A game master’s blog about how to construct a story, and GM tools for the Meta-Arc Adventure beginning in Mexico, 93 pa.
Trapped! was an entry provided to players in Rifts Mercenaries, page 52 and it deals with an ongoing conflict between DemonBusters, Inc. and Doc Reid’s Rangers. There was no actual timeline or location provided in the treatment, rather it simply describes the conflict that exists between the two Mercenary Companies.
When researching Rifts’ Timeline, we learn that Doc Reid and his Rangers started up around 90pa. Taking the story to the beginning allows GMs a bit of control over the game and its players, by limiting weapons and armor, and equipment. Not that it should be encouraged, but not having access to all the books can be a determining factor in dissuading players from gm’ing a Rifts game. Limiting the number of books one needs makes it easier and cost-effective, for everyone. After all, we are targeting new players to Rifts and potentially new players to tabletop role-playing.
So what we are recommending are the following books: Rifts Main Book and Rifts Mexico. Suggested material would be Rifts Mercenaries, South America 1 and 2, D-Bees of North America, and Rifts Ultimate Edition – the quintessential Player’s Guide to Palladium Rifts.
We have provided a game description and generated a story that we believe represents a balanced game for other fans of Palladium Rifts. GMs can then find unique ways to present their story to their players.
How to start.
A linear approach is okay, but there are events described that the players are not privy to. We are given background information to help establish means, motives, and alibies – if we were to look at this as Police Detectives we have the Who, How, When, Where, and maybe Why.
But then there’s the frame of reference. Who did see the events unfold and what exactly did they see? How are they communicating what they saw to the players? In the game, it is suggested that somebody is speaking to Mari, the young girl whose father, a Deputy Sheriff of Sunshine, survived his confrontation with a vampire but later died. We learn that he too was turned into a vampire and has joined the Vampire, Bevan as a ‘Wild Vampire.’ This is a detail that Mari did not provide, likely because she didn’t witness that happen.
How we can approach this?
How so your players learn about the events in Sunshine?
Word of Mouth? Right Place at the Right Time? Informed by an Eye Witness? Or, was it a Psychic Premonition? In most of these cases, an NPC will have to be created.
With four options in this example, we can roll a random D4 to make a determination: Word of Mouth.
Inspiring rifts RPG storylines and how to use them– If you are new or returning to either the Rifts RPG or tabletop roleplaying games check out this article to learn more about Rifts storylines, how to use them and other articles to start with on the site.
The most likely path forward.
What would be the likely source then? In El Paso, we’ll most commonly find Mercenaries, Law Enforcement, City Rats, and local Heroes like Justice Rangers, Cyber-Knights, Rogue Scholar, Practitioner of Magic, or Psychic. We can add more to the list, but six is sufficient. It doesn’t have to be that complicated. We’ll roll a D6 for a random result. City Rat.
Let’s create an NPC to assist our Players.
Let’s create a City Rat, a 17-year-old human male named Zigzag. Zigzag is connected to one of the many gangs active in one of the four known listed gangs in El Paso: The K-9s, The Wild Cats, The Trogs, and The Hammer. Because Zigzag is a human male, we’ll put him with the ruthless Hammer. Zigzag is a braggard and a blabber mouth. If one of the characters in the group is a City Rat or has Streetwise, they can easily learn of the rumors. If a Body Fixer, or someone who has the ability to heal, they can learn it by coming upon Zigzag in the streets after he’s been stabbed by a rival gang. While he’s being treated or healed, he’s spilling the beans. A character with electronic countermeasures can eavesdrop over their radio and hear Zigzag chirping about it. And finally, there’s the good old standby, you overhear him talking about it at a bar. Other sources of intel can be from the Mage’s Guild, Thieves Guild, Assassins’ Guild, or associations that one of your player-characters is likely a part of.
Call to action.
The players are now engaged. Vampires! No one wants to mess with vampires. But, the town of Sunshine might need more security, which presents an opportunity to make some credits. Or, they may need medical assistance. Or, there could be a specific reason why the vampires target Sunshine over other locations along the Mexico Border.
The call to action should be natural to the players, they are in a place to help and to be of service.
Let’s consider an Alternative.
An alternative tie-in can be something wholly different. The GM creates a scenario where the players are to retrieve something and their journey passes through Sunshine, on their way to El Paso. They are drawn to the town because of the Circus. And later, meeting the locals, they begin to feel welcome and a part of the community. But then the Vampires attack, killing some of their friends from town. This emotional approach creates a sense of duty in the player characters, a need to right a wrong.
Now we’ve introduced multiple possibilities, a way to treat this then is to roll one or choose one. No choice is wrong, but it sets up the arc of the game for the GM and the players. This way, focus can be concentrated on specific locations and the things, people, and places native to that location. Towns are filled with people. People live and work in and around buildings. Towns have features and landmarks.
What is being proposed might seem to be a huge undertaking, but in fact, it isn’t. All we need is an idea and a few key names and simple descriptions. This is world-building and it is a way to help keep the game flowing rather than making it up on the fly.
World Building, creating the setting of a secondary city.
