Bay 12 Games Forum
Finally... => Forum Games and Roleplaying => Topic started by: RoseHeart on February 12, 2022, 05:35:05 pm
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Use Gamer's Block (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110287.0) to get help with your game.
Use The Forum Game List (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164469.0) to find or share games.
For debates, meta, and everything else about forum games, you may discuss them here.
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Topic for discussion: Did it need to be a separate thread or was it fine as one thread?
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It's okay, I have a diagnosable medical condition where I find the taboo of multiple threads stupid.
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On the one hand, if we must have this discussion, I'd prefer it to be here than clogging up another thread. On the other hand, why would we ever have anything meta to discuss?
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If you could sit with kings and paupers like me, you'd know better. We're in the business of collecting and dispersing truth here.
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Maybe we need a Forum Games & Roleplaying Drama Thread XD
In seriousness though I think having a thread like this is nice. I actually had more thoughts regarding the conversation on forum games becoming more of an "industry" but didn't want to post due to not wanting to continue to derail a thread that was meant for game design. It's nice to have a place to talk about these things, however fanciful the notions might be. As well as just general chat regarding forum games.
I think a lot of us here are pretty passionate about forum games and I'm a big supporter of people being able to do what they love for a living. I dream of a world where such is possible with forum games. They really do have a unique value to offer. But perhaps forum games / roleplaying just haven't developed anywhere close to that extent yet. The world has really yet to see a forum game / roleplay become something recognized and appreciated on a massive / global scale (as far as I know). But I feel like the potential could be there. And I think the strength of forum games actually lies in the aspect of many minds being able to come together to create something wonderfully absurd.
I don't know how relevant of a topic this is really but it does make for an interesting conversation, IMO, if only to discuss the state of modern civilization pertaining to the value and sustainability of creative activities. Anyway yeah just some rambling thoughts~
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Honestly, I get wanting to make forum games a thing in that sense. It'd make my life significantly easier if running FEFs was enough for a sustainable living wage. Definitely would make back the money I've spent on buying mapping resources for making maps and NPCs :P
My concern is trying to force it when there isn't the interest or the sustainability for such an activity, or talking down to those who disagree that it should be there already. There is obvious interest in compensating creators for it (piecewise and a few others have a Patreon) but those are entirely optional things rather than given for the services rendered by those GMs, a way of showing appreciation to these people for their passion and work as it were by their players.
Moreover, this is also a free forum for a free game (albeit one you can buy on Steam if you feel like supporting Toady). It feels just a tad bit crass to ask money for us here making forum games when the guy who made this entire forum possible lives off donations and has never asked for money in return.
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Deep down, I just don't believe people other than me deserve money, honestly.
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The question here, ultimately, is "why would you want that?".
Personally, if I took money for forum games, I'd never be able to get something done. I do this for fun and as a creative outlet, and having that pressure would totally kill my ability to write.
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If we're going to circle back to the monetization topic again since that's all that rosehearts threads reduce to anyways, lemme say that I would never ask nor expect any form of payment from my players. Everything I do is voluntary, they didn't hire me, and all the work I do is complimentary to all the work they do in turn. As was touched on in...every topic this gets brought up in, the players often have just as much power to control the narrative as the GM does. The only way things would be fair is, again this was stated the last time this was brought up, there was an audience willing to shell out the beans to all parties involved.
As for other topics of discussion, I think people shouldn't edit posts after locking topics to take shots at fellow forum-goers. I also think people who throw fits like that should get a temp ban to enforce their repeated statements of taking a break, but I also don't want to bother Toady with roseheart's bullshit.
And as for an on-topic discussion, I'm not actually sure what's supposed to fall into this thread that doesn't fit the other threads that don't really get used much. If we have a thread for game creation and discussion and a very, very, very rarely used thread that lists a small number of games (because you can tell if a game is alive by, uh, looking at the forum, don't need a google doc), then what do we talk about here?
Other than monetizing our free time that is.
