The Payoff
Some of you already know what the Payoff is. It's that moment where there is a stillness in the air, where nobody is really breathing, where nothing is really happening. It's that moment where all of those days (or weeks, or months even) of planning finally come to fruition. It's that moment where your players are stunned for a moment, but then start to grin and nod their heads. One will mummer "cool" and another will give you that approving nod. The Payoff is an odd combination of surprise, plausibility, and all-around coolness. The Payoff is that moment where you've committed art.
Some of you already know what the Payoff is. It's that moment where there
is a stillness in the air, where nobody is really breathing, where nothing
is really happening. It's that moment where all of those days (or weeks, or
months even) of planning finally come to fruition. It's that moment where
your players are stunned for a moment, but then start to grin and nod their
heads. One will mummer "cool" and another will give you that approving nod.
The Payoff is an odd combination of surprise, plausibility, and all-around
coolness. The Payoff is that moment where you've committed art.
The Payoff works in many ways. It can be that moment when a player opens a
door and discovers who the master menace really is. It can be that moment
where a player finds a codex and finally deciphers the writing on the wall.
It can be that moment your loyal NPC is revealed to have been a no-good
traitor all along. The Payoff can be anything.
Making the Payoff happen, however, isn't easy. In my experience, it takes a
lengthy amount of planning and a lot of patience. A nice, juicy plot point
can easily be ruined by impulse or flat-out stupidity.
I spend a lot of my RPG time as a game master these days. As a game master,
I try to design the best games I can. That may seem like a silly
statement, but I've spent enough time playing games that were bland and
uninspired -- I'll never understand why some people play RPG's. Rather than
settle for mediocrity, I strive to make my games memorable and enjoyable. A
lot of that success (when it's achieved) depends on the Payoff.
Here are a few suggestions on how to make the Payoff work.
Patience
Suppose there is a NPC named Bob. Up front, Bob appears to be a nice,
amicable fellow. Bob is introduced to the party in Game 2. But little do
the players know, Bob is a lackey of the Master Menace and has been planted
to spy on the players and thwart their efforts as best he can. Now if Bob
up and betrays the players in Game 3, there's no real impact. They haven't
had a lot of time to get to know Bob so why do they care if this NPC
suddenly turns stag on them. Maybe they'll be a little more stringent when
they pick up strays in Game 4. But, other than that, Bob's existence was no
big deal. However let's suppose Bob saves Player Two's hide in Game 3.
Then, in Game 6, he offers to walk Player Four's dog. And, in Game 18, he
helps Player One get elected as president of Olympus. By this point, Bob is
one of the gang, a real go-to guy who's there for his buds in a pinch. But,
then, in Game 20, when the players go to confront the Master Menace, Bob
tries to stab Player One in the back. Are the players shocked? They should
be! One of their best friends just pulled a Judas on them! That's an
impact and it may have dire ramifications. Player One may grow to distrust
everybody. Player Two may sink into a depression. Player Four may become
over-protective of the dog.
Foreshadowing
Okay, so Bob becomes a traitor in Game 20. Everybody is shocked. In fact,
they might be too shocked. Sudden twists of events might surprise your
players, but it also might make them paranoid or incredulous. Player One
may go through the rest of the campaign doubting everybody since Bob became
an out-of-the-blue traitor. Player Two, while shocked, may be annoyed
the Bob situation doesn't make total sense. If Bob never acted like a
traitor, then it may be hard for some to swallow he was a traitor. To
get closer to the Payoff, you have to lay down a few hints. Maybe Bob was
caught rummaging through Player Three's backpack in Game 7. Maybe Bob was a
little too ruthless with that enemy soldier in Game 12. And maybe he copped
an attitude with Player Four in Game 17. If the players had enough reasons
to have a degree of suspicion about Bob's true nature, then maybe they'll
turn to each other and say "well, there was always something not quite right
about Bob." Foreshadowing can diminish the shock value of the Payoff, so it
should be done in subtle doses. But, I've learned it's usually better
to foreshadow and establish credibility rather than turn everything upside
down at the drop of a hat. Plan your Payoff, don't improvise it.
