[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-153485-105":59,"doc-detail-153485-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-rumor-system-how-to-run-a-player-driven-campaign-with-rumors-and-gossip","The Rumor System - How to run a player-driven campaign with rumors and gossip","","The Rumor System helps game masters run more engaging campaigns by letting players collaboratively define the main plot outline. It reduces “murderhobo” behavior by giving players motivation and buy-in through anonymous rumor creation, voting, and follow-up gossip. Players write a rumor with a bad thing, its location, and why their characters care, then add additional gossip tied to the winning rumor. The game master uses the results to build a world that reflects players’ inner motivations and keeps everyone invested.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":30,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/technology/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-rumor-system-how-to-run-a-player-driven-campaign-with-rumors-and-gossip/153485/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-rumor-system-how-to-run-a-player-driven-campaign-with-rumors-and-gossip/153485.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Caleb Sterling","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-14","2026-08-28",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the core purpose of the Rumor System?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It lets players help outline the main plot while informing the game master about players’ motivations, making the game easier to run and more rewarding for everyone.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do players create a rumor in the system?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Each player writes a rumor with three parts: a bad thing happening or about to happen, the place it happens, and a reason why the player’s characters care.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What happens after the players vote on the rumors?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The game master announces the most-voted rumor, then players create gossip tied to it. The game master designs the campaign using the winning rumor and the additional gossip to enrich the world.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},153485,1787876926,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":29,"category_name":30,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":144},962084925290,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","The  \nRumor  \nSystem  \nWritten by Adam Johns and Adam Davis  \nConcept by  \nZachary Zelinski, Robert Craig, and Adam Johns  \nBrought to you by  \nWhy the Rumor System?  \nLet’s face it. Planning your campaign as a game master is hard work. The harrowing idea of walking into a game with very little planned is nearly as nightmare-inducing as the concept that you could spend hours crafting and designing a world only to have your players completely ignore your quest line in favor of the goofy made-up-on-the-spot half-orc that they met atthe town library.  \nOne of the most difficult aspects to being a game master is planning campaigns where players are constantly invested and engaged in the story and world. The Rumor System was created to solve that problem, as it allows the players to determine the outline of the main plot so that the game master doesn’t have to shoulder the entire burden. It also serves to inform the game master about the players’motivations so that they can continue to facilitate a mutually rewarding game.  \nNo More Murder Hobos!  \nGame masters often complain about their players abandoning the quest in order to wander around seemingly aimlessly, indesciminately stealing, killing, and sleeping in alleyways. i.e.,“murderhoboing.” The Rumor System addresses this issue by providing an opportunity for the players to share what motivates them. Most of the time, players “murderhobo” because they don’t care about the story or plot of the game. They’d deviate because they lack motivation and buy-in to follow the plot (or perhaps the path isn’t clear before them) . The Rumor System lets the plqyers decide what kind of game they want to play. Will it be a combat-heavy dungeon crawl? A twisting narrative of political intrigue? Both the rumor the players choose and the gossip they add to it reveals to the game master the players’inner motivations which will keep the players interested. Don’t skip the gossip! It will help everyone feel involved in the creation of the story and invested in the world  \n© 2018 Game to Grow 1  \nInstructions:  \n1. On a small piece of paper or handout, the players each create a rumor consisting of three parts:.  \n1. A bad thing that is happening or is about to happen  \n2. The place it is happening or is about to happen  \n3. A reason why they and their characters care about it  \n2. The Game Master collects the rumors and then shares them anonymously with the players.  \n3. The players then vote anonymously to decide which rumor they want to pursue. They can vote for two rumors, including their own.  \n4. The Game Master announces which rumor received the most votes. In the case of a tie, the Game Master can initiate a runoff vote, merge the two rumors into one, or flip a coin.  \n5. Each player then creates an additional piece of gossip relating to the winning rumor. This can be either anonymous or public.  \n6. The Game Master designes the campaign based on the winning rumor and incorporates each of the additional pieces of gossip into the world to help give it life and substance.  \n2 © 2018 Game to Grow  \nRumor Examples:  \nThere is an ogre attacking the town of Meradethia each night and the mayor is paying a hefty sum of money to anyone that can put an end to it.  \n• Bad thing: Ogre attacking people  \n• Place: Meradethia  \n• Reasion we care: A reward!  \nChildren have gone missing from the towns near lake Bemi.  \n• Bad thing: Children are going missing!  \n• Place: Near Lake Bemi  \n• Reasion we care: See bad thing.  \nThere is an ancient and powerful sword hidden in the mountains of Warmatak, but guarded by the mountain itself.  \n• Bad thing: There’s a powerful sword…and we don’t have it.  \n• Place: Warmatak Mountain  \n• Reasion we care: We want that sword!  \nIn the next town over there is a hat shop that is going out of business and wants help with its next advertising campaign.  \n• Bad thing: The hat shop is going out of business.  \n• Place: Nearby town  \n• Reasion we care: They are really nice hats made ","cbCailQSjxxphHcQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailQSjxxphHcQ","pdf",3484453,11,"English","# Why the Rumor System?\n## No More Murder Hobos!\n# Instructions\n## Rumor creation format\n## Collection, voting, and winner selection\n## Gossip and campaign design","[{\"question\":\"What is the core purpose of the Rumor System?\",\"answer\":\"It lets players help outline the main plot while informing the game master about players’ motivations, making the game easier to run and more rewarding for everyone.\"},{\"question\":\"How do players create a rumor in the system?\",\"answer\":\"Each player writes a rumor with three parts: a bad thing happening or about to happen, the place it happens, and a reason why the player’s characters care.\"},{\"question\":\"What happens after the players vote on the rumors?\",\"answer\":\"The game master announces the most-voted rumor, then players create gossip tied to it. The game master designs the campaign using the winning rumor and the additional gossip to enrich the world.\"}]","The Rumor System - How to run a player-driven campaign with rumors and gossip | PDF",28]