I am a new Game Master (GM) and these posts are my way of explaining how I learned to GM, to share tips and tricks, and to teach you my mistakes so you don’t have to make them too. By no means am I an expert. I’m learning as I go and these are the lessons I’ve learned. I hope that you find them helpful, entertaining, and perhaps will inspire you to take the leap into becoming a GM.
Story hooks are the flavorful bait you dangle in front of your players in the hopes they take a bite and you can reel them into a story arc. They require rather little setup, but should flow well with whatever situation your players are in when you want to present it. You don’t necessarily want to drop a story hook in the middle of a mine your players are exploring it involves directly going somewhere else. But, you could tease a hook with an item that needs to be identified and that item is one of a legendary story that hints at a location your players could explore. Eventually this would lead to some sort of epic climax where your players either make a decision or face an enemy of some sort. You get the idea.
Hooks are just tidbits of information that are intriguing enough for your characters to pick them up. Sometimes they won’t. So, as a new GM, I’ve decided I can come up with as many hooks that make sense and figure out the rest along the way. Keeping things flexible allows for a more dynamic story and allows later story elements to adapt to player choices along the way. Perhaps they destroy the legendary artifact thinking it’s some sort of evil object. How would that effect the story along the way? Choices and consequences are what keeps players engaged. So far in the Fallen Star campaign, I have several hooks to drive the main plot (which the players have not uncovered yet, so you’ll have to wait for those, sorry). The first hook they discovered I dropped directly in their path: a note from someone named Hammer identifying the location of Project Hope and the fact they have fuel. This was found after four intruders literally crashed through the Project Hope gate, that had just been built, and subsequently dispatched by our heroes. While I don’t know if they will take the bait in reverse engineering directions to locate the source of the note, I kind of have a general idea of what I would do in the event they do take the bait, as it were. If they ignore it, I kind of have an idea of the events that would unfold as a consequence. Depending on what decision they make I can make an adaptive consequence. Remember, consequences don’t have to be negative.
Honestly, half the time I don’t even have to think about story hooks. Opportunities present themselves at every scene my players go through. I could have had Hammer arrive as part of the fight and escape in the truck as his allies started falling. This would tease the big encounter with Hammer and perhaps more forcefully draw the players to it. Instead, I opted for a prop. I printed out the note from Hammer, roughed up the paper a lot, tore it in places, dipped it in coffee to stain it a brownish color, tore too much of the note apart, then repeated the whole process again for a new note. The second note I took care of better to not rip too much information apart. Having two separate notes with varying amounts of information, I decided that if they failed their discovery, they would get the note with less information. They passed, so they got the one with more information. I didn’t even have to read it to them. I simply handed it to the player with the highest roll and said “You found this.” and let them read and decipher it. I opted for this type of hook since my players are new to RPG and I wanted to quickly immerse them in the world. So, I brought the world to them. I think I accomplished this as they were very shocked to have a physical piece of the game in their hands. They took a few minutes to try and read the note and then realize how much information they got from it.
Because I have time after players pick up on a hook, I can flesh out the next step of the arc. I’m curious to see how long I can stretch an arc before my players want to do something else. I guess I could always drop another hook to create a fork for the arc to keep things interesting. We shall see.
I hope you found some helpful information on story hooks. They are a great tool to keep players immersed and to see what your players react to. Remember, not having an entire plot arc outlined or complete doesn’t mean you can’t drop a hook in front of your players. Let them decide where the story goes. Let them experience the consequences of their choices. Let them drive the events. Your role is a judge in this story. Let it breathe.