RPGaDay 2020 #13 Banner (Actually Frame)

 Not coming up with anything for Banner. I haven't hoisted a banner for anything in quite a while. Maybe I'll have something by the end of the month.

The next prompt on the list is Frame.

I've run a lot of campaigns over the years, some good, probably more bad. And the better ones are always the ones that had a stronger frame. The more strongly you are able to answer the questions of "Who are the characters?" and "What do they do?" the better off you are.

For a long time, I didn't bother much asking about who the characters were. That was up to the players, I assumed. Much of my work as GM was more focused on the "What do they do?" side of the equation. Coming up with fun things to dangle in front of the party every session.

Eventually, I realized that my stronger campaigns were the ones that offered some sort of unifying principle for the characters. Sometimes I did this (I once ran a superhero campaign where the characters had all taken jobs as superheroes). Other times, it was up to the players (another superhero campaign set in another universe had the players casting about for roles. One of the characters owned a bar, so another player decided that she was the bartender, another was one of the regulars and so on).

One of the great things about D&D, as well as licensed games and storygames, is that they often come with those questions already answered. With the campaign already framed, if you will. D&D is famously "The characters are all fantasy adventurers who kill monsters and take their stuff." The latest Star Wars RPG had three different rulebooks, each built towards a certain set of answers. Storygames Powered by the Apocalypse use playbooks to put characters in defined roles that support the game's premise.