Social Hooper McFinney's RPF Bar & Grille 7.5 - "Loving the lens flare since 1977!” -!

Thank you!

I do actually have a question for any GMs out there.

How far in advance do you plan your story? In how much detail do you plan?

 

lol

Thank you HanSolo29

 

So... err I heard there was RPGing to be had round here. The current games all look way out beyond the SAGA eras - like one was 126 ABY!

I was looking for something around / before TFA. I've got a testor character needs testing lol.

Nice to meet you all and all that.

 

We've got all sorts of games going on right now. Some starting as early as 31 BBY (not sure if there are any ongoing earlier than that) and one as late as 286 (going on 287) ABY. I think there are several games being played in what I'd call the "Aftermath" era roughly around 6 ABY or so. The GMs of those games can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there are at least three or four games centered around that time frame. Not sure if we have anything ongoing closer in towards TFA or not though.

 

Kurisan


Greetings and welcome,

There are three games to my knowledge revolving around 5ABY; those being The New Sith Trials, The Grey Way and The Shado Varmiri.

Feel free to take a look and read some of the RP threads, or asks questions in their respective Resource Threads. Of course, there are other games you can explore, such as the recently launched Mandalorian RPG, the mysterious Crossings, or the Marvel Game. Notably, there is also a fully functional Jedi game for you to peruse. Oh, and Jedi Samurai in Bound By Honor.

Either way, I hope you find something you like here in the RPF.

 

Kal'ael Zar'an, I haven't GMed in a long time, but for my games, I usually had a beginning and the ultimate goal end planned. Though, I've seen other GMs keep closer eye on where each player goes. So just depends on what kind of story you want. You can definitely do more free flow and see where the players take certain things, or more of what I've seen in the recent times, a stricter plot line where you update all of the players after they post each time. There's a learning curve I think and you'll find out what works better for you.

 

A GM is also a World Builder. As spacelady mentioned, it depends on what kind of game you are running. Generally, speaking the games that last the longest are the ones that have greater structure and story set in place. Games with little direction do not last very long as you can well imagine, so I suggest a well thought out plot line, story arcs, and planned events in-game. These things help progress your RP and keep your players invested. It all depends on the style you adopt.

 

greyjedi125, mine were LotR based, so players had a general idea of what we were doing. I don't remember seeing a lot of GM updates after every post in the years prior, during the golden age. Seems to me like it's more of a new thing?

 

My my!!!

*Slides into the bar*

I take a few hours off, and TWO new beings come into the bar...!!!

"Welcome to Kal'ael Zar'an and Kurisan."


Free drinks on the house!
Enjoy the snacks, They are free as well.

Enjoy your visit!

 

I'm going to take a slightly contrary position to some of the arguments here - I think a more improvised, loose style of game can work great, as long as your players know that's what they're getting into, and know that the degree to which they'll have to make their own fun might be slightly increased. Even a "carefully" plotted game needs to allow some flexibility if your players opt for something you didn't plan on, and I think most games benefit from incorporating those ideas. It's important to remember this stuff is a group experience. Sometimes a player wants the GM to conduct them along a nice train ride, and sometimes they think to themselves "YO BUT WHAT IF I JUST JUMPED OUT OF THIS BOXCAR?"

 

Condition A) If the boxcar is stationary, there's a good chance the player may land without injury.
Condition B) If the boxcar is moving at over 85 MPH, there might be some risk of injury, me thinks. *( but can be a lot more fun )

So forth and so on.

Excelsior true believers.

EDIT: IMO, communication and flexibility are by far, much better ingredients to success and longevity than predictability. The element of surprise is the spice of life.

 

THE BOXCAR IS METAPHORICAL

RECONSIDER JUMPING OUT OF ACTUAL BOXCARS

 

But I jump out of moving boxcars for a living….aw shucks.

Edit: The best GMing, IMO, is that of flexibility. Plan certain points, have a general but not strict idea of the end, and know the general flow you wish to go. But let the players actions speak for themselves. Use GMing powers to steer players closer to the track you wish only if they go way too out of where you'd like.

But hey, sometimes they can do something you never thought of that you go: Huh. I like that better actually.

There is no right or wrong in the end.

 

greyjedi125 & Bardan_Jusik Thanks for the welcome! Yeah, I've had a look at all those current games and none quite hit the mark for me.

And that's totally my problem lol - they all look pretty good. I just took a starter Padawan right through six levels, so I'm done with Jedi for a while.

I'm being challenged to write a story about a pilot in the Resistance/First Order era - so wanted to put her through a few adventures to see what inspiration it generated, and my regular group is right in the middle of a good Rebellion story arc which I don't want to abort/disrupt.

I can be patient though.

As to the question of the moment: I find variety to be the spice of life. With a new group of characters carefully stepped stages is useful for starter adventures. Then I'll just put together a general idea of the "current situation" for the next adventure and see how they react to things, improvising tasks to overcome on the way. Often a mix of these two styles works well - have your opening three scenes tightly linked, but when they actually get to Nar Shaddaa just let them wander free and figure out their own plan.

The key is to just keep the focus on the end objective - every step that the characters must want to take should take them nearer to it (even if they don't know at the time lol).

K

EDIT: Nice to meet you Ktala I'll have a double blue milk, then.

