Encounters and more

[Bokvakk]

I'm new to role playing in general, but I had to take the role as LM fast. I have control over most of the rules, but the rules surrounding encounters I find a little difficult. I don't really know how I should set up the tolerance. My players always end up with like 0 or 1, fail at their first try. The encounters are also a little boring. So I wonder, what am I doing wrong? How can I make the encounter more fun to play?
I have some other questions too:
-What can I do to make the world more living?
-How is it best to play the LM-characters?
-How can I lead my players the right way, but still let them chose themselves? Often they just get stuck, or try to think what the adventure would be like and do that instead of thinking what they want to do. They are as new as I am.
That was everything, but you can expect to see me a little more here in the forums now.
//Bokvakk

[Stormcrow]

I don't really know how I should set up the tolerance. My players always end up with like 0 or 1, fail at their first try.

If your calculation of Tolerance brings it below 1, set it to 1.

The encounters are also a little boring. So I wonder, what am I doing wrong? How can I make the encounter more fun to play?

What seems boring about them?

Try not to treat encounters as simple, mechanical applications of the rules. Converse with the players as much as you like; only require a roll when the players want to change the attitude of the Loremaster character. Only use the encounter rules if the players have a complex objective with the Loremaster character—if they can get what they want in a single roll, don't use an encounter. Invent interesting characters.

-What can I do to make the world more living?

That's a broad question. I'd start by making sure the world that the players see doesn't revolve around them. Loremaster characters have their own agendas and aspirations, and things happen and change when the player-heroes aren't around.

-How is it best to play the LM-characters?

Another broad question. Try to give them unique personalities without going over the top with every character. Don't try to do voices and accents unless you're really good at them—nothing breaks my belief in a character faster than a game referee who is awkwardly trying to voice a character. If you can't do a voice or accent, don't. Just use your normal voice and describe what the players hear; let them use their imaginations.

-How can I lead my players the right way, but still let them chose themselves?

This would be a combination of what is known as "railroading" plus "illusion of choice." It's not a good combination for a game.

Let your players go and do what they want. If they don't do what you expect—which is what ALL players do, always—improvise the adventure. One way to do this is to leave some details of the adventure vague. If you planned a scene in a specific location and the players don't want to go there, you're stuck. But if you planned that scene without requiring it be in that exact location, you can play it out wherever the player-heroes go.

Never give players illusory choices.

Often they just get stuck, or try to think what the adventure would be like and do that instead of thinking what they want to do. They are as new as I am.

Don't present them adventures with a single avenue of progress. If they're genuinely out of ideas, introduce a character who might be able to help them, but do so using the rules for encounters. Don't give the players a free lunch.

Never try to force the adventure into a particular shape. The real fun of the game is not knowing what's going to happen next.

[zedturtle]

This will necessarily be brief, but I'd say make sure you are using the Revised Rules and using Insight to generate bonus dice. I agree with Stormcrow that a Tolerance of less than 1 is nonsensical. Make sure you're using the highest relevant stat and adjusting for Standing.

More later.

[Tantavalist]

Railroading is a vert bad thing to do, as it inevitably leads to player frustration. They will begin to feel like powerless observers with no ability to affect what happens, who just get to occasionally roll dice in between the GM telling them a story. An experienced GM can learn to nudge the party in a direction he wants the plot to go in, but this experience involves firstly knowing that this only works when used as the exception rather than the rule, and secondly accepting that sometimes the players will ignore the nudges and de-rail the plot anyway. Since Bokvakk lacks any experience- avoid any plots that require things to happen in a certain way.

Now- in some ways TOR is more forgiving on this front. Many adventures will consist of long journeys with set events along them. If the party are following a specific route (the elf-path through Mirkwood or one of the passes across the Misty Mountains) then they have no choice but to encounter these events one after the other in the scripted order. They do however have complete freedom in how they should solve the encounters when they do occur. And remember that unlike you, the players haven't read the adventure and don't know what's coming next. If they miss a truly critical location-based event, then just move it to another area they'll pass through. If a vital NPC dies, then have his brother show up looking for revenge and have him take the original NPC's place. But only do this with things that really are impossible to work around- do it with everything and you're back to railroading the PCs, and they will notice eventually.

Above all, always be prepared to improvise. The most important skill a GM with any system can develop is quickly improvising an encounter- combat or social. Until you get really used to doing this on the fly, it would be advisable to sit down before each session and imagine a handful or events and encounters of various types and write them down for reference when you need them.

[Glorelendil]

1) In many of the Encounters, Tolerance is set to the highest Valour or Wisdom in the party (depending on the situation.) That is likely 2, unless all of your players chose the same score to increase at character creation. Or is the Tolerance score going down because of things like "If there's a Dwarf in the party, subtract 1."? That could make it tricky. But if your players all chose characters with low social skills, there's nothing wrong with giving them an extra Tolerance point.

