Submitted by: Johnathon Wilson
One of the most important things about storytelling is being aware of the audience’s expectations, and then either fulfilling them or subverting them depending on the story.
You can all but guarantee that a Hallmark movie is going to be a paint-by-the-numbers three act story, where the protagonist and their love interest have a miscommunication at the end of act two that’s resolved in act three. That being said, people watch the crap out of those because sometimes people want the safety and familiarity of knowing what they’re going to get.
“Your genital warts enhance my pleasure. I WILL marry you!”
While I may personally want every romantic comedy to take a hard turn into sci-fi or horror, not everyone does, and that’s ok. It all comes down to knowing what your audience wants and then giving it to them, which is why I stress how important it is to know your audience before you do anything else.
When you have an idea of what your table is looking for, you can figure out how to give it to them, while also surprising them and keeping them excited. A lot of the how is going to depend on your players, and how much meta-knowledge they have about D&D in general. For instance, my players know a lot about the game and the books that accompany it. They’re familiar with various monsters' strengths/weaknesses, as well as the relative threat levels of said monsters, so I end up mixing in a bit of re-flavoring of monsters to catch them by surprise. This isn’t always necessary, and I’ll talk about how encounter design and dynamic terrain can keep combat fresh for even the most seasoned players in a future post. Now, let’s take a look at how to be aware of expectations on a macro level for your games.
When I say macro level, what I mean is the broader concept of your game and what kind of overall story is being told. It can help to be familiar with story-telling arcs in literature, but isn’t strictly necessary to run a fun game. For instance, most hero-based stories follow a common narrative arc where the hero overcomes challenges to grow and be better than they were at the beginning of the story. This occurs through establishing a baseline for the hero, introducing a catalyst (they find out they’re the chosen one, have latent magical powers, receive an offer they can’t refuse etc.), then the hero grows in power until they experience a major setback, which they then overcome in act three to complete their journey.
“At long last, I can jerk off with my left hand.”
I mention this because even if we can’t all articulate it, these are story beats we are all intimately familiar with. We have expectations that we’ve been taught for decades through every media source, and it can be helpful as a DM to take the time to consider where your story is at and where it’s going.
If you can successfully identify what kind of story your game has become, then you can also fundamentally alter that trajectory and surprise your players. I will say that big shifts like this are tougher than smaller level subversions, and require more preparation, but are still possible. Completely changing the course of a story/game like that requires that your players trust you, because depending on the execution it could feel cheap. To avoid this I would recommend only trying such dramatic shifts with more experienced players, or at the very least players who you have established a deep trust with.
The most crucial thing about macro level subversions is that they are built off the back of the information you present your players with during your sessions. You can have all the plans you want, but if you don’t provide the story breadcrumbs for your players then you won’t have the necessary story weight for your reveal.
Hansel and Gretel would come to regret leaving the forest.
An example of one of these macro subversions could be a story where your adventurers are hired by a guild or city to do various jobs, killing rats and whatnot, as they level up and ingratiate themselves into whatever the association is. You introduce the valiant leadership, be it a queen/king or headmaster, as well as their supporting cast which could include a blatantly villainous advisor. The expectation of that would be that the advisor seeks to undermine their ruler, thereby taking the throne on their own. As the heroes advance, they learn of a Serious Threat to the Kingdom, be it a nearby tribe of barbarians or devilish incursion. This is all fairly standard so far, but also leaves opportunities to change the underlying narrative into something new. Perhaps a very high perception check near the ruler (20+) allows the players to notice something off about said ruler, be it a strange tattoo behind the ear or on their wrist. Or perhaps a casting of Detect Magic reveals a necromantic aura around them, either way, some manner of breadcrumb so the clues COULD be found but aren’t guaranteed. From here you have the options of: ruler is secretly evil, ruler is secretly possessed, the advisor is actually a Good Guy, or the invasion is being done for different reasons that the heroes are told. You can tell any story you want and take whatever turns you want, as long as you put in the preparation and effort to earn those turns.