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The question here, ultimately, is "why would you want that?".
Personally, if I took money for forum games, I'd never be able to get something done. I do this for fun and as a creative outlet, and having that pressure would totally kill my ability to write.
The same reason why anyone aspires to be a professional artist/creative. Wanting to make their passion the focus of their life, and not have to do something else primarily for sustenance. It's definitely a long-shot with forum games but ultimately it is a creative endeavor not entirely unlike being a writer or any other type of creative. The main difference is that forum games and roleplaying is strictly collaborative, so it is of paramount importance, as I think most of us agree, that everyone involved is compensated fairly.
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It would be amazing if I could focus on my writing and games full time - think of how much I'd be able to get done! - but it's simply not practical. Honestly, even though I've been told I'm a good writer, I wouldn't even accept money for that: I don't think I'm that good, and deadlines have a way of destroying my ability to get things done. Ultimately, I think this is just wishful thinking.
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There's certainly nothing wrong with doing creative activities purely as a hobby. That's how forum games / roleplaying are for me, and I doubt it will ever be anything more than that. I'm simply in support of pursuing one's passions as a possible career (and in fact that's what I'm doing, with my music). Anything that brings value to the world deserves a kind of support in return (and often times that support will be naturally established by those who can enjoy said value, in one way or another). Anyway the topic may be getting a little too broad at this point.
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See, here's the thing. Nobody's actually stopping anyone from trying to make money from forum games. No, calling someone foolish for suggesting it isn't stopping them.
In fact, it occurred to me that people have made money from forum games. MSPA started as an ISG. The ones before Problem Sleuth happened on a forum, iirc, and Problem Sleuth was essentially run as one. Even the very beginnings (and some intermissions) of Homestuck were, and it always maintained the veneer (with the >_ at the bottom of every page). Andrew Hussie made a living out of it. So if you have a large enough audience, you too could start your own website, put up ads, sell merch, and not know how to satisfactorily end your magnum opus.
I wouldn't want to, though. Being paid for your hobby might sound nice on the surface, but a job's a job. And a freelance job is a big risk.
For example, my sister is a photographer. She loves photography (and puts a lot more work & skill into it than I put into forum games). She deserves to get paid for it, and she does. Usually. But sometimes she gets a call; "Oh hey, we want you to work for twice as many hours, but we can't increase the budget. But you'll be working with [celebrity], so think of the exposure!". She did the math; after the cost of equipment, she'd be working for less than minimum wage. So now she can either accept this terrible offer (and be miserable doing her hobby), or reject it (and earn nothing, because she probably can't find another job that quickly).
The same risks would apply to a professional forum-gamer. "Oh hey, you didn't get as many views this month, and now you can't pay rent." "Oh hey, people didn't like the latest update so a bunch cancelled their patreon subscriptions, so now you can either cave to financial pressure and change your art, or fail to pay rent."
Note that even if it isn't your main source of income, the same issues can apply on a smaller scale. Having a donate link that earns you a few bucks every now and again is fine and all, but I wouldn't want the pressure it would create- "I got a bunch of donations for this update... I have to make sure the next one is as good, otherwise I'm ripping off those folks that donated" "Nobody has donated to me in months... I guess that means I'm not making good stuff any more".
Also, it could create pressure for viewers; "I really liked this update... now I feel like I have to donate"
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We are getting into a very broad topic now which borders on life / career advice / personal philosophy, and without getting too deep into it I'll just say that ultimately the drive to create has to come from within, rather than be externally motivated. So its entirely understandable that entwining one's passions with one's financial needs can create tensions between the internal and external. Everyone's situation is going to be different so you kind of have to decide for yourself these things and what makes sense for you.
To get a little more on-topic with regards to forum games, the basic point I wanted to make earlier was that there isn't really a critical difference between forum games and other art forms where professionals do exist, so a career in forum games doesn't seem entirely impossible of an idea (and apparently it already exists, as Nuke mentioned in their examples). How feasible it really is right now is another consideration though.
