#RPGaDAY2023 Day 29: “Most memorable ENCOUNTER”

I feel as though I have already written about this topic, possibly on more than one occasion. But then memory is a tricky thing. The question that arises from this prompt is, “What do you mean by ‘encounter’?”

Cue the Angry GM:

“…give up any idea that an Encounter is anything more than the moment wherein you tell your players there’s something to interact with.”

The Angry GM, “How to Run Encounters… NOT!” (April 14, 2023)

You see, for years I had the notion that an Encounter is either a significant scene in which a fight is likely to happen (thanks, D&D) or a significant scene in which an NPC might reveal information.

But the most memorable moments in play are always unexpected. They occur when you give the players something to interact with and they do something you didn’t foresee.

As with the tales I’ve told during this #RPGaDAY sequence, a lot of the time the memorable encounters do involve violence. But I’ve fought a thousand battles that went how we expected (more or less) and don’t remember them. The difference is that the special events are memorable because we didn’t expect them.

Sometimes it’s the way a PC discovers a clue and uses it to great effect – such as when the party figured out the symbols on the pillars in the Dungeons of Thaarl and used them to solve more than one problem. Perhaps the GM didn’t expect that, or as a player we didn’t see that coming, so the memory is more sticky.

Memory is attached to our sensual experience of the moment, not least to the emotional content of the scene. When I’m in a heated and intense interaction with an NPC that works out differently to how I expected, then I remember it. Like I said, memory is a tricky thing… and often malleable.

Overall, what makes RPGs compelling is that I don’t know what unexpected things will happen. Neither can I make unexpected things happen – by definition. Thus, what I will remember the most from a given session, adventure, or campaign remains uncertain and nebulous.

And, boy, do I remember some nebulous and weird moments from play.

Game on!