, "Behind that door is a 40' by 40' sto-one room with no exit and a big monster. Who's going to roll for initiative first? Will it be the archer or the thief? You have 30 seconds to make your actions known. Do I hear a melee attack? Yes! There are two melee attacks from the Fighter and the Knight."
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The Rock says ...

Know your roll!

[The Dread Pirate Robbins]

Quote:
I've also been told that my "standard" narration voice (like when I'm doing room descriptions in a dungeon) is like a game show host. Heh, "Behind that door is a 40' by 40' sto-one room with no exit and a big monster. Who's going to roll for initiative first? Will it be the archer or the thief? You have 30 seconds to make your actions known. Do I hear a melee attack? Yes! There are two melee attacks from the Fighter and the Knight."

Haha Yeah, I had a similar experience once we started the temple encounters. I even started saying things like," . . . when all of a sudden, five grotesquely green and toothy goblins jump out of the shadows. Does this spell DOOM for our wondering heroes? Find out next week on 'Cribs: Goblin Lair Edition'!"