Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #143 8 Game Etiquette Tips _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com johnn@roleplayingtips.com CONTENTS: --> A Brief Word From Johnn --> This Week's Tips Summarized: 1. Punctuality Is Politeness And Consideration In One 2. Turn Off Phones And Pagers 3. The Items In The Room Are Not Always Part Of The Game 4. Paying Attention Is The Core Of A Game 5. Being Funny Is One Thing, Being Annoying Is Quite Another 6. Being Loud Does Not Mean You're Right 7. The Rules May Be Guidelines, But They're Still Rules 8. Arguments May Be Healthy, But Stress Is A Killer --> Readers' Tips Of The Week: 1. Awareness From: Jay Steven Uy Anyong 2. How Do They Make Their Money? From: Chris B. 3. Another No Dice Tip From: Jeff W. 4. How To Know When Someone Is Vying For Attention, And When They Are Genuinely Distressed From: Geoff N. 5. A Technique For Punishing Characters In-Game From: Jody _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN This week's tips from Jonathan Hicks are all about having as much fun as possible at the game table. You might have read some them before in this ezine or elsewhere, but I thought the article would be great for you because: 1) It never hurts to refresh yourself on this type of tip. 2) You could create a player hand-out from the article to help remind your whole group from time to time. 3) You could post the article at your group's web site to serve as a gentle reminder and ongoing resource. 4) If you're starting a new campaign, you can distribute the article to your players and let it communicate your expectations up-front to steer troublesome players back to the Light Side before they become a problem. Cheers, Johnn Four johnn@roleplayingtips.com _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* d20 WEEKLY - THE PRO d20 GAMING ZINE Each issue contains articles, columns, reviews, news, and more for your d20 campaigns. Contributors include Steve Perrin, Chris Pramas, Matt Forbeck, Steve Kenson, Steve Miller, Dennis Detwiller, Mike Mearls, Andrew Hind, and Alan Kohler. The Editor is Dale Donovan, former editor of DRAGON. Check out the four free issues and other previews at www.d20weekly.com; you'll get hooked! _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* 8 GAME ETIQUETTE TIPS A Guest Article By Jonathan Hicks Everyone relies on the GM to provide a solid, enjoyable adventure with memorable NPCs and fantastic settings. What can players and GMs do to make the game better? What responsibilities can a GM and player have other than simply sitting at the table and playing that game? The tips below are for GMs and players to identify potential problems and nip them in the bud. With all the new-fangled technology, silicon chips, and such, a roleplayer's problems can only get bigger. Of course, not all these tips apply to every group, but there are always exceptions and if you game with a lot of people in a lot of groups then the chances of coming across these incidents are higher. (All the tips are references to personal incidents that were probably some of the worst times I ever had as a GM or player during my long tenure as a roleplayer. I've included some of the worst ones I remember in parentheses. Names have been omitted to protect the innocent. Just call me Jonathan "axe to grind" Hicks). 1. Punctuality Is Politeness And Consideration In One ===================================================== The GM may have a limited amount of time to play the game or have a set sequence of events he/she wants to play out before the night is over. To aid this, be punctual. If the GM says 7:00, then try your best to get there for 7:00. Arriving an hour late can be awkward for the GM and the other players, as time will be wasted with greetings and filling in the latecomer with game details and plot events. It's understandable that certain occurrences may cause you to be late, and these incidents are well out of your control, but if there is no other reason to be late then try your best. There's more than one person at that gaming table to keep happy. (Case: I once ran a game in which the night's scenario was going to be the finale of the Warhammer campaign before friends returned to university. Only one player had the knowledge of how to progress and he was an hour and a half late getting there for no other reason than he was watching a film he had bought that day, which left me only an hour and a half to finish a Summer campaign. Hmmm....) 2. Turn Off Phones And Pagers ============================= I don't know how many games I've ran where I got to the plot-bursting, emotionally dazzling finale and then someone's mobile phone or pager went off. Precious moments, even minutes, are wasted when a player is distracted by a call, and then the atmosphere is lost and cannot be reclaimed. Switch off those mobiles unless there's a good reason why they should be on! (Case: Halfway through an intense MechWarrior game, just at the point when the bullets were flying and enemy 'Mechs were advancing on our position, the GM's mobile went off. He was gone for nearly half an hour. Frustrating or what? To compound the problem, when the GM came back and the game resumed, a player's mobile went off. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been anything other than a social call.) 3. The Items In The Room Are Not Always Part Of The Game ======================================================== So, we got to a turning point in the game. Do the players turn north to the Eaglenest Range or do they head east to the Skaven Breeding Halls. What do they care? There's a PlayStation/Gameboy/PC in the room and they're having an ace time! It may be up to the GM to remove or make unavailable anything in the room which may provide a distraction, but this is not always the case. A little self control would be handy. (Case: Whilst running an enjoyable game set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we realised that two of the players, who had left the room for a secret discussion, had been gone for quite a while. Upon investigation, we found said players in the other room playing Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation which, whilst an enjoyable game, had absolutely nothing to do with the scenario.) 4. Paying Attention Is The Core Of A Game ========================================= Well it is isn't it? How can you expect to progress if you've hardly listened to anything the players or the GM has said? Let's say the last five minutes has seen the PCs decide on their tactics and strategy and declare their intentions, then they go flying into the demon's cave with swords high and plan ready. You're not going to be much use if you spent those five important minutes with your nose in a magazine, are you? What if the GM has explained a vital clue or piece of information? What use is that to you or the group if you didn't give due attention? Prick up your ears when the GM is speaking to you and/or the group. (Case: Whilst running a Twilight 2000 game the GM spent a good while explaining in-character the PCs' covert requirements. Their mission was to meet the corrupt President of Sunken Madagascar, find out why he has increased his military output, and try to support a coup that had been growing. Upon arrival at the President's, two of the four players asked, "So, what are we doing here?" Much shaking of heads ensued.) 5. Being Funny Is One Thing, Being Annoying Is Quite Another ============================================================ We've all had those moments in games where something has happened that just had us rolling on the floor. There's always comments and events which illicit a laugh or a chuckle from the players and GM alike. These are good moments, especially during a non-serious game, and can be great fun. But let's not overdo it, eh? Continuous jokes and remarks, especially during a serious game, can be a little annoying. Repeating the same joke over and over again to get the same laugh...can you imagine such a thing? Jokes and having fun are part of the game, but there is a time and a place for such things and, depending on what the game is being played for, players and GMs alike should realise their limits. (Case: A long time ago, in a Star Wars game far, far away, there were five players and a GM. One of the players would wait until a critical part of the game, pretend to drop his pencil, and then re-emerge from under the table with the wraparound sticker off a large Coca-Cola bottle over his face and declare "Coca-Cola Man has come to save the day". Every week, on cue. No, really.) 6. Being Loud Does Not Mean You're Right ======================================== We've all got something to add to a game such as ideas, tactics, revelations, and character stuff. It's a sign of a good roleplayer when they can put forward their own opinions and thoughts, and deal with any arguments "in character", PC-to-PC instead of player-to-player. Some gamers find it necessary to raise their voices however, talking over the other people at the table so that their opinions are heard and acted upon. With players it's annoying because it's as if the one viewpoint is the be-all and end-all of group decisions. With GMs it's annoying because constant interruptions and opinions can disrupt good roleplaying and make the game feel linear. The answer is simple: don't do it! Have a little patience. The players haven't gathered about the table just for your benefit. (Case: During a game of Rolemaster, an excitable GM decided that the players were not going in the direction he wanted them to go, so he decided to usher them onto the right path. He'd talk over every decision made, raising his voice if the players decided on a certain course of action with phrases such as "Why do you want to do that?" and "Oh, that's a stupid idea". When asked to allow a little latitude he would simply talk over the players until they followed his pointers. Strangely, nobody turned up for his next game.) 7. The Rules May Be Guidelines, But They're Still Rules ======================================================= Roleplaying games have a set of rules to adjudicate actions and abilities and these are reflected, in most cases, in the use of dice. So why do some roleplayers feel it necessary to cheat? The idea of a high adventure game is to inject a little of the chance and danger inherent in such things. If a bad roll is made, it does not reflect badly on the player, it's just the way things turned out and it's a sign of good roleplaying to take the rough with the smooth. There are five general types of cheaters: 1) The "Pooper Scooper" who will roll their dice and pick them up straight away before anyone else has a chance to see the result and claim they succeeded. 2) The "Ready-To-Rumble Roller" who will claim they succeeded with the dice that are already lying on decent numbers on the table, which were not actually rolled. 3) The "Bombardier" who will roll their dice one at a time, and every time a low dice comes up they will slam their next roll into the previous dice in the hope of knocking it onto a better number. 