The players fail with the leader and are asked (told) to leave. As they go, they are approached by one of the Elves who offers to help. Now the players are aware of a factional divide in the Elven realm. Take the help, villagers are happy, but the Elven leader may be unhappy, but the faction leader could call in the favor later. Lots of room for plot development all from a failed role. Ah, the joys of the sand box. That is why I only run this style. Never a dull moment.
What would be good for both the DM & the Players is audio-visual recording the entire campaign to then review after each session. Also, I kinda agree with your points in this video EXCEPT for the twists being entirely destructive/destroyed situations. Minor negative consequences might be ok, but more aggressive/extreme consequences isn't something I would enjoy/allow!
I should have emphasized more that unexpected twists can be positive. The players defeat an enemy more easily than expected because of solid planning might bring them more renown. Which leads to more requests for help and adventure.
When my players do something sufficiently unexpected that I'm caught completely by surprise, these days I tend to say, "I honestly didn't prep for that. Let's see..." and turn it into a share experience in which we're all processing the new situation together. In that moment, we're not GM and players, but a group of players (one of whom happens to be the GM). I also often announce to the players that I've drawn cards from Cypher System decks to randomly generate a scenario, complication, NPC, etc. At that point there's this moment of suspense as we all wait to see what's about to happen, and the players at least subconsciously know that whatever they do in this moment is at little risk of "ruining the GM's plans."
It's interesting to share that unexpected situation with your players. I tend to think in the old school fashion were the GM was expected to create everything in the world. You are correct in that everyone in the game are players. We tend to forget that.
Great video. As of writing this, I'm prepping for my game & I got to say unexpected stuff has definitely happened. The PCs have encountered gods roaming the earth, they keep on encounter more & more weird creatures & soon they shall know why...
I love when I need to inperpret a weird die roll. Im ny current 5e game early on a Lionin wanted to know if he could tell anything about the way dungeon walls were built. He had no reason to know but I thought, if he rolls a nat 20, it'll succeed. And he rolled a nat 20. So I asked why, and discussed it later wth the player and we decided that his tribe had adopted a dwarf who he grew up with as his best friend. The dwarf later returned as an npc in the city and there's a whole dwarf clan side story ongoing, all from that one die roll.
Similar to the Quantum Ogre that has been going around, the are no twists, there is always something, just a reflavored ... *rolls dice* firiey bastion of Darkness behind the cornor.
Maybe something bad happens to the elves: A spy for the enemy notes this and informs the leader, "The elves are cowards and refused to help." The leader informs a third party that the elves burned their bridges with adjacent communities.
Stander height fence backyard where an adult human can hop or climb roll over, what is more dangerous to have in the yard not on a chain with you ? a.) Ten ft croc/alligator ? b.) average size guard dog ? The dog can go over that fence a lot faster than you can. Wait, .. WHY .. would you have a croc/ alligator chain to YOU ?!
@@DDHomebrew Old joke down in Florida during the 1980's I heard in grade school. Base on location the dog is more of a threat than a gator. In short don't be afraid, don't panic, show no fear, have no fear. Study the target problem and you can relax under pressure. Like driving a car during traffic.
The players fail with the leader and are asked (told) to leave. As they go, they are approached by one of the Elves who offers to help. Now the players are aware of a factional divide in the Elven realm. Take the help, villagers are happy, but the Elven leader may be unhappy, but the faction leader could call in the favor later. Lots of room for plot development all from a failed role. Ah, the joys of the sand box. That is why I only run this style. Never a dull moment.
And that is what eventually happened! It just took a bit more negotiating, along with the issues facing the settlements growing more dire.
You nailed it. One way or another, the "unexpected" is pretty much inevitable in a sandbox campaign.
Exactly.
What would be good for both the DM & the Players is audio-visual recording the entire campaign to then review after each session.
Also, I kinda agree with your points in this video EXCEPT for the twists being entirely destructive/destroyed situations.
Minor negative consequences might be ok, but more aggressive/extreme consequences isn't something I would enjoy/allow!
I should have emphasized more that unexpected twists can be positive. The players defeat an enemy more easily than expected because of solid planning might bring them more renown. Which leads to more requests for help and adventure.
I love your videos. All killer, no filler. Keep them coming, I enjoy your perspective.
Glad you like them!
When my players do something sufficiently unexpected that I'm caught completely by surprise, these days I tend to say, "I honestly didn't prep for that. Let's see..." and turn it into a share experience in which we're all processing the new situation together. In that moment, we're not GM and players, but a group of players (one of whom happens to be the GM).
I also often announce to the players that I've drawn cards from Cypher System decks to randomly generate a scenario, complication, NPC, etc. At that point there's this moment of suspense as we all wait to see what's about to happen, and the players at least subconsciously know that whatever they do in this moment is at little risk of "ruining the GM's plans."
It's interesting to share that unexpected situation with your players. I tend to think in the old school fashion were the GM was expected to create everything in the world. You are correct in that everyone in the game are players. We tend to forget that.
Great video. As of writing this, I'm prepping for my game & I got to say unexpected stuff has definitely happened. The PCs have encountered gods roaming the earth, they keep on encounter more & more weird creatures & soon they shall know why...
I love it when my players do something totally unexpected, but I also know it means more work for me. That's the price we pay running a sandbox.
I love when I need to inperpret a weird die roll. Im ny current 5e game early on a Lionin wanted to know if he could tell anything about the way dungeon walls were built. He had no reason to know but I thought, if he rolls a nat 20, it'll succeed. And he rolled a nat 20. So I asked why, and discussed it later wth the player and we decided that his tribe had adopted a dwarf who he grew up with as his best friend.
The dwarf later returned as an npc in the city and there's a whole dwarf clan side story ongoing, all from that one die roll.
That story pretty much sums up my video in one four sentences!
Great video, love the content!
Glad you like it!
Similar to the Quantum Ogre that has been going around, the are no twists, there is always something, just a reflavored ... *rolls dice* firiey bastion of Darkness behind the cornor.
Not exactly sure what you're saying here but I'll go with it.
@@DDHomebrew lmao same
@@DDHomebrew I think they just wanted to roll their dice 🤔
@@CooperAATE Sounds good.
Maybe something bad happens to the elves:
A spy for the enemy notes this and informs the leader, "The elves are cowards and refused to help." The leader informs a third party that the elves burned their bridges with adjacent communities.
Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
Stander height fence backyard where an adult human can hop or climb roll over, what is more dangerous to have in the yard not on a chain with you ?
a.) Ten ft croc/alligator ?
b.) average size guard dog ?
The dog can go over that fence a lot faster than you can.
Wait, .. WHY .. would you have a croc/ alligator chain to YOU ?!
Now that is a twist!
@@DDHomebrew Old joke down in Florida during the 1980's I heard in grade school. Base on location the dog is more of a threat than a gator. In short don't be afraid, don't panic, show no fear, have no fear. Study the target problem and you can relax under pressure. Like driving a car during traffic.
@@krispalermo8133 Makes sense!