A lot of folks have commented on the difficulty of building suspense and even dread and terror in their TTRPG games. Whether you are in the horror genre, the political saga, or even the cyberpunk realm, there is a lot that can be learned from a simple jenga tower, like that used in Dread to build suspense.
Starting a game of Jenga means building a stable tower, pushing the blocks together, clearing the gaps, making things straight. Similarly, in a game with suspense, things usually start out OK for the PCs. Everyone is pretty much happy with them and they are pretty happy with everyone. The more important part of this stage is building the layers that will make up the basis of the jenga tower. Someone is going to pull the first block out of that tower, usually the bad buys, and this is going to set the party in motion. Once in motion, for vengeance, good will, fame, or fortune, the party needs to start pulling more blocks out, sometimes on accident and sometimes on purpose.
The preparation at this level means putting in groups with competing goals. Many of these folks would probably like to have help from the party, but none of them will like their rivals gaining help from the party. What this ultimately means is that either one faction or another is going to be wronged, forcing the party to pull out another block. Political factions, religious factions, the thieves' guild, the Harpers, the bandits, the mining and merchant interests, the bankers, the poor, the rich, and the blue bloods, all represent people that will have innate conflict that can be used to interact with the party.
The midgame pulling of blocks is all about pace. Each piece that is drawn must have a consequence incoming, sometimes known, sometimes unknown. Sometimes the party will have to react immediately; sometimes the party will feel a deadline growing more near; sometimes the party won't understand what is going on. In some cases, one faction will force the party's hand into drawing yet another block. As time goes one, the party needs to feel this impending dread of angered factions preparing to fall on them. This is a good time for some combats, some ambushes, some social interactions, but ultimately all of them can't so easily end the problems with the various factions. And somewhere in the middle of this heap of interaction should be the party's goal. When the party aligns with the guard to fight bandits, the bandits will now hunt the party, and now the thieves' guild is angered. When the party backs the wealthy young duke to take power, the old money in town puts a price on the party's head. When the party backs the military at the request of the king to deflect the oncoming orc hoard, the military commander becomes jealous of their influence and puts them in the front to be killed. All these machinations build the suspense.
End game means the blocks are going to start falling. Impending doom is coming for them. The PCs may need to retreat, to hide, or even find more allies. This is the turning point in the plot. It is the point where the sky grows dark, lightning strikes, and evil is bearing down to destroy the party. This is where heroes are defined. The army of the dead is marching towards the city. Mephistopheles has been raised and is preparing to take everyone's soul. Tiamat is coming to destroy the city and take her thrown. The king has captured the party and ordered them executed at dawn.
At the very end of jenga, the blocks fall and the game is over. In our little game of suspense, there will always be a final showdown. This is where things come together, allies rally, and the big bad wizard is revealed to be a man behind the curtain. This is where Gandalf appears with the riders on the eastern hill and take down the orc army. There is usually a fight, a big fight, and the winner is determined. To make this party worthwhile, there must be a real chance of failure. Let the PCs sacrifice themselves for the cause. Let the monk jump on the dragons back to drop the bag of alchemist's fire into its mouth and be blown to bits. Let the paladin jump in front of the princess to save her from the disintegration beam. Let the party wizard fall down the crevasse and fight the Balrog while falling. Let all the pieces come to play, so the end can be final. Then, in the very end, tell them how the world becomes by the success or failure of their deeds. And then, take a breath, and start the next story.
Starting a game of Jenga means building a stable tower, pushing the blocks together, clearing the gaps, making things straight. Similarly, in a game with suspense, things usually start out OK for the PCs. Everyone is pretty much happy with them and they are pretty happy with everyone. The more important part of this stage is building the layers that will make up the basis of the jenga tower. Someone is going to pull the first block out of that tower, usually the bad buys, and this is going to set the party in motion. Once in motion, for vengeance, good will, fame, or fortune, the party needs to start pulling more blocks out, sometimes on accident and sometimes on purpose.
The preparation at this level means putting in groups with competing goals. Many of these folks would probably like to have help from the party, but none of them will like their rivals gaining help from the party. What this ultimately means is that either one faction or another is going to be wronged, forcing the party to pull out another block. Political factions, religious factions, the thieves' guild, the Harpers, the bandits, the mining and merchant interests, the bankers, the poor, the rich, and the blue bloods, all represent people that will have innate conflict that can be used to interact with the party.
The midgame pulling of blocks is all about pace. Each piece that is drawn must have a consequence incoming, sometimes known, sometimes unknown. Sometimes the party will have to react immediately; sometimes the party will feel a deadline growing more near; sometimes the party won't understand what is going on. In some cases, one faction will force the party's hand into drawing yet another block. As time goes one, the party needs to feel this impending dread of angered factions preparing to fall on them. This is a good time for some combats, some ambushes, some social interactions, but ultimately all of them can't so easily end the problems with the various factions. And somewhere in the middle of this heap of interaction should be the party's goal. When the party aligns with the guard to fight bandits, the bandits will now hunt the party, and now the thieves' guild is angered. When the party backs the wealthy young duke to take power, the old money in town puts a price on the party's head. When the party backs the military at the request of the king to deflect the oncoming orc hoard, the military commander becomes jealous of their influence and puts them in the front to be killed. All these machinations build the suspense.
End game means the blocks are going to start falling. Impending doom is coming for them. The PCs may need to retreat, to hide, or even find more allies. This is the turning point in the plot. It is the point where the sky grows dark, lightning strikes, and evil is bearing down to destroy the party. This is where heroes are defined. The army of the dead is marching towards the city. Mephistopheles has been raised and is preparing to take everyone's soul. Tiamat is coming to destroy the city and take her thrown. The king has captured the party and ordered them executed at dawn.
At the very end of jenga, the blocks fall and the game is over. In our little game of suspense, there will always be a final showdown. This is where things come together, allies rally, and the big bad wizard is revealed to be a man behind the curtain. This is where Gandalf appears with the riders on the eastern hill and take down the orc army. There is usually a fight, a big fight, and the winner is determined. To make this party worthwhile, there must be a real chance of failure. Let the PCs sacrifice themselves for the cause. Let the monk jump on the dragons back to drop the bag of alchemist's fire into its mouth and be blown to bits. Let the paladin jump in front of the princess to save her from the disintegration beam. Let the party wizard fall down the crevasse and fight the Balrog while falling. Let all the pieces come to play, so the end can be final. Then, in the very end, tell them how the world becomes by the success or failure of their deeds. And then, take a breath, and start the next story.
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