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As Real Estate in the the Forum Games & Roleplaying section is scarce, I'd like to dump the broader discussions onto General Questions.
Novel (Scoops) shouldn't have a monopoly on spamming threads in General Questions, after all...
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Why don’t we just bring back the old Gaming Block thread.
Who cares if it’s old and over a couple hundred pages!
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Why don’t we just bring back the old Gaming Block thread.
Who cares if it’s old and over a couple hundred pages!
Fine with me.
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Aren’t you supposed to have taken a break?
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Aren’t you supposed to have taken a break?
As I mentioned elsewhere, there's a difference between being annoyed at actions that are inherently annoying, and being annoyed at trivial actions just because a specific person is doing them. While I agree that roseheart should probably be taking some time off to calm down, it's not your place to mandate he do so.
To get a little more on-topic with regards to forum games, the basic point I wanted to make earlier was that there isn't really a critical difference between forum games and other art forms where professionals do exist, so a career in forum games doesn't seem entirely impossible of an idea (and apparently it already exists, as Nuke mentioned in their examples). How feasible it really is right now is another consideration though.
There is an important difference- not an insurmountable one, but a significant one- audience size. The average forum game has a pretty small audience- for many, the audience is just the people playing. And often, the more players a game has, the less enjoyable it becomes for each individual player (and the more work it becomes for the GM to manage).
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y'know i feel there's actually something that hasn't been addressed properly here: the section is called Forum Games and Roleplaying as if those are the same category but they're really not. There's definitely two distinct groups of people, one for each of those things, with very different norms and ideas about how games should be run.
Not really sure where I'm going with this but I think acknowledgement of that divide is good.
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There are definitely different corners of Bay12 - the people who play Arms Races aren't usually the people who play FEFs. I... also don't know where I'm going with this, but it's something we should be cognizant of.
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y'know i feel there's actually something that hasn't been addressed properly here: the section is called Forum Games and Roleplaying as if those are the same category but they're really not. There's definitely two distinct groups of people, one for each of those things, with very different norms and ideas about how games should be run.
Not really sure where I'm going with this but I think acknowledgement of that divide is good.
While there is certainly considerable overlap, Roleplaying generally gets the short end of the stick being shoehorned into Forum Games & Roleplaying.
So yeah, maybe two different categories would make sense. Even though that would lead to the inevitable "Your Game needs to be in THAT topic, not THIS topic"
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This whole subforum exists as a mercy gifted by Toady. They overlap well enough in that they're forum-based gaming on a forum not in any way actually meant for that. There's no real need to talk about how different they are when we gotta stick together anyways.
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This whole subforum exists as a mercy gifted by Toady. They overlap well enough in that they're forum-based gaming on a forum not in any way actually meant for that. There's no real need to talk about how different they are when we gotta stick together anyways.
Fixed that for you. :P
But more seriously, I recall when this was part of Other Games. So the Other Games section is who got the real gift.
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I've been diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum myself.
As someone who is also a state-certified autist
I will observe though, this is statistically significant. 2% of the population are like us. So that all 3 of use were attracted to hosting forum games is something, rather than say, we all met up on an Autism discussion forum or something.
I'll let someone else do the math but yeah, that's nuts. I never thought of this hobby as a natural or organic destination to arrive upon, just a random string of freak occurances and this was where I landed.
I think I like it...
(let alone "high functioning" specifically)
Holy crap. Temple Grandin made a forum game for cows.
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This whole subforum exists as a mercy gifted by Toady. They overlap well enough in that they're forum-based gaming on a forum not in any way actually meant for that. There's no real need to talk about how different they are when we gotta stick together anyways.
i personally think it would actually be better to separate them out, if only to make it easier to communicate intentions when posting games. there's a WIDE gap in expectations and it makes it difficult on occasion to get stuff off the ground, or prevent conflict when the GM and player are operating on different standardsI've been diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum myself.
