"Let's try playing God" - a game master's guide to RPG
So here we are at my last publication about pen and paper
RPGs. So I introduced you somehow to RPGs in general and also gave a few
guidelines in case you would like to take part in an
RPG as a player. Although I believe that it is better to start your experience
with this kind of entertainment as a player,
some people may want to try being a game master immediately.
Before I start I must underline that in my opinion the GM
and players are equally responsible for the outcome
of the meeting and both need to make an equal effort so that everybody has a
really good time. And believe me, I had some best times in my life with my
friends during our RPG sessions. That said, the truth is a GM has lots more of
preparations to do.
A player needs only to prepare their character, maybe think
over some elements and/or factors that are beyond that single hero, but still
concern him (Does he have any family? Maybe he has a pet?). When a GM prepares
for the session, he has to think over ALL the rest.
The GM has to come up with a good scenario for the
adventure, not necessarily original, but interesting enough so that the players
actually want to push through to the end. Some twists, even simple ones, are
usually a must have. Again, you don't have to prove you are better than Stephen
King, but players always enjoy surprises.
You must have something we can call a "main
quest", so the main storyline of the adventure. Also, for every obstacle
you put in front of the players (a battle, a riddle, an investigation,
basically anything that stops the players from progressing) you must come up
with at least one solution to which you try to guide the heroes. As I like to
say it, don't expect the players to come up with a solution, if you didn't come
up with any.
On the other hand you must always keep in mind that this is not a computer game. So the
characters are free to go wherever they are, do whatever they want. There's no
decision they cannot make, no action they cannot try to do. That's the whole
idea of RPG: do whatever you feel like, be whoever you want to be. So you must
be prepared, that players will surprise you. Believe me, they will. Sometimes
it's really amazing how much differently people reason. It happened to me some many times that the answer that appeared
obvious in my opinion was the last thing my
players would think of. And that's how it is. Personally I find it also as an
advantage for the GM, because you don't need to be afraid that your scenario will
end prematurely: the players will most often take the longest possible path to
their goal, simply because for them it will be the most obvious.
Now, if you decide to prepare a scenario based on a
rulebook, such as the World of Darkness, obviously
you must learn the concept of the fictional world and its rules. However this
is also a perfect occasion to find some inspiration for your adventure, if you
don't have a clear idea of the setting you would like to use. RPG rulebooks
have very rich descriptions precisely for that reason: to give people ideas
about the type of adventure they would like to prepare for their players.
Usually rulebooks contain also so called mechanics, which
means the infamous dice rolling. I say 'infamous' because that's what created
the association between RPG and nerdy kids rolling dice and talking about their
+2 swords. I am not a fan of so called dice-rolling, not too often anyway. The
mechanics for rulebooks such as the World of
Darkness or Dungeons and Dragons actually require a lot of dice rolling and
calculation to establish the outcome of a test.
Dice can be very helpful. You see, when playing these games
it's the GM's responsibility to decide the outcome of the actions taken by the
heroes. So, will the hero land a good punch? Will he make that jump? Will he
spot that clue? However dice have the enormous inconvenience of taking the
focus from actual role playing and immersion in your
character to the numerical results. In most case I prefer to resolve
"conflicts" through storytelling and my own intuition, in life there
is always some randomness so I also use a dice
from time to time. Also when using a dice the
players can't blame you if they fail! :D
Finally, my last piece of advice: it's all about fun! If you
want to be a successful GM find out what the players like, what settings would
be most enjoyable for them and realize all that. The scenario has to be about
the heroes, not about you. As I like to say, put them in the spotlight, give
every hero a chance to prove their worth, give
them his or her 5 minutes of glory. Every player wants their hero to be special
and that's how it should be. Look out for timid players who will be to
intimidated to take any action. Encourage them to do something, to take part in
an adventure. In the end, RPGs are all about
having fun.
Ok, that's enough. I really can talk (or write for that
matter) a lot about this.
Questions!
1. Have you ever written stories for your own satisfaction?
(Even short ones!) If yes, what about? Share!
2. If you could make your own movie and were given unlimited
funds, what would the movie be about?
Comments
The movie would have been a mix of action and fantasy containg also a lot of high technology. The action would have taken place in modern life on Earth and other planets. It would be no alien invasion on Earth, but only exploring other civilizations, their culture, biology and knowlegde. Of course some local conflicts, threats and fights would have taken place.
I don’t want it to sound like I don’t have any imagination. I just like to create something that is useful to someone, that solves some problem, I that case it’s simple. It works or it doesn’t. when you are writing a story or create any other form of art it’s not that simple. I started to write something in the pas a couple of times. But whenever I stopped and came back to it in couple of days I come to the conclusion that it is not good enough and I had to start from the beginning. It’s quite frustrating. So after a couple of attempts I decided that it’s just something not for me and I gave up.
P.S. “3xP” stands for Paris, Pierre and Perukarz (a wig maker).
On the related note, I don't write for pleasure, there are people that do so. But if I had an unlimited amount of money I would make a movie about.... Hey, why would I make a movie? I'm rich! Just kidding just kidding. I would make a movie about robots, like extremely big ones, fighting aliens - something like Pacific Rim but without inner storyline. Just fighting. I would be goooooood.....
Cheers
I never tried to write stories for myself and if I must write something longer than 4 sentences it is disaster. I prefer to find and read good stories. I don’t know why but writing is really not interesting for me.
2. If you could make your own movie and were given unlimited funds, what would the movie be about?
You all know this Hollywood movies about USA being attacked or destroyed by zombies, cataclysm etc. right? So my movie would be about Poland invaded by aliens then destroyed by tsunami after which zombie will control whole country. At the end people who survived will run away to USA. Great idea I tell you. I can add Godzilla between aliens and tsunami :d
My favorite character right now is Frank Underwood from House of Cards. You know this guy from BZWBK commercials nowadays? I really recommend to watch this series.
2. Why him/her? If you don't have a favorite character I don't believe you and go back to question 1 :P
Why him? I think that is just effect of watching new TV series :D He is such great layer and his comments about other people are just priceless. Mind tricks, politics, blackmails this is what he does.
3. If you were to create your own character, who would he/she be? And in what setting would you place that character?
As I mentioned in “Week 7 : A game master's guide to RPG” I am not really into creating that kind of stuff so I will not even try to think about it.
P.S.: Would the movie be placed in 1940 Paris? Like a noir movie? Cause I think it would be fit it greatly :P
My movie... Because I am not best in making movies I would give all funds for better than me like Sacha Baron Cohen, I like his ideas, so for sure I would not be dissapointed.
2. Couldn't be a single movie, rather few movies or a TV series depicting history of characters of my RPG team. It would be too hard to select a single story to make a movie about it, because of soo many great moments our characters had.
2. I would make movie based on Diablo II. Really, story is great and lots of blood and killing demonic spawn included :)
Not really. I wrote some stuff, but only to practise my writing skills :)
2. If you could make your own movie and were given unlimited funds, what would the movie be about?
I'd make William Gibson's Neuromancer. But for sure I wouldn't be the director :) I'd take one like Christopher Nolan or David Fincher with crazy ideas of Wachowsky brothers... I'm very surprised (and maybe a bit relieved too) that this book hasn't been filmed yet.