Every GM has his own little bag of tricks to make the game more interesting. I think (ouch! 
) that we should all dump our bags into a big pile to share via this form.
I’ll go first with this little trick I call recap.
Now, I’m not complaining about the combat system (I’m saving that for another post) but some times the only excitement you get is watching the dice roll. What I like to do, is at certain points of combat I stop and go into full story mode and tell everyone what has happened so far.
Example: Grav-bike chase.
In game
Player character Jake Logan is on a grav bike sitting in traffic. I say, “Role a spot check.” He gets an eighteen, I’d set the DC for fifteen. “Okay, you know those two thugs that you pissed off at the casino? Well now they are coming up behind you on G-bikes waving revolvers. Roll initiative.”
“Sixteen”
“Okay, that’s good enough to beet thug 1 but not thug 2. What’s your AC?”
“Seventeen with my flak jacket.”
Rolling attacks. “One point off, hit and whiff.” Rolling damage. 1d10 rolls a 3. “Three stamina points. Your armor took the rest. Your turn.”
“I gun it.”
“Roll your Pilot G-bike.” DC20 for sudden burst of speed in crowded traffic.
“Nineteen.”
“Uh oh! Roll a reflex save.” DC... see how he rolls.
“Whoa ho! a natural twenty I’m saved.”
“Okay, here’s what’s happened so far.”
Recap
“Jake was on his way back to the ship with his pockets bulging from a visit to the local casinos when he sees two unhappy punks in his rear view mirror. Apparently they didn’t like getting cleaned out at poker. Now they are coming at him on G-bikes brandishing revolvers. The first one gets three shots off before Jake can react. One bullet zips past Jake's jaw, close enough that he felt a breeze, and smashed into his side view mirror. The next bullet pegs him squarely in the back and the third one kills the tail light of the car next to him, setting off the car alarm that is heard by everyone in a five block radius.
Jake knows he’ll have a welt from the bullet but his Flak jacket protected him from anything worse.
Wasting no more time Jake guns the throttle and blasts through the crowded traffic lanes as more bullets pepper the space he recently occupied, and most the cars around it.
In his blast to safety Jake over estimated his piloting skills and side swiped another grav vehicle, sending a shower of sparks behind him and sending his bike spinning wildly out of control. However thanks to his amazing reflexes he was able to control his spin into a series of evasive maneuvers, expertly guiding his bike through a matrix of grav cars in three overlapping six way intersections.”
Now tell me that wasn’t edge of your seat.
See, by pulling it all together and adding some colorful description and creative liberties, I’m able to take a kind of drab dice rolling session and turn it into a none stop, heart racing action thrill ride.
Well, there’s one of my best tricks. I look forward to hearing about yours.
) that we should all dump our bags into a big pile to share via this form. I’ll go first with this little trick I call recap.
Now, I’m not complaining about the combat system (I’m saving that for another post) but some times the only excitement you get is watching the dice roll. What I like to do, is at certain points of combat I stop and go into full story mode and tell everyone what has happened so far.
Example: Grav-bike chase.
In game
Player character Jake Logan is on a grav bike sitting in traffic. I say, “Role a spot check.” He gets an eighteen, I’d set the DC for fifteen. “Okay, you know those two thugs that you pissed off at the casino? Well now they are coming up behind you on G-bikes waving revolvers. Roll initiative.”
“Sixteen”
“Okay, that’s good enough to beet thug 1 but not thug 2. What’s your AC?”
“Seventeen with my flak jacket.”
Rolling attacks. “One point off, hit and whiff.” Rolling damage. 1d10 rolls a 3. “Three stamina points. Your armor took the rest. Your turn.”
“I gun it.”
“Roll your Pilot G-bike.” DC20 for sudden burst of speed in crowded traffic.
“Nineteen.”
“Uh oh! Roll a reflex save.” DC... see how he rolls.
“Whoa ho! a natural twenty I’m saved.”
“Okay, here’s what’s happened so far.”
Recap
“Jake was on his way back to the ship with his pockets bulging from a visit to the local casinos when he sees two unhappy punks in his rear view mirror. Apparently they didn’t like getting cleaned out at poker. Now they are coming at him on G-bikes brandishing revolvers. The first one gets three shots off before Jake can react. One bullet zips past Jake's jaw, close enough that he felt a breeze, and smashed into his side view mirror. The next bullet pegs him squarely in the back and the third one kills the tail light of the car next to him, setting off the car alarm that is heard by everyone in a five block radius.
Jake knows he’ll have a welt from the bullet but his Flak jacket protected him from anything worse.
Wasting no more time Jake guns the throttle and blasts through the crowded traffic lanes as more bullets pepper the space he recently occupied, and most the cars around it.
In his blast to safety Jake over estimated his piloting skills and side swiped another grav vehicle, sending a shower of sparks behind him and sending his bike spinning wildly out of control. However thanks to his amazing reflexes he was able to control his spin into a series of evasive maneuvers, expertly guiding his bike through a matrix of grav cars in three overlapping six way intersections.”
Now tell me that wasn’t edge of your seat.
See, by pulling it all together and adding some colorful description and creative liberties, I’m able to take a kind of drab dice rolling session and turn it into a none stop, heart racing action thrill ride.
Well, there’s one of my best tricks. I look forward to hearing about yours.
