Why We Do It

When I tell someone what my favorite hobby is and I see them give me a weird look I know exactly what they are thinking; Why do you play those games? or Why don't you just play a video game? So I guess it's time for a little explanation. Why do we do it?

It's not because it's easy. Writing games can take hours or days of trying to puzzle out every conceivable outcome for several situations. You have to spend time trying to find people with your same interest and cultivate your group carefully. You devote several hours to reading books and studying their contents until you can quickly repeat them, or at least find them again, if necessary. You spend days carefully crafting an individual and figuring out their motivations. We never got into the hobby because it was "cool".

For some of us it is about an escape. We need to take a break from our daily lives and be someone else for a little while or we need to experience adventures that we can't possibly have in real life. For some of us it is about cultivating a skill. The reading you do is both technical and narrative and you do so much writing that you become adept at captivating an audience. For others it is about cost. A video game cost around $60 and you will probably play through it once or twice. An rpg is about $35 for the book and an additional $15 for the dice for a game you can play for an untold amount of times.

For all of us it is about having fun. We get to be involved in a riveting story that unfolds with each game. We get to pit our minds against challenges and feel the rush of achievement every time we overcome them. We get to experience a world of infinite possibilities bound only by the limits of our imagination. We get to delight in the retelling of our greatest adventures and most hilarious moments. We get to make friends with others like us and with characters that we have grown fond of. We get to be in on a secret world that most will never see. So why do we do it?

We do it because the only thing can't fathom is life without them.

Including Taboo or Touchy Subjects in Games

I thought this subject would best be presented in the form of a podcast. There are some subjects that are difficult to include in any game but rpgs can mirror what goes on in our world and sometimes we can't ignore the worst of it.

Playing Online

When everyone is gathered around the kitchen table/ coffee table/ living room floor and the dice are rolling and the soda is flowing its easy to stay focused on the game. There are little distractions, plenty to interact with, and side conversations can be carried on without disrupting the game's progress. However, as time progresses and people move, it can become harder to get together to play. When this happens most people will try to find another local group but that can be difficult as we are a secretive bunch or we have become accustomed to a certain style of game play that other groups might be against. The other option is not to play and, as any serious rpg player will tell you, that is no option at all. Luckily, thanks to the internet, distance is no longer an issue. The game can continue and the group will survive but new challenges arise from playing online.

The biggest issue comes from distractions. With everyone in different places it becomes harder to shut out every little thing that can pop up. This ranges from family, things laying about the room, the television being on, and the Internet itself (we've all had that moment where we meant to do one thing and then an hour later...). The best way to avoid distractions from the outside world is to have a set playing schedule and try to stick to it. Let others know that this is your gaming time and you can't be bothered. This will limit the incursions of those pesky friends and family members who feel the need to interrupt you. The next best way to keep distractions down are to have a little self-discipline. Turn off the television, remove any toys that might be about (I'm guilty of airsoft target practice), and refrain yourself from finding and posting funny pictures/videos unless relevant to the game. I'm not saying you need to be cloistered from all earthly distractions like a monk but, if they are going to be a problem it's best to remove the issue. Virtual tabletops (check my Resources page for a few of them) can also help by giving everyone something on which to focus.

The next issue I've noticed comes from side conversations. With everyone on the same channel it is almost impossible to have a side conversation without interrupting the game. This becomes more of an issue since you all don't see each other everyday and you want to catch up as well as play. Some programs, such a Skype, have the abilities to use text in conjunction with voice chat which can be useful for side conversations. Another option is just to police yourself. The GM should be the referee to side conversations as they are the only one who can accurately gauge how much time can be used in this manner. If side conversations are becoming too much of an issue then I would set aside some time before the game to just get it out of everyone's system. You know your group best so do whatever works best for you all.

Mood and Tone

In literature the tone of a piece of writing is the attitude of the author towards the subject matter and mood is the atmosphere and character's feeling created. The same can be said for an rpg but the definitions change slightly due to the nature of the beast. In this case the tone of an rpg is how the GM and players choose to play the game and the mood is the feel of the setting as determined by the system. Both mood and tone will be co-created by the GM and players since rpgs are all about collective story telling. These should be roughly decided before the game begins.

The tone of the game is basically whether its a comedy, tragedy, or epic. It also describes how light-hearted or serious the game is. When most people think of an rpg campaign they tend to think of an epic. These are generally longer stories with a more serious tone that focus on the character's quest. They contain larger-than-life characters that overcome incredible odds to achieve their goals with serious implications for success or failure. Games like Dungeons and Dragons exemplify this style of game-play. In a comedy game the challenges the characters must overcome are usually fairly simple and the consequences are less than dire with a high chance for success. The whole point is that, in the end, all the characters live happily ever after. When most people think comedy they think humorous and, while that is not necessarily the case, the GM should create plenty of situations for humorous events to arise. The old Ghostbusters rpg is a good example of a game that was never meant to be taken seriously. Then you have tragedies, the games in which the characters are doomed for failure. These are not common but, as they offer a rich story telling experience, they are worth mentioning. In these games the character's chance for success is bleak and usually because of some flaw within the character themselves.The Call of Cthulhu series is the best example of a tragic game. A good story will generally have several elements of all of these but the tone is where the groups chooses to focus.

