kroh
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Posts: 132
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Post by kroh on Dec 16, 2013 13:14:46 GMT -8
SHOW TOPIC: From Play to Publishing
I think a show about taking your passion (or in some cases addictions) for RPG's and taking them to the next level into the realm of publishing your own game material would be a good show.
Topics to cover in the show:
1. Investments in time and money 2. Your Ideas are great for your games but are they good enough to publish? 3. Hiring the right people to help you. 4. Paying your employees ON TIME! 5. Experiences of the Happy Jacks Crew during the creation of Stu's game. 6. Possibly have on guest hosts to talk about what they did to get moving. 7. How publishing a weekly podcast and regular products are similar.
Thank you, Regards, Walt
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2013 10:59:57 GMT -8
I have a topic suggestion... The Games with the Game.. example How do you handle gambling in a game? As a game designer I tend to build a themed mini gambling game for my adventures. This allows players that want to go gamble in the tavern to actually do so in character. I have found these sessions can last 5 minutes or up to an hour if i have to sidebar another player. At one point i actually considered publishing the gambling games I use in my worlds for other GM's,but did not know if there was interest in that sort of supplement. I know my situation is unique as i design games to fit the need. How do other GMs handle the player who says "I go to the bar/ tavern/ space port and gamble"?
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tomes
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Hello madness
Posts: 1,438
Currently Running: Dungeon World, hippie games, Fallout Shelter RPG hack
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Post by tomes on Jan 3, 2014 22:33:59 GMT -8
What are your thoughts of taking a player's one-off character used during a one shot, back into a campaign you are running with same player... i.e. it becomes a surprise NPC. We're assuming the player knew it was a one-shot going into it, and that the characters were in effect "throw-away" (not under allusions of a reappearance of this character at a later date)
Good? Bad? Dangers? Opportunities?
Background (not necessary per se): In my case I scrambled to run a one-shot when some players flaked last minute. Thing is, I set this one-shot up in the next town over, as to setup some events that may affect the PCs in the long-running campaign, when and if they get there.
Well, 2 of the players in the one-shot are gone and aren't part of the campaign, but the 3rd one-shot player *is*, and his campaign character, well, I'm planning for him to run smack into his one-shot character later on, but I'm planning on running the one-shot as an NPC (maybe short-term, but he could be a guy-for-hire). In this case I know that the player doesn't really care about this throw-away character in the one-shot, but is invested in the campaign character, so I"m not worried about him freaking out when this happens (without warning).
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sam
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A Happy Jacks GM
Posts: 41
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, GURPS, Star Wars: EoE
Currently Playing: I mostly GM.
Currently Running: Star Wars:EoE, Savage Worlds
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Post by sam on Jan 8, 2014 22:51:25 GMT -8
Hey Stu, it's Sam again with another thought for a show topic I thought of after the last show.
Designing a campaign or one shot around the group of PC's not just the individuals. Like the Ghostbusters, Dead Presidents, Navy SEALS etc. We have taken a few emails from listeners recently (yes I feel like part of the show, not just a listener)that have mentioned that they seem to have a problem when character backgrounds are "all over the place" and hard to work then into a story that the GM has planned and therefore get ignored. When I designed the Deadlands game that Stork, JiB, Rob and Steven played last con, I tried to build an organization or an affiliation to a group, then planned the individual characters. They are "The Forsaken", a secret vigilante group of wild west outcasts that each have been forsaken by society. Then each character has a short back story for how they came to be part of The Forsaken. I think this could work in a home campaign game too. The GM could design the group or the players could design it. This would allow character generation and background creation to be very focused on the groups mission, motivations, goals. Does this infringe on player agency? Like you said, you were going to require players to make their L5R characters be from the same clan. I don't think its to restrictive to, as the GM state "you guys are all part of a starship crew of smugglers" or "you are all part of a long standing guild that defends the realm from evil". Thoughts? Discussion?
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sbloyd
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WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Jan 10, 2014 16:54:35 GMT -8
sam - this hits on the character genesis method from the Favorite Minmaxer From Cleveland suggested in s9e18a, wherein the gm lays down the general idea of the game, and directs the players to create characters that specifically meet that directive. One example was something like, "a farmer bursts into the tavern, yelling that goblins are attacking the town. Four people stand up to face the goblin menace. Create those four people." It also crosses with the Group Template idