PC Control

[jhulse]

Ok, not been on in a while. Over the years I have noticed gm's prepping for adventures and campains in a veriety of game systems. In all the different games I've been involved in, Traveller always seems to have the most preperation time. Many of you have posted all kinds of great ship write-ups, adventure seeds, backgrounds, passanger manifests, and on and on.
When the game day/night comes around, the PC's inevidable don't seem to scratch the surface of all that GM's prepare for.
Savage for instance... showed be volumes and volumes of planets, pcs, ships, cities, ports, and on and on that the PC's may not even begin to experience. If they do, it's only for the briefest amount of time. Many times they go off on tangents that GM's can't even begin to guess, and render all the hard work useless... or do they?
So here is an open question and discussion topic.
How much control should GM's have over their PC's?
I think this is an old topic. If it is, sorry, but I know I don't have any time (at least for now) to evening consider gaming or GM'ing for a long time. I'll start off my offering my theory and "sort of" working model I try to follow.

1)I always start off with a schematic outline of the adventure for my own notes. I try to write my adventures as if they were a movie or a script, in the broadest notion.

 

[jhulse]

(HOLY COW! BIG OOPS ON THE KEYBOARD! PLEASE IGNORE MY FIRST POST. ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE "ENTER KEY" WAY BEFORE I WAS READY. LET'S DO THIS ONE MORE TIME)

Ok, not been on in a while. Over the years I have noticed gm's prepping for adventures and campaigns in a variety of game systems. In all the different games I've been involved in, Traveller always seems to have the most preparation time. Many of you have posted all kinds of great ship write-ups, adventure seeds, backgrounds, passenger manifests, and on and on.
When the game day/night comes around, the PC's inevitable don't seem to scratch the surface of all that GM's prepare for.
Savage for instance... showed be volumes and volumes of planets, pcs, ships, cities, ports, and on and on that the PC's may not even begin to experience. If they do, it's only for the briefest amount of time. Many times they go off on tangents that GM's can't even begin to guess, and render all the hard work useless... or do they?
So here is an open question and discussion topic.
How much control should GM's have over their PC's?
I think this is an old topic. If it is, sorry, but I know I don't have any time (at least for now) to evening consider gaming or GM'ing for a long time. I'll start off my offering my theory and "sort of" working model I try to follow.

1) I always start off with a schematic outline of the adventure for my own notes. I try to write my adventures as if they were a movie or a script, in the broadest notion.

2) I have one over riding "big" plot line, with lots of smaller plots "possibilities" mixed in.

3) I always give at least 2 or 3 options for the PC's to take. This allows them to not feel controlled, and allowing me as a GM to "sort of" keep the game from spiraling out of control

4) I NEVER fully flush out every detail of each "mini plot" or even the entire adventure itself. Only the major players and/or encounters. I have enough prepared information on each "possible" side plot though to keep the PC's happy no matter what direction they decide to go.

5) I always use lost of pregenerated NPC lists, and I keep them simple. Thug 1 through Thug 6 all have similar stats and skills. One card for each. I mix things up a little on the fly if I want one or two to be different enough for the PC's to notice. I have a bunch of stock scientists, merchants, criminals, etc... and just change their names and personalities.

6) Always decide before hand how something might happen if the PC's don't bite on one of the adventure seeds... for instance, If a group of PC's have an option of helping a scientist find out why his research team hasn't sent an update in two months, and he wants a ship to take him to the outpost to investigate, vs. the PC's deciding to make a quick buck smuggling a high profile CEO out of a system to dodge corruption charges, I always decide on the outcome if the PC's decide NOT to interact. Later in a news broadcast...

"A local science station was found ransacked by pirates and a band of hero's (insert an NPC who is a rival to your PC's) was rewarded handsomely for leading authorities to their hideout" or make up anything you want. Just let the PC's know that in your campaign, there are always consequences for their decisions, even if they don't bite on one or the other. They could say "Man, if we only decided to do the other thing" The next time you give them options, they will start to way more the pros and cons of each plot hook.

7) No matter what minor plot hook they take, they all fit into the over all context of your campaign... easier said than done I know...

8) I never fall in love with the sequence I want the PC's to follow.


That all said, the above is more for campaign based, on going adventures, and not "plot specific" unique encounters.
"Your ship crash lands on an underdeveloped planet, now find your way to the space port on the other side of the continent..."

Anyway, enough of me blabbing.
Any thoughts? How do you "control" your campaign while making it fun as hell and without making your players feel controlled?

Jak Naz

 

[flykiller]

sounds like you know what you know what you're doing.

I've never been able to control my pc's. some players will try to follow what you have in mind, but usually I just have to incorporate into the game what they do. keeping your options open makes that easier.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Lack of flexibility in both players and Referees can kill a game. I prefer to let the situation control the characters... it makes for wise decisions and actions. I present fact, sensory input, and sometimes even the "feel" of the situation. Fortunately, I have excellent players that have characters with depth that by and large know what will fly and what won't. I also load the characters up with subtle sub-plots that add to thier overall outlook and give them lots to resolve...

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Sounds like you should have a copy of 76 Patrons (Supp 6) and 1001 Characters (Supp1) from CT! Most of my players have willingly followed my lead, so little difficulty there. However, the group with which I played (I was not a ref) in college had to be forced at the point of a very large gun, occassionally, to follow the script.

 

[Talby]

I suppose I am somewhat lucky: one of the frequent players of my Traveller adventures is my twin brother. When he's around, I can pretty much figure out what sort of hook will draw him into the adventure, and usually that's enough to cary the rest of the PCs along. But, I have to agree, Traveller seems to take a lot more preparation than other RPGs. I do agree with Jak Nazrith on the importance of somewhat generic NPCs, in case the plot ends up diverging a bit from what is planned.