Overdosing
Okay. So, Bob is traitor and that really shook everybody up. At this
point, it's probably not a good idea to make Jane a traitor in Game 22. In
fact, you probably shouldn't introduce the traitor concept again in this
campaign or the next. You might can revisit it three campaigns down the
road, but it's something that should be handled differently each time. You
don't want to become the game master that always sneaks a traitor into the
game. The are plenty of other things you can do to achieve the Payoff, so
never rely on just one thing. The Payoff is very much a "use it, don't
abuse it" type of thing.
Variety
As kinda stated in Point 3, you don't want to use too much of a good thing.
What you use is really up to you and the tastes of your gaming group. For
example, maybe a player discovers he's the long-lost descendant of a
Hero King. Or maybe he discovers he's the lost son of a Demon Prince and
maybe that's why said Prince takes a keen interest in his adventures. Maybe
your group is involved with time travel and a player ends up becoming one of
his own ancestors or the ancestor of his arch-enemy. Maybe your best friend
had a gender change. The Payoff has endless amounts of variety.
Fun Factor / Common Sense Factor
Last but not least, there's the Fun/Common Sense factor. Don't
throw something stupid at your players. For example, if you're running a
Shadowrun campaign, don't have Boba Fett appear as the Master Menace. The
Payoff is the moment where all of the players get giddy and yelp "awesome."
It's not the moment where they groan and tear up their own character sheets.
The Payoff can be a wonderful thing if cultivated and nurtured. It can add
an extra oomph to your game and make your players look forward to the next
game. It can be the thing that keeps your games from being mediocre. Sure,
it take some practice to get it right and you won't always get it right --
I've fumbled more than one Payoff. But, when it works, it's a thing of
beauty.
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I know exactly what you're talking about, like any good movie or TV show, one needs a twisty dealy like this, just to show the players another avenue of fiction.
RG,
Ok, so, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that what you mean by 'payoff' is:
'A sudden moment of clarity, where a major plot theme reveals itself.'
The effect should be to set the players hearts thumping, and their minds racing to consider the implications to them.
If thats right, then let me relate one example of this that I can remember:
(1) One example that springs to mind is, when I set up my clerical stronghold close to a bunch of orcs. Now this was a large well organised tribe with a big fortress complex and several concealed entrances. I guess I should have got suspicious then, but I never stopped to consider how these orcs came into possession of such a complex fortress. Anyway, after pushing back the local kobold nations, I got round to taking out the orcs. In the name of progress and civilisation naturally. I scouted out the concealed entrances and blocked them then took the top level of the fortress by use of an invisibility spell. So far so good. Wiping out the troops on the top. I moved to the dungeons. Big surprise, I started hitting mechanical and magical traps. Orcs with advanced spell casting and mechanical skills ? Something was not good, but I kept on going. Suddenly I hit a new kind of defender, Orcs yes, but backed by dwarvish troops in black armour, Dwarf fighters and clerics. Moment of clarity .Payoff.
I realised that I had blundered into some sort of enclave of the evil dwarvish empire a couple of days ride away. It was quite a shock, but very enjoyable from a detatched point of view. The DM had skillfylly released clues which I had ignored and suddenly I found myself in a whole lot of s**t.
Anyway, the way it all ended was by my calling off the attack. Realising, that I could win the battle, but not the war, I chose to sue for peace and pay hefty reparations. Great campaign, and good DM.
As a player in Rogue Githyankis' campaign, I am wondering if I should be nervous....yeah, I think it's best to be paranoid...Thanks for the warning...heh...
Yo Mo,
Yeah...you get the idea.
A personal example of the Payoff went something like this...
When I was 16, I introduced a crazy old man who sold blue pots to PC's. One PC got lucky and got a decanter of endless water. The crazy old man faded out...time passed...the PC's made new guys...life went on. Later...when I was 25, I introduced a wized old man wearing blue robes who had been helping out the PC's for some months. I re-introduce a NPC from the old days...who smiles coyly when he encounters the old man and asks him if he's still selling blue pots.
The old man grins, but shakes his head.
The players were shocked to learn that this old dude was the very same old dude that had been helping all of their old PC's nearly 10 years prior.
That's just a minor example of the Payoff -- in this case it was just a cool little tidbit that the player's enjoyed...and it also served to help tie our D&D history together, albeit in a minor way.
Rune Reader...
In my D&D universe, the sheep are sheep and the players are always nervous.
Beware of Crazy old men living in Monster infested areas. They are really, in order of likelihood:
1) a huge ancient gold dragon,
2) a Ki-Rin / Lammasu / shedu.
3) the grandmaster of flowers
4) The Arch Druid
5) an 18th level retired Paladin with a +5 holy rapier concealed in his walking stick.
The only thing more dangerous is a little old woman in a candy house.
Mo,
It's surprisingly scary how accurate your list is.
I confess that I'm guilty of at least 2 of those 5 and had thought about the others at some point.
Forget the Player's Handbook...somebody needs to write a Player's Guide to NPC Encounters.
LOL =)
Very nice, I must admit. The traitor scheme is quite common I guess, though as Rogue Githyanki said - difficult to pull off properly.
Don't forget, he who betrays is quite likely to get betrayed! Live by the sword, die by the sword, anybody? For example: In a long-running campaign of mine, a ruthless and rather treacherous PC, who first tried to sell out the rest of the party and then tried to trick the villain he was going to sell the other PC out to found himself (all within a single session) betrayed by the very same villain, an NPC henchman and his fiance who has a, cheated on him with another player character b, took his most prized possession and c, made him thus vunerable to capture by a secret cult she's member of ... complicated, I guess :) but rewarding.
Of course, the payoff can provise a plethora of plot hooks - said Bob could be in trouble - despite his treason his evil overlord was defeated by the PCs, he's in peril and the only one who can help him are the PCs, though there will be some tough feelings of course.
Demon prince as grandfather and other strange lineages can be most rewarding too - both as a skeleton in the closet, as well as a way to meet veeeery strange NPCs and have common ground, or the reason why this specific character is the only one who can ... defeat the marauding hordes of infernal shrimps, or whatever.
Ah yes, and except the time travel thing, I'm responsible for every one of those...heh.
Enjoy.
My favorite, although maybe not considered a payoff, is the moment when the PCs realize that they must now work WITH their nemesis in order to achieve their goal. Just when they're about to take him/her out, they can't.
This was the same concept that drove the X-2 movie.
One other favorite was to introduce an NPC that gained the party's trust over a long campaign. Unfortunately, she had an identical twin sister who was a higher-up on the baddie side, and ... well, you can probably imagine several twists on that one.
Niiice article.
I have nothing to add or comment other than:
It is indeed hard to do but soooo worth it and one might guess soooo depressing when you screw it up.
Again, nice article
Agreed, good article.
I especially liked the flow of the Bob section. It had a smooth meter that just kind of bounced along from point to point, telling the dastardly tale of Bob.
In my personal experience, I tend to be of a similar mental state, where I like to plan my "payoffs" at least a few months out in play time. I then tend to work them in and out of the narrative thread, basically like you were describing, until that moment of impact. Overall, I find it to be a satisfying way to run games and it really builds your credit as a masterful storyteller.
Well, if the players can survive. Although, I've had them actually have the moment of clarity afterword. Last time I ran a Shadowrun campaign, I had them finally realize who the major villain was nearly a week after we stopped playing, even though they had died the prior week and I hadn't thrown hints. Apparently it just clicked for someone at work and the next week they were like, "It was totally him, wasn't it?"
I'm guilty of the time travel one.......
Well written article, RogueGithyanki.
Two points from a personal perspective:
- I've found that I'm always more eager to spill the Payoff before it's appropriate. When I come up with a cool idea, I want the PCs to appreciate it as soon as possible. Sometimes it's very difficult to keep it hidden, but I've not only made good games great by holding off on revealing the vast secrets of the game, but had games damaged for me by having the Payoff given to me too early.
- I suggest writing the Big Payoff into the plotline from the very beginning. By "wrapping" the storyline around the payoff, the underlying motivation of the game becomes that much more personal. Additionally, I can't emphasize enough the importance of foreshadowing. A great idea loses most, if not all, of its impact if there is no foreshadowing.
As an example, I once found inspiration in the movie "The Prophecy" when running an In Nominae game (like everyone else who played that game). The PCs played angels who worked for various archangels, and began investigating a force of demons that were attempting to thwart the second coming and judgement of Jesus, ala Revelations (naturally - after all, they're demons.) As the game progressed, they discovered that certain Archangels seemed to be reluctant to assist them in this critically important task. Still later, the PCs were attacked by other angels. Finally, archangels themselves began to interfere with their investigations.
Finally, the truth came out - Jesus would judge both mortals AND angels when he returned, and some of the archangels were insulted by the idea that a mortal could judge them (ala the fall of Lucifer). And to top it off, this information was given to the PCs by a demon, who was a part of a force in hell that was trying to aid Jesus' return - being fallen angels, they would be judged as well, and conceivably be forgiven for their transgressions.
The moment that revelation (so to speak) dawned on the PCs is one of my most cherished memories as a GM.
Well written article, RogueGithyanki.
Two points from a personal perspective:
- I've found that I'm always more eager to spill the Payoff before it's appropriate. When I come up with a cool idea, I want the PCs to appreciate it as soon as possible. Sometimes it's very difficult to keep it hidden, but I've not only made good games great by holding off on revealing the vast secrets of the game, but had games damaged for me by having the Payoff given to me too early.
- I suggest writing the Big Payoff into the plotline from the very beginning. By "wrapping" the storyline around the payoff, the underlying motivation of the game becomes that much more personal. Additionally, I can't emphasize enough the importance of foreshadowing. A great idea loses most, if not all, of its impact if there is no foreshadowing.
As an example, I once found inspiration in the movie "The Prophecy" when running an In Nominae game (like everyone else who played that game). The PCs played angels who worked for various archangels, and began investigating a force of demons that were attempting to thwart the second coming and judgement of Jesus, ala Revelations (naturally - after all, they're demons.) As the game progressed, they discovered that certain Archangels seemed to be reluctant to assist them in this critically important task. Still later, the PCs were attacked by other angels. Finally, archangels themselves began to interfere with their investigations.
Finally, the truth came out - Jesus would judge both mortals AND angels when he returned, and some of the archangels were insulted by the idea that a mortal could judge them (ala the fall of Lucifer). And to top it off, this information was given to the PCs by a demon, who was a part of a force in hell that was trying to aid Jesus' return - being fallen angels, they would be judged as well, and conceivably be forgiven for their transgressions.
The moment that revelation (so to speak) dawned on the PCs is one of my most cherished memories as a GM.
Good twist on the demons hoping for redemption in the second coming.
Niiiice.
Here's a little story of a man named Ass. He played in a game with a group that always seemed do the WRONG thing...
The game started with (1) token evil GM, and (2) players (myself and a friend). At some point, we explored a dungeon, riddled with traps and ancient monsters. We hacked and slashed our way into the inner sanctum. The final room was a large-circular chamber with (12) doors all around...and a large stone statue of a dragon in the center.
When we opened a door, a monster would come out, we'd kill kill kill. The monster would die and leave behind a large stone tooth. We killed all 12 monsters and collected all (12) teeth. After inserting the teeth in the dragon's mouth, the statue crumbled to dust, revealing an ornate coffin. A vampire emerged, thanked us for freeing him, and gave us really cool magical items.
