FM Tricks (Behind The Scenes)

[Mister Shine]

One of the interesting things about being behind the FM screen is players don't necessarily notice what you've done to cover your own ass. I wanted this thread to basically be a bunch of examples of what other Fatemasters have done to tease more time out of a session, dealt with the Fated going in a new direction or just generally dealing with the unforseen yet still winding up with your players going "Wow, what a good session! HOW DID YOU PLAN ALL THAT?"

 

For example, in my first session, The Prologue, I did not know if some of my players might drop out last minute or how combat focused they would make their characters. My solution was a trainful of Mindless Zombies. How Many? Well, I started with a low amount then more kept coming up from behind the seats, one fated passed a notice check and found some crawling UNDER the seats towards them and felt like quite the hero after RJing the damage on their hammer and sending the sneak zombie through the floor of the train onto the tracks below. I added enough zombies that everyone got to do something with them, but not so many that the encounter felt like it was dragging.

 

Plot seeds. Try and know what some of your big bads are going into the game, you can seed their machinations in from the first session. I had a cultist handing out amulets (which zombified the people on the train for reference). If the Fated had tried to stop him it would have been a more social prologue trying to get people to stop wearing them, but either way it'll seem much more interesting when big reveals start happening that theyve actually been dealing with the big bad from the start, and not just a plot reveal that "the dragon is on that mountain; go kill it!"

 

To finish that session, I've had my Fated discuss what they want to do next. I think this might be obvious for people who've run games before, but I wanted to make sure it was out there anyway, because knowing what they want to do actually lets you write it, rather thanfly completely by the seat of your pants next session.