Reevaluating 2e Style Design

[ripx187]

 
I started playing during the 2nd Edition era of AD&D; this was a very structured time for game design. Stories, for the most part, were set in stone and this carried over into my own work. I owe a lot to the internet for freeing me of these bindings, but as I look back at the core books, they all encourage free play but this wasn't what was really marketed at the time. I couldn't spot an open game design from a closed one, but I knew that I had more success at running the open games. Games that provided a backdrop and a stage to play in vs. just running a story.



I remember seeing deep and involved villains, which I interpreted as DM PCs, and in a terrible blunder, I would often run them like that. I pitted myself against the players, and would often cheat to preserve these bad guys just to preserve the essence of the domain that they were playing in. I don't think that I was the only DM that fell into this hole.



Today I still use deep and well-thought-out antagonists, but I run them completely differently. They do move a story along, but it is their own story. They have an advantage during the game of being in an environment which compliments their specific skill set. They have a backstory, a personality, and motivations. They make plans based off of their intelligence. They have relationships with other characters in the region and have strict victory conditions which will benefit the villain, but I typically don't role play him all the time. My notes on this person act only as a reference for me to understand his motivations and understand his viewpoint. He is a background character. I want him to be slippery but not someone that I feel the need to protect. If he dies in the first 5 minutes of the game, then so be it, his absence will also affect the environment.



I guess what I am trying to say is that the antagonist himself is not the story. The story is an ever-changing environment, and I am no longer scared to go there. What happens when you suddenly free a domain from the thumb of a tyrant? What happens when you've got an entire army of bugbears out in the wilderness now left to their own devices? What if the villain was actually doing something that wasn't entirely evil? These ideas can often be better than traditional tropes, but in order to get there, we have only to think outside of the box.

[mao]

Creating 3d NPCs is my greatest weakness as a DM. Even if I planned them out, they still suck. If (and it's a big IF) I run again I think I will try and work on this.

[El Borak]

ripx187 sounds like you started one way and did a complete 180. No untouchable NPC's and no cheating against the PC's, you made the step from hack to elite old school.


This is awesome! Have an exalt!

Today I still use deep and well-thought-out antagonists, but I run them completely differently. They do move a story along, but it is their own story. They have an advantage during the game of being in an environment which compliments their specific skill set. They have a backstory, a personality, and motivations. They make plans based off of their intelligence. They have relationships with other characters in the region and have strict victory conditions which will benefit the villain, but I typically don't role play him all the time. My notes on this person act only as a reference for me to understand his motivations and understand his viewpoint. He is a background character. I want him to be slippery but not someone that I feel the need to protect. If he dies in the first 5 minutes of the game, then so be it, his absence will also affect the environment.


I guess what I am trying to say is that the antagonist himself is not the story. The story is an ever-changing environment, and I am no longer scared to go there. What happens when you suddenly free a domain from the thumb of a tyrant? What happens when you've got an entire army of bugbears out in the wilderness now left to their own devices? What if the villain was actually doing something that wasn't entirely evil? These ideas can often be better than traditional tropes, but in order to get there, we have only to think outside of the box.