So I went ahead and tried the whole "create a canned adventure" for the Session we are currently doing. I mean I basically had a good idea of where I wanted the adventure to go and what not, so I started typing it up. On the good side, it really helped me design a quest that used the strengths and weaknesses of the chars that are currently playing. However even with spending as much time as I did planning out all the possible outcomes, they went and did something I didn't even think about. Here is where I think the "canned" adventures throw me. When your GM'ing and you are doing it off of a vague idea, or a basic set of notes, you are pretty much prepared for anything that the chars throw out there, because you are not expecting them to do anything. However when you write up the way the story "should" unfold, if they don't stick to the (your) plan, it is easy to feel like a deer in headlights. That being said, I think I'm going to continue to create notes and basic ideas of how the quest should go, and layout combat (create monsters, villains, ect), but try not to detail every little thing, and have the chars do what they want and fit the story to them. Because after all, the story is about them, I just provide the backdrop :)
This is a story about Ram-Man, and more importantly how he got my son to play RPGs with me they way they are meant to be played. First a little background: My son loves rolling dice, so he has been "playing" RPGs with me for a good 6-7 months now. Although at the tender age of 3 1/2 he is far from being an avid role player. Anyway, he enjoyed rolling the dice, and basically playing out combat. It worked out really well for me, as I got into Savage Worlds around this time, and he was my always available player to test out game mechanics that were new and unfamiliar to me; I'm looking at you Mass Battles, Chases, Raises and Toughness. So while he helped me do this, and we even managed to create him a Character and introduce him into a little makeshift gaming group comprised of mostly newbies ( my little sister, my 12 year old Daughter, my Son and my old buddy through skype ), he never really got into anything other than rolling the dice, and uttering things such as ...
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