Running the Campaign: The Stinger

A 'stinger' is a post-credits scene in a film or tv series. During my ongoing Ptolus campaign (we just had our 11th session and will be on break in a few weeks to come back in April, I just haven't kept up with session reports) I stumbled on a use for this in RPGs. I don't recall where I picked it up, but the idea is simple enough. At the end of a session, pull away from the PCs to show a short scene elsewhere, something the PCs do not know about. It is entirely meta-knowledge. 

An example: a few weeks ago, after the party defeated a district boss of the Killraven Crime League, Durant the Stink Man, I pulled away to crimelord Kevris Killraven's secret lair, where the remaining boss the party had let go was begging for his life. I wrote the whole thing out.

A woman sits on a majestic throne before a roaring fire, in a secret keep deep below the city of Ptolus. A portly dwarf, Dollin Ebonhome, the head of the Killraven operation in North Market, kneels at her side, bloody and beaten. 

"It was all Durant's idea! Please!"

The woman contemplates the fire, and sips mead from a goblet. "North Market was your turf, Dollin. Why was Durant acting as he pleased there, without you doing anything?" The goblet is made from a dwarven skull. 

"I just needed help making collections, he- he just got out of contro-" The snout of a gold-plated dragon pistol presses to his forehead.

"Tell me again how things got out of your control."

"MISTRESS KILLRAVEN!"

A bang fills the chamber. The dwarf's brains coat the rug. 

Behind the throne, something, something tall, with the long arms of an ape and the eyes of a goat and the teeth of a wood chipper leans down and slurps out the remains. 

"Get this to Korben in South Market. I'm sure he could use the ... motivation. Then convene the Pactlords for tomorrow night, and make an example of Durant's worms. We make our move on Godsday. And see to it that these mice don't make any more trouble."

The thing's shape melts and reforms like water, into a young woman with red hair and an impish smile—Tellith Herdsman. Then into a diminutive, wiry gnome—Anageo Quigg—and again into an elderly woman, the Administration building requisitions officer. On the table before them are four dossiers.

Jaiden Cunningham: ELIMINATION

Miranir: ELIMINATION

Dmitree: ELIMINATION

Lucien Chenier: ELIMINATION

This is much longer than I would recommend making a stinger, and now I no longer plan them out very much or write them out. Still, it worked. It gave the players some meta-information, namely that the other boss was dead, that the captured gangsters would be executed (as they found out the next morning from the newspapers) that the plot they'd been told about was ongoing, and they got a look at a secretive villain. Plus, it set up a new intermediate villain, the ogre mage mercenary KILLBOSS, who the party actually dealt with and defeated not long later, but at a high price. Without that setup, he would have just come out of nowhere, but with it, his sudden appearance in the middle of a dungeon made more sense; not to the PCs, but to the players.

This information was largely non-actionable, and I trust my players well enough not to go trying to pass this off as in-character knowledge. This allows me to build dread and tension without having to worry immediately about PC reaction. In last session's stinger, I told the party how, the very same night they were living it up in Castle Shard, rubbing shoulders with high society, a young, ragged woman in the slums was hunted and eaten by a black dragon. This is setting up yet another intermediate villain. I think that's where this technique shines best, like in the teaser at the end of a thriller series episode, taking the POV to the villain to set up the next challenge. 

Have you used anything like this? Do let me know below. 

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