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Lunchtime Poll #20: Bait & Switch

On Bait and Switch:
This can work, as long as the GM makes sure the characters remain cool. The focus should not shift to “explore this cool setting” without keeping the characters sharply in focus. Otherwise, you just feel disempowered.

Lunchtime Poll #20: Bait & Switch

You’ve got your character rolled up, a backstory with lots of plot hooks created, and you are perfectly equipped to survive in your environment. Only…you aren’t in your environment. Your GM has dropped you through a wormhole/dimension door/time warp/Stargate, and you are completely unprepared for so much as asking directions to the nearest bathroom-equivalent. From either a player or a GM perspective, discuss the pros and cons of a surprise setting switch.


This can work, as long as the GM makes sure the characters remain cool. The focus should not shift to “explore this cool setting” without keeping the characters sharply in focus. Otherwise, you just feel disempowered.

If at all possible, the GM should let the players know that this is going to happen during character-gen; let them know it’ll be a fish out of water experience and you’re golden.

The other difference is if this is the whole campaign, or if it’s just an interlude. If it’s a whole campaign, it’s more important that the players know that the work they did during character generation is going to be twisted. If it’s one element of a story (like a tournament in a Faerie realm in a straightlaced Pendragon campaign for example), then the switch can heighten the contrast, which can be wonderful for character development.