ry's Threats, Rewards, Assets, and Problems (TRAPs)

[Ry]

Now, the flowchart doesn't address the important question of depth.

A setting's depth is the ability for changes caused by player-characters to have consequences that cascade through the setting and thereby provide feedback or consequences for the players. If you want a deep setting, relate the elements players can change back onto each other over and over again.

So let's say we have a threat - a crotchety old Manticore that eats children near an abandoned mine. To add depth, make related problems, threats, resources, and rewards.

Problem: The land around the manticore's lair is prone to rockslides. (Players might turn this into a resource).

Threat: The mine is filled with bat swarms that scavenge off of the remains of the manticore's various victims. The bat swarms know well enough not to attack the manticore.

Resource: An old mountaineer keeps deadly, trained birds. He lives not far from the manticore, but doesn't want to provoke the manticore because he lives there with his granddaughters.

Reward: The manticore has a magical spear from an old adventurer it slew before it moved to this region. The spear is embedded in the brambles in the manticore's lair, but could be removed by a DC 20 strength check.

 

[Ry]

To keep working on depth, add a problem, threat, resource, and reward to each of the above.

Edit: you don't need to work exhaustively; as you get ideas for PTRRs related to the existing ones, just put in those ideas. Working exhaustively is just one method for when you are at a loss for what to do.

Let's add to the first Problem: The land around the manticore's lair is prone to rockslides.

Problem: Rockslides may block the PCs' path to the manticore's lair, placing them in a vulnerable position if they are detected.

Threat: Goblins in the area love pushing rocks down at their victims, shooting arrows at them from high above.

Resource: During a rockslide, the bats lairing with the manticore will be disoriented (DC 20 Knowledge (nature) check). If the PCs can keep the sound going they might only have to deal with the manticore.

Reward: After the PCs avoid the worst of a rockslide, they see a path has opened up above; taking this path gives them a good vantage to look at the Manticore's lair, and also reveals a cave with hard rock back where it would be safe to camp for the night.

 

[Ry]

Now let's attack the second element:

Threat: The mine is filled with bat swarms that scavenge off of the remains of the manticore's various victims. The bat swarms know well enough not to attack the manticore.

Problem: The knee-deep bat guano at the bottom of the cave creates a noxious fume. DC 17 fortitude or become sickened.
Threat: There are scorpions crawling around in the guano. Stepping in the guano provokes them (Reflex 16 or get stung once per round), and they have a nasty (Str 1d6 / no secondary) poison (Fort 15 negates).

Resource: Towards the back of the cave, some of the manticore's bramble materials have slid down into the cave. These materials are flammable. Players will notice their torches flaring brightly in the smell of the bat guano.

Reward: If standing back and using a shovel, the scorpions can easily be collected; their poison is also long-lasting and can fetch a good price with an alchemist.

 

[Ry]

The third:

Resource: An old mountaineer keeps deadly, trained birds. He lives not far from the manticore, but doesn't want to provoke the manticore because he lives there with his granddaughters.



Problem: The mountaineer moved away from a large city because of his bad debts long ago, and if the PCs approach he is suspicious and could even sick his birds on them.

Threat: The mountaineer's wife passed away some time ago, and has unfortunately risen as a ghoul. She's not very aware of her surroundings, and goes about chattering and singing to herself until something warm comes close. There are a few ways to use her: she could be sitting by the well in front of the mountaineer's house, hiding behind the shack, and so on. The mountaineer will thank the PCs if they deal with her.

Resource: The manticore has had a nasty run-in with a few of the old man's trained crows, and is waiting for an opportunity to swoop down and attack. He's "contracted" a goblin to spy on the mountaineer's cabin to pick a good time to attack. If the PCs catch the goblin he knows a secret way into the manticore's lair, but bargains for more than his freedom (he wants the spear he saw in the manticore's lair).

Reward: If the PCs take care of the manticore, the mountaineer, Jepp, happily gives them one of his finest attack hawks.

 

[Ry]

The fourth:

Reward: The manticore has a magical spear from an old adventurer it slew before it moved to this region. The spear is embedded in the brambles in the manticore's lair, but could be removed by a DC 20 strength check.


Problem: The spear has a minor curse; when gripped with two hands, it moans in pain; anyone within 30 feet can hear it clearly, but beyond that it sounds like the wind.

Threat: The adventurer's family is searching for the spear - his older brother, Gappus, is a much more talented barbarian and will immediately assume the PCs stole it. If defeated, Gappus may listen to reason, but only if the PCs are very persuasive.

Resource: After scrapping with goblins, players find a crude goblin map to the manticore's lair; it mentions the spear is in there. Any goblin captive can tell the players that the spear makes the holder the goblin chief.