The mood of the game is the genre in which the story occupies. For the most part the mood is determined by the game the group selects. Shadowrun wouldn't be the same if it wasn't in the cyberpunk genre and World of Darkness would have to change its name if it wasn't a horror game. While mood is predetermined that isn't to say that the GM and players don't have some wiggle room within them. By focusing on certain aspects of the game over others the mood can be shifted slightly. GMs should be warned about changing the mood of a game too much as most people, when they decide to play a particular game, have all ready decided they want to play within that genre.

Character Goals

A character's motivation helps define the character and can help shape the story. Some goals will naturally occur during the game but those are largely GM created. Those type of goals help move a story along but they hardly motivate a character. It is important for a player to come up with a few goals for their character. These should range from a few short term goals and at least one long term goal.

Short term goals should only take a handful of games to complete. Short term goals could be a smaller step towards the long term goal or just another task they wish to complete. Having a few of these will give your character some extra motivation and a good GM will tie them into the story arch. This will take some of the pressure off the GM to try to rope your character into action while making the story more personal and more fun. Completion of short term goals should be rewarded with either additional experience points or an additional benefit.

Long term goals should take most of the campaign to complete. These goals should be something that a character would not possibly be able to achieve in the beginning of the game. Some larger goals could become the focus of the game and I encourage GMs to make use of this fact. Some larger goals might just tie into the end of the campaign and might be completed only after the story arch has ended.Long term goals will affect the game world in a significant way or at least the character's part of the world.  Long term goals are rewards in there own right and won't confer experience points or additional mechanical benefits unless you intend to use the character through multiple campaigns. Long term benefits should bring closure to the game and for the characters.

Campaign Length

When it comes to any form of writing, one piece of advice has always stuck with me: a story should be like a woman's skirt, long enough to cover everything it should but short enough to still be interesting. This holds true for rpg campaigns. Depending on what type of game you're running you will want to adjust the length of the campaign.

When most people think of an rpg campaign they think about these long, epic games with story lines that will take months to get through. Story lines like this usually consist of several smaller issues that the characters must overcome to complete their ultimate objective or dealing with complications that arise because of forces working against them. The ultimate objective will be difficult for a beginning group of characters to overcome but will be easier once the characters have more experience. These campaigns incorporate many different aspects of the game into the story arch and use the diversity to keep the characters guessing about what will happen next. This type of campaign is generally best suited for players that are looking to experience all aspects of the game or for large groups that need and can handle a large array of issue that arise. A GM working on creating a campaign like this will need to focus on establishing several plot points and key adversaries to keep up the level of interest.

My group has recently gotten into running short campaigns. They generally consist of campaigns that may last only a few weeks. These types of campaigns are usually more focused on a clear objective. The level of the characters tends not to be as important as the game will be finished before too much experience is gained. Campaigns of this sort tend to focus on one or two aspects of the game but explores them in much greater depth. This type of campaign is great for smaller groups that wish to really engage a particular part of the game. It is also nice for groups that tend to lose focus quickly but have no issue playing a game several times in different incarnations. A GM working on a campaign of this nature should do plenty of research into the various aspects the players wish to explore and keep the game topical.

Pacing

It's important to be aware of how much time you have to work with and block out your story accordingly. My group plays in four hour blocks so I know I have to recap a little from the last game, introduce the new problems, handle the action, control any goofing off, and conclude within a four hour period. Seems easy enough until you take into account all the things that can make the game go longer. However, with a bit of forethought about how your group operates, time management can be a simple and effective process.

Some groups prefer plenty of combat in their games and these groups tend to have to deal with pacing more than most. Combat is by far the most time consuming aspect of any game. If combat is beginning to overtake what time you had set aside for it then it is a good idea to interrupt the combat from the outside. Deus ex machina (latin for god from the machine) is the ultimate tool of the GM and is most appropriately used for pacing. This could be in the form of the enemies fleeing to regroup, an outside authority figure stepping in, or some natural event; whatever is most appropriate for the setting.

Since my games tend to be light on combat I allow for plenty of time for characterization. This means that I block time for my characters to socialize with other people in the game. This is usually pretty easy to manage as eventually the characters will run out of meaningful things to discuss but at moments it can start to run on. Easiest way to handle this is to remind your players that there is still more to accomplish and to wrap it up.

