How to Host an RPG Session

Archon

New member
Nov 12, 2002
916
0
0
How to Host an RPG Session

Being a good gamesmaster isn't just about running the game; you've also got to create the right atmosphere.

Read Full Article
 

Sartan0

New member
Apr 5, 2010
538
0
0
I have been running a group more or less weekly for five years. (Before that I ran things with more disruption from school then I like to think about) I will say I do a great many of the things you mentioned. We also have gamed on Mondays. The issue with that is my players want a longer game without giving up sleep so we have just decided to go to Sunday afternoons with Monday night as are fallback night. (For when we have Sunday conflicts.)

I think this will still work out because we get at least five full hours of playing instead of what often ended up as three hours tops after futzing around with dinner and what not.

I am lucky enough that I don't need to bribe my players to bring snacks but then many of them have been in the group for years so that helps.
 

kouriichi

New member
Sep 5, 2010
2,415
0
0
Ive been GM a few times. ((i perfure GK (God king) insted though))

Its not as hard as many people think. But then, at the same time, its way harder then youd expect. You really have to balance the two powers. Arsehole and Timid Bunny.

Sure you could fill the next room with imps, goblins, orks, or kobalds..... but thats to common. Insted lets fill it with a dozen golden chests. Inside each one is a different surprise! An Umber Hulk in one, a group of fiends in another, maybe a chest full of mimics ((chests)) in another?
But then ofcourse is when the arsehole in you starts to kick in. Lets make them all magically trapped, deadly to the touch, and cant be closed.

Its the proper balance between the two that really makes for a good GM.
 

Cpt Corallis

New member
Apr 14, 2009
491
0
0
Great read. I typically end up running my group on Fridays (No schoolwork see) and generally my group are quite good about food. Cheap sweets downstairs helps! My group ends up fluctuating between different numbers of players every week due to various commitments but the members enjoy hearing the exploits of their comrades while they were away and trying to do better than them in this weeks session!
 

blalien

New member
Jul 3, 2009
441
0
0
You article was mostly good, but I strongly disagree against providing XP for being refreshments. Doing so gives a gameplay advantage to wealthier gamers who can afford to bring better food. In general, you shouldn't give in-game rewards for out-of-game actions, especially if those actions cost money.
 

Sartan0

New member
Apr 5, 2010
538
0
0
blalien said:
You article was mostly good, but I strongly disagree against providing XP for being refreshments. Doing so gives a gameplay advantage to wealthier gamers who can afford to bring better food. In general, you shouldn't give in-game rewards for out-of-game actions, especially if those actions cost money.
I can see that point of view. I mostly don't do it because I like to give out my extra points for when one of my players does something in character that is freaking hilarious or kick ass.

I make them wear a golden necklace of dice for the rest of the game that is worth an extra point by the end. I hand out about one every other game or so. I did once have a player hand theirs over to another because they though they deserved it more.
 

Zechnophobe

New member
Feb 4, 2010
1,077
0
0
I really strongly disagree with a lot of things in this. I've been GMing for about 13 years, and by FAR the most consistent way to get gamers to the table is to schedule each and every gaming date, and not try to do them always on the same day of the week. It is more work, yes, but it actually gets the entire group together. My most recent game has run for about 9 months and has not had anyone miss a day. We play roughly every 2 or 3 weeks, and go about 6 to 8 hour sessions.

I think more important advice should have been given on stuff like: "I forgot my character sheet.. uh, now what?"

Also, XP bonus' for bringing things is a really bad way to go about things. I mean, truly terrible. What happens when you combine real money, with xp and a rules lawyer? You get disagreements about things that are important to people outside the game, that can't easily be resolved.

I do agree about reading a synopsis. I also e-mail it out to all the players between sessions to pique their interest.
 

aegios187

New member
Jun 17, 2007
90
0
0
Right now I am running my Pathfinder game at a large sci-fi store. One of my players is the GM of said store and yeah it's problematic because even on his day off, when we play, our game still gets interrupted and I really don't like playing in a public space even though we're setup in a area normally games aren't allowed to play in. I mean it's cool to have a gaming store at ones disposal but I am really not crazy about it at all.
 

