9 thoughts on “Question time!”

  1. For PCs I always like to question their backstory. They didn’t just spring into instant existence as part of a crew. There’s usually a wealth of plot hooks than can be discovered to be used by the GM, that PC or other PCs.

  2. Whenever you players do a weird thing, like enter a ghost door, attune to the ghost field, pull out some gadget made with clockwork and alchemical features, ask them what that looks like, how they learned to do it, and why it’s dangerous.

  3. I’ve found that asking for details when players are indulging their Vices is a great way to bring the setting out. Also, it’s fantastic for injecting important bits of information into the game. You get people around a card table, they tend to talk. If a PC frequents a brothel, they never know who else they’ll run into on their way out.

  4. Some cool very answers! .. or questions.

    I wish i’d asked more weird questions last session when the Whisper went to town.

    What about the more general questions that can be asked?

    I’ll start.

    What do you (your character) think of the NPC?

    What are you looking for?

    How does this place make you feel?

  5. Who doesn’t want you to be here?

    Where have you been thrown out of recently and why?

    Why does it feel like you’re being watched?

    Describe the person you notice following you.

  6. Anything you and your players are talking about that is interesting, use it as the basis for questions. That being said, I don’t ask just any questions; I tend stick to questions which are leading – suggesting interesting things – about things like:

    * the relationships within the crew

    * the relationships between the crew and contacts/factions within Duskvol

    * the nature of the character’s previous criming (will tell me alot about what they want their future criming to be – which is a much tougher question that I avoid asking)

    * acceptable fiction for a crappy dice roll

    Examples..

    “Whose bright idea was it to form this crew?”

    “Which of the PCs have you encountered before (or while) starting this crew? How did that go?”

    “Why are you broke right now?”

    “What happened between you and Marlane, the brawler, to give you this negative relationship?”

    [after an engagement roll goes poorly] “Somehow, the Lampblacks figured out this was coming. There are a bunch of ways this could have gone wrong; what do you think tipped them off?”

  7. Relationship questions are great, I must make use of them more!

    What’s the relationship between your crew/people/family and the land, shop, district.

    What’s the right time to use a more pointed question

    such as Mark’s, ‘Describe the person you notice following you. ‘

    or when to use a more open ended one?

    Also we’ve put down quite a few GM to player questions. What questions should the players be asking back?

    Whenever I get asked “How many people can we expect inside” I always get a little flummoxed. I’d much prefer a “How easy would it be to sneak inside?” Or ” Could we take on what’s inside?”

  8. I think it depends on how far the fiction has gone into “Not sure” land. If I am completely stumped (usually only in the beginning of the game, or as new characters are introduced), I use more open ended questions. If I have a good idea about the tone of the next scene, but not the actual fiction for it (occasionally, even after establishing characters and factions, this can happen), then I will use the more pointed questions.

    For me, this usually means lots of questions early on, and far more open ended at the start of any campaign. And as the session continues, less will feel like it needs to be improvised, so more pointed questions become increasingly useful. First session, I must’ve asked 3 or 4 questions per player. This last session (about 10 deep), I asked 2 questions total.

    Rarely, I ask pointed questions just before I make moves simply to engage the players (like when I sense they are starting to disbelieve, or get distracted).

    —

    Forgot: another time to ask the table, is when you sense the fiction isn’t clear:

    “I use my ghost key to escape from the demon through a ghost door.”

    Another player: “Even when it is closed, can’t a demon just possess the ghost door and come after us?”

    [long silence]

    GM: “Ok, people.. what do you think: can a locked ghost door stop a demon from following?”

  9. I would use a question like “Describe the person you notice following you” when the stakes are low, probably during a downtime action. If the PC was on their way to engage their vice or seek healing somewhere, ask that question and see what your players come up with. Players can often be way meaner than you are, especially if there isn’t much on the line at the moment. This isn’t really a move, just a way to make the world seem alive, and to give you ideas for future problems.

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