Banter in Destroyer of Worlds for ALIEN

I’ve just started running Destroyer of Worlds for ALIEN, and one thing I used when I started Chariot of the Gods is banter.

I first heard about banter on 1shotadventures.com (which learned about it in MacDeath—‘Professor DungeonMaster’ talks about the idea six minutes in to the video). 

Essentially, rather than the GM providing a load of background info, the players are given 4-6 bullet points of things they have learned. They then roleplay this out and drop the information into conversation. (They need not give the information out in order—as long as it all goes out.)

(Note this is not the Banter talent, this is something completely different.)

So, this is the banter I provided for the start of Destroyer of Worlds (very minor spoilers):

Player 1

• Ariarcus is cold. We should be just fine if we keep ourselves wrapped up.
• Major Hatfield has confirmed we can call in an airstrike or an emergency extraction through him. If he authorizes it, of course.
• Has anyone heard anything about the Oblivion bar or the spaceport?
• Colonel Myers has poisoned Ariarcus’ petrol deposits with oil-eating bacteria.
• The Oblivion bar is on the way to the spaceport. Let’s start there.

Player 2

• Ariarcus is an oil town. I was here a year ago—1-2 metre diameter pipelines are everywhere. Don’t shoot at them—they may explode!
• The manager of The Eye of Oblivion is a former pleasure synthetic.
• The Conestoga-class medical frigate Monygham is berthed at the spaceport.
• The UPP use antique combat synthetics, but they’re poorly maintained.
• The spaceport is locked down tight.

Player 3

• A storm front is mounting. I hope that doesn’t mean a blizzard.
• Watch out for insurgents loyal to the UPP. Stay on your guard. 
• The UPP are on their way. It’s only a matter of time before they invade.
• Oil-eating bacteria was developed by Weyland Yutani. It’s a nightmare and creates a silty shit that tastes like brake dust. Too much, and you start hacking up blood.

If I had more players, I would spread the bullet points out (so each player would have fewer nuggets of information).

How did it work?

Really well. The players embraced the bullets and we shared information interactively rather than me just reading to them. It was one of the highlights of the first session.

In MacDeath, this technique is used throughout the scenario. However, I didn’t do that for Chariot of the Gods and I’m not sure I will do it for Destroyer of Worlds. But it’s now part of my GM toolbox I wouldn’t be without.