I've started playing around with a narrative technique - and I'm wondering a) If other people do it, and b) if you have any suggestions for doing it better :)
The idea is to put little details into the scene which seem like they are significant, and might touch on a facet of the narrative, or point in a direction, but actually don't - or at least they don't yet.
For example - last session the Party was summoned to meet with the local leader of one of the criminal organizations in the city. When they got to the abandoned warehouse where the meeting was to happen, they were stopped by her guards in one room, they knocked on the door into the next, and she came out wiping blood off her hands.Why? What was going on in the other room? Beats me. It was just a little random pseudo-significant detail meant to convey that a) she's brutal, and b) literally not afraid to get her hands dirty.
In another situation, one of the Players went to meet with a city official, and was left to cool in their office. On the sideboard was an open wooden, velvet lined case, which contained a broken, cheaply made, glazed pottery casting of a horse - broken & of insignificant value, but clearly kept very carefully. When the official came in, they were clearly angry that the Player-Character was looking at it, snapped the case shut, and got on with the interview. No explanations.
I guess I'm trying to play with the idea of introducing elements which aren't explained, but hint at details and events outside the main narrative, which have effects showing up as details which are - probably - insignificant to the actual story unfolding.
If the Players decide to chase down any of these details - push into the next room to see why the criminal leader had bloody hands - or made an effort to find out what the cheap broken pottery horse mean, I'll have to make up more details on the spot :)
Just wondering if you pepper your narrative with elements like that.
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Yes I've done things like this. I usually include details like these in dungeons. Examples I've used include random noises coming from certain directions, potted plants, decorations. Sometimes I will have a table of random mundane items that I roll on to tell them what they see around them. Anything I mention the players will usually investigate because they believe it's significant. But it has no real significance to the story.
But, then again, sometimes players have taken these mundane things and made them significant in ways surprising to me. In a wilderness setting my players encountered a fallen statue of a king that had no story significance. They wanted to investigate it so I let them discover a family of rabbits who had made their home near the statue. They decided to kill the rabbits and take their carcasses along with them. A bit later they found a thieves' hideout that was being guarded by chained up wolves. They used the rabbit carcasses as a way to pacify the wolves and sneak in undetected!
I think details like these make the world feel more real. The world doesn't revolve around us. Very few things we encounter in life have direct significance to our goals.
Absolutely! If there are subtle nuances that I wish to point out to my PCs that help creatively paint a character, such as you described regarding the wiping of blood off an NPCs hands, sure. As long as you are able to answer questions that may be "charmed" out of you as a DM :) I'm finding its those little details that can make or break a story arc. Of course, the PCs need to recognize the details and determine if they should ask questions around them, too. Can't just "give" them the answers.
The have been a few occasions where I've read about authors doing this with multi book stories. A random detail pops in book 2 that becomes a major thread book 4. Not that they ever say what the details are specifically, just that it happened.
The beauty of some of these details is that they give you the freedom to give it extra life for the party to explore, or to give it a quick, mundane explanation that closes the door on it, possibly only to revisit that explanation later as a cover up (because you wanted more time to flesh out the details).
Plus these details can help find other important perception or investigation checks down the line.
Just wondering if you pepper your narrative with elements like that.
As a simulationist DM: yes. However, if something is particularly detailed or mysterious, most players will take it as a subtle cue that it is important and must be investigated (even if it's off-track). I try to avoid this since my players don't have a lot of free time (due to jobs, family, etc.)
Your first example seems perfect for adding atmosphere without side-tracking the game, but your second example seems like it would side-track the game.
I'm not sure I'd let the detail become side-tracking - although I agree 100% that without proper management it could be - and that it should be avoided.
The real creative challenge might be finding a way to make it relevant :) Or maybe just to let the Player charge off down a different path - which I don't mind at all - and try and spin an interesting story hook around the detail they've fixated on :)
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I've started playing around with a narrative technique - and I'm wondering a) If other people do it, and b) if you have any suggestions for doing it better :)
The idea is to put little details into the scene which seem like they are significant, and might touch on a facet of the narrative, or point in a direction, but actually don't - or at least they don't yet.
For example - last session the Party was summoned to meet with the local leader of one of the criminal organizations in the city. When they got to the abandoned warehouse where the meeting was to happen, they were stopped by her guards in one room, they knocked on the door into the next, and she came out wiping blood off her hands.Why? What was going on in the other room? Beats me. It was just a little random pseudo-significant detail meant to convey that a) she's brutal, and b) literally not afraid to get her hands dirty.
In another situation, one of the Players went to meet with a city official, and was left to cool in their office. On the sideboard was an open wooden, velvet lined case, which contained a broken, cheaply made, glazed pottery casting of a horse - broken & of insignificant value, but clearly kept very carefully. When the official came in, they were clearly angry that the Player-Character was looking at it, snapped the case shut, and got on with the interview. No explanations.
I guess I'm trying to play with the idea of introducing elements which aren't explained, but hint at details and events outside the main narrative, which have effects showing up as details which are - probably - insignificant to the actual story unfolding.
If the Players decide to chase down any of these details - push into the next room to see why the criminal leader had bloody hands - or made an effort to find out what the cheap broken pottery horse mean, I'll have to make up more details on the spot :)
Just wondering if you pepper your narrative with elements like that.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Yes I've done things like this. I usually include details like these in dungeons. Examples I've used include random noises coming from certain directions, potted plants, decorations. Sometimes I will have a table of random mundane items that I roll on to tell them what they see around them. Anything I mention the players will usually investigate because they believe it's significant. But it has no real significance to the story.
But, then again, sometimes players have taken these mundane things and made them significant in ways surprising to me. In a wilderness setting my players encountered a fallen statue of a king that had no story significance. They wanted to investigate it so I let them discover a family of rabbits who had made their home near the statue. They decided to kill the rabbits and take their carcasses along with them. A bit later they found a thieves' hideout that was being guarded by chained up wolves. They used the rabbit carcasses as a way to pacify the wolves and sneak in undetected!
I think details like these make the world feel more real. The world doesn't revolve around us. Very few things we encounter in life have direct significance to our goals.
Absolutely! If there are subtle nuances that I wish to point out to my PCs that help creatively paint a character, such as you described regarding the wiping of blood off an NPCs hands, sure. As long as you are able to answer questions that may be "charmed" out of you as a DM :) I'm finding its those little details that can make or break a story arc. Of course, the PCs need to recognize the details and determine if they should ask questions around them, too. Can't just "give" them the answers.
The have been a few occasions where I've read about authors doing this with multi book stories. A random detail pops in book 2 that becomes a major thread book 4. Not that they ever say what the details are specifically, just that it happened.
The beauty of some of these details is that they give you the freedom to give it extra life for the party to explore, or to give it a quick, mundane explanation that closes the door on it, possibly only to revisit that explanation later as a cover up (because you wanted more time to flesh out the details).
Plus these details can help find other important perception or investigation checks down the line.
As a simulationist DM: yes. However, if something is particularly detailed or mysterious, most players will take it as a subtle cue that it is important and must be investigated (even if it's off-track). I try to avoid this since my players don't have a lot of free time (due to jobs, family, etc.)
Your first example seems perfect for adding atmosphere without side-tracking the game, but your second example seems like it would side-track the game.
I lean toward simulationist as well.
I'm not sure I'd let the detail become side-tracking - although I agree 100% that without proper management it could be - and that it should be avoided.
The real creative challenge might be finding a way to make it relevant :) Or maybe just to let the Player charge off down a different path - which I don't mind at all - and try and spin an interesting story hook around the detail they've fixated on :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.