where my friends and I share with you
our thoughts and suggestions on how to
gain master your role-playing game
I’m your host Satine Phoenix co-creator
of Mazur Khanna and a guild addict for
D&D from breaking roles as a GM to
manipulating expectations
today’s theme is playing dirty the game
master is a mysterious storyteller who
weaves tales for players to find their
way through the mind magician who wields
possibilities she’s the one who dictates
how the rules are used he’s the one that
sets the pace and mood they’re the one
that bends reality to help or hinder the
group it’s easy to follow rules from a
book but rules are merely guides to the
game you have to respect game mechanics
but once understood you can bend them to
your will let’s list some ways you can
twist your game for a more personalized
experience tip number one environment
manipulation sound silence mood music
sound effects ambiance soundtracks
lighting dim or bright changing as the
adventure changes smell incense candles
or foodstuffs whether a breeze from a
fan heat or chill in the air all of
these can be manipulated during the game
try setting up the area before your
players arrive for a more immersive
experience establishing the mood before
they even start playing tip number two
adding mechanics from other systems the
fun thing about homebrews is that you
can not only take away rules but you can
add in rules from other games what I
really like is from 10 candles allowing
the players to help develop the world
around them creating facts within the
scene that could possibly aid them or
the NPC’s this I do selectively in a
specific moment rather than all of the
time tip number 3 allowing some
rule-breaking based on excellent
roleplay I get super excited when a
player can roleplay the dice away when
players have great ideas at normal rules
contradict I’ll sometimes allow it
because it encourages a group to be more
creative and even work together tip
number 4 sensory emotions
evoke certain emotions not by telling
your players what they feel but by
placing things in the environment
trigger words like birthday cake to
evoke childhood memories mothballs or
doilies might trigger the memory of
one’s grandparents which might lead to a
certain odor memory or sound you can
draw out the feelings or move the
players quickly choose specific words or
textures to guide your players in and
out of their own memories while
traveling through your story you can
describe these in-game or purposefully
place items around the gaming room to
subliminally evoke certain emotions both
the real world and mine world are
available to play with tip number 5 and
PC is bending the world allow the
players to affect the NPCs negotiate
change their minds and reasons for
things allow the players to affect the
lives of the NPC is the way a
conversation might change how a player
sees the world and in the same vein
trust that your players can handle being
backstabbed by an NPC they trust I could
roll on but instead let’s discuss this
with any Award winner the author of play
dirty and the creator of 7c John wick
thank you so much for being here
it’s very welcome thank you for inviting
me and congratulations on all of your
any’s this year that’s pretty
mind-blowing it was really weird I I did
not expect us to win anything and then
boom boom boom boom boom and it was only
our after the awards ceremony I was like
did we win
so let’s talk about played dirty what’s
the philosophy behind play dirty the
philosophy behind play dirty is that
well I did two books of G M advice and
the philosophy is that if role-playing
games are the only literary medium where
the author and the audience are the same
person right I will do anything in my
power to make that to make that happen
you can watch a movie and you’re
watching Tony Stark on the screen you’re
not Tony Stark you can read a book and
you’re not Jon Snow right but in
role-playing game there’s a moment where
your characters in trouble and you think
I’m in trouble right and that’s the it’s
the only literary medium that does that
so if if every if if a game if there is
a GM if I don’t try to just
exploit that I’m feeling yeah otherwise
you’re just playing a board game we may
as well be playing dissent or talisman
or anything else so I want you to not
think my characters in trouble I want
you to think I’m in trouble and it’s and
and I will do anything in my power to
make that happen
anything you say anything well I’ve done
there’s a lot of examples in the book
and and a lot of it has to do with
exploiting the environment using music
using dropping the temperature in the
room when I run horror games I call it
Cthulhu and but for example I did a game
called 30 which is where you play the
last 30 Knights Templar and you go on
this big magic journey right and at one
point you’re the Knights Templar and
you’re in the modern day you’re not
exactly sure where you are and I’m
explaining to you that you walk up to a
door and the door looks and as I
explained it looks a lot like your door
to your house or your apartment or
whatever and you knock on the door and
as soon as I say that we’re sitting at
the table there’s a knock at the door
and the players all look up and I like
what’s going on and they and one of the
players goes to the front door and they
open it and there’s a knight Templar at
the door planning yes I had my cell
phone on and my friend had his cell
phone on and he does historical
recreation so he put together his knight
Templar outfit and as soon as the
players in the game their characters the
Knights Templar are walking up to the
store that looks like their door and
then there’s a knock and then they open
the door and there’s a Templar at the
door and that’s the moment where they go
what is going on what what’s happening
in the game is happening here and that’s
an example of one of the things that
I’ve done to make the players have that
really brief moment where the line
between who they are and who the
character is is just gone so that’s a
bit of planning and it’s kind of like a
more severe how far do you go well it
has a lot to do with consent right I
have at my table I have a source
contract which is that if if you’re
gonna sit at my table and I’m gonna want
to want more on my play dirty games you
have to be prepared for anything to
happen you have to be prepared to lose
control your character you have to be
