Darths & Droids

Episode 886: Firing and Flying

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:11:04 +0000

Sometimes you just can't wait for all the information you need to carry out a plan successfully. If your GM is doing the job right, this might actually occur more often than not. But you have to go ahead and make the best of things anyway. Do things right even despite the lack of full information and the rewards should be all the greater.

Assuming you survive.

Episode 885: The Pilot Episode

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:11:01 +0000

Give everyone a role in the big end-of-adventure battle. Especially if they're not combat-oriented characters.

This goes in the other direction too. Give the combat monsters something to do in the kindergarten class supervision scenes.

And yes, Wedge is played by a different actor here (Denis Lawson) than in his earlier scene (Colin Higgins). The story is that Higgins didn't learn his lines and fumbled through the scene in the briefing room, resulting in him being fired and Lawson being given the part for the remainder of the film as well as the two sequels. And they simply didn't bother refilming the briefing scene with Lawson.

Author note: We know the foreign language sentences in the comic are really badly translated. They are meant to be that way.

Episode 884: Get This Show on the Road

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:11:02 +0000

Death is often treated fairly casually in games. But it is a big deal in real life. Know your audience before attempting to dwell on it in a game.

Episode 883: Second Hand Insult

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:11:03 +0000

NPCs have personality too. All too often they are treated as nothing more than props for the PCs to interact with in a completely straightforward manner. But some of the characters in your world are going to be practical jokers, or people who can never take anything seriously, bunny-ears lawyers. Make sure the PCs meet some of these people.

It'll make their life more interesting, realistic, and fun.

And it's guaranteed to make your GMing job more fun too.

Episode 882: Milk Run

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:11:01 +0000

The pre-battle scene where fellow combatants bond over the prospect of the danger and terror to come is a standard part of building the suspense in a story. Try devoting some time to it in a game, rather than rushing straight into the combat. Let the PCs know they have a few hours to wait, with nothing to do but ... wait. They can only clean and check their weapons so many times before they are left with nothing to do but ... wait. See what sort of conversations they get up to.

(We couldn't find a TV Trope for this, so you're spared a link.)