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lundi 9 avril 2018

Strategic gamemastering, part 5 : Converting THACOSG links into scenes

Having performed the prescribed steps of the strategic gamemastering methodology, the strategist GM now has obtained the requisite THACOSG.

Accordingly, this THACOSG provides the GM with :

  • an overview of all objects (Themes, Locations, NPCs & Items) which are common to your players' respective creative agendas ;
  • a list of all the links that the GM has created in order to increase the number and interdependencies of objects across the player-characters.

A question remains : how to switch from a strategic level of gamemastering to a tactical level ? Which concepts should be converted into scenes ? How to create these scenes ?

This post aims at answering these questions.

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jeudi 14 décembre 2017

Strategic Gamemastering, part 4: Matrix campaigns

You've read all three installments of the Strategic Gamemastering posts, and you're telling yourself that while the method certainly could work for one-shot scenarios with strongly divergent characters, you are still in doubt that the THACOSG tool could manage the several pre-written adventures, modules or 50-scenario campaign that you have bought for your favorite game.

Your main issue is that if, in accordance to the process described in Part 3 of Strategic Gamemastering, you decompose a single scenario into its base components and enter them into the THACOSG for subsequent exploitation, the player-characters will enter the scenario in a manner certainly consistent with their own objectives or background, but probably not in the manner envisioned by the scenario author but by each following their own creative agendas.

Since player-characters will be entering the narrative threads of the scenario in an uncontrollable and unpredictable manner, there is also a definite possibility that the scenario will unfold in a manner wildly different from the author-driven narrative direction. This, of course, implies a massive uncertainty as to whether the ending of the scenario will match the beginning of the next campaign scenario as envisioned by the campaign designers !

These reservations are quite legitimate. However, the Strategic Gamemastering method also provides for long-winded campaigns and even follow-up campaigns. This post will show you how.

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dimanche 2 octobre 2016

[Octogones 2016] Conférence "Tactiques d'optimisation des parties de jeu de rôle"

En annexe de ce billet se trouve le support de présentation de la conférence "Tactiques d'optimisation des parties de jeu de rôle", présentée à la convention Octogones le 2 octobre 2016 au Double Mixte, à Lyon, sous le double parrainage des associations GROG et Opale.

Bonne lecture, et n'hésitez pas à poser des questions (ou faire toutes remarques) en commentaires !

lundi 25 juillet 2016

[Tactique de maîtrise] Les descriptions synesthétiques

La mise en œuvre de descriptions captivantes est l'un des piliers d'une narration réussie. Ce billet explore la manière dont le recours à la synesthésie peut constituer un outil utile pour raccourcir les descriptions tout en les faisant s'adresser aux émotions et au ressenti plus qu'à la seule raison.

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lundi 31 août 2015

Strategic Gamemastering, part 2: Data organization and exploitation through the THACOSG

This is the second installment of our series of articles on optimizing gamemaster effort through systematic gamemastering strategies. In the first article of this series, we have seen together how a clever gamemaster could infer player expectations for a given game by thoroughly mining all available data sources.

This post is focused on the practical organization and exploitation of all data gathered following a practical methodology, which I have named the "THACOSG" (Table of Holistic Analysis of Concepts and Objects for Strategic Gamemastering).

Lire la suite...