What makes for satisfying story obstacles?

[Jumpscare]

I’ll always vouch for OOC check-ins. There are few things as good as a personal message from a story runner to a player thanking a player for their participation (or lack thereof) and asking them if they’re enjoying the direction the story is going, and giving them an opportunity to suggest what would make it more enjoyable to them.

A good number of people won’t know how to make it more enjoyable for themselves, but that’s not always the point. While making players feel like their IC presence matters is good, I’ve also seen how uplifting it is to ensure they feel their OOC presence matters, too.

You’re not going to please everyone, and people are going to quit for reasons beyond your control. The tiniest conflict could be the last thing they can handle due to RL stress. It happens. Don’t beat yourself up for it. RL always comes first. They’ll come back if and when they’re ready to play again.

This probably all ties back to one very important quality of being a good storyteller: be amenable to change. Player engagement matters more than your carefully laid out plans and amazing storyline. Change the direction without compromising the established rules of your world. That’s easier said than done, especially when you’re excited but your players aren’t. And that’s because, at the end of the day, it’s their story. Not the villain’s story, nor the environment’s story. Find out what your players want, not what you think they want.

If you already know from inception how your season plot is going to end, no you don’t.

[hellfrog]

@Testament said in What makes for satisfying story obstacles?:

@Pavel I think PC death is one of the most uncreative ways of suggesting failure and the easiest way of eliciting a negative connotation to failure. There are better ways to go about it. A setback is not always bad.

spoken like someone who has never been accused of ending stories and rendering characters unplayable by specifying where mangoes grow.

[Testament]

@hellfrog Also banjos.

Also, shit. I broke the rule.

[Arkandel]

I don’t know that this is helpful, or even actionable.

But I think what makes for satisfying story obstacles is a subset of what makes for satisfying stories. And, in my experience, the difference tends to be between the storyteller and participants.

In other words the mechanics and moving parts of a story, including antagonists and challenges aren’t part of a recipe. It’s not as easy as to include “a villain with good intentions” or “a riddle to open a door” where incorporating similar elements produces similar results.

The result is 100% dependent on the telling. In how it’s done. In the characters who are involved and what their players are looking for from the plot they’re in. In the wordsmithing and the dialogue used to engage them. In the trust the scene’s participants have both in the ST (if there is one) or each other (whether there is one or not), that they are all there to have a good time and not screw each other over.

[Pavel]

@Testament said in What makes for satisfying story obstacles?:

@Pavel I think PC death is one of the most uncreative ways of suggesting failure and the easiest way of eliciting a negative connotation to failure. There are better ways to go about it. A setback is not always bad.

I disagree, but that is why I said it was an option rather than the only one.

[Testament]

@Pavel Just because I believe it’s not all that creative for a result, doesn’t mean it’s not viable, so in that respect I completely agree. I suppose I should’ve said it’s not the first option I reach for if at all possible.

[Pavel]

@Testament Oh, of course not. Though sometimes the actions of player characters make it inevitable - depending on the kind of game you’re running.

In D&D, for instance, death is on the table at my table. It’s not creative per see, but it gives the world a verisimilitude that adds to the satisfactory nature of a story. In the view of my players and me, of course.