As someone who is also a state-certified autist
I will observe though, this is statistically significant. 2% of the population are like us. So that all 3 of use were attracted to hosting forum games is something, rather than say, we all met up on an Autism discussion forum or something.
I'll let someone else do the math but yeah, that's nuts. I never thought of this hobby as a natural or organic destination to arrive upon, just a random string of freak occurances and this was where I landed.
I think I like it...
(let alone "high functioning" specifically)
Holy crap. Temple Grandin made a forum game for cows.
i am autistic, fuck does this mean
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There's something about these kinds of online spaces that attract people with autism - myself included - to them. Personally, I think it might have something to do with difficulties in social situations, and how it is much easier to deal with people over the internet.
i personally think it would actually be better to separate them out, if only to make it easier to communicate intentions when posting games. there's a WIDE gap in expectations and it makes it difficult on occasion to get stuff off the ground, or prevent conflict when the GM and player are operating on different standards
Hmm. Do you think it would be better to have, say, one forum for mechanics-focused games and one forum for narrative-focused games?
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I am [not a great forum game host], but I am better than I was last year, and the year before that. And I bet you wern't born at your current level.
So, setting aside the drama involved in that post, it does raise an interesting question- how does one improve at running forum games?
One aspect is obviously writing. Better writing makes for a better game, all else being equal. Improving at writing, at least in my case, is a matter of A)reading a lot, B)writing a lot, C)compulsively re-reading stuff I've written and identifying mistakes (spelling & grammar) and awkward flow (like using the same word several times in short succession (unless it's done intentionally)- English has so many synonyms that it is almost always possible to avoid doing so. Like, instead of using "said" every time someone says something, I use "said" "explained" "answered" "asked" "exclaimed" "conceded"... you get the picture). I think there's also an element of 'talent' involved- talent is a loaded word, but I mean, like, I'm obsessed with details, so it's probably easier for me to notice my own mistakes.
Another aspect is gameplay. Like, all the writing in the world doesn't matter if the gameplay sucks. I'm less confident in this aspect. Improving gameplay is probably the same basic process- playing a lot of games, running a lot of games, and self-examination of games I've run to identify issues. I've not run that many games, which is why I'm less confident about gameplay.
I think it's probably possible to break this aspect down into smaller aspects. One such aspect is considering what a game looks like to someone outside of your own head. I know what I'm going for when I run a game, I understand all the mechanics, but someone who's coming in blind has no idea. Even if the game is perfectly balanced and ingeniously put together, if I can't make it clear to a player how things work, it's not going to run smoothly. Chiaroscuro had this issue, I think, where I didn't communicate how Influence was supposed to play out properly, which led to players being unsure of how to approach it.
I think this is a more interesting thing to discuss than the mystery of why autistic people would gravitate towards a small insular community connected to a niche game where you need to salivate at the idea of details to enjoy it, and it could be useful for folks looking to improve their game-running ability. Myself included, actually.
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Hmm. Do you think it would be better to have, say, one forum for mechanics-focused games and one forum for narrative-focused games?
More or less what I'm suggesting, yeah.
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I am [not a great forum game host], but I am better than I was last year, and the year before that.
For the record, I think I am a very good host, even if not one of the 'greats' yet. Especially for the category of variety.
I think I've hosted more successful sessions and proceedurals than just about...anyone; in entirely different genres of game mechanics. Plus all the experiments the ones that maybe didn't finish, but many of them were still liked and I hear brought up. SquadCraft by crazyabe. ZL by those players. I like to Kitbash, I like to create, I like to do a little of both.
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I am [not a great forum game host], but I am better than I was last year, and the year before that.
For the record, I think I am a very good host, even if not one of the 'greats' yet. Especially for the category of variety.
...I don't think I edited that quote deceptively. The full text of that paragraph:
I read your Cthuluian SG Nuke, I never looked down on you. And paper, I'm using systems you created in one of my current games, I respect you guys as game designers, even though you make it so clear, even without the talk of monetization or donations, you think I am a trash forum game host. And you know what? I am, but I am better than I was last year, and the year before that. And I bet you wern't born at your current level. Which makes it really surprising you then turn around and constantly peg my hosting abilities every time you can, I'm surprised it didn't happen here.