Hold on...I just MIGHT have a point.
Many weeks later, we stumble upon the same vampire dude, fight some kind of demon wizard. The demon wizard, unprovoked, attacks US. So we kill him (it wasn't THAT easy but we did it). Suddenly, hundreds of demons erupt from the wizard's lifeless body, including a particularly LARGE demon who just happens to be the vampire's master.
Apparently, the wizard would capture demons and use their dark powers for good. He spent 200 years, ridding the world of many demons. But we killed him and released them ALL. Whoops...
On the bright side, the vampire and his demon-lord are grateful for our assistance and will grant us superpowers and riches if we swear our allegiance to them and help them enslave humanity.
Hmm...superpowers = PAYOFF.
So we're all evil now...
I like that. I'll have to use that one some day. Actually, I know exactly when I'll use it. Dark Ages Warewolf beware.
::laughs maniacly::
Oh crap, my players read these threads. Oh well, they'll forget by the time they get to it.
Yeah, we were all giddy...
After we agreed to serve them, our GM was like:
"Okay, pull out your HEROES book, pick a superpower."
My guys will never agree to continue once they figure it out but it will be fun to see them try and clean up the mess they made.
Now I just need to figure out where to spring this little fiasco. Probably Northern China, that part of the game is a little lacking for plot right now.
The whole game is travel based, to clarify. They will begin in Scotland and travel to Rome, then along the silk road to Xi'An, China, then into Siberia and across the Bering Straight into North America where they will travel to Newfoundland and the Norse lands and back to Scotland. It should be fun.
My first intruduction to an evil campaign was somwhat abrasive to the entire gaming group.
Our party became lost in some kind of demon fog. We had to fight our "shadow selves" (right out of Legend of Zelda). The problem was...our dark halves were rolling WAY better than we were, and several of us went down before we realized how to fight them.
What we DIDN'T know...is that after the battle was over, our diabolical GM told those they were know evil...and not to tell anyone.
:: bastard ::
Well, the rest of us learned what happened, after one of the PCs RAPED another when she was unconsious...
I think I've talked about this before. The game kinda derailed after that.
yup you did.
But hey what's one more rambling gamer ; )
One more rambling gamer can't hurt anything around here.......
Strike that.
Evil players hmm.....
how excellent for the DM you can create a good nemesis. Shall we say 'Fluke Skystalker' . Now you might think this guy is weak and easy to kill, but the FORCE is strong in him. He will really wind your players up as he derails their evil plots by a combination of mindless goodness and dumb luck. The possibilities are endless...
Mo you are one bad ass MF good GM.
And I mean that in the nicest way possible. I'll certainly rip off the concept from you next time I have players who want to play an evil game.
Its been 6 weeks since I gamed last...
Damn, I wanna use my new superpowers. I've needed 'game' so much lately I've resorted to playing my PS2 and GameCube.
Anyone think its time for an intervention??
I've talked about my born loser earlier today:
No above average stats, only profenciencies in swimming, fishing, and lure making. Enchanced critical failure, etc.
As we were fighting at the center of the Temple of the Phoenix, to try and retrieve the legendary sword, my character was quite suddenly completely obliterated, and swept into the lava by the phoenix guardian. Stunned silence all around, as he was supposed to be the hero, and without him there, the whole trip was for nothing. The GM quickly called a break, and after ten minutes of "what the hell now?" looks between our group, he came back and described that the phoenix comes crashing into the ground, and lying there on the floor was my loser character in full armor, with a glowing sword in hand. The DM explained that the whole point wasn't to fight the guardian, but to meld with him to become the Paladin.
Quite an unexpected (unplanned?) turn, and one which our group has written several short stories about.
Of course, three people out of the group are aspiring writers and we tend to make 20 page backstories before the pencil has completely filled in the character sheet.