Here’s what we know about Sunshine, it was built around a pre-collapse era Truck Stop and Repair Shop. Locals once lived in shipping containers until they rebuilt using recycled materials, giving the impression that the homes aren’t traditional and likely newer. The town has a main Trading Post called Luna Hermanns. There’s a Pastor, Cino Bur, and his church is The Redeemer Church, and the Mayor is Cam Keeler. But we can do so much more and add so much more if we want. But it isn’t necessary. Leave the field open for possible tie-ins as the game evolves. But having a short list of additional names can be beneficial. Names of people, places, and attractions.
Building on the initial concept.
Let’s introduce a novel concept that we’ll call, Linking Scenario Sequences. We can define sequences as key stages that happen during a game or story.
We have clues, objectives, confirmation, a resolution, and a consequence. And then we have a selection thrown in there someplace.
Clues: These are the key details that describe to the players what happened, what’s happening, or what is about to happen. This is to show that something’s going on or about to go down.
Objectives: are Plans of Action. We have to be at A to see something key happen and we have to be at B to stop those responsible for it.
Confirmation: A clue isn’t ‘proof‘ – a GM has to present their players with proof that either corroborates their theory or leads them in a different investigatory direction. In this sense, the proof is a concept, proof that a crime was committed, or proof that a crime is about to be committed or is in progress. This can be evidence or a source of information, a prisoner or informant with inside knowledge that they may or may not be willing to part with.
Selection: Finally, we have a selection. Selections is the choice agreed on and acted on. It’s the ‘how are we going to deal with this problem?’ An outcome or resolution is how the event is resolved. How did the players plan work at completing the task?
Consiquence: Not everything goes off without a hitch. GM’s can add a consequence to their player’s victory. This is the ‘what comes out’ of the resolution.
Making a Moral Choice. Players playing their alignment.
Characters can also be forced to make a moral choice while going after their objective – innocent people have to die for a very very bad guy to die, or no level of death is acceptable to get the evil bad guy. Players have an alignment and it should be reinforced in them that they are acting within a moral framework. Forcing them into a binary choice is a great way to force them to find a workaround to their dilemma. How can they stop the big event and save all the innocents at risk of injury or death?
So, now we can string these sequences together in random order and use this as a guideline as to how to develop the story.
What we know from the Adventure write-up.
In Trapped! we have a lot of dead people. Unknown monsters. A wondering Circus filled with D-Bees and misfits. And we have feuding Mercenary Companies that may or may not have any ethical framework upon which to act on thrown into the mix.
And finally, our only witness so far is a little girl who lost her father, potentially her entire family. There’s a lot to unpack.
Unpacking a story.
So let’s put order to this chaos. After putting a series of logical progressions to our sequence, we choose or roll one. Let’s go with, Clue, Confirmation, Selection, Resolution, and an optional Consequence. “We came, we saw, we conquered.” “Now what?”
There’s a downside to being a hero. There’s always someone hurt enough to see the hero as an adversary. A rival. And often, rivalries end in revenge. Therefore, a consequence might be necessary for the story and the scenario.
When designing a game, we have to put a time limit to it, a duration. We’re looking for at least 4-hours of content for our players. Possibly 5 if things run over a little. Sometimes, a game rolls into a second game. It just can’t be helped.
We just can’t get everything done in 4 or 5 hours. But how then do you fill your next 4 hours when the GM estimates that all that’s needed is 2 hours to wrap up the story? No point in calling it quits after 2 hours. And too late to start a new game. Having something planned that comes after that can be simply resolved after a little legwork might be in order.
So, having extra material planned can be beneficial. Being prepared is the aim here.
Wrapping up.
We need a clue – a reason to bring the players to Sunshine. There’s always Zigzag and his big mouth. He heard that the circus is in town in Sunshine and they’re led by a powerful demon who possesses people’s minds. Children are going missing. All lies, but he’s convinced that’s what’s happening.
We then need confirmation – that one’s easy, the vampire attack itself. The characters make the trip to see the circus. They watch the acts and assess the freaks, and it is what it is – a strange experience filled with oddities. That night the vampires make their move and attack Sunshine. But they avoid the circus grounds. Point it out that it’s something odd. Have an eye witness in the morning say, they went there to protect the children but no vampire attacks was eminent. Put the circus under a microscope.
The characters are forced to make a choice. Stop and fight or run and get help or just run and let god sort it out. Either way, there’s a consequence. We can say in this case Mari dies, but her father lives. He’s angry as hell at the player characters and he has the means and ability to take out his rage and revenge on them. Someone has got to pay for the death of his entire family, particularly his little Mari.
As a result of his hunting the player characters, and the fact that vampires are loose in Sunshine,
DemonBusters arrive on the scene and bail the characters out and stop Mari’s father from killing the players. They now get involved in the vampire hunt and then, Doc Reid and his Rangers show up – mad as hell they weren’t notified first about the vampires in Sunshine. This turns into a showdown between the two companies. And the rest is history. ‘We have our game’ based on the write-up provided.
A Megaverse of infinite possibilities.
This is but one possibility on how to turn a write-up into a game. Having a solid plan and questioning outlook can turn a basic story developed into an epic game that players will find impactful and immersive.