I got the best compliment yesterday.
About a year and a half ago I started running a D&D campaign. Yes, Dungeons & Dragons, ye old staple of nerd-burgers and geekazoids (sorry, “Saved By The Bell” flashback). I’ve played for years, and had always wanted to run a game myself. It took time, guts, and planning, but I finally bit the bullet and assembled a game.
Yesterday was the latest game, where the players finally completed navigating their way through a huge compound that took three sessions and the entire floor space of the living room.
There, the players finally learned at least part of the answer to a question from the beginning of the game 18 months earlier. They had found a journal detailing many things, including who had kidnapped them and why.
I try to put my players in to their characters headspace as much as possible, by keeping information from them, creating misleading signs, and scene setting as much as possible. It seems to be working. I was chatting with one of my players, himself a DM as well, about different DMing styles.
“Your game is like ‘Lost.’” he says.
I took it in and continued on with the conversation, but it stuck there, wedged in my brain, for a day. Percolating. I was in the shower this evening when the full meaning of that really struck me.
I love “Lost.” It’s brilliant, it’s captivating, and they’re very good at parceling out just enough information to keep you interested and still questioning. It’s the kind of thing I’ve been trying to do without realizing I’ve been trying to do it. And apparently succeeding at.
I’m doing a good job, it seems, at creating mystery within my game, at teasing enough secrets to keep them coming back for more. It’s a great trust players put in their DM to take them on an enjoyable ride. And if my game is like “Lost,” I think I’ve earned that trust.
And that’s the best compliment I could get.
About a year and a half ago I started running a D&D campaign. Yes, Dungeons & Dragons, ye old staple of nerd-burgers and geekazoids (sorry, “Saved By The Bell” flashback). I’ve played for years, and had always wanted to run a game myself. It took time, guts, and planning, but I finally bit the bullet and assembled a game.
Yesterday was the latest game, where the players finally completed navigating their way through a huge compound that took three sessions and the entire floor space of the living room.
There, the players finally learned at least part of the answer to a question from the beginning of the game 18 months earlier. They had found a journal detailing many things, including who had kidnapped them and why.I try to put my players in to their characters headspace as much as possible, by keeping information from them, creating misleading signs, and scene setting as much as possible. It seems to be working. I was chatting with one of my players, himself a DM as well, about different DMing styles.
“Your game is like ‘Lost.’” he says.
I took it in and continued on with the conversation, but it stuck there, wedged in my brain, for a day. Percolating. I was in the shower this evening when the full meaning of that really struck me.
I love “Lost.” It’s brilliant, it’s captivating, and they’re very good at parceling out just enough information to keep you interested and still questioning. It’s the kind of thing I’ve been trying to do without realizing I’ve been trying to do it. And apparently succeeding at.
I’m doing a good job, it seems, at creating mystery within my game, at teasing enough secrets to keep them coming back for more. It’s a great trust players put in their DM to take them on an enjoyable ride. And if my game is like “Lost,” I think I’ve earned that trust.
And that’s the best compliment I could get.
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