I guess technically you confessed to being a "trash forum game host", not a "not great forum game host", but to my mind neither has the meaning of "very good forum game host".
I mean, to be clear- I don't think I ever accused you of being a trash forum game host, or really made any attempt to insult you about your game-hosting ability*. And even if I had, that isn't relevant to the point of the post I made- I was just using the quote as a jumping off point for a productive discussion.
*I mean, I tend not to enjoy the sort of games you run, but that doesn't mean you're a bad host- different strokes for different folks.
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how does one improve at running forum games?
Well if you specialize, you will advance faster. In comparison to you and Paper, I am trash at Arms Races and to some degree, longrunning narratives.
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how does one improve at running forum games?
Well if you specialize, you will advance faster. In comparison to you and Paper, I am trash at Arms Races and to some degree, longrunning narratives.
Hmm. I mean, I've run all of two Arms Races. MoP has run many, true, but even his first was pretty darn good (it had a shaky start, admittedly). I think there's more transference of skill between genres than you're suggesting.
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I think there's more transference of skill between genres than you're suggesting.
Oh absolutely. Also I am not being very fair on myself, since I've never tried to host an arms race. ;)
That transfer of skills, and bringing unique solutions to complacent problems is a large part of why I am a "generalist-specialist". It's fun. And a bit adventurous.
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That's. . . a very disingenuous way to approach that discussion, and kind of defeats the point of self-depreciating.
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Roseheart, I think I'm confused. What point are you trying to make, exactly?
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At this point, I think Roseheart would just like us to join a forum game without destroying it...
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The honest question to ask is, how he has so many forum games left ruined, when he's spent maybe a fraction of the time some of us have with far less ruined games in our wake, with his approach that seemingly works until it doesn't. I'm not trying to be insulting, but it seems rather disingenuous to simultaneously claim you're a jack of all trades and claim you're also a specialist while also claiming you're not that great.
As for transferrence of skills, I agree with NUKE here, to a large extent you need some level of writing skill, showmanship, willingness to adapt to what your players want, and willingness to understand when an experiment has gone horrifically wrong. Or hilariously, in which case run with it and see where it leads you.
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Roseheart wants to simultaneously have everyone bask in his glorious skills as a general specialist team strategist and all around swell fella while also being lauded as the underdog.
You’ll notice that they have only ever taken things out of context to cherry-pick the discussion they want to have while remaining tangential at best to the original point, unless it’s about paying them for their really demanding efforts running forum games that the players tend to regulate themselves in. It’s the only time he actually focuses on a point. Otherwise it’s just twisting everything anyone says to make himself look like a reasonable dude who is the victim of hardcore internet bullying.
The point I think roseheart has been making without realizing it is he’s full of himself and thinks he’s better than the rest of us because of his ability to solve complacency problems or whatever the hell he was going on about. That specifically baked my beans, because he acts like the games he’s done aren’t just the barest reskins of games he and others have done before. Meanwhile “specialists” like me who apparently have the creative depth of an apple pie and actually regularly change or introduce mechanics to solve actual issues in the genre they prefer must be lesser than he. There’s also the silly assumption he made that we “specialists” haven’t played or run other styles of games before, because the only time any of us exist is when roseheart blesses us with his attention.
EDIT: And let me make this abundantly clear. I do not think simple games or reskinned games are bad. What I have a problem with is acting like the type of game you run makes you somehow superior in some way, and acting as though there’s regular crazy groundbreaking changes brought on by them specifically when they’re not any different from any of the rest of us schleps.
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To stay on topic, it occurs to me that there is a trick that will definitely make anyone a better forum game host, one which I know not everyone knows (slash realises the importance of); bullshitting. By which I mean, the ability to act like you have a plan. If someone asks you a question about your game, you never say "I don't know". Even if you don't have an answer already, make one up. Worst case scenario, you have to walk it back later ("On reflection, I have decided to modify this mechanic"), but that's better than letting players know you aren't fully in control.