prepared that maybe we’re gonna get up
and move you have to be prepared for
maybe I have planted things in the house
or the apartment or people all of those
things so it’s you have to be prepared
for anything to happen your character
and you have to be ok with it but then
of course there’s always the time or
somebody goes okay time out right and
that’s the that’s my little symbol of
okay time out I need to stop right
because that that moment of breaking
that wall can be really extreme can be
emotionally extreme and so whenever
anybody says timeout right that’s it
everything stops the lights come up you
know and and we all talk and we all calm
down everything like that but that’s the
kind of gaming that I’m interested in
I’m not interested in playing a board
game with role-playing you know I can
roleplay as my character I can play
world Warcraft and roleplay but that’s
not a role-playing game a role-playing
game is specifically designed for you to
tell a cooperative story with your
friends where you are the hero and you
are crossing over into that hero realm
like Greg Sanford says and having the
adventure you and you come back
transformed from the adventure right the
whole hero journey thing and that’s what
I’m interested in role-playing games so
let’s talk a little bit about sensory
emotions yeah
and how you design your game with these
people knocking at the door or changing
the environment a little bit how did you
how did you realize that that was a very
valuable asset to have at the table it
came a lot from theater right when I was
younger I took which I think every GM
should do should go to Community College
drop the money and take an improv class
right every every GM should do that it
teaches you how to how to react instead
of act it teaches you how to how to
engage people and all that kind of stuff
and that’s part of it right for me being
a GM is far less about I’m going to tell
you my story and much more about I’m
going to help you tell your story so
environment wise I think about
where are they I know that like when I
run a Call of Cthulhu game every
Halloween it’s the first role-playing
game I ever got was called a Cthulhu so
when I run Call of Cthulhu I turn off
every light in the house I unplug all
the power for everything there is no
oven light there is no clock light
there’s nothing there’s no light and and
then I drop the temperature in the house
I turn the air-conditioning way up I
start playing
Polish horror music right in the rooms I
will go and get friends of mine because
I’m like I only have five people in my
Cthulhu game and that’s it right and you
know them that’s I know that yeah and
that’s you know how how each of them
responds so you’re really navigating all
of them very specifically right and they
have limits right like a friend of mine
has a certain phobia that I will not
cross right that’s that’s a no cross
right but everything else he’s like
everything else is fair game
you can do whatever you want to me but
this thing please do not do this thing
so I respect that right and then and so
I know what they’re all about so I
design a story that is really tailored
to them what they want out of the game I
pay attention to character sheets and
then I don’t have plans I have
contingencies I set up I don’t really
have long-term goals
because no plan no GM plan survives
first contact with the players so why
make a plan right instead you go okay
I’m gonna throw this at them and this at
them and this at them and this at them
they pick this up okay let’s go here
right but otherwise the the other things
that I do is I use vocal imitation I use
I use vocal changes for different
characters different NPC’s all wear
different hats for NPCs I collect hats
so I have different hats for all the
NPC’s I will this is what I usually wear
as a GM well wear a suit a black suit
because it’s old called a Cthulhu
gimmick the man in black and but I will
change out into a different jacket or
I’ll do the things so the players really
feel like they’re talking to that
character I will adopt physical
mannerisms for that NPC and because of
that the player
start doing the same thing right they
start going oh my character should speak
with a lisp or I should speak I should
speak with it right
or and they start looking for things to
to give their characters affectations to
make the whole thing more some I want to
say subversive which is what it is
you’re actually subverting their
expectations and subverting their their
their preconceptions so that you can hit
them in ways that that you know like I
say and playing dirty that their
character she cannot protect them well
by watching other people get involved in
that manner they they get permission to
do that yeah and then they get
permission to allow you to pull them
deeper yes so it’s just kind of like the
stages of interest the stages of
involvement for them because everybody I
feel sits at this certain level around
the table like we’re gonna have fun
we’re doing this thing but I know you
and you’ll take me a little bit deeper
and I trust all of these people and
we’ll go a little bit deeper and deeper
like we did with dread which was insane
we just we all got so deep that you
weren’t us anymore we were only the
characters and we responded honestly
that way so that’s what it sounds like
from what you’re saying is by adding all
these elements in you guys all had that
contract where we’re going yeah I’m
gonna go really deep yeah we’re gonna
and and it’s gonna be fun and and and it
has all of the rules of of you know of
consensual play it’s like okay stop
I need to stop right now and everybody’s
like yes with respect to stop right or
somebody like in r7c LARP one of the
things we do is we have the thumbs up
and the thumbs in the middle of the
thumbs down so I was playing a villain
in the in the 7c LARP just at Gen Con
and I was really evil I was really
really evil and one of the things we
have is like when I engaged with with a
with a woman in the in the game I was
very evil I was very upfront I was very
in her face and I was very physically
touch her because that’s LARP right but
I was very intimidating and I would get
up into her face and then I would do
this I just do a little the check-in
yeah the chicken are you okay should I
tone it down
should I stop oh that’s beautiful right
and that really comes from Danielle who
do it and like it’s it’s something that
