Gamers love to tell stories of games past. If you get a group of us together, it can sometimes be more difficult to stop the swapping of gaming stories. Much like books and movies, the stories we play out leave behind moments that stick in our heads for years to come.

What I've long wondered, however, is what exactly is it that creates one of these moments? Do we remember our characters' triumphs? What about those of other characters? Are we more likely to remember a time of great action, or the calm before the storm?

In the years that I've been pondering these questions, I've run many different games, and experimented with several ways of making my games more memorable for my players. How could I figure out which ones worked? Well, recently, I simply asked my guinea pigs... er... players what they remembered. In this post I'll talk about what they said, and the lessons I learned.

Answer Me These Questions... Two

Not long ago, I chose four players who had all been a part of three recent games. Two each separately in games A and B, and all four together in game C. I emailed each player a set of questions, and asked them to give answers for the two out of three games they'd each played in. I also asked them not to discuss their answers with each other before sending them out.

1. What events from the games you were in stick in your head?
2. What images from the games you were in are particularly memorable? Despite the word 'images' this doesn't necessarily have to be just visual stuff.

My idea here was that I'd get an idea of what each player independently remembered about the game. Would they remember the same things? If they remembered different aspects of the game, could I find patterns? I wanted to ask a lot more questions, but I thought my players would be more likely to respond if I just sent two.

The Games

First, a quick overview of the games. We'll go in order from oldest to newest:

Narojaan

For this game, I picked an as-yet unexplored region of our campaign world that looked interesting. I gave it a patchwork of cultures (depending on the location) reminiscent of either Indian or Aztec. I then gave the players a charge from their Empire to be the official exploration team for that new region.

This was probably my first attempt at a "sandbox game." The player's didn't have an explicit quest or goal, and they could choose to explore whatever they wanted. I tried to play up the exotic culture and wild jungle setting. Unfortunately, it also ended up being the first and only TPK of my GMing career.

GR 2072

This was our group's foray into the latest edition of Shadowrun. I set this game in a future version of our local town, instead of the traditional Seattle. It made for an interesting combination of the futuristic and real-life.

As I previously mentioned, in this game I was trying to enhance the sense that the players were in an action/kung-fu/heist movie. Explosions were bigger, hits were bloodier, and mayhem was... mayhemier? Sessions seemed to alternate between planning out a run in exquisite detail, and then completely throwing out that plan when the drek hit the fan.

Exiles' Journey

In the recent years, I've tended to eschew the epic quest game in favor of more small scale heroism. In my latest game, however, I left small scale in the dust. It all began with four members of a nomadic caravan being exiled for one character's crime of murder.

The characters were sent by a mentor figure to bring a statue to another, related caravan where they might find a home. Things quickly went from bad to worse, however, as more and more bizarre events began to occur. Finally, the characters learned that the statue was merely a container for a dark item. The characters were tasked with bringing the statue to a group that could contain its power.

The Answers

In lieu of actually posting all the answers, I'm going to attempt to condense them here. I won't be able to fit in everybody's answers, but I'll try to get as many as possible. For each game, I'll give a brief synopsis of what people remembered. Later, I'll say a bit about the patterns I see in all these.

Narojaan

The player whose character had been appointed leader of the expedition remembered simply being appointed to that position, and some of the logistical tasks he had to take in hand due to that position. He also had a strong memory of a meeting his character had led with the local emissary of their Empire in an "Officer's Club." Finally, since his character was only one of two that survived, he remembered his frantic escape and eventual capture.

The other player had played a blind swordsman. In one scene in a large city he had payed a local boy to act as a guide. He asked the boy to take him to the greatest smells in the city. Not only did the player remember the incident, but he also remembered where the boy took his character, and even what those places smelled like!

GR 2072

In this game, both players remembered a scene in a hotel. The players had been paid to act as a second level of protection (unknown to the local security officers) by a witness in an organized crime trial. As the hacker sat unconscious in the bathroom, the mage and physical adept fought a nearly invulnerable troll, while a helicopter outside filled the room with a spray of bullets from a chain gun.

The hacker's player remembered his character sitting vulnerable and oblivious as the room was torn to shreds around him. The mage's character, meanwhile, remembered the "oh drek" moment when a third character, a physical adept, hit the troll as hard as she could without making a dent. He also recollected, later, magically picking up that same troll and dropping him onto a van, nearly killing him.

Other memories included:

• Giving some random folks a free hotel room as a lure to try to catch people who were hunting the group.
• Turning the tables on some punks robbing a store by stealing their car.
• Finding a route through the sewers with which they could break into a secure lab.
• The climactic battle on top of a local building.

Exiles' Journey

By far the events in this game that had the most impact were the final couple scenes. These involved the fantasy characters retreating from a massive swarm of undead into a cave. Inside this cavern, they essentially found the abandoned ruins of a modern city. The "shock" of realizing what I was describing, and how it conflicted with the fantasy setting seemed to burn this scene into their minds, because it was listed by all four players.

An almost unanimous memory was the player's meeting at the second caravan in the wagon of the sage. He inducted them into a secret order, and told them the truth about what they were carrying. In the process, the characters were obligated to swear an oath bound by a geas, and, in some cases, very non-heroic characters were forced to ponder how much they would give up to save the world.

