The pandemic is good for my RPG gaming life. I've never played so many games in my life. Pre-pandemic I used to have one regular weekly game plus another game that happened about once a month. Now I have 3 weekly games plus one or two additional games every month or so. Some weeks, I have 5 games.
One of the Players in one of my games asked, "Am I a good Player compared to your other groups?"
That's an interesting question. Almost embarrassing to answer. Almost like a lover asking if they're as good as somebody else. So, here's my answer:
What makes a good Player?
I mentioned several things that makes a good Player:
- Sharing the spotlight with other Players. What some Players aren't aware of is that when we play, each Player should have equal screen time. So, if you're playing for 4 hours and there are 4 PCs, there should be about 1 hour of play time per PC. If a Player is a spotlight hog, that Player may take half of the time or 2 hours out of the 4, leaving the 3 other Players only 40 minutes of screen time. This isn't nice. That said, some Players prefer to lurk and some do not. So, screen time would be adjusted based on a Player's play style.
A good Player is aware of how much screen time they've used and yield the floor when they've used their allotment. - Involving and enabling other Players. A good player would try to involve other Players.
Lone wolf PCs just disappear and do their own thing in secret, but what fun is that for the other Players? That not only takes time away from the table, but isn't fun for anybody else at the table, especially if the Player and GM go to another room for 15-30 mins. A better move is to either NOT do it in secret, so at least the other Players can observe and trust the other Players to separate in-game knowledge from out-of-game knowledge. What good is a in-game secret that never gets revealed? An even better move is to involve the other PCs in your scheme, get them to help you. Then it involves other PCs and advances your secret agenda.
This happened in one game I played in, the Lone Wolf Sniper didn't want to associate with any of the other PCs. This went on scene after scene. The GM then did a brilliant move, he had the bad guys approach the Lone Wolf Sniper and recruited him. In the finale, we really, really loved murdering him in addition to the Big Bad.
Enabling other Players. Instead of blocking what another PC wants to do, why not help them succeed in their goal? Why not do your cool thing, so that the other PC can do their cool thing? This doesn't mean your PC is subservient to the other PCs needs. But this doesn't mean you should steal the other PC's glory either. In one game, one PC finally met his arch nemesis. In the big showdown/duel, the PC almost killed his arch nemesis, then another PC, without asking, snuck in and dealt the killing blow. WTF? Don't do this. ðŸ˜
A good Player tries to involve other Players and make it a fun experience for everyone at the table. - Understanding what the game is about. Some games are investigative, some are kick the door in and kill things, some are character studies. A good Player figures out what type of game it is and acts appropriately. Basically, don't f*ck things up. If it's an investigative game, don't kick in every door with guns blazing. In a social character roleplaying game, don't sulk in the corner and avoid all the other PCs. You can act against type, but you must still add something to the game, don't subtract from it.
Also, if it's an investigative game, investigate. In one game I was in, a PC who worked as an EMT refused to look up an autopsy report for the rest of the party. He said, "I can't do this, it means my job if I do it." WTF. So, we broke in and got the report instead. He also refused to do lots of other things. After this, we side-lined that Player, sort of a collective punishment for making our lives hard unnecessarily.
Act appropriately for the appropriate game. - Bringing something interesting to the table. A good Player always tries to bring something new to the table and keep it fresh and interesting. This could be through hijinks, dialog with other PCs, cool moves, or brilliant deduction.
Don't be afraid of failure. Sometimes failure is a lot more interesting than succeeding all the time. My favorite example is Raiders of the Lost Ark. What if Indiana Jones put the right amount of sand into the sack for obtaining the idol? Then he would have gotten it without the rolling ball trap, the rush past the poison darts, the "Give me the whip, I'll give you the idol" exchange. How boring!
Make the game fun. If the game isn't fun, bring your own fun to the table.
What makes a good GM?
Here's what I think makes a good GM:
- Understanding the rules. I don't mean like a rules lawyer, I mean understanding how the rules work and when to apply them and when the break them. Know the rules enough, so you don't need to look up every rule, and enough so you can make rule decisions on the spot if you had to. Sometimes I do tell everyone, "Oh, this is important, I think I gotta look this one up because it could mean life or death for your PC. I don't want to mess this one up."
