Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Prompt #18 for #RPGaDay2026

Directness

There are times, as a GM, I wish my players followed the directness of the route literally in front of them.  But then again, it wouldn't create such memorable moments.  I spoke of a scenario a few days back about creating a map with MS Paint.  That was a great session.  I've been trying to up my game a bit since then because at times, it feels like I'm trying to herd cats.  This is all in good fun, mind you.  I use to command zergs in World vs World in Guild Wars 2 back in the day. That was definitely herding cats!

My playtesters are very diverse in their thought processes.  Some are trying to think outside the box, others are definitely inside it.  There are times where I've had to place an enemy token on the board just to prevent them from going down a wrong path.  Even then, they killed it or some how skirted around its presence.  Truly amazing at how things just...happen...even with high threat ratings.  I'm wondering if they'll do similar things for the next expedition, knowing that the enemies there are bit more vicious.  Well, some of the more menacing ones are.

As I develop my game further, I'm probably going to start reducing my directness as the developer/GM.  Most if not all sessions thus far have been me telling my players what I did, what I need them to test, get feedback, and then play a bit.  The more refined I get things done, the less information and feedback it'll probably require.  I can say one thing though: I have a path for my game and I'm doing everything that I can to get the results I want. 

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