Guiding a new group in narrative gaming

[stickybluetoffee]

So I've always been more of a narrative gamer, and often create large sprawling stories

I recently completing a 40k narrative campaign in a reasonable sized crowd 15-20 players. It was great fun, but one thing I think the group "struggled" with was making all the games interesting. Most enjoyed it immensely while others had issues with some scenarios being a bit one-sided.

We had 4 Alliances and over 3 rounds each Alliance had a scenario to fight each of the other Alliances. We put limits on how games should be played and tried to create very varied scenarios.

However many of those who played were what I would call "competitive" players and therefore struggled a bit to play in a more narrative style.

So let's say you were going to do something similar in AoS - how would you guide the more "competitive" types (who do genuinely want to join in) in how to approach a narrative game? What advice would you give them?

[Ollie Grimwood]

I think start them off easy, go with naming their Generals and giving them a little backstory. Then suggest they paint a unit they just like the look or sound of (ignoring rules) that they don't already have for their army and bane the unit and create a little history for them. It doesn't have to be too much just a paragraph or two, a little something to make them seem a little more alive than just being game pieces

 

Have a look at Hobbyhammer's Rise of Empires: Realm Hoppers and Boarder wars threads as some examples of how build the narrative up by increments.

 

 

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[stickybluetoffee]

How would you encourage them to get out of the mindset of just playing to win and more into talking to their opponent before, during and after the game about the story?

[Nin Win]

What about victory conditions that include the total wiping out of your own side?  Like a last stand scenario where in order to win everything on your side has to die while you still accomplish some other goal.  So the players who enjoy playing to win can still get what they like out of the game but with the normal pitched battle mindset being challenged.

[Ollie Grimwood]

How would you encourage them to get out of the mindset of just playing to win and more into talking to their opponent before, during and after the game about the story?

I think it would take some effort from you to organise in the first place but I'd go with rewarding Narrative play elements. Such as giving campaign bonuses for achieving narrative objectives, extra wargear or troop choice for producing background for a unit or perhaps taking the underdog role in an asymmetric battleplan.

I wouldn't say there's anything wrong about trying to win narrative games, I certainly do, but it's about telling a story in the process. If you've got lots of competitive types try and channel that into telling the best narrative as "winning"

Having changing victory conditions depending on how a game is going can also achieve this. For example if it looks like one player is going to get tabled early let them recycle destroyed units and have it so that other player needs to survive a number of turns against an endless horde without getting wiped out.

Of course this means you may need to spend a few sessions as games master just to get everyone in the swing of things.


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[Guest]

Telling any kind of story requires some degree of imagination. Perhaps the best way to unlock this with those who are unfamiliar with using their imaginations in this context would be this; encourage them to play as their army, not as themselves. Try to get them to think like an Orruk Megaboss or a front-line Retributor. What would they do in this situation?

Don't make decisions as Guy Mann, competitive master-strategist with a birds-eye view of the battlefield and full knowledge of the fact that this is an abstract game with rules and structure. Make decisions as Baron Rumplethorpe Von Tweedwhipple, a disgraced Freeguild general for whom the actions taken in this game round will decide whether they live and return to their city in glory or die and end their days as a mangled corpse in a blood-soaked field. You're not actually asking them to roleplay as such, just make their game decisions based on a set of criteria that will initially seem alien to them, but will become more natural over time.

If they can learn to think like that throughout an entire game then half the story writes itself. I guess the next step is to get them to articulate these in-character thought processes out loud in a way that won't feel too uncomfortable for them.