GM Experiment: Kanban Encounters, Part One

Kanban is a lean-production technique used to maximize productive output while reducing overhead and bottlenecks. Kanban itself means "billboard," and that's part of the process -- the kanban practicioner tracks the progress of a production item via corkboard and note cards. When a product finishes one stage of production, it moves over into the next column, and then on to the next when that's complete, etc.

I'd like to adapt this technique to gamecraft.It's something that a player would probably never see, but I think it'd be a great way for a gamemaster to organize encounters. It seems like a good way to handle key plot events and balance them with enough idea creation (in whatever method you use) to know when you're done with planning and ready to spring them on the players.

This all sounds like a lot of work, and far less spontaneous than many people like to be around the table. In practice, it's fast. It's actually not a lot of work -- it's just a way of keeping track of what you're doing. It can be precisely as spontaneous as you wish, as you're the one taking the notes, deciding how much information you need to prepare yourself for a game, and when it's sufficiently done to move into its next column. The idea stays strongly in your mind because you've physically moved the card -- you've committed to moving an artifact, rather than just having a vague idea in your head or scribbled onto a notepad. That's why companies practicing "lean" production and "agile" development use it. I'm just extrapolating it from a work-management framework to a game-mastering framework.

A four-column arrangement would handle this fairly well, I think. The columns I'll use are Planning, Foreshadowing, Ready to Use, and Revisit. As I complete each step of the encounter, I'll move the card one step to the right on the kanban board. Also, I'll limit the number of cards that can occupy the board at any one time to seven. This will help me keep a number of irons in the fire, but will prevent me from losing focus or unraveling too many plot threads at a single time.

I'll present two different examples here, one for a story driven system (Vampire) and one for a more mechanically sustained system (D&D). I wouldn't keep these on the same board because I wouldn't want them confused. The fantasy scenario would be out of place in the Vampire chronicle, obviously.

Planning

At this stage, I'm still working on the idea. I take a note card and write a brief synopsis -- two words, nothing more than the barest bones of the idea -- and write it on the card. On the opposite side of the card, I'll place the encounter's notes as they come to me.

This card resides here until the planning is done. When I'm ready to start teasing it into play, I'll move it into the foreshadowing column, but I'm not there yet. I'm still making notes.

Example One: Vampire Chronicle

On the synopsis side of the card, I write "Blood Cult." On the back of the card, I scribble enough notes to give me substance to work with. I write "A powerful elder has been maintaining a cult of mortal worshipers and jeopardizing the Masquerade. That's all I need for the narrative style of play driving Vampire. I can drop the clue and see how the players react, so this is done. I move it over into the Foreshadowing column.

Example Two: D&D Campaign

On the synopsis side of the card, I write "Gnoll Ambush." On the back of the card, I jot down a small stat block for the gnolls, maybe a rough sketch of a map where the ambush might occur, any treasure, and the usual stuff I'll need for a combat scenario. However, I also not the gnolls' motivations -- they've been hired by a corrupt noble to put an end to the do-gooding party of adventurers. She liaises with the gnolls through a repulsive toady -- you don't think she'd talk to the creatures themselves, do you? Into the Foreshadowing column it goes.

On game night, I take the relevant card off the board, but I leave the pushpin where I removed it. This is to remind me where the card was, and give me the chance to consider its placement after the game.

Next, we'll cover the Foreshadowing stage. Stay tuned!