This is easier than it sounds. Players will fill in the blanks by themselves a lot of the time. You just need a convincing framework that implies there is a fully realised game underneath.
To be clear to anyone participating in my games, I'm offering this as advice to others, I would never employ it myself. Trust me.
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Suggestion: Everyone stop talking about Roseheart. >:(
Personal attacks are against the forum rules, and we're veering dangerously close.
Back on topic, endurance and timing are vital components to running a forum game. Knowing when to post, when to let the players play among themselves, and when to bring them back on topic. Forum games aren't a sprint, they're a marathon.
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What is it with people in these threads going “hey how about we move the convo away from (x) immediately after someone tries to do exactly that?
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(https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/786bc22a-570f-452c-9ed3-59bca2be2c6a)
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The honest question to ask is, how he has so many forum games left ruined
I've only abandoned 1 game in the past 2 years, having hosted more than 15 in that time.
The game I abandoned was Tropeman, because it became violent, and I had to stop and reflect on what boundaries I needed to set for player actions, and what I felt comfortable with. It was a learning experience Hoss.
By in-large, the ones who talk shit about about me aren't the ones playing my games. Just other, judgemental hosts trading gossip like Pokemon cards for a pathetic sense of self assurance.
Perhaps, a rumor that initially started when I did fail, fall, falter and it made someone feel good, because until that moment they saw something, and they felt threatened by me.
"What a relief!"
I've been doing fine, since I stopped being homeless (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=178090.0)!
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Another thing I tend to do is include humour in my games- even if they're not primarily comedic, I like to throw little jokes in there to lighten the mood. This includes things like self-depreciating jabs:
Note that this is not an excuse I made up on the spot. Who would do such a thing?
Which amuse me, at least. However, I'm not actually sure how it comes across to others. Do you think it's better for a game to maintain a tone- be it serious, comedic, or whatever-, or is mixing it up more entertaining?
For that matter, if anyone has any advice for other GMs, I'd like to hear it. Or questions about their own game-running styles. There are a lot of things we could discuss here.
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Nuke does a pretty good job of keeping the players in line by just plainly saying NO when they're going somewhere Nuke doesn't want them to go.
Another thing I tend to do is include humour in my games- even if they're not primarily comedic, I like to throw little jokes in there to lighten the mood. This includes things like self-depreciating jabs:
Note that this is not an excuse I made up on the spot. Who would do such a thing?
Which amuse me, at least. However, I'm not actually sure how it comes across to others. Do you think it's better for a game to maintain a tone- be it serious, comedic, or whatever-, or is mixing it up more entertaining?
For that matter, if anyone has any advice for other GMs, I'd like to hear it. Or questions about their own game-running styles. There are a lot of things we could discuss here.
Your tone is consistent. The humor is subtle and nothing is 100% serious.
Pacing is something worth discussing. Should a GM put an actual timer on the game, or just move things along when it gets boring?
My belief is that at a minimum, it's better to skip one player than let the game drag on and have everyone bail. But it's dangerous for a player to get skipped more than a couple times, as they become hopelessly behind and can't catch up.
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While I’m usually against timers, I recently tried to run an arms race with the bpl that expressed the importance of deadlines
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Depends on the type of game, doesn't it. In a Risky-Ventures-like, time waits for no one- well, unless they specifically ask for an extension-, but your fate is your own in those games. In a collaborative game (god games and the like), losing the input of a player impacts the fate of the game, although it can survive- a loose deadline might help, but shouldn't be too restrictive. There can also be games which just can't proceed without a player's input (eg Mafia)- in which case a timer is absolutely warranted, and replacements should be sought if the timer is exceeded.
Team games (eg ARs) are a sub-category of the last thing- a single player's absence is not a concern, but an entire team dilly-dallying is a problem.