2) As Zed said, play out the conversation. When a player says, "I'll roll Persuade" ask him/her: "What are you trying to persuade him of?" For new RPGers, actually acting out the the conversation can be hard, but 1st/3rd person narrative is fine. In other words, you don't have to say, "Oh Great and Noble Beorn, I humbly beseecheth you..." You can just say, "I'll try to use Courtesy, bowing low and offering my service, and offering a blessing on his bee hives."

3) This is my personal advice, and others have a different approach, but rather than modify TNs or give bonuses/penalties based on what you think is good/bad roleplaying, or what is or is not courteous or persuasive, just roll the dice and then narrate the result appropriately. It can be fun to narrate your own failures. Maybe a player rolls an Eye on Courtesy, so he says, "In praising Beorn I mention that his animals will produce particularly fine pelts, and the Elven King himself would be pleased to have a hat of such beauty."

3a) This isn't RAW, but some of us play that if you can invoke a trait on a skill failure you can still earn a first Advancement Point. So in the above case maybe the player has Beast-lore as a trait, which is why he is a qualified judge of pelt quality.

4) Don't forget that players can spend Hope to invoke an attribute and add it to the roll after a failure. Players may want to strategize about who goes first, using which skill. For example, if Tolerance is only 1 you don't want to fail the very first roll, so have a character with good Awe score and high Body (even better if Awe is favoured) make the first introduction. In the worst case he can spend a point of Hope and at least get one success.

5) On railroading vs. free choice, it's a tricky balance and will likely come with experience. Sometimes it is more about perception: yes, they are walking the narrow path you have defined for them, but it feels like they are choosing it every step of the way. One piece of advice: when the party does something unexpected that you fear will break the plot, go with it, don't try to talk them out of it or tell them it's impossible. It's ok to say, "That was fun...let's take a snack break while I figure out how that changes the story." If they know that when they do something unexpected it's allowed, they won't feel as railroaded when they go along with the plot, which will be most of the time.

(That said, it's possible to end up with players that, for whatever reason, get their jollies from trying to derail the plot. If you've got one or more of those then you need to have a private talk with them about why they're playing the game.)

[zedturtle]

Still rushed, but I forgot to mention my big one when it comes to Encounters:

Use Traits to auto-succeed. That way Tolerance is not diminished, and the characters get to act out a quirk of their character.

[Glorelendil]

Still rushed, but I forgot to mention my big one when it comes to Encounters:

Use Traits to auto-succeed. That way Tolerance is not diminished, and the characters get to act out a quirk of their character.

Oh, yeah. Considering I just did exactly that in one of Zedturtle's campaigns, I'm chagrined that I didn't think to mention it.

[Bokvakk]

Thank you everyone! This was very helpful. I knew about the railroading, and try as hard as I can to keep away from it, that will be much easier now. Thank you very much!

[Falenthal]

Thank you everyone! This was very helpful. I knew about the railroading, and try as hard as I can to keep away from it, that will be much easier now. Thank you very much!

About railroading and first time LM... I think it's not so bad if everybody is a newbie to RPGs. Of course, being able to have different plots ready, knowing the world in depth, etc is much more fun for the players. But it can be a nightmare for the LM, you might end up just inventing always the same adventure.

I think that sometimes it is right to tell the players that they'll be playing a structured adventure (one from Tales of Wilderland is perfect), so that you as LM may learn the game mechanics and also to be sure you have a nice and thought story to offer them. Then you'll learn to improvise even in the middle of a railroaded story, because players always come up with innovative ideas of their own. But, as LM, you'll have a clear idea of what are the motivations of the NPCs, of what kind of Hazards they can encounter in the region you're playing, etc.

Railroading, when being new to RPGs, allows LMs to focus on the mechanics (which are difficult enough to master) and ensures that players live a story that makes sense and has some interest.
Otherwise, your sessions might end up always with the players entering a dungeon full of orcs and goblins to rescue the major's daughter.

[Woodclaw]

Thank you everyone! This was very helpful. I knew about the railroading, and try as hard as I can to keep away from it, that will be much easier now. Thank you very much!

About railroading and first time LM... I think it's not so bad if everybody is a newbie to RPGs. Of course, being able to have different plots ready, knowing the world in depth, etc is much more fun for the players. But it can be a nightmare for the LM, you might end up just inventing always the same adventure.

I think that sometimes it is right to tell the players that they'll be playing a structured adventure (one from Tales of Wilderland is perfect), so that you as LM may learn the game mechanics and also to be sure you have a nice and thought story to offer them. Then you'll learn to improvise even in the middle of a railroaded story, because players always come up with innovative ideas of their own. But, as LM, you'll have a clear idea of what are the motivations of the NPCs, of what kind of Hazards they can encounter in the region you're playing, etc.

Railroading, when being new to RPGs, allows LMs to focus on the mechanics (which are difficult enough to master) and ensures that players live a story that makes sense and has some interest.
Otherwise, your sessions might end up always with the players entering a dungeon full of orcs and goblins to rescue the major's daughter.

I'm with Falenthal on this one, when you start LMing it's hard not to do railroad and I think it's understandable. For new LMs railroading is the equivalent of training wheels on a bike, it helps but it's also something that you have to outgrow, the sooner the better.