Part Two: Raccoon Wrangler¶

So, you drew the short straw, eh? Here’s some advice on running a game session.

Safety¶

Everyone at the table, players and you, the raccoon wrangler (RW), should feel safe exploring themes, characters, and storylines that might fall outside everyday topics of conversation. RWs and players should discuss what themes or topics will be in the game, won't ever be in the game, and might be in the game but only in passing.

Everyone at the table must feel comfortable saying and allowing others to say “pause” to take a break, “rewind” to revisit a previous situation or decision, and, most importantly, “stop” without fear of judgment if something in the conversation or game makes them uncomfortable. If a “stop” is called, drop that topic from the game and steer the narrative to a different situation; don't debate its merits.

Golden Rules¶

People Matter More Than Games
Fun Matters More Than Rules
Make Choices Important

Improvisation¶

First up, this is all improv. Improvisation is simply the act of making something up on the spot. In role-playing games, improvisation allows RWs to create responses to player actions and events in the game narrative that they didn’t anticipate. If you can think on your feet and devise creative solutions to problems, you can keep your game moving forward and enjoyable even when things don’t go as planned.

“As a GM [aka, raccoon wrangler] trying to bring actor-style improv to your game, it’s your job to say “yes” whenever a player makes an offer and to encourage the other players to make and accept offers as well.”

Never question the whole raccoon thing—play it straight. Run with the hijinks that the players dream up and throw zany encounters and odd situations in their way. Make your players make lots and lots of important decisions.

So, when do you roll the dice? I’ll continue quoting Filamena Young’s advice. The emphasis is mine.

“There will be times when you’ll have to say “no” or otherwise not accept an offer. … In improv theatre, this is called “blocking,” and it isn’t conducive to advancing the story or improving the show. However, you have something that actors don’t have! You have dice. As soon as someone blocks an offer, you have a conflict in the game. … Pick up the dice and find out.”

Never block your players as an RW. If something is risky or uncertain, let the dice decide. Otherwise, just let it happen. “Yes, and” is your tool, never “no.” Let a dice roll decide “no,” then spin the results back into more hijinks and more decisions.

Complications¶

When the players accept a partial success with a complication on a dice role, it’s your turn to shine. Your players are essentially telling you, “Bring it on!” Complications increase the stakes and add interesting twists to the narrative.

You can always default to adding a point of stress to the raccoons, but introducing additional obstacles and circumstances to the narrative is fun. You can add a new threat, like a big dog sniffing around. Split the party (clunk, the dumpster lid closed), use up their gear (ugh, the beer bottles shattered when you bounced over that speed bump), or give them an ongoing condition, like the munchies (they really, really need to find that food!).

Make your complications fun, odd, and essential. Bring it on!

Structure¶

The game session will likely go something like this:

The smack wakes up at night in a log, ditch, or somesuch in a large urban setting, ready for adventure.
Introduce everyone and look over their backstories for ideas. Important: always address your players using their raccoon names.
The smack sets out to find gear and beverages—hijinks.
The smack steals a car—hijinks.
The smack races their rivals—hijinks.

Place this in an actual city¶

Pick a city you all know well. Google Maps Street View is now your friend and battle map.

Find an actual park, riverside, or wooded section of the city to serve as a starting location for your adventure. Then use Street View to find likely nearby dumpster locations and parking lots. Zoom in to pick fancy, racy-looking cars parked in those lots. Find some twisting stretches of isolated roads on Google Maps to stage the race.

Always tie the action and encounters to your actual city and its local flavor and locations. The authenticity of raccoons digging in actual dumpsters and driving cars on real roads makes for enjoyable sessions. “Oh yeah, I see a convenience store three blocks over. They have a big orange dumpster on Street View. Let’s head there. Yes, and you’ll have to run across a busy highway. But there is a clump of trees in the median. Wow. Check out that Corvette in the parking lot.”

Set the whole adventure during a Spring Break weekend or at some city-wide festival or sporting event location. That’ll provide lots of potential beer and inebriated tourists to interact with for the smack.

I guarantee you’ll always smile whenever you go past a location from the game in real life.

Conducting a race¶

The fun of the car race is the chaos that ensues from the simultaneous reveals of driving actions. The players must never coordinate or collaborate on these moves.

You might randomly determine the opponent’s driving actions or direct it manually as you see fit to maximize the chaos and challenge. Throw obstacles in the path of the player’s car and add twists and turns in the racecourse. Go big, go gonzo—jumps, cars ramming each other, destruction derby, attackers leaping onto other cars.

Don’t play crashes realistically—add a point of stress to all the raccoons in the car, then describe sideswipes, dented fenders, scratched paint, and flying sparks. Add a complication or require some outcome rolls, but keep the action and the race moving.

Use toy cars and draw a racecourse on paper for in-person play or load up a virtual tabletop with car tokens for an online session. Move the length of the car for each accumulated acceleration action. Wing it and make it fun!

Tables¶

Here are a few random tables to jumpstart your creativity.

What kind of beer?

2d6	Beer
2	Ugh! Skunked
3–5	Light
6–9	IPA
10–11	Dark
12	Ugh! Some fruity mess

Have the munchies?

d6	Desired Food
1	Cheetos
2	Donuts
3	Hot wings
4	Ice cream
5	Pizza
6	Tacos

Trouble?

d6	Trouble
1	Mean kids
2	Drunk college students
3	Puzzled cops
4	Rival smack
5	A slavering dog
6	Animal control hell-bent on catching you

The reaction of the human or other animal?

2d6	Reaction
2–4	Friendly
5-9	Indifferent
10–12	Unfriendly

What’s this human’s attitude?

2d6	Reaction
2	Mean
3–4	Bored
5–9	Stupid
10–11	Nice
12	Drunk

Opponent’s race car?

d6	Type	Color
1	Tokyo drifter	Striped
2	Convertible Volkswagen Bug	Art car
3	Monster truck	Camo
4	Lamborghini	Candy red
5	Muscle car belching flame	Silver
6	Mad Max battle wagon with grappling hook cannon	Rusty

Contact¶

I’d enjoy hearing how your sessions go or if you have any questions or comments.

Cheers,

Zachary Taylor
April 2023
Mastodon: @joemoose@dice.camp