What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

[GoldenAge]

I'm working on my annual 2-team, Epic City adventure for ZARCON (oZARark CONvention, Aug 18-22). I've been poring over some superhero scenarios/modules in hope of inspiration. Not "idea" inspiration, but rather scenario construction and implementation inspiration.

 

Above all else the guys at ZARCON are great gamers and quite experienced with HERO System. It takes an extra effort to create a scenario that is both challenging and fun for them. The average game just doesn't cut it.

 

Last year I finished off a successful multi-year game thread. Its time to start another...

 

Does anyone have a special memory of a GREAT game they played and how it was constructed and presented by the GM? I'd love to hear some stories!!!

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

I've enjoyed several very stellar games at GenCon in years past.

 

Probably my favorite was from the first GenCon I went to, so I don't know how much that influenced it. As a GM myself, one thing that really impressed me is that the GM of that game (Kerry Connell) did an excellent job of reigning in the attention hounds and encouraging the shy players, so everybody had their time in the spotlight. He also made the NPCs, even bit players, quite memorable. I learned a lot just watchting him run the game.

 

The game itself involved the heroes investigating attacks on a fashion show. It didn't take all that long to figure out *who* was behind the attacks (a former model now nicknamed China Doll) but the GM made the *why* such a compelling mystery that we were all completely hooked. Our time ran out before the big confrontation, and all of the players (with the GM's approval) decided to continue playing and finish it up. And the big battle never happened, because instead of using our powers, we all used our heads and talked her into stopping it.

 

- - - - - - - -

 

Another quite memorable game actually included 1st-edition characters (and this is after 5th had come out), as parts of the game were set in the early 1980s. That's not the memorable part, though it did amuse me. The game was all done as snippets, individual scenes and flashbacks, as a former hero team's members are being interviewed for a documentary. Parts of it were pure roleplaying, responding to the interviewer's questions and interacting with other heroes. And interspersed throughout, as the interviewer revealed information and asked questions about the team's foes, each hero had just the start of a fight with one of the foes, with no clue where the fight was taking place or what had led up to it. Overall, the whole thing was rather intriguing, and I was wondering just where it was leading.

 

As the "interview" went on, we were investigating several seemingly unrelated (but actually tied together) events that eventually led us to thwart an assassination attempt on then-President Reagan at a dedication ceremony for a US Navy destroyer. And then, the GM laid out the map of the destroyer, and we saw that each of the individual battles we had begun throughout the game were on different parts of the ship. We then played out the rest of the battle, and of course saved the day.

 

The "interview" format and scene-switching was a very different way of running the game, and the GM (whose name I unfortunately forgot) did a great job of keeping it interesting without getting too confusing. When I found out that one of the heroes was dying of cancer, and I saw how the GM had laid out the clues -- that player was never directly interviewed, as the character had died before the interview took place, but only took part in scenes with other players -- I was very impressed. And I loved how the individual battles all tied together in the end.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

Honestly, nobody else here has played in or run a great game? C'mon, guys, give GA a break and tell some stories. I'm sure you've got at least *one* good one.

 

The above were from games I've played in. As to games I've run as GM, I think I can distill a few pieces that worked particularly well for me.

 

If you have the time beforehand, might I suggest a one-page newspaper with a news item or two that might be relevant to the adventure? In a past campaign, I had a supers-only newspaper, the Hero.net Herald, which I threw together before each session (back when I still had some free time). One article reported on what happened last session, one article (or sometimes two) related to that night's adventure, and any others were either filler, red herrings, or foreshadowing on future adventures.

 

For a convention game, one article could provide the players with some info on their team and teammates, while another gives some info that they might need or use in play, and any others are filler. (Just make sure the filler article(s) won't sidetrack the players overly much.) And it has the benefit of making a nice souvenir for the players to take away from the game.

 

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Another fun thing I did before was introduce some very low-level characters, a bunch of villain-wannabes that were easily beaten and captured by the heroes individually. (In a convention game, this could be done in pairs and played off as some intro combats so people get a feel for their own characters, but is really to intro the villains.) And then a mastermind villain broke those losers out of jail and powered them up, so that they'd be a real threat to the heroes. The players' reactions were pretty good when they faced off against the "loser squad" a second time and found out they weren't pushovers any more.

[srvronsim1]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

I have to say as a scenario, our "Out of the Blue, Into the Black" as we eventually called it where we introduced the Idiot King and battled PSI was the most satisfying. The Idiot King was used as a pawn by PSI to kill off the PC psychic and he succeeded, forcing the PCs (as characters) to grow up and stop treating crime fighting as a game.

 

As an overreaching storyline, nothing beats our Tarlok invasion. 4E was jumping to 5E and I felt we needed an event that "changed everything." While the PCs got through (relatively) intact... the CU not so much. Obsidian, Seeker, Solitaire, Starburst, Professor Muerte, and most of Zodiac (except Taurus and Virgo) and The Protectors (except Quasar, Helios and Dr. Wraithe) and many more were dead and the world had to rebuild.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

As an overreaching storyline' date=' nothing beats our Tarlok invasion. 4E was jumping to 5E and I felt we needed an event that "changed everything." While the PCs got through (relatively) intact... the CU not so much. Obsidian, Seeker, Solitaire, Starburst, Professor Muerte, and most of Zodiac (except Taurus and Virgo) and The Protectors (except Quasar, Helios and Dr. Wraithe) and many more were dead and the world had to rebuild.[/quote']

 

A very neat idea on changing editions. Repped.

[srvronsim1]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

A very neat idea on changing editions. Repped.

 

Thanks for the repping. It was the best idea I had to include some of the things that were in the 5E book and not start from scratch. So aliens destroyed Detroit instead of Dr. Destroyer, old Heroes were gone to make room for new ones and a neat new direction for the campaign all came out of it. Obsidian had a heroic death that would make Barry Allen (I know, I know) proud.

[GoldenAge]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

If you have the time beforehand' date=' might I suggest a one-page newspaper with a news item or two that might be relevant to the adventure? In a past campaign, I had a supers-only newspaper, the [i']Hero.net Herald[/i], which I threw together before each session (back when I still had some free time). One article reported on what happened last session, one article (or sometimes two) related to that night's adventure, and any others were either filler, red herrings, or foreshadowing on future adventures.

Great idea. I've done the newspaper before. Check out the Sanguine News here

 

BTW - Thanks for the plug! I need all the help I can get!!!

[GoldenAge]

Re: What's the best scenario you've ever played in (and how was it presented)?

 

Thanks for the repping. It was the best idea I had to include some of the things that were in the 5E book and not start from scratch. So aliens destroyed Detroit instead of Dr. Destroyer' date=' old Heroes were gone to make room for new ones and a neat new direction for the campaign all came out of it. Obsidian had a heroic death that would make Barry Allen (I know, I know) proud.[/quote']

 

Heh, we did the alien invasion too. Check out the map here and write-up here.