Focus : RPG a Day 2019

This is one that I thought would be a breeze but when I have come to it I am going to head on a different tack than I initially thought of.  I was going to talk about games that have used spell focuses on their system.  But instead, I think I am going to talk about focus, and where it should be when you are running a game.  The better the focus of a game the better it is – but are you focussing on the right thing?

Focus

As a games master (GM) it is your role to provide an engaging setting.  Too many games I have played in though, the GM has taken focus to something the players were not interested in.  I do think that much of the time a GM plans for only one plot.  Some times that plot is not what interests the players though!  The players, rather than wanting to find the Rod of Seven Parts want to explore the mystery of the witch that helped them a few sessions ago.  The GM then puts up neon signs and tries to get the players back, but they are just not interested.

It is for this reason that I always look to play and learn with the players.  I do not over plan an adventure.  I plot out adventures using a flow chart style and if the players come up with a different option I try to branch that out.  I also ask the players what they see as they enter a room;

The crystal door swings open to a room full of colour!  What do your players think is causing that colour?

When I get that answer then it stays and we run with where it takes us!  It makes for an enjoyable play style – but it is not for everyone.  All I ask is that you stay with the players and follow where they go.  They are the protagonists of the story so you can’t tell them that they can’t do it – then it just becomes a story that you may as well have stayed home and written yourself.  Keep rolling!