Post date: Nov 07, 2011 3:8:50 AM
So its been almost a year since the Fallout campaign came to an end and now a restart has come to be.
Long had I pondered what kind of restart would I try to pull off.
I first considered an action start, with explosions and combat and crazy stuff.
But as I talked to my players, I realized one thing was that while I never left the campaign world as I kept polishing and thinking of stuff about, they had left the world behind, not once, but twice - first for Girl Genius and then again with Rogue Trader.
They knew bits about the past and their characters, but it would be like putting on a pair of jeans you had not worn for a year, they might fit, but it would probably not be comfortable: they might be loose or a bit too tight. The same could be said for the players getting back into character, over a year a person changes through experiences and life events.
So I gave it some thought, instead of rushing things, I decided to do a slow approach.
First, I decided to get a copy of everyone's character sheet, what this did is made sure everyone knew where their character sheet was, it also allowed me to do some thinking about applying their skills and powers to each session (one of my goals is every session is to give everyone a spotlight moment and the chance to use their skills as much as possible).
Second, I sat down with each player, one-on-one, and did interviews, it was mostly done out of character, to help me find out what goals the player had for the character and some other stuff (more on this on another post) but again it started the players thinking about their characters.
Lastly, I read through each of my past posts, and considered what were some highlights from each session, something I wanted to bring to the memory of the players as I suspect many would not read them.
So with that all in mind, my first session back at the GM's chair was to do a bit of sleight of hand with memory.
I did this by having Core NPCs interacting with the players as though no time had passed and through name-dropping and rumors I could hit some highlight moments. So I came up with a list of at least four items that were character specific and then I played a game of personal bingo, looking for conversational points where I could slip in a reminder or two.
Doc: Yoa Guai disembowlment, his freeing of the V33 slaves whereever they went, relationships with the Dean, Smoke, Tesla
Wayne: Jim and comics, Folk Hero to Corvallis, Folk hero to Amity, His charming style
Grim: Dr. Preacher, Igor and Jeeves, Twin .44, Creepy
Ace: Nuka Cola plant, Pea Nuttbutter, Fast Gary, Shadowman with Coal and Ice.
BW: Jake, the fight atop the train, cook scene, various enemies that have met bad ends (RAGE!!!, Rake, Harold Davis).
Did I get a black-out, no, but it was a good exercise and in doing this I think I was able to succeed in getting the players back into their characters skin.
So now I get ready for the next session and do so with a smile... a wicked evil smile, but a smile none the less.