What You Like in a BTS Story
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mumah
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What You Like in a BTS Story
What elements, what features, what THINGS really turn your crank when it comes to a good BTS setting and campaign story? Inquiring minds want to know.
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Jefffar
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Some mystery, some suspense, then an awesome action sequence when all hell breaks loose.
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I guess what really want is something that just keeps me guessing. I don't know what's in the dark cellar, what's around the next corner, if something is following my character...
If I figure out what's going on too soon, it gets boring.
If I figure out what's going on too soon, it gets boring.
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BillionSix
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I remember something that Stephen King mentioned that he called the Six Foot Tall Cockroach Problem.
Basically, the hero opens a door and sees.... A SIX FOOT TALL COCKROACH!!!
The reader jumps in alarm. Then he relaxes and thinks, "Well, at least it wasn't a seven foot tall cockroach!"
Basically, a big monster won't scare your players for long. The more they know about it and its abilities, the more they will think of it as a tactical threat to be dealt with.
The trick is to keep it mysterious. If they are in a kitchen, and leave for a second, only to return and find a bloody knife on the counter that wasn't there before.....
Well, that is a bit more creepy.
Brian
Basically, the hero opens a door and sees.... A SIX FOOT TALL COCKROACH!!!
The reader jumps in alarm. Then he relaxes and thinks, "Well, at least it wasn't a seven foot tall cockroach!"
Basically, a big monster won't scare your players for long. The more they know about it and its abilities, the more they will think of it as a tactical threat to be dealt with.
The trick is to keep it mysterious. If they are in a kitchen, and leave for a second, only to return and find a bloody knife on the counter that wasn't there before.....
Well, that is a bit more creepy.
Brian
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sHaka
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verdilak wrote:BillionSix wrote:The trick is to keep it mysterious. If they are in a kitchen, and leave for a second, only to return and find a bloody knife on the counter that wasn't there before.....
Well, that is a bit more creepy.
Brian
yea, now that has a BTS feel to it. Creepy...
Or a knife block with a knife missing...
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BillionSix
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sHaka wrote:Or a knife block with a knife missing...
That might be good for a start. But people might think, "Maybe another party member took it."
It would be curious, but not freaky. But it would be a good start. You begin with a missing knife and up the ante from there.
Brian
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Suspension of disbelief.
That is key for me ABOVE ALL ELSE. Beyond the Supernatural, even though it is a fictional setting, is firmly rooted in the real world as well as real world beliefs and perceptions about anomalous events, the supernatural, and other aspects of Forteana.
It's not a fantasy game per se, it would probably be more apt to describe it as a "non-fiction" game (if there is such a thing) with elements of fiction thrown in to create a surreal slant on the world..
This means that most people don't believe, that you won,t get them to believe (some of them even after a close encounter). It also means that the supernatural is a covert threat that lurks in the shadow, unlike in other Palladium games where, by comparison you are tripping over supernatural beings.
Also, not every legend needs to have a kernel of truth behind it, some can just be plain false. Furthermore, the vast majority of legends shouldn,t be translated verbatim. Instead, if the truth is learned of such things, it is a twisted version that inspired the legend.
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That is key for me ABOVE ALL ELSE. Beyond the Supernatural, even though it is a fictional setting, is firmly rooted in the real world as well as real world beliefs and perceptions about anomalous events, the supernatural, and other aspects of Forteana.
It's not a fantasy game per se, it would probably be more apt to describe it as a "non-fiction" game (if there is such a thing) with elements of fiction thrown in to create a surreal slant on the world..
This means that most people don't believe, that you won,t get them to believe (some of them even after a close encounter). It also means that the supernatural is a covert threat that lurks in the shadow, unlike in other Palladium games where, by comparison you are tripping over supernatural beings.
Also, not every legend needs to have a kernel of truth behind it, some can just be plain false. Furthermore, the vast majority of legends shouldn,t be translated verbatim. Instead, if the truth is learned of such things, it is a twisted version that inspired the legend.
Just my two lek.
~ Josh
Petite Elfgirl wrote:BillionSix wrote:sHaka wrote:Or a knife block with a knife missing...
That might be good for a start. But people might think, "Maybe another party member took it."
It would be curious, but not freaky. But it would be a good start. You begin with a missing knife and up the ante from there.
Brian
When the character that notices the missing knife asks about it, everyone says no. Then someone watching the TV changes the channel, to hear a breaking news story about a serial killer on the loose. He kills his victims with a steak knife . . . .
. . . . and one of the party members ran out ot buy more beer just a few minutes ago?
