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Author Topic: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion  (Read 3977 times)

NUKE9.13

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #45 on: February 18, 2022, 12:39:16 am »

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:
Quote from: Fractal Dungeon
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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EuchreJack

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #46 on: February 18, 2022, 12:48:31 am »

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:
Quote from: Fractal Dungeon
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.

Man of Paper

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #47 on: February 18, 2022, 01:02:18 am »

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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NUKE9.13

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #48 on: February 18, 2022, 02:07:34 am »

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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Iris

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #49 on: February 18, 2022, 02:00:02 pm »

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.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2022, 09:01:04 pm by Iris »
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Knightwing64

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #50 on: February 18, 2022, 09:23:23 pm »

Uhhh, question. Why is most/all of rosehearts games locked? Did something happen that I missed?
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RoseHeart

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #51 on: February 18, 2022, 09:35:45 pm »

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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EuchreJack

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #52 on: February 18, 2022, 10:54:25 pm »

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?

RoseHeart

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #53 on: February 18, 2022, 11:04:54 pm »

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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Man of Paper

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #54 on: February 18, 2022, 11:12:48 pm »

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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Maximum Spin

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #55 on: February 19, 2022, 01:47:26 am »

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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Chevaleresse

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #56 on: February 19, 2022, 08:17:29 am »

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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IamanElfCollaborator

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #57 on: February 19, 2022, 09:04:58 am »

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".

Man of Paper

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #58 on: February 19, 2022, 09:23:39 am »

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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RoseHeart

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Re: Forum Games & Roleplaying General Discussion
« Reply #59 on: February 19, 2022, 04:44:35 pm »

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