we kind I kind of do an alarm anyway in
a verbal way I’m like are you okay are
you okay but in this way if I do this I
don’t have to stop being my character
I’m going to ask you three questions
okay what is your pregame house rule
look like we will talked about a little
bit I have a when I run a play dirty
game because I’ll run a regular games
but when I put in a play dirty game
there is a consent moment right and the
understanding is is that I will do
anything in this game I will break rules
I will
because rules are really about your
character sheet is something that you’re
using to communicate to me what you want
right so I will read character sheets
and will go through and also I will ask
the players telling me three things
about your character that aren’t on your
character sheet what do you care about
what would you die for what would you
not die for what would you kill for
those kinds of questions what is the
most important thing to your character
that’s not on your character sheet and
once I have those as a GM I’ve got you
what is your favorite GM moment that the
Templar moment was one of them but I
recently ran I was I was the villain in
the LARP and and I I was playing a
villain and I was with a player and I
did the I said can I he was playing a
priest I’ve had a scene priest from 7c
and I said can you guy grab you by the
collar and he said yes so I grabbed him
by the collar and I said grab hold of my
wrist so that you can you know and I
dragged him across the room and I gave
him a choice and I said you can either
kill I’m going to kill someone in this
room and because you lied to me I’m
neither gonna kill this man I’m gonna
kill that woman
which one is it oh right and things
happened and it’s a long story but at
the end of the game he told me he said
I’ve been a fan of yours you know for a
long time I’ve read the play dirty books
and I’m always looking for that moment
that John wick a moment where for my
players and he’s like and when you grab
me by the collar and started dragging me
I had two thoughts and the first one is
my character is going to die
and the second thought was oh my god I’m
having my chammak woman and John wick is
doing it to me and that was that was a
really great he later he’s like you made
my GenCon thank you and I was like yay
because that’s my job my job as a GM is
so that you have that moment and that’s
my satisfaction mm-hmm third question is
a quick tip to the audience that can be
anything do not so there’s the mr.
Miyagi rule mr. Miyagi rule is teachers
say student student do and I apply that
to games games say player do right so
games tell you not just what the rules
are about how to play them right don’t
look at the rules so much look at what
the game is telling you how you should
play all right because people play call
of cthulhu differently than they play
D&D they play legend of five rings or
seven see differently than they play
apocalypse world or anything like that
look at how the game is telling you how
you should play is that really what you
want to do right is that what you want
to do is this again because that’s
what’s going to happen the players are
gonna read the rules okay rules whatever
but they’re gonna read the parts that
that are between the lines that say this
is how you play the game is that the
kind of game you want to play and if
it’s not you should find a different
kind of game that’s our show for today
thank you so much for joining us here oh
where can we find you on the Internet
I met John Luke presents calm there’s
also a John wick presents Twitter and
John wick presents Facebook and it’s
it’s real easy it’s just John wick
presents and congratulations on all your
successes thank you as always I’m Satine
Phoenix at setting Phoenix you can ask
me gm2 questions at hashtag ask Satine
and find me every Sunday at noon on
maser connoisseur if an echo on
twitch.tv slash maser Khanna and every
Tuesday night dungeon mastering on
twitch TV slash dandy thank you so much
for watching us here on geek & sundry
see you next time wait can you do one
thing for me anything for you
would you please yeah miss out of here
yes I understand you have your favorite
character with you I do well this is
your favorite character this is mirror
that you made with Zach right so when
you were very when you were younger
you had a rivalry with an evil sorceress
and and this rivalry went back and forth
back and forth and you lost track of
each other but you’ve recently
discovered that she’s trying to become a
lich so yeah so you and your friends you
and your fellow adventurers are gonna go
to her lair and stop her from becoming a
witch I’ll it I’m sorry
however as soon as you take a step into
the dungeon something happens you feel
odd your fingers go numb and and your
tongue does it feels thick and and
suddenly you’re a voice in your head and
and your limbs freeze and tighten and
you realize that you’re no longer in
your body and you hear the voice of your
old rival and she says I was mummified
but now you are and I am in your body
your friends don’t know this yet as a
matter of fact I’m going to tell you
this before the game starts so the other
players don’t know and I have two goals
mirror the first goal is to escape this
place as you and the second goal is to
hurt your friends as much as I
now here’s how this works you Satine are
going to be playing the evil sorceress
and you are going to do your best to
make sure that you hurt your friends and
escape at the dungeon and every time
that you roll a die any die I’m gonna
give you a chance to escape to break
this spell you’re gonna make a roll
you’re gonna make a you’re gonna make a
will save or a charisma save you know
whichever version you’re playing and you
have to roll higher than her and you
have to make the save and if you do you
will break one part of the spell you
need to break three in order to get
completely free now every time she rolls
a die I’m going to give you an
opportunity to roll you don’t have to
roll but I’m gonna give you a deep bonus
d for every time that you roll a die
alright so you can save those d fours as
you go so when you make your will save
you can roll all those d floors with it
or you can try to make the roll okay but
every time you do and you fail part of
you is going to die
you get three chances so shall we begin
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