RPGaDay 2019 Day #7 Critical

The theme today is “Critical.”

There are a couple of directions to go with this. I’m sure several people have their favorite story about that one crazy roll that set the campaign on a completely different course. Critical can also mean important. It’s also an opportunity to discuss criticism and how we improve ourselves.

One thing that I don’t think I see enough of is end of session review. While the idea of end of session bookkeeping is fairly standard in my mind, at least in the form of handing out experience points and maybe discussing character improvements, taking the time to discuss the session before everyone heads home is not very common.

The first I had seen of the idea was in The Zantabulous Zorcerer of Zo. Chad Underkoffler shares many details of his fairytale themed campaign, including his feedback process. His PDQ rules system has a mechanical method to let players signal the Game Master about things they want to happen to their character. When a character takes damage, it damages their traits. The first trait to get damaged on a character in a session spins off a Story Hook, giving that trait or something thematically connected to it prominence in the next session.

But Chad went further than that. He ended each session of the campaign with a set of three prompts. “Good” (describe what was good about the session), “Bad” (talk about what sucked), and “Ugly” (what needs improvement).

That idea stuck with me, but I never got around to doing it. I had never seen it done in any game that I had personally played in, so I wasn’t quite sure how to bring it up.

Then I reconnected with my friend Jordan. Although I had taught him how to game many moons ago, he came back with a trick that I hadn’t taught him. Not quite Chad Underkoffler’s list, but he ended every session with “Likes,” “Dislikes,” and “Have Fun?”

Once I’m able to run my own campaigns again, I think I will use Chad’s list. Mostly because the third prompt. “Have fun?” is a binary question. You answer either yes or no. And in all honesty, it was mostly “yes” for his games. But an open-ended prompt like “Ugly” allows for more textured feedback. There were a couple times playing with Jordan where there were things that weren’t strong likes or dislikes, so it didn’t feel right bringing them up for those prompts, but if he asked if there was anything that was “Ugly” about the session, I would have had an answer.