I’m having some trouble around stakes that involve NPCs. For instance, I was reading the stakes that Kasper Brohus wrote for his one shot (posted in this forum) that said “What did Olive, the mayors daughter, find out that got her killed?”. Stakes are supposed to be out of your hands once you write them. But how are the actions of the NPCs out of your hands?
I’m having some trouble around stakes that involve NPCs.
I’m having some trouble around stakes that involve NPCs.
Stakes just set up the fiction. For example:
Olive found out that her father was cheating on her mother with one of her friends. Olive confronted her friend and her friend accidentally killed her in a scuffle.
The stakes have created the situation, but how the NPCs react to that situation. The PCs might meet the murderess, Olive’s friend. The answer to the stakes doesn’t dictate how that encounter goes, only who the responsible part is.
Does that make more sense?