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.