Thanks to Timothy Walsh for the comment that inspired this post!

Roleplaying games are my favorite way of telling stories. Getting a bunch of people together and building a world and a narrative together–I’ve been hooked on it since my first (rather crummy) games in high school. But figuring out how to tell a story together in a way that’s satisfying for everyone can feel kind of daunting. And, as I’ve learned while GMing for the Magpies, it’s even more daunting when you know there’s a wider audience than just your players invested in the story.

Ultimately, though, the solution is pretty simple. We just talk things out.

When we first started, I asked everyone what kinds of stories they were interested in telling, in a high-level way. And it quickly became clear, from both the players’ direct answers and from the characters they built, that we were all interested in stories about fighting back against oppression and corruption. So instead of using the standard War in Crow’s Foot starting scenario, I came up with a couple of do-gooder reporters investigating a secret society of power-hungry nobles, and we were off to the races.

Now, Blades being what it is, if my players hadn’t been interested in that plot, they could have gone chasing off after something else. Which would have been fine! But I felt pretty confident they’d be interested in it, because of our conversations before we started playing.

As we’ve continued to play, I’ve been pretty open about my plans and plots. I usually don’t come up with specifics for more than a few episodes in advance, and I make sure to let everyone know what I’m planning for next time–or if I don’t have any plans and want them to tell me where we’re going! The players are also open about what they want to do or see happen for their characters. The Blaire & Setarra arc came at Kim’s request, for example, and we’ve worked together a lot behind the scenes to discuss how that’s going to play out.

I’m sure some fellow GMs are cringing a bit reading this. One of the best parts of being the GM is the dramatic reveal: pulling off some awesome plot twist that your players genuinely don’t see coming. It’s a great feeling! And I don’t tell my players everything. The plotline with Rigney in Season 2, for example, took them completely by surprise. And it felt really good to hear those genuine reactions. I’d made characters and told a story that they really, really cared about, and they felt the gut punch of his actions.

However. Surprises always carry some risk. With that plotline, I felt pretty confident in how the players would react and how the narrative would be handled. But there have been other times when my surprise plots didn’t quite work. For example, when the Magpies went into the Deathlands, I had a very different plot in mind for the house they explored. But one of the players X-carded the idea as soon as I began to introduce it, so I had to quickly come up with something else. The episode was still great and I don’t regret the change at all. But in the moment, it was a bit of a scramble, and it caused everyone a bit of stress.

Dramatic reveals can be awesome, but in my mind, it’s more important to make sure everyone is on board with the story that we’re telling. It makes for a better game and a better narrative long-term–and that lasts a lot longer than the feeling of pulling off a good surprise.

So if you feel like your group struggles with telling a cohesive story or if you’re not getting what you want out of the plot, talk about it! Do some plotting and planning as a group. Have check-ins to make sure everyone knows where you’re going, and if there are any particular detours they want to take on the way. It makes the journey a lot more fun that way.