 

Have a space battle scene going on in Shado Varmiri if you want a pilot Kurisan. Though again, it takes place in 5 ABY (well that scene is in 3 ABY, but eh), so not quite Resistance era yet. But it could give you a general feeling for the character if you wanted.

Otherwise…mm. Pilot…The new Mando Game perhaps could work? But that takes place in 31 BBY.

 

Ramza You hit upon a golden rule I always use - the players should always feel like they are making the decisions and controlling their characters. As GM you never say, "Right, you all decide to break into the Imperial base and you go find the back door with a security kit."

Instead you say, "So, the spy is held inside and there are 4 stormtroopers on the front gate. What do you do?"

I'm often amazed at what ideas they come up with - they look carefully at their skill sets and equipment and think of ways in you'd never think of.

 

Counter Question: What game do you play?

I think you can never plan a whole game out. Your players are the main characters and their decisions, actions and emotions count. Seriously? GMing is overrated. Get a few great players and they make any game a Master Piece! But that said ... you can let them loose, but you cannot really withdraw from plotting ... because you are the world and something needs to happen in the world or it is not a good world you build. You can keep it to a non intrusive minimum of course.

Then again, you don't tell a story with 30 players about the End of the Wirld in which conspiracies, ancient lord and a reinterpretation of celestial creatures plays a vital part without designing a few chains of events and dividing the players effectively into groups.

So the truth is perhaps the art of GMing is planning enough to make it a good game and not one bit more than that, so everybody can make it their own story. I personally have the major events planned and you usually do not have to worry about players ... once they get a feeling where a major event happens they feel drawn to it without any railroading.

My two cents. God, then again I haven't GMed in ages. What do i know?

 

SQUIRREL!!!!!!!

*Ahem*

Hello @Kurisan. *Slides over a blue milk.*

Well, if nothing fits yer fancy at the moment, you are more than welcome to simply sit here, and chatter away until something bites yer fancy.....

*Ahem*.. now...
if I dare to chime in to the fray...

All the great folks above make excellent points about gaming. I dont care HOW well you plan out your game, if you have good players, they will ALWAYS surprise you, with things you just didnt expect them to do. So, its almost impossible to plan out a game 100%. The opening, the general direction and if you are lucky, the ending goal, are the best you can do.

Much of this depends on how you see yourself as a GM.

If you make it as a contest... GM vs the player characters, then you are in competition with your players. Im not too fond of those types of games, because no matter what you do as a PC, the GM will simply override you. To me, this is not as fun as allowing players to challenge a GM, and make them become creative in how to handle their players. They are stuck to 'specific events that simply MUST happen' and will not deviate. They attempt to force the players into certain actions, even if that action is out of character for the character involved. But some folks do like this style. It all depends.

If you look at it, as if the telling of the story is more of the important thing, not so much the goals, the game can get interesting, as the story can change into something than what the GM originally envisioned, depending on the actions of their players. That requires the GM to think on their little twinkle toes!!

Some folks simple like the GM to give them the opening lines, and then they are totally free, with the GM only interacting to give necessary information and plot developments. That is the hardest to do, I feel, because that takes a very interactive group of players. But there have been very successful games using this tactic.

For many players, I think some GM's forget that after taking the time to make up a character sheet, most folks have drawn up a basic feel for their character. The player also has a story to tell, about why that character has a scar on their face, or why they always carry a scarf, or whatever other quirks that they might have. As long as the GM is flexible enough to allow the players to tell their stories at the same time, they are weaving their own story, tends to make for the best games.

*ahem*
*Climbs off the soapbox....*


Oh yeah...

CHEERS....


*slurps down on her own drink*

yeah...I tend to ramble.....
sorry..


P.S. Where is this boxcar again....?

 

I've found that there has to be a balance, and it really just comes down to the GM and the player having a good rapport. I've helped players build their characters into the game's universe, but that only works if the GM and the player are both fairly on the same page in terms of what story they want to tell with character vs. the bigger picture. If the two are going totally opposite directions, with a GM giving no leeway as to a character's actions, and the player determined to throw a kink in things the GM needs to do to make the story make sense down the line, then it's not going to turn out well. My approach as a GM is that the players and myself are telling a story together, not that the game is something they need to beat. It's not a video game. I tend to try to give a lot of choices, but make them specific enough that neither will blow up the plot, just change how we get from point A to point B. Options outside of those given result in some kind of logical consequence for the character that makes sense within the plot, I.e. you jump out of the boxcar you break your legs.

I think the ideal situation is to have a game's plot structured like a tree, which a branch splitting for most every major choice players are given, and a plot planned to allow a wide range of choices to players without leaving the GM at a creative dead end. That's a project I've been piecing together for some time but I don't know if it will ever actually happen.

There's definitely no "best" approach, though. The only thing that's best is what results in the most fun for everyone and the most compelling story, and that just depends on who is in the game.

 

A GM I loved once told me his secret is he improvised everything and makes it looks like it was all planned all along.

 

Ktala Cheers!

TheSithGirly Did I say that out loud?

@All, yeah happy to sit and lurk for a while, see how you run things round here.

New question for the day; what's your optimum number of players? Follow-up; how do you feel about players running more than one character in a game?