Information
How to Run an Emote Crawl
Rather, how to run a good emote crawl. What goes into planning and executing a text-based mission? If you haven't organized one yourself, think about one you've been on that really worked.
A few of my own thoughts:
That should get the ball rolling. Show me what you got!
A few of my own thoughts:
-Preparation is absolutely key. Figure out the beginning and end, and how the players will reach the latter. Know your big points and script them before the crawl.
-Macro that! Macro any description or pose that will take more than a sentence. I actually have a bar dedicated to event macros. You should, at the very least, have all descriptions typed and ready to paste. You'll need either a C&P addon or a general chat addon like Prat or Chatter; I also suggest BxNotepad so you don't have to tab in and out.
-Keep combat simple. I've tried both highly structured and ultura-simple "roll-and-pose" combat, and IME the latter works best. It's fast and isn't frustrating. Remember that fail doesn't have to be a miss. Say Prikka rolls a forty on her Mind Blast. Instead of missing completely, allow it to do reduced damage. It's very frustrating when the player's supposedly-skilled warrior misses every shot.
-Keep things moving. Don't let the scene get bogged down, or hung up on a single character's actions. Player boredom and frustration are your enemies. In fact, that should be its own point.
-Player boredom and frustration are your enemies.
That should get the ball rolling. Show me what you got!
Last edited by Kethri Weaver on Apr. 18th, 2013 11:28 am; edited 1 time in total
On Combat
One of the things that I've learned to rely on is trusting the players to engage and to write according to their characters. Especially in regard to the rolled combat system... by and large, if a group of writers trusts each other to extend the scene in a meaningful way, it is unnecessary to add the element of chance into situations where without it a scene would run in an expected fashion.
Prikka's example of rolling a 40 is perfect. Everybody in this guild knows that Prikka is a.) playing a character who is exceptional at detonating people's brains b.) a writer capable of restraint and willing to share scenes. It is largely unnecessary for her to roll hit and damage and blah blah blah, when everyone understands that the character can absolutely crush a mook guard's head and that the player isn't going to just go LOLOLO I KILLZ TEHM CUZ IM LVL 85.
Scenes run more smoothly if the player is allowed to interpret their own part in them, IMHO. It is for this reason that I gave up writing combat without either agreeing to a result beforehand or at least having tons of experience writing with my partner. (And, also why my characters tend to get their asses kicked.)
On Roleplay
Players are far more capable of generating drama than any one DM can provide for them. In my experience I have learned that the best thing a scene-writer can do is provide a backdrop of events, and allow the characters to react within them as they would; discussing events among themselves, engaging in dialogue, and pressing forward when they are prepared to do so.
THAT SAID - it takes a keen eye to recognize when a scene has ceased being interactive and has become nothing more than circular conversation. Keep tabs on your players and prompt them toward advancing in your story, either IC or OOC. Throw hooks in; sudden or unexpected surprises and danger are a great way to keep the scene rolling along.
On Roleplay AND Combat
This is a roleplaying game and we are roleplayers. This is just my opinion, but... I would rather think and talk than fight in an emote crawl, since the game provides a much better framework for actual fighting than any dice-rolling system could ever do. To that end, I would urge the crawl DM to make combats meaningful, rather than systematic and expected. What purpose does the battle serve?
I like fights that are:
-Epic moments of Servitor awesomeness.
-Intense and desperate battles for survival or to overcome a hated foe.
-Hopeless situations in which survival is not guaranteed.
-Necessary backdrops for an intense roleplay scene (see: Meri's death and Eth's subsequent psychobilly freakout).
This isn't Dungeons and Dragons. It's cooperative writing. I feel like the writing should be at the forefront.
One of the things that I've learned to rely on is trusting the players to engage and to write according to their characters. Especially in regard to the rolled combat system... by and large, if a group of writers trusts each other to extend the scene in a meaningful way, it is unnecessary to add the element of chance into situations where without it a scene would run in an expected fashion.
Prikka's example of rolling a 40 is perfect. Everybody in this guild knows that Prikka is a.) playing a character who is exceptional at detonating people's brains b.) a writer capable of restraint and willing to share scenes. It is largely unnecessary for her to roll hit and damage and blah blah blah, when everyone understands that the character can absolutely crush a mook guard's head and that the player isn't going to just go LOLOLO I KILLZ TEHM CUZ IM LVL 85.
