NEWS

Wanted: Ideas for Teaching a Lesson

  • 17 Replies
  • 4746 Views

prismite

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 268
« Reply #15 on: <07-13-18/1521:03> »
Hmmm "Teaching People a Lesson" in my GMing experience rarely goes how you think it will.
Generally speaking I would never develop a plot that substantially ran along those lines. Villains must have motivations, gain power, gain wealth, get revenge etc. If they have a tool, then they employ that tool to achieve theirs goals. Educating your tool isn't overly useful. If Bane can't figure out how to body guard, then send him in the opposite direction. Hitman are just as useful as body guards.

I have to agree. Even though my players pretty consistently bungle a mission I cannot punish them to make a point because the only point they will see is what a dick i'm being to them.

Thanks to this community I've gotten into the habit of having a conversation with the players when they mess up. At the end of each session I summarize the game, then list any concerns I have about their actions. I also open the floor up for questions about why something happened (mechanics) or let them vocalize disagreements with anything I ruled on.

It has done wonders for our game.
Want to join a skype game on R20 on Sundays? PM me!

Overbyte

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 517
« Reply #16 on: <07-14-18/0643:26> »
So I wasn't going to post this.. then I was.. then I wasn't.. but here I am since people keep posting pretty much "off topic".
Really the two original posts by Spooky and Mirikon were the only ones that were "on point".

If you look back at my original post I didn't want to do any of the stuff that is being talked about now. I wanted to have an adventure where Spinrad (and perhaps my loaded wording led things astray) "taught him a lesson". I wasn't talking about kneecapping, or any direct physical harm, the idea was to put the character in a similar situation to perhaps make him know what it felt like. I also mentioned that simply eliminating body guard jobs wasn't really a good option, and similarly in my later post I said that I wasn't interested in making it so he couldn't get any decent jobs anymore. That wasn't the point. The point was a little payback by Spinrad with the intent (by Spinrad) of perhaps putting the character in a similar situation and attempting to teach him a lesson. The intent was not for me, as a GM, to teach him a lesson.

Nothing is foolproof. Fools are so ingenious.

The Wyrm Ouroboros

  • *
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 4470
  • I Have Taken All Shadowrun To Be My Province
« Reply #17 on: <08-23-18/1905:52> »
Overbyte, what's being talked about is pretty much entirely in the reality of the game world, and not at all 'GM teaching Player lesson'.  Spinrad has better things to do than 'teach a crappy bodyguard a lesson', like make another million dollars, or go skiing in the Alps with the simstar he's gonna bang tonight.  He's Tony Stark; or if you like, Elon Musk.  Teaching some schlep 'a lesson' is very, very, very low on his to-do list.

The question really is 'what level of screwed' do you want your player's character to be?  Embarrassed?  Humiliated?  Out of (good) work?  In serious damage/pain?  Poor?  Totally burned?
Pananagutan & End/Line

Old As McBean, Twice As Mean
"Oh, gee - it's Go-Frag-Yourself-O'Clock."
New Wyrm!! Now with Twice the Bastard!!

Laés is ... I forget. -PiXeL01
Play the game. Don't try to win it.