Generally, if I do make a ruling on the fly, you usually have two choices, one more harsher than the other. I'd pick the one on the lenient side.
You need to be consistent and fair. If you do make a ruling on the fly and then find out you're wrong, you can at the beginning of the next session say, "Sorry folks, I made a mistake, in the future, we'll be using this rule instead." This would be a lot easier if you had picked the more lenient ruling vs the more harsher one that might have killed or maimed a PC. Oops, no take backsies. Hard to explain how that PC suddenly sprung back to life.
Why do you need to be consistent and fair? In one game of Top Secret I played in, one Player was James Bond, making crazy driving rolls, firing a gun out of the car window, and chasing the bad guys. Another Player decided to emulate him and jump off a bridge onto a freighter passing underneath. He wound up being George Smiley and broke both his legs. Yeah, it sucks being in the same game, and having different rules apply to you. - Understand the world or scenario. Be familiar with the world or scenario, so you don't have to look everything up. Be prepared. For my own homegrown scenarios, I have bullet points for things I want to hit during the session. Some people use a highlighter on published scenarios. With PDFs, you can temporarily highlight passages without permanently marking up your books.
When I run a published scenario, I keep in mind that the world is as realistic as possible. That if a PC decides to look for something, and make a roll (Spot Hidden for instance), unless the location was professionally swept, something of note would be found. In most published scenarios, only the main clue trails are described. But that doesn't mean that a candy wrapper or a whiskey glass with a quarter inch of whisky isn't left on a night stand and the PCs can't take the glass and get finger prints off of it. Normal people would have photographs on their desks or hanging on their walls. There is food in the refrigerator and prescription drugs in the bathroom. This also adds to verisimilitude. No room looks like an IKEA showroom.
If the PCs search and there is truly nothing interesting, I'd just tell them, "There's nothing interesting. What do you want to do next?" - A good sense of pacing. In addition to managing spotlight time, by addressing various Players who haven't had a chance to shine, you need to monitor the table and decide when to throw things at the Players to keep them interested.
For my homegrown scenarios, I have usually some optional pre-set encounters prepared. If I have to use a random encounter table, I'd pre-roll them and totally prepare them ahead of time. I never do this on the fly. Then I can possibly tie them into the story in a meaningful way somehow.
If I'm not going to use throw away pre-set encounters, then I'd have various set pieces. We'd just move to the next set piece. Act 1, 2, and 3; finished.
Pacing also includes GM's descriptions of things. Some GMs like to be loquacious, almost spinning a novel, describing in detail everything in a scene. This is ok, only once in a while, especially if the GM is really, really good, but most of the time, I hate this. It wastes time and is generally a snore-fest. I had writer's workshop training. We learned that the amount of words spent should be proportional to its importance. What's a better use of time is "It's a normal bedroom except for the following things..." Or I like pictures. If I have an illustration of the room, then that saves a lot of time. I love illustrations of NPCs too.
If the PCs have split the party and rejoin, instead of having the PCs reiterate what had happened, I just ask, "Do you share with each other what had happened?" They'll generally will just nod their heads. Then we just move on. Once in a while, one Player would say, "Yes, except for ..." which is fine.
Pacing also includes Table Control. When things wind down, take them to the next scene. When Players are bored, they start acting out. Asking for unreasonable things, looking at their phones, making phone calls, etc.. This may also be a good time to call for a short break. - The ability to say, "Yes and ..." and "Yes but ...". One thing I learned from the new Indie RPGs is improv and the ability to say, "Yes." Feng Shui RPG lets Players add elements to a scene. Sword of the Serpentine lets Players set various elements in a scene; the GM goes from Player to Player, asking various questions about the scene. All this lets the Players be more invested in the scene and action. They had a hand in setting it up.
If a Player asks for something reasonable, there is no harm in saying, "Yes." If it's a bit too much, then the GM can say, "Yes and" or "Yes but" both leading to a complication.