Another widely mentioned event was their eventual journey through a portal in the ruins to (what we would know to be) a space station above the planet. Almost everybody mentioned the image of their characters looking down upon the earth from above. In addition, the characters' confrontation in a valley with a skeletal knight leading an undead army was nearly unanimous.

Finally, one player described his vivid recollection of this game's transition away from the character's carefree life. His character was ejected from normalcy first into a mundane conflict, and finally into a struggle for the fate of the world. He was the one player who didn't mention the oath to join the order, so it seems that this was his character's transition instead.

What Have We Learned Here?

I have to say, these answers were really fun to read, and I would have enjoyed it immensely even if I had learned nothing. As it happens, though, I was able to glean quite a bit from the patterns in what my players remembered.

Point of View

The very first thing that jumped out at me was that everybody remembered things from the point of view of their characters. This is not trivial! Not a single person mentioned something for which his character wasn't present. In fact, there were only a couple times anybody mentioned another character at all:

• Oh $#!t: If they can't hurt the troll, I'm screwed!
• Conflict: Trying to convince a balking character of what must be done.

In other words, even when the memories mentioned another PC, it was really in relation to their own character! This was one of the most interesting things I noticed among the answers.

Out of the Ordinary

Several of the things my players remembered were not your everyday RPG fare. For instance, I've never before or since had to narrate what a blind character might experience while being taken to the best smells in a city. That was also the only time I've included a modern element like the city or the space station in a fantasy setting.

Context Switch

Players also seem to remember the times when the context of a game changes. For example, the eureka moment of figuring out what's going on. Other similar times would be the switch from mundane to magical, a change in the direction of the story, or a flip in perspective in which the player sees his character's situation differently.

Cognitive Dissonance

Inviting a clash between what the player knows and what the character experiences seems to burn the situation into the player's memory. An example here would be the trip through the "modern" ruins, and the voyage to the space station. In GR 2072, this occurred when the characters fought to stop a magical ritual atop one of our local landmarks. Both of these showed up strongly in the memories mentioned.

Position

The players also seemed to remember being given a place in the game world. This remained true whether the position was as leader of an expedition, or being inducted into a secret society. Perhaps this gave the players a personal hook into the game?

Sensory Overload

A big part of the GM's job is describing what's happening to the characters. However, I've developed a gimmick that when something special happens, I'll very intentionally give way more sensory detail. I've long wondered whether this works to make the scene more vivid for the players, and these results seem to bear that out.

I specifically remember using this trick in several of the above-mentioned events. In the Narojaan game, I used this in the meeting at the Officer's Club and the "scents of the city" incident. I tried it in the helicopter attack and the fight atop the building in GR 2072. Finally, in Exiles' Journey, I used it in the oath, and dead city scenes.

Tricksy Hobbitses

For some reason, players seem to especially remember "pulling one over" on NPCs. Even more than physically defeating a foe, tricking or out-thinking them just seems to be more memorable. I have no idea why this is, but I think three of the four respondents mentioned this in one game or another.

Tension

A feeling of tension also appears to be conducive to remembering an event. For instance, the tension of deciding whether to take the oath to the secret order in exchange for finding out what was going on, or exploring a creepy abandoned city in Exiles' Journey. Also, the simple sense of danger in the GR 2072 fight in the hotel room, or in the Narojaan game as the leader character ran for his life.

How Can We Use All This?

Knowing that all these might make a scene more memorable to the players, we can intentionally use them in our games. First and foremost, keep in mind the player's Point of View. Make sure all the characters are present for stuff you want to be memorable. If these results bear out, a player is highly unlikely to remember something for which his character wasn't present.

Another easy method is to use my Sensory Overload trick. Also, presenting story elements whose true nature and importance are only later apparent will set you up for that eureka moment, which seems to make a big impact. I'm sure you can think of a million ways to trigger the situations I mentioned, even if it's just letting your players trick the NPCs sometimes.

However, keep in mind that none of this is foolproof. I particularly remember using Sensory Overload once in GR 2072 that was not mentioned by either player here. Although, as I think about it now, the focus of that particular description was upon a character whose player was not among my test subjects, so I may have run afoul of the Point of View rule.

More Questions

Like any good experiment, I'm probably left with more questions than answers. For instance, when I mentioned these questions to my wife, who happened to be in the Shadowrun game, one of the first things she mentioned was the mage dropping the troll on a van. In other words, unlike all four of the "official" respondents, she mentioned something cool that somebody else did. Did I not give her character enough cool stuff to do? Does my wife pay more attention at the table to what everybody else does? Are women in general more likely to remember the cool stuff other people do than men (all four of my "official" test subjects were male)?

This is the End, My Only Friend, the End

Even if you don't intend on analyzing the results to death as I've done, I highly recommend you ask your players what they remember about your games. Not only is it great fun, but it's also a great way to walk down memory lane yourself. Even better if you learn something from it! Thanks to Bryan, Charlie, Justin, and Matt for acting as guinea pigs for this post!

Did you notice other patterns in the players' recollections? Do you have other ideas for creating a memorable scene? Do you think I'm waaay over-thinking something that's "just a game"? (If so you're probably reading the wrong blog!) Let us know in the comments!