Scenes run more smoothly if the player is allowed to interpret their own part in them, IMHO. It is for this reason that I gave up writing combat without either agreeing to a result beforehand or at least having tons of experience writing with my partner. (And, also why my characters tend to get their asses kicked.)
On Roleplay
Players are far more capable of generating drama than any one DM can provide for them. In my experience I have learned that the best thing a scene-writer can do is provide a backdrop of events, and allow the characters to react within them as they would; discussing events among themselves, engaging in dialogue, and pressing forward when they are prepared to do so.
THAT SAID - it takes a keen eye to recognize when a scene has ceased being interactive and has become nothing more than circular conversation. Keep tabs on your players and prompt them toward advancing in your story, either IC or OOC. Throw hooks in; sudden or unexpected surprises and danger are a great way to keep the scene rolling along.
On Roleplay AND Combat
This is a roleplaying game and we are roleplayers. This is just my opinion, but... I would rather think and talk than fight in an emote crawl, since the game provides a much better framework for actual fighting than any dice-rolling system could ever do. To that end, I would urge the crawl DM to make combats meaningful, rather than systematic and expected. What purpose does the battle serve?
I like fights that are:
-Epic moments of Servitor awesomeness.
-Intense and desperate battles for survival or to overcome a hated foe.
-Hopeless situations in which survival is not guaranteed.
-Necessary backdrops for an intense roleplay scene (see: Meri's death and Eth's subsequent psychobilly freakout).
This isn't Dungeons and Dragons. It's cooperative writing. I feel like the writing should be at the forefront.
Farseer Axasa wrote:
I agree with this to some extent, but the first thing I will do when crafting an emote crawl is:
TRY TO BREAK IT. I will sit down and figure out all the ways in which a clever player could potentially grind the action to a halt or take it in a completely new direction. I feel that taking the time to do that makes me more readily able to produce extra goodies or sideplots should those involved go, as they do tend to do, in surprising directions. This means that when this stuff does happen I'm able to react and provide feedback instead of fumbling around going "uhhh" when ten people wanna know what comes next.
Players are far more capable of generating drama than any one DM can provide for them. In my experience I have learned that the best thing a scene-writer can do is provide a backdrop of events, and allow the characters to react within them as they would; discussing events among themselves, engaging in dialogue, and pressing forward when they are prepared to do so.
I agree with this to some extent, but the first thing I will do when crafting an emote crawl is:
TRY TO BREAK IT. I will sit down and figure out all the ways in which a clever player could potentially grind the action to a halt or take it in a completely new direction. I feel that taking the time to do that makes me more readily able to produce extra goodies or sideplots should those involved go, as they do tend to do, in surprising directions. This means that when this stuff does happen I'm able to react and provide feedback instead of fumbling around going "uhhh" when ten people wanna know what comes next.
Farseer Axasa wrote:
Back in the day when I played AD&D my GM had a NPC he would bring out every so often, called the Red Dwarf. If we sat around circlejerking for too long the Red Dwarf would show up and just do something. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was bad. Whenever I see that sort of breakdown happening I try and jumpstart the rhythm of the event with something in that vein, so players don't end up feeling like they're going through the motions.
THAT SAID - it takes a keen eye to recognize when a scene has ceased being interactive and has become nothing more than circular conversation. Keep tabs on your players and prompt them toward advancing in your story, either IC or OOC. Throw hooks in; sudden or unexpected surprises and danger are a great way to keep the scene rolling along.
Back in the day when I played AD&D my GM had a NPC he would bring out every so often, called the Red Dwarf. If we sat around circlejerking for too long the Red Dwarf would show up and just do something. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was bad. Whenever I see that sort of breakdown happening I try and jumpstart the rhythm of the event with something in that vein, so players don't end up feeling like they're going through the motions.
Bumping for newmeats! We encourage you guys to run your own missions if you get an idea. And if you kinda sorta have an idea but don't know where to take it, you can ALWAYS brainstorm with an officer. We love helping out.
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