And sometimes you need to say, "No." Can I have a nuclear weapon? Or have the NPCs solve the mystery for me? Completely unreasonable requests can be answered with a simple, "No." - Understand that the GM is not the Players' enemy, but a facilitator. We've all heard of killer GMs. The GM should be a collaborator with the Players in telling a story and making the story as interesting and exciting as necessary.
Sometimes, a Player would ask some weird assed question. I know they want to do something cleaver, but not what. I will ask, so what are you trying to do or find out? Once they tell me, then I can tell them some information or ask them to roll some dice to see what they figure out.
The other day, a Player had a box full of chemicals and wanted to throw it at a creature and have some effect. I asked if the PC had any Chemistry; No. So, I let her throw the box which hit and did some damage. Then had her roll Luck to see if by chance the mix of chemicals caused some sort of adverse reaction.
IMHO, if a PC cannot die, then a level of excitement is lost. What fun is there in cheating death if you know that death can't win?
On the flip side, what fun is there if the GM gives you a gimme when fighting a creature? For instance, in one game, a PC got dragged under the earth and was presented before the queen mother. He decided to light a bundle of dynamite and football charge her. The queen mother was really a giant snake with a glamour, she opened her mouth impossibly wide and swallowed him whole. By chance, the snake had massive armor, but was unarmored from the inside. The PC rolled damage and did exactly enough damage to kill the snake from the inside. That was Amaze-balls! I had to show the Player the monster's stats to show that I didn't cheat as the GM and gave him an automatic victory because he sacrificed himself. That was sweet! It was a meaningful death.
GMs cheat. Yes, we sometimes modify things on the fly because an undeserved TPK doesn't serve the story. If sufficient warning was given a party for a foolish act or it's the last act, then I let the dice tell the story. If it's a TPK then, it's a TPK. But if it's some random low level creature or poison gas, then I'd rather let the party survive. But no miraculous savor, but instead some sort of complication. Such as waking up in a cell, waiting to be sacrificed, giving the PCs a chance to have a harrowing escape and at the same time, learn about the fate of others.
I ran World War Cthulhu: Cold War and the PCs wound up in a gunfight, in broad daylight, in a public park with Stasi in East Berlin. It didn't turn out too well, all the PCs took enough damage to go unconscious. They all wound up in a gulag for two years. The mission was a complete failure. Two years later, they got released in a spy swap and was sent on their next mission. Their trust with MI6 was heavily damaged. I did cheat a little, I think one of the PCs would have bled to death before the ambulances arrived, instead I went into narrator mode and just told them that the Stasi administered first aid and arrested them all.
A few nights ago, I ran a game where a creature with massive amount of hit points blocked the PCs' exit. One PC was insistent on casting a spell at it. It did do some damage, but nothing significant. The PC asked if that hurt the creature enough to make it back away. Once asked, I decided to give the creature a morale roll, I rolled a 89. The creature backed away from the exit towards another hall, allowing the PCs to escape. Again, I'm a facilitator of what happens, seeing if the PC's intention happens, not to "kill" the PCs. Once the PCs left the building there was another short encounter and they reached the safety of the woods. At that point, we were running late and they were in an area of safety. The scenario had one more event that would draw them back to the building, but I decided not to do that based on table mood, time left to play, and pacing considerations. It was good enough to call it the end of the game at that point.
Also the GM should subtly teach the Players how to be more successful. In CoC, it generally benefits the PCs to discuss how they approach a NPC before meeting them. Making it up on the spot sometimes works, but it may lead to horrible consequences. I've seen a Player start telling a horrible lie to convince a NPC of something, then I ask for a FastTalk skill roll and of course that PC has 5% in that skill. If the PCs had discussed this before meeting the NPC, they could have decided another PC with a higher FastTalk skill would tell the lie instead. So, I sometimes ask, "While in the car, do you discuss how you are going to approach the NPC before you arrive?" This teaches them to do this in the future because I won't ask all the time.
So, I'll let you decide. Are you a good Player or GM?
If not, it's not really a big deal as you can always learn to become better. Practice makes perfect.
I found this interesting video on "It's what my character would do!": https://youtu.be/jjEpZlo5FkI
Who shouldn't GM: https://youtu.be/J5DgMm14ioc
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