Last thing I want to mention is goofing off. It's gonna happen and there is no stopping it. Whether someone says something humorous and side conversations go on an interesting tangent distractions happen. This is sometimes the most fun part of playing a rpg but as the GM it is important to reign it in after awhile. Maintaining focus is the role of the GM; don't rely on your players to do this as they are not aware of all that needs to be accomplished in a given time frame.

The Death of a Character

                      I posted this up here for anyone who has recently lost a character. It's a helpful video on coping with the death of a loved one by Wellcast.
It might seem a little strange but people do get really attached to their characters. They are almost like children; you create them, you invest time in their development, and you hope that everyone works out for them. However, sometimes things don't work out and the worst possible scenario happens. This post will give some tips on how players should deal with character death.

A certain level of maturity is expected when you start playing a more difficult and involved game. RPGs are suppose to mimic real life in some form and death is a part of life. Death isn't the end of the story for you, just your character. Use this moment to reflect on the actions of the character and figure out what you want to do for the rest of the game. A good player will turn the tragedy into an opportunity to create a more meaningful story.

The most important thing to remember for a player whose character has just died is to not take it personally. Sometimes the dice just aren't on your side during combat. I know it sucks, I've lost a character or two myself, but the best thing is just accept it and make a new character. It's just a game after all. If you played your hero well then their death will just make them legends that will be retold around the kitchen table for years to come.

Dedicated to the memory of Hephaestus

Killing a Character: GM Tips

This subject is probably one of the hardest for aspects of a game for a GM to pull off properly as most people aren't fond of the idea of losing a character. Whether it's part of the story or the dice just fell wrong character death happens. If handled with tact this can be an opportunity for a rich storytelling experience. If handled poorly you will alienate your players and they might never play with you again. I offer a few tips to GMs to prevent this from happening.

Provide a warning- If you've planned a game where a character might die give your players a heads up before the game. You don't have to tell them how, just that it might happen. This way they will be more accepting of the death if it does happen. This goes for in-game as well. If you have a player is walking into a dire situation then give them a warning. A simple "Are you sure about that?" is all you need to provide.

Give a chance for success- This seems pretty basic but it bears mentioning. This usually applies more towards story events rather than combat as combat all ready provides them a chance at success. Nothing will piss off your player faster than just killing off their character. If they are in a dangerous situation then you must provide them the means to succeed or at least escape. It doesn't have to be easy but it does have to exist.

Make the death meaningful- It is a waste of a perfectly good story opportunity to mindlessly murder a character. The death of a character provides a profound moment of tragedy and reality for the other characters. Whether the character sacrificed themselves to allow the others to survive or was brutally cut down by an opponent this provides motivation for the other characters to act. Most groups will want to try to bring the offender to justice or will be effected by it in some other way. This provides some great story points for the upcoming games.

Don't make it personal- The worst thing you can do is take a personal issue out on someone's character. This is petty and vindictive but it does happen. Killing a character for personal reasons will halt your game and may devolve into an actual fight. I do not blame the player who punches their GM in the face because of this.

Non-Player Characters: Enemy Combatants

Conflict is central to a storyline and no conflict is more straight forward than a physical confrontation. At some point you will push the characters of your story into a violent conflict (unless you are one of the very few groups that no interest in combat in games) and you'll need to populate your world with a few bad guys to be serve as the physical manifestation of conflict. This post will cover what you need to remember when creating these enemy characters.

First thing to remember is to not worry too much about the finer details of these characters as their only purpose is to be beaten up or killed. Names are typically only given to "bosses", combative NPCs with special skills or motivations, to signal their importance. Most of your throw-away villains, minions, and other One-shot Johnny's will only be around for a scene, unless they are reoccurring, and will only require a brief descriptor for a name such as thug or mercenary.

The most important part of creating a combative NPC is listing their fight skills and ranks. You have to focus more on the mechanical side of the game for these NPCs as combat is the most rules heavy portion of the game. However, these NPCs still don't require a full sheet of stats as long as you have what they can do with a fight. Minions should be weaker than your PCs and Bosses should be a few levels above. Most minions will not have any speical abilities but your "Bosses" should have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep the battle interesting.

Health and armor are also good things to consider as they will let you know what your NPC can handle. The same rule applies to health and armor as it does to combat skill level; minions should be lower and bosses should be at the level or better than PCs. To humanize my combative NPCs I tend to make a note at what level of damage do they lose morale and flee since most people aren't willing to throw their life away if they can help it. Not only does this help to shorten the time consumption of battles it also makes sure that not everyone you create for a fight is part of a suicidal death squad.


Once the mechanics are in place all that is left to decide is what items the NPCs have on them. Looting the bodies of the fallen takes place in many games so it would be wise to figure this out beforehand. For the most part this equates to money and small items that might prove useful or interesting to the character. This can also be a good time to work in a few story elements as you never know what you might find in the pockets of a dead man.