4) The "Houdini Skills" players who suddenly acquire a skill or increased ability to help them out of a situation, usually added to the character sheet secretly during play. 5) The "Phantom Equipment" player who will suddenly have an item or tool appear on their character sheet, again added during play. There is no sure way to guard against these cheaters, especially in large group games where there is a lot to be aware of. There are some precautions you can take, however. Make sure that, before play starts, the group is aware that all rolls are to made in the open and watched by others. (The GM may be exempt from this, depending on their use of GM screens and wanting to have the chance to have more control over the game). Then the player/GM has no choice but to make the roll. Also, rolls must be made with all the required dice thrown at the same time. This way, the group is aware that rolls are being monitored and pre-warning them means that players don't feel picked on. Don't worry too much about weighted dice. These little monsters are easy to spot as they don't roll naturally and have a tendency to spin when landing on their set number. You can check most of the dice before play, anyway. Have photocopies of the PC character sheets to hand to the GM, and make sure as a player that you've had a good look over other player's sheets (group style/policy permitting). This way you'll have an idea what each player is capable of and what they own, and have an insight into the possibility of cheating. (Case: During a strange game of Call of Cthulhu, the group was skulking about a sunken church in the Black Forest of the Rhine when they were suddenly attacked by ghouls. Single handed, one of the weakest characters in the group managed to hold off the ghouls with a machete and pistol while the others grabbed artefacts and made a run for it. He was hailed the hero of the encounter...until it was realised that no-one had actually seen any of the rolls made, and that the items "pistol" and "machete" were not actually on the player's character sheet equipment list.) 8. Arguments May Be Healthy, But Stress Is A Killer =================================================== There can be many discussions during a game regarding the interpretation or application of rules, and this is a good thing in many respects. It clearly defines capabilities and limitations of PC and NPC alike, and it can result in well- conceived House Rules. Unfortunately, there are situations that arise when disagreements on rules and capabilities grow from discussion to heated debate to full-blown shouting matches. Both players and GMs alike have their own idea how certain things should be utilised from the rulebook and how things should be played out. The answer is simple: chill out! When playing a game remember two things: 1) It's a game. 2) The idea of the game is to socialise and have fun. If you can't agree on an aspect then defer to the GM after making your point. After all, the GM's word should be final. If an honest mistake has been made, then make a note of the problem and carry on, backtrack if necessary then continue. Always be ready to have an opinion, but don't think that arguing the point will make it any better. Discuss the problem, come to a compromise, then make a note on the problem and how it can be solved. Failing that, the GM's word is final, if that's the only way to stop it. And don't take the disagreement out of the confines of the game. Getting cranky afterwards or during other activities because of the argument is pointless because, as in the concept of the game, it has nothing to do with real life at all. Ask yourself the question is it really worth it? Raised voices make for raised blood pressure - not good. (Case: A player in a game of Cyberpunk decided to steal a car after a firefight at the local casino, but his hotwiring skill wasn't good enough. There was a long drawn out argument about the technicalities of stealing a car, but the GM basically said that regardless of what the player knew, the PC couldn't do it. After the argument (which got a little out of hand) the player sulked, made stupid comments, and generally disrupted the game. Towards the end of the night, the GM took the player's character sheet, crumpled it up and popped it in the garbage. "What was that?" asked the player. "Random psycho sniper in a church tower just took you out", said the GM. "Don't I get to roll?" asked the player. The GM just smiled. "He's a really good shot." The player got the point.) * * * I hope these tips have given you some ideas and a few things to think about. Most of these are intended to help you deal with those incidents that crop up during the actual act of gaming and will hopefully help you to have a smoother, happier experience. _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* Attention RPG & eBook Publishers: This Ad Space For Rent :) Do you have a gaming-relating product that you'd like to tell 13,000+ Game Masters about? Put your information and links here! The GM subscribers to this ezine have been very supportive of advertisers in the past and are open to learning more about your products, especially if they're useful to roleplayers. Contact me for rate information or if you have any questions. johnn@roleplayingtips.com _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK 1. Awareness From: Jay Steven Uy Anyong ============================= It's happened to everyone at one time or another: the party is facing off with the Villain just as he's about to sacrifice the Mayor's Daughter in his dark altar of doom, when suddenly, the ranger takes out his bow, and shoots the gigantic, wrought-iron, spiked chandelier