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
3,422
0
0
Zechnophobe said:
Also, XP bonus' for bringing things is a really bad way to go about things. I mean, truly terrible. What happens when you combine real money, with xp and a rules lawyer? You get disagreements about things that are important to people outside the game, that can't easily be resolved.
blalien said:
You article was mostly good, but I strongly disagree against providing XP for being refreshments. Doing so gives a gameplay advantage to wealthier gamers who can afford to bring better food. In general, you shouldn't give in-game rewards for out-of-game actions, especially if those actions cost money.
I think I can count on one hand how many times someone hasn't brought food to a session, in a campaign that's be ongoing for about a year and a half. It's simply part of the play experience for us to have some snacks and drinks available and it's best when everyone chips in. Sure, we all have steady jobs, and I guess maybe ~$5 every week or every other week is a lot for some, but I have a hard time seeing that.


Zechnophobe said:
I think more important advice should have been given on stuff like: "I forgot my character sheet.. uh, now what?"
You stop it before it can ever become an issue by having the DM always keep all the character sheets. The minor amount of annoyance at not having quick access to your character during the week is easily worth never having to deal with that hassle.
 

Archon

New member
Nov 12, 2002
916
0
0
I'm sorry, but I do not buy the argument that rewarding experience points for bringing munchies is unfair because it rewards wealthy players. A box of donuts from the supermarket or a bag of chips costs no more than a couple bucks. That's less than the price of renting a movie or getting even one beer at a bar. We are talking about a hobby in which the average participant invests more than that in dice alone, let alone player's handbooks, miniatures, cards, etc.
 

Callate

New member
Dec 5, 2008
5,118
0
0
Some good ideas all around. In my experience (so to speak), experience point bonuses tend to even out in the end. And so long as everyone is working towards the good of the party, it shouldn't matter, right? (Pardon me while I interrogate the thief as to the location of those gems we picked up last session...)

The most recent GM I played under put the "recap" in players' hands and gave a small bonus to whoever stepped up to provide it.
 

Coop83

New member
Mar 20, 2010
141
0
0
Loved the piece and the topics that were covered. It does bring forth a couple of issues or notes with the group that I play with on Monday nights.

1) We always play in the same place, but if we do go for a separate location, we will car pool, since only two of the six of us actually drive. That keeps things simple.

2) The setting for the game is a comfy living room, with 6 seats - we get comfy and start to play, while the hosts sit on their computer chairs. A lack of tables makes for interesting dice rolling, but considering that we haven't rolled a single dice in 2 weeks of RP, we're doing well. If any of us (generally just me) needs to act part of the sequence out, there is enough floor space for me to make an arse of myself.

3) One of the group that DMs SLA Industries for us has a wonderful method of getting us into the game every Saturday (only 4 players this time, so it's much more cozy). He slaps on some Ministry and performs a title sequence, where he describes something happening for the cameras that are the focus of the game. As players, we see this, though our characters are usually oblivious, as the titles roll. Recaps will have usually taken place in the kitchen while I make a brew and we are quite amicable toward one another, in spite of the perceived animosity between Michael Rhodes and his Operative colleagues.

4) Munchies - we eat a meal around there, as our hosts have children, so we feed them and pack them off to bed, before starting. People are free to bring food along, so long as they share and share alike. If you're rustling plastic while the DM is in mid-flow, you'd better apologise with the offer of a bag of calories for your lord and master, who you have just derailed yet again.

5) Drinking is a part and parcel of the gaming experience. Be it a glass of wine or a bottle of cider for the ladies, some single malt for our host or just a cup of tea for me, as I am driving, we get by. No-one really gets off their face, as that's bad etiquette, on the whole.

