The first prompt of #RPGaDAY2021 is "Scenario." As a player, I enjoy a lot of things about RPGs, but more than any of them is interesting character interaction. Interactions between PCs and recurring NPCs or interactions between PCs. When I'm involved in a session, what I most want to see is the idiosyncratic way a particular character deals with a situation, how they express themselves, through the mind of one of my friends. A lot of what I talk about when I talk about RPGs are my personal preferences, FYI, so fair warning! There are multiple other things I enjoy about RPGs that mostly rank a touch lower in the hierarchy of my, umm "RPG desires." Anyways, how does any of this tie into today's prompt?

The Scenario... what is it? I generally conceive of it as a situation that the GM intends the Players to get caught up in and explore, perhaps resolve. That situation can be laid out in a published adventure, improvised by a GM on the spot or with the assistance of random tables, or be a fleshed out premise of the GMs invention, perhaps influenced by previous events in the campaign, and so on. A scenario can come with a lot of prepared content (maps, schedules of events, locations of treasures, perhaps whole character and region histories and statistics), or be just the barest premise for the PCs to do with what they will ("It's Christmas with your superhero friends, but this year your parents who don't know about your powers showed up unexpectedly!") A successful scenario to me is one in which everyone is interested in exploring it, and then the engagement with it was enjoyably memorable.

What are some things players enjoy in scenarios?

1. The Player was confronted with a situation they could address as a challenge to be defeated. They enjoy engaging with the challenge as a Player, using the tools available to their Character and the environment.
2. The Player is intrigued by a curious mystery or interesting fictional element and want to figure out what is going on.
3. The Player's Character has a story or goal, and the situation seems like it could further reveal that story or be used to move closer to the goal.
4. The Player is entertained by the characters in the scenario or the situation in general, and enjoys having their Character interact with the characters and situation.

This is a broad, by no means intended as comprehensive, list. What the list shows though, is that you can see how not all of these elements will (or can) be represented in every scenario. To speak personally, I can enjoy all 4 of the things on my ad hoc list, but if I'm missing #4 frequently I will tend to enjoy my RPGing less. That means if I'm playing a dungeon crawl style scenario with a group of players that prioritize #1, and the dungeon doesn't contain inhabitants my character can speak to (or that other players would be willing to humor me speaking to), it has a decent chance of being dull for me. Likewise, a scenario like I sketched out above, a Christmas time scenario where a super hero someone's unknowing parents show up, could be deadly dull for a player that is disappointed when Dr. Evil doesn't show up and the whole game is just a meal with a little bit of drama and a couple touching moments.

Bottom Line: Do I have a bottom line here? I guess it is that good players and good GMs try to understand each other and what they enjoy about this hobby. It seems so often we just play without giving much conscious thought to this, or ever really having conversations with each other about it. Crafting a good scenario for your group involves providing a reasonably balanced blend of those particular elements your players enjoy. I've played with great GMs who can make this happen almost intuitively, but don't be afraid to make it an out loud conversation. We're all playing to have fun, and it's great to know how we can each make it fun for each other.