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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2012 10:22:57 GMT -8
What are some things you'd like to see from players showing up for your games?
At our Pathfinder game the GM collects everyone's character sheets at the end of each session. I always keep my own copy and make all my game notes on my personal copy and just pass the necessary stats back to the GM - spells used, treasure picked up, etc. At the start of the next session I go in knowing what spells I have ready to go or if we ended the previous session by resting, I have a new set of spells ready to go. (I use spell cards I've done on 4x6 cards that are color coordinated by spell type - red for damage dealing offensive, yellow for daze/sleep/confuse/etc, you get the idea.)
The guy who plays the Cleric - a terrible min/max'er and meta-gamer - is never ready and in-game it typically takes him 2 minutes to figure out what spell he wants to use.
The rest of the party are your general hack-and-slash characters who don't really require any prep.
Generally though, what do you want to see your players walking into a session with?
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Post by jazzisblues on Apr 13, 2012 10:38:20 GMT -8
Good topic. I could go on for a while about this one. Oh wait I can usually go on for a while about any topic.
JiB
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Post by Forresst on Apr 13, 2012 11:14:05 GMT -8
As a sometimes player, sometimes gm, I can answer this one pretty quickly: I expect everyone to come to the game ready to play. That means different things for different people, but frankly, I don't really care what you have to do to get ready, I just want everyone to join that gaming session with their head in the game, their attention focused on what's going on, and with the respect for the people they're playing with to not waste everyone's time.
I get that people are people and the world is the world, so things will happen. That's what drives my second expectation of people in a game: if something has to distract you or even take you away from the game completely for a few minutes, communicate it politely, and do your best not to disrupt the game.
Really, I suppose this whole thing boils down to one word: respect.
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Post by jazzisblues on Apr 13, 2012 14:30:37 GMT -8
As a sometimes player, sometimes gm, I can answer this one pretty quickly: I expect everyone to come to the game ready to play. That means different things for different people, but frankly, I don't really care what you have to do to get ready, I just want everyone to join that gaming session with their head in the game, their attention focused on what's going on, and with the respect for the people they're playing with to not waste everyone's time. I get that people are people and the world is the world, so things will happen. That's what drives my second expectation of people in a game: if something has to distract you or even take you away from the game completely for a few minutes, communicate it politely, and do your best not to disrupt the game. Really, I suppose this whole thing boils down to one word: respect. I agree completely with the respect point. I will say that when my group gets together we don't start gaming right away. One of the things we do is eat, so we socialize while we're getting food and beer and whatnot which might take 15 min or might take half an hour before we're ready to play but that's just us. I echo the come ready to play part completely, though the specifics of that can vary wildly from player to player. Cheers, JiB
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Post by inflatus on Apr 13, 2012 17:46:14 GMT -8
I think that the player needs to be ready. They should know what is going on with the story, if it is a campaign. They should know what their character's abilities are and how to use them. Get any issues out of the way before gameplay. That can be done during the BS or eating part as everyone arrives and gets caught up.
Lastly the player should be ready to have fun, otherwise what is the point.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2012 19:52:47 GMT -8
The game I am currently in is one part DnD, one part hang-out. We are together for four hours and play for about three of them. The other hour is talking, laughing, drinking, and eating.
We need everyone to bring their character sheets and a good sense of humor. Everything else is negotiable. The key to every game is to have fun and blow off steam. As long as that happens, we call it a successful evening.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2012 19:49:06 GMT -8
My group plays at the community center of the condo association where the adult couple in the group live. Two of the minors are that gentlemans children, another minor is the sons friend and the fourth minor is the child of the man's friend...
I come with rulebooks, the current adventure, at least one alternate adventure, maps screen captured from the PDF of the current adventure and printed to the proper scale, my 4or 5 sets of dice, a pound-o-dice of extras for the table, pencils, extra character sheets, usually having already eaten or actually delivering the food for the group.
My players show up, usually with their character sheets, usually with dice (that they stack and spin during the game), usually NOT with pencils or pens, order dinner delivered, complain about the restaurant that they chose, complain about the driver, make the driver return with the most minor of forgotten items (like salad dressing) even though they LIVE a few hundren feet away, eat during the game and bicker about minor spills and smudges, tail-gate, me-too, share out of character and meta-game knowledge, make "out-of-character" comments that break the mood, the main adult tells the minors what their characters can and can't do, get bored and start doing gymnastics stretches, get pissy about rolling low and start reading a novel or futzing around on an iPhone, doodle on their character sheets and not know it's their turn or what is happening in the game, etc... If they would actually READ the rulebooks, they'd probably min/max too.
BUT
I have a mostly regular game!!!
I say a player needs to show up with their character sheet, their game notes, their dice, a pen/pencil, a positive attitude, money for their dinner or already fed, their own snacks and drinks or a standing agreement for food and drinks, their ADD/ADHD meds at the proper levels in their system and no distractions... But I tend to expect to much from others, just ask my ex-wives!
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Post by CreativeCowboy on Apr 28, 2012 23:53:56 GMT -8
Just a related story.... for what it's worth. We returned to Greyhawk after a 5 or 6 week break yesterday. I moved during that time, still sitting in the disorganization around me here like a dragon on his hoard, and we continue to explore the same 17-room castle ruins for the last 60 hours of game play. Ditto on silvester10596's experience. Fear rivets my 1st level group of 7 to the flagstone against Goblins and Kobolds. A new person joined us at the last session and the party (now "tank," cleric, 2x thief, ranger, multi-class magic-user/fighter-thief) led by the new thief wiped out a gaggle of kobolds and their pet weasels. Not before the thief was laid low by sling stones for taking the party lead but, regardless, a can of whupass was opened and congratulations all around. We play around a small table, full of dice + a quad-pad for indoor mapping, on comfy chairs and sofa, with the couple's childrens' lego blocks on hand, and game books on a bookshelf just behind. Pencils and erasers in a tube container as well. I have used a DM screen; my stack of school-paper covered core rule books; a large book inside which I have drawn the dungeon; laminated paper charts covering arms and armour (for my on-the-fly-ness); laminated charts covering the "how it works" questions (combat, spell casting, etc) for player consultation; my random encounter tables; rumour mill; treasure list; plus, in a binder, monster printouts (essentially so I never have to open a book) and monster grids (1-inch squares with essential info AC/HP/thumbnail description/spells 30-to a page)... Yesterday's game featured a one-shot visitor (Dominik, a Polish friend is moving to Tacoma WA so if anyone wants to invite a Polish guy to a table to make him some friends please let me know!!) and the absence of the new party leading thief. I decided to bring my dungeon book and my binder, along with the ubiquitous DM dice. Along with the character sheets, that was it. I thought the game would go faster without to much paraphernalia. (I imagine a clean table with me sitting in a comfy chair holding just a binder.) That seemed to work as the party, after starting 40 minutes late due to a game of Dominion that bled into game time and the tank arrived 50 more minutes later having totally forgotten the game, explored more of the dungeon than even in the last session and finally is in the major battle... I am ready for Tappy's character-sheetless master class next week I think.
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