6) Winding down sessions is never really a strong point. I've personally felt like I want to slap a few of my gamers: As I've got a pretty good eye for the time, using my laptop to store my notes and play some music for the background, I've got a clock available that doesn't make me look antsy, when I check it every five minutes. When I'm describing a scene and she interrupts me saying "sorry, but just so everyone knows, it's quarter to eleven and I know people have got to be up for work in the morning", it really harms the immersion. When we do wind down, if she is DMing, her interest stops dead and she pretty much falls asleep straight away, allowing us to sneak out, while her husband (also a gamer) apologises profusely.

7) I've been caught before trying to end a session when combat is afoot. Sadly, this happened two or three sessions on the bounce, as being unaccustomed to the combat system and the charms of Exalted, the players were a little slow to uptake it and while I try to focus on the one combatant whose turn it is, getting interruptions from the Fire Caste, who keeps going on about how she will rip someone's throat out, I have to keep pointing out that they will do nothing until their turn.

I've been Roleplaying with this group of friends for nearly 2 years and I've been playing RPGs now for nearly 15 years - over half of my life. I do make mistakes (I'm only Human most of the time, after all) and I view it as a learning experience.
 

BlueInkAlchemist

Ridiculously Awesome
Jun 4, 2008
2,231
0
0
Slycne said:
I think I can count on one hand how many times someone hasn't brought food to a session, in a campaign that's be ongoing for about a year and a half. It's simply part of the play experience for us to have some snacks and drinks available and it's best when everyone chips in. Sure, we all have steady jobs, and I guess maybe ~$5 every week or every other week is a lot for some, but I have a hard time seeing that.
Archon said:
I'm sorry, but I do not buy the argument that rewarding experience points for bringing munchies is unfair because it rewards wealthy players. A box of donuts from the supermarket or a bag of chips costs no more than a couple bucks. That's less than the price of renting a movie or getting even one beer at a bar. We are talking about a hobby in which the average participant invests more than that in dice alone, let alone player's handbooks, miniatures, cards, etc.
There's also the fact that just a few bucks not only brings some tasty snacks to the hungry party and thirsty GM, it boosts the speed at which the party levels up. This means they reach more challenging encounters more quickly. I don't see a downside, here.

OT: Good article with some great advice.
 

Anacortian

New member
May 19, 2009
280
0
0
Concerning alcohol, I simply banned it at session. I love the drink, but the best intentions and gravest vows still ended in a waste of time after the first hour.

Tobacco, however! Tobacco is great for gaming. It is a prop for the tavern scenes and a special effect when the DM has to role-play a dragon.
 

Jikuu

.
Mar 3, 2010
89
0
0
Thank you for the article. I enjoyed reading it.

For my group, we cycle who takes care of dinner. We try to be a bit better than filling up on Mountain Dew and Cheetos. We can't really reward in-game, because the GM's handling us with Wealth by Level (WBL) rather than XP to insure we don't get creamed in combat. All of us are hungry by 4 PM, though, so it is its own incentive.
 

Croaker42

New member
Feb 5, 2009
818
0
0
As always a great read.

I think I may need that next article by this weekend. (My group is a monthly occurrence due to locations.) This will be my first crack at DMing for this group and I am looking forward to it.
Lucky for me the atmosphere is taken care of. As I will be GMing for my current group and using most of the same rules and side items. And I only have one power gamer to worry about.
 

MasterOfWorlds

New member
Oct 1, 2010
1,890
0
0
I ran a campaign for almost two years straight. Almost every night. It was awesome, we'd normally start around 7:30 and go until about 9:30, sometimes running well into the wee hours of the morning. I was able to keep my group fairly focused, and only had trouble with drunk gamers towards the end of when I ran the campaign. One of the guys just ended up being a nuisance and we booted him out. It's not cool when you bum cigarettes but then don't spare any, drink someone's drinks and not bring your own, and call at all hours trying to figure out when we're gaming next.