I was digging through some stuff on my computer and I found a link to an old PBWorks site that I was using over 5 YEARS AGO to document my thoughts and ideas about gaming.
It was still active (Wow!) so I logged in and found this article. I present it as a "blast from the past". Unedited by my current thoughts and sensibilities. Let's see how it holds up...
Trust in Gaming
Why?
Two reasons.
One, its the right thing to do. When your friends come over to your house, they want to have
fun.
They don't want to take part in something that isn't enjoyable. If
they wanted to do that, they'd go to work or mow the lawn. A game that
doesn't follow these tenets just isn't fun.
Two, I dislike rules heavy games (AD&D 3.5 I'm looking at you!)
and so I run my games fast and loose. Right or wrong, I like to think
of my RPG sessions as a type of freeform jazz -- we start off in a
direction and then we roll with it. I build a lot of randomness and
freedom into the game. Anyway, when you play off the cuff, there's a
lot of GM fiat. This makes some players nervous because they don't
always know what is going to happen next. They don't know exactly how
their powers work (Champions! You heard me!) If you try to run your
games with these tenets, the players will trust that you'll give them a
fair shake. It's a partnership where we are all invested in having fun
and telling a compelling story.
I'm not perfect -- no one is -- but I try to run my RPGs according to
the following tenets. I think that more times than not, I do a good
job and I pull it off. It has taken me years to refine my GMing skills.
I offer the following to anyone who is thinking about running a
tabletop RPG game.
Tenets
Fairness/Equity/Parity
Try to give all characters equal screen time. This doesn't mean that
if one character gets a magic sword, everyone gets a magic sword. It
means that if one player gets a goody, the other players can rest
assured that their goody will happen eventually. Everyone gets a turn.
One player might get a special item, another player might get a
sidekick, still a third might gain an enemy. In game terms, these are
all equal (strange way of thinking about it, huh?) but they all give
each character/player a time and a place to take the spotlight and
excel.
Consistency
If the last time you fought orcs, they went down with one swing of
your axe, then that had better happen next time. If it doesn't happen
next time, as a GM you'd better have a good explanation of why (even if
the characters and players aren't privy to it.) If you make a decision
on the fly that turns out to be wrong or unbalancing to the game, take
the time to discuss it with the players and explain why the rules have
change. In advance.
Heroes are the Stars
In order to make a compelling game world, you have to populate it
with interesting characters (NPCs). A world filled with nameless
shopkeepers, guards, and barkeeps is a boring world. Having said that,
no matter how wonderful that villain/anti-hero/druid/mage/etc. is
he or she is not the focus of the game.
The players are and their heroes are. Period. Not every villain
needs to get away, not every sidekick needs the coolest magic item, etc.
Let the heroes have the spotlight. If there's a legitimate reason why
an NPC should have the spotlight (she's the only one who can pick the
lock, he's the one who knows a contact in the city) have them take the
lead (briefly) then hand the story back over. Besides, if your NPCs
start interacting with each other, isn't that really like talking to
yourself?
Be Prepared
This means that when gaming day arrives, don't be clueless about what
is going to happen. I've already mentioned that I like to play it fast
and loose, so what does "be prepared" mean to me? Well, I typically
have a
concept map
put together showing the relationships between the heroes, villains,
places and things. I have a rough flow chart showing the plot as I
envision it. I'm open if the characters want to go in a different
direction and I'm ready to improvise, but I have some resources to help
me roll with it.
Listen
Consider the following: sometimes the ideas that your players come up with are
better than your ideas. Steal them. Not only will the players appreciate the better plotline, they'll think that they are
really tuned in to the scenario. "I knew it. I saw that coming."
Exempli gratia: Years ago I kicked off my first campaign with an
adventure involving a wyrm (a giant flightless dragon.) The scenario
involved a wyrm that was menacing caravans on a well traveled trade
route. The heroes were hired as guards for a particularly valuable
shipment. My ideas was that the wyrm was just hungry and was attacking
the caravans as a ready source of horseflesh. Yummy.
Then I overheard my players
discussing how the wyrm must be controlled by a mage. They had seen a
pattern in the descriptions of the caravan merchandise that was
lost/stolen (one I hadn't intended) and had reasoned that a mage must
be responsible.
I quickly sketched a cavern complex, reasoned that the wyrm would
have a "magic collar" that would allow the mage to control it, and
whipped up a small group of brigands that would help the mage pillage
the caravans. Presto. Instant improved adventure.
Award Excellence
When a player comes up with a great idea that moves the story along,
when they immerse themselves in their role, or when they take the time
to describe a clever combat maneuver.
Try to say YES. If
there's a good reason why you don't want them to succeed, then say NO,
but have a good reason. If you want them to succeed, don't have them
roll dice. Just narrate what happens and move on. If you have them
roll, no matter how slim their chance of failure, it could happen. Just
say YES.
Furthermore, when they do exciting and fun things, give them a
payback. Give them a clue, item, contact, complication, etc. Something
that says, "well done, here's another chance for you to shine." You
can award them with "metagame" things too like experience points or FATE
points. The point is, the award is positive feedback that says "keep
it up, keep doing that." That's what you want from your players.
No Dirty Tricks/Character Death
Nothing will alienate you players more than a tricky situation that
they can't figure out that eventually kills off their character. They
invest a lot of time and energy into their in-game persona. Don't treat
them carelessly. Don't kill off a character through a bad roll or bad
design. Traps that kill unless the heroes spot them are a bad idea
unless the heroes
know that the place is filled with lethal traps. Kill off a
red shirt
to show them how deadly. I like FATE and Fudge because they have
"taken out" as the final stage in the character damage track. This
could mean that the hero is unconscious or otherwise disabled an not
able to continue. Not necessarily dead.
Now if the players do something patently stupid. Kill their
character. They're asking for it. If you adhere to a player-centric,
story based game where the heroes often get out of tough spots by the
skin of their teeth, some players will interpret this as weakness on the
part of the GM. "I can do anything and he won't kill me." Wrong. If
they are stupid, make them pay for their stupidity. They should have
seen it coming. Being fair doesn't mean being a pushover. Just make
sure that if a character dies it is either dramatically appropriate (my
paladin died fighting the demon queen so that everyone else could get
away and all the children would be saved from her clutches) or it is the
players legitimate fault (you mean I can't jump off of a cliff? Oh,
dragons are deadly. I probably shouldn't have doused myself in gasoline
and then lit up a smoke.) Give them the chance to act in a rational
fashion, if they refuse, it's their funeral.