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I am still experimenting with tone in my games. I believe it is important to maintain a balance. Dissonance can be an effective tool, but it must be used skillfully.
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Uhhh, question. Why is most/all of rosehearts games locked? Did something happen that I missed?
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Just my style. I'd love to keep them open for discussion, but I just feel really compelled to try to make late actions work. This is what works for me.
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Just my style. I'd love to keep them open for discussion, but I just feel really compelled to try to make late actions work. This is what works for me.
It's kinda weird, in comparison to what we normally see. Could you put a note in your games on the opening page, if you haven't already?
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Just my style. I'd love to keep them open for discussion, but I just feel really compelled to try to make late actions work. This is what works for me.
It's kinda weird, in comparison to what we normally see. Could you put a note in your games on the opening page, if you haven't already?
I see what your saying. I feel a little confused though, the first time I locked Dungeon there was a clear by-and-far winner. The second time, I literally asked for a tiebreaker. Honestly, I'm just too lazy to facilitate the laziness of others to investigate.
Weird's never been much a deterrent for me, my favorite people always are.
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I am still experimenting with tone in my games. I believe it is important to maintain a balance. Dissonance can be an effective tool, but it must be used skillfully.
I like to throw the occasional light joke into my serious settings, and my more humorous settings are usually grounded in something a lot more dark beneath the surface. My arms races are mostly set in serious settings for instance, but I embrace the occasional meme that spawns from player actions (IWAR's BEEG, for example). Meanwhile my short-lived suggestionish game, A Serious Space Hoedown Of Legendary Events, actually had pretty grim arcs for the players to come across. I love messing with the difference in tones so I have options open to go whichever route I feel is right, but it definitely requires a balance you can only really get a feel for through experience.
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I honestly don't remember ever seeing anyone have problems with late actions after clearly stating that a choice had been made.
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Calling people pathetic isn't really stopping the fight, and your other insinuations are frankly absurd. Threatened? Please.
To discuss on topic, another way to make your life easier is, where possible, hiding precise info from players. It lets you adjust difficulty/etc under the hood in case you over-or undershot, and then you can just pretend you actually know how to perfectly balance a game.
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I personally subscribe to the school of "write what's cool and pretend you're not pulling it out of your backside like a clown car".
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What has worked best for me is a combination of meticulous planning and improv. I set up entire worlds, universes, and histories that affect things up until player intervention, then do whatever I can to tie their actions into a cohesive narrative that fits the setting without removing player agency.
I mean everything is planned out in advance, I’ve never pulled anything out of my ass for sure.
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Why I like to show the rolls. (https://youtu.be/UpkC0vMxdDU)
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The best way to GM is to make it look like this is what you planned all along. Your players don't need to know that you never expected them to carry the totem you placed on a dead body for flavour into the shrine, but just come up with some effect on the fly! Just make sure it's consistent with everything else you've said about the shrine's goddess so far, and you're good to go.
I know I have a tendency to overplan and spend way too much time on preparation and worldbuilding, so lately I've been winging it and coming up with details as they come up. I think it's worked pretty well so far.
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Yeah, as long as there’s a base foundation for you to refer to privately as a gm you’re set. The world is your oyster, and the players also your oysters.
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What has worked best for me is a combination of meticulous planning and improv. I set up entire worlds, universes, and histories that affect things up until player intervention, then do whatever I can to tie their actions into a cohesive narrative that fits the setting without removing player agency.
Thanks for elaborating on your methods.
Pacing is something worth discussing. Should a GM put an actual timer on the game, or just move things along when it gets boring?
My belief is that at a minimum, it's better to skip one player than let the game drag on and have everyone bail. But it's dangerous for a player to get skipped more than a couple times, as they become hopelessly behind and can't catch up.
While I’m usually against timers, I recently tried to run an arms race with the bpl that expressed the importance of deadlines
How'd that work out? I'm curious.
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Locking this. This has gotten no use for 3 months. Gamer's Block (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110287.0) it is.