Sunday, March 31, 2013

Entice People To Continue

What quality makes a story a "page-turner"? In general, it's that you keep having questions and you want to see them answered. In addition, when questions get answered, new ones arise.

And what quality makes a story incredibly stupid and annoying? Well, a lot of things. But in this case, it's raising questions that never get answered.

Role playing games happen in sessions. In a sense, they are the chapters of the story. If you are running the game, you need to be mindful of these natural breaks. Find a way to give a little bit more of your story, but don't give it all away. Keep some mystery as to what exactly is going on.

To some degree, you want to end your sessions on a cliffhanger. It shouldn't be cheesy, because if you don't have some kind of resolution, it will feel like an unsatisfying session. And if you consistently keep your players in the dark, then they will feel like they're spinning their wheels and going nowhere.

This is as much a writing issue as it is a role playing issue because, in reality, it is a storytelling issue.

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