Reward: Gappus' brother, Chak, was the owner of the spear. Before approaching the manticore's lair he stowed his sack of travelling goods under a heavy rock. PCs who search the area can see that the rock was pushed from the spot it used to be positioned. Of course, the rock can't be moved without a lot of noise (and if rolled down the hill, it can cause another rockslide.)

 

[pallen]

I was about to type a question: isn't it ok for the DM to introduce non-interactive elements to establish context?

But then I thought about it, and I see that it'd be just as easy to establish a context with interactive elements. And those elements should/would be more interesting to the players. As a player, I'm constantly frustrated by elements that turn out to be nothing but scenery...

Nice thread, Ryan. This stuff is pretty obvious when you think about it, but I guess I'd never given it much thought until now. As a DM, I enjoy the whole world creation aspect, and it's sometimes easy to forget that the world exists to entertain the players, not just me.

 

[Ry]

But then I thought about it, and I see that it'd be just as easy to establish a context with interactive elements. And those elements should/would be more interesting to the players. As a player, I'm constantly frustrated by elements that turn out to be nothing but scenery...

Exactly!

Imaro gave me two situations to work with that I think show it best:

Ravenloft: A fog-shrouded caravan of gypsies who appear out of nowhere and upon seeing the PC's shout dire warnings and whisper prophecy of death and madness to come. They flee, with horror in their eyes, if the PC's approach, fading away into the fog.(Sets a mood of doom and mystery.)

Dark Sun: In the middle of the dessert, the PC's come upon a group of men who are all dead, save one. The lone survivor is clutchig a waterbag, which has a cut along it's bottom and is now empty. When the PC's approach him he will croak at them about his water and how he deserved it, because he was strong enough to take it, before finally expiring from his wounds.(Sets a mood of desperation and savagery)

I don't think those are bad encounters, but both encounters would be better game material if they gave the PCs something to do - presented them with a choice or dilemma.

For example, imagine using the first encounter when the PCs were wounded, and the gypsies could help. But the gypsies are afraid of the PCs. Their terror and horror would be a complicating factor in using the resource - so the players could really engage the horror and terror. The PCs might fail to overcome the gypsies fear - or they might manage to get some brief respite while the gypsies are trying to get the PCs to move on. The GM has more opportunity to play it up than if the encounter - by design - gives nothing for the PCs to do but watch.

For the second encounter, watching a thirsty man who killed his comrades die is one thing - PCs picking helpful items off their corpses emphasizes the desperation of the setting even more. "Nice knife. Where'd you get it?" "Off a dead man who killed his friends for water."

 

[Ry]

Also, none of this is supposed to diminish the emotional content of the game. Players get attached to their favorite NPCs, get worried by problems, and so forth. But those things don't happen when they are inert; players care about their favorite NPCs because they have interacted with them (saved them from threats, helped them with problems, used their resources, earned rewards from them, and so on).

But the emotions are the result of play, not the DM's front end design.

 

[Ry]

The Aagen family

Here's another example. The PCs in this campaing have a patron; the Aagen family of nobles. Here's them worked up with PTRR.

The Aagen Family, basic resource
The Aagen family can be a major resource for the players, providing a place to stay, twenty guards, political weight, and the talents of their many former retainers (i.e., more player characters). The members of the Aagen family are: Murius IV (Ari3), his wife Valoria (Ari6), and their children Murius V (War1), Tarsan (Ari1), Murian (Ari1), Lumia (Exp1), and Viria (Com1).

Problem
The Aagen family has been deposed by royal decree; their lands have been ceded to the kingdom of Koaria in a peace treaty that some call appeasement. They must gather their belongings and secure as much of their wealth as possible within two months, then make a long journey with what loyal retainers they have kept and leave the kingdom of Muir, which has betrayed them.

Threat
Four assassins have been hired by a courier of the Hallre family, who have taken over the Aagen valley for Koaria. The Hallre are paranoid and malicious, and fear some lingering claim by the surviving Aagen family. The assassins are cheap, but their poisons are not.

Resource
Eshan, an elven retainer to house Aagen, has been a member of the House for over six generations. He travels far delivering key messages and other important duties for the house, and he has a wealth of historical information at his disposal. In addition, he is a more than capable warrior (Barbarian 6th+20 feats), but does not go out of his way to show off.

Reward
The highest honour the Aagen family can bestow upon its retainers is possession of one of the four Auld Aagenswords, keen +1 longswords which were granted in ancient times to the house by the King. Only three of the swords remain in the family's possession, and of those two are in use: One by Eshan, an elven retainer of the house, and one by Lord Murius Aagen himself. The last one has been missing for over fifty years.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

To keep working on depth, add a problem, threat, resource, and reward to each of the above.

Oh, that's cute. Very stylish. I suddenly like your system a lot more than I did when I started reading.