above the villain sending it crashing down on the fiend...and the Mayor's daughter, killing both instantly. Your ranger's excuse? "She wasn't supposed to get hit." Before you throttle the ranger and shove d4's down his throat for another spectacular feat of sheer idiocy, consider what just happened there. Is the party leader just being stupid or annoying, or worse, both? As players, we often find ourselves operating in a semi- vacuum. We are ideally supposed to help each other out, but lack of communication, planning, and the need to show off sometimes blur the need to cooperate, and we find ourselves either doing something really stupid, or getting ourselves in deep trouble. Perhaps the issue at hand is awareness, which the ranger would do well to develop. Here are a few things that can help players increase their awareness and make sure that the party runs like the well-oiled machine that we would all like it to be. Leadership ---------- Leadership is vital to any team. It does not necessarily have to fall on the shoulders of a single individual, but it is important that trust and loyalty are present with the people that lead. It is also important to note that Leaders do not hog the limelight. Leaders go out and do things, but they also inspire others to do things for them. Leadership is built on trust and that trust has to be earned and given. It is impossible for a leader to be good at everything. Instead, it is a true leader who knows when to delegate tasks better suited to someone else to that person rather than risk pulling the party down with his own ineptitude. For example, take a look at the X-Men. Cyclops or Storm might have different personalities but they are both innate leaders. Cyclops is more militaristic, expecting discipline. At the same time, he cares for his men, making sure that he's on top of the situation at all times. Storm is more level-headed, but inspires her team to do their best, calling upon their expertise in situations that she alone cannot handle. In both cases, their styles may differ, but it is unmistakable that they are both leaders. Common Sense ------------ The other thing worth noting is common sense. In real life we are often aware of our surroundings because of the sheer amount of data that we process with our senses. In the game, however, we rely on the GM to feed us this information. For the most part, GMs do their best in trying to describe your surroundings, making sure that everyone is on the same page, so to speak. If there's something that isn't clear, ask. The GM won't take off experience points from you for asking him to describe something. Knowing the place can be of great help, for either using the environment to your advantage or for positioning tactics. Also, it can help you organize yourselves, planning for any possibilities as presented by the environs. The real reason for asking about the environment though, is because of the rule of action-reaction. If you do something, expect repercussions, effects and changes due to your actions. A few examples include if your canary dies in a mine shaft for no apparent reason under no circumstances should you cast a fireball. If innocents are in the way, don't bother to throw a supercharged attack that can level mountains. Remember that your characters are meant to be people, and for most people (barring psychopaths) killing innocents with massive overkill attacks is considered a big no-no. My last bit of advice lies with the simple fact that since your character lives in a fictional world in our imaginations, NPCs that live there with him are every bit as real to your character, as he is to himself. Killing is never easy (unless it's necessary, which is a different thing altogether) and most people who have been responsible for the deaths of others (even enemies) don't really get to shake off the experience and walk away with a smile on their faces. 2. How Do They Make Their Money? From: Chris B. ================================ [re: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue141.html ] In reading John Simcoe's article on City Services, Landmarks And Businesses In A Fantasy Setting, it occurred to me that you can generate any number of interesting story lines around even the most mundane groups or individuals in a fantasy setting by asking yourself the simple question, "How do they make their money?" For example, Simcoe's article highlighted the Gravedigger's Guild as a city service that could add color to a roleplaying game or campaign. Applying the question to the Guild, I quickly came up with these answers, several of which could easily be spun out as the basis of or underlying background for an adventure: 1) From salaries/fees for collecting/burying the dead. 2) Selling unclaimed bodies to necromancers or others for animation, research and/or experimentation. A few gravediggers have even been known to create bodies (i.e. kill innocent people) when the purchaser is insistent and the commission is lucrative. 3) Selling off grave goods. Gravediggers may have special relationships to supply goods and split proceeds with thrift shops who sell off any items of value retrieved from the bodies. A good source of cheap goods for adventurers, if you don't mind the blood stains. 4) Smuggling. Coffins are useful for transporting and concealing illicit goods, just as graves are excellent holding places. An area of potential partnership with the Thieves Guild. 5) Processing and selling flesh for food (for animals and/or humans). Shades of Soylent Green. 6) Harvesting and selling select organs (hypothalamus gland, heart, brain, hair, eye lens, etc.) to magic-users as magical components for their spells. 3. Another No Dice Tip From: Jeff W. ====================== One of your readers mentioned using "grids" of numbers (labeled, e.g. 1-20 on both axes) to randomize. The good news is that you don't need the grid. Two players pick their numbers simultaneously and add them together, subtracting the "die type" if the total exceeds the result range desired. For example, for a d20, I pick 14, you pick 5. We've generated a result of 19. On the other hand, if I pick 14 and you pick 12, we've generated a result of 6. Obviously this isn't a true random result, but the dynamics of two people (and it can be more, for greater "randomness") both choosing pseudo-randomly is easily close enough for roleplaying when dice aren't convenient, such as on road trips. The only downside is that the method is very slow for generating groups of dice: 4d8, 9d10, and so on. 4. How To Know When Someone Is Vying For Attention, And When They Are Genuinely Distressed From: Geoff N. ======================================================= People who are craving attention will get it by pushing all of your buttons until they find one that gets a reaction. Then they will lean on it, hard! If you find someone who seems to have the same problem over and over and over, it may be that they are getting the same reaction over and over and over. The best defense here is a good offense: 1) Use your poker face. Blank out and keep rolling. Ignore the behavior. 2) Know yourself well enough to know when you are being played. An antagonistic player may not dislike or disrespect you, they may simply crave your reaction. 3) Have a non-confrontational conversation about the behavior outside of the typical setting. That lets the offender know that you are onto them and that you care about them without embarrassing them. (Only do this if it fits your personality. This is what works for me, not for everyone. This one-on-one time is not a place to assert dominance, but a place to outline for the offender how you are going to handle their behavior. It is about what you are going to do, no what they must do. It's a heads up, not a threat. It might get worse before it gets better, but stick to your guns. They will either turn around, or leave. Either way, it's better for the group.) People who are genuinely distressed will usually show it in their body language, and once you help them they won't repeat their behavior over and over. Once their problem is solved, they will move on. (Here's where getting to know them is vital. If someone has never been needy before, and suddenly is, they are probably in genuine distress.) People who need help should get it. People who need attention should get a clear message that you are there for the group, and that the time you spend together is group time, not one-on-one time. Once they get that message, they will find somewhere else to get their need for attention met. The essence of this is: if a situation keeps replaying the same way and getting the same reaction it's a ploy for attention. If it only happens once, or only rarely, it is genuine and you should do your best to help. 5. A Technique For Punishing Characters In-Game From: Jody =============================================== Hi Johnn! I have recently found your site and am enjoying reading through how you and other GMs think. My tip is a slight mix of Bryan's Cut Scenes (Reader's Tip Issue #50) and Riina's Crime & Punishment in Harsh Worldframes (Reader's Tip Issue #43) in the respect that it deals with what to do about the punishments of characters and doing it with the Cut Scene's method. Without going into too much detail as I have a tendency to elaborate way too much, *grin*, a PC had committed a crime and the local council was trying to find a fitting punishment for the character in question. Their main problem was that he was generally liked and very powerful and was stirring up rebellious thoughts among the natives. I paused the game for a few minutes while quickly explaining the situation from the four mightiest council members' point of view (and adding a few quirks and traits to the NPCs) to the players. Then I told them that they were to act as these NPCs for the duration of a hastily assembled crisis meeting concerning the guilty PC. The players did this great, fully committing themselves to the task and sentencing the PC to a secret death, not open, so that it would look as if he had simply disappeared and left the natives on their own. One of the strongest speakers for this evil deed was the player whose character the discussion was about. In the end no one felt bitter about it as they had themselves decided, through role-playing these NPCs, what was to be the PC's punishment, and the rate of committing hideous crimes dropped for that group of players after that. _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* That's it for this week's issue. Have more fun at every game! Johnn Four mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com _______________________________________________________ ******************************************************* MY PRIVACY POLICY & HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE "Roleplaying Tips Weekly" is provided to you free of charge by RoleplayingTips.com. It is sent only to those who have specifically requested to receive it. My subscriber list has never been and never will be available to any third party. EVER! Your privacy is very important to me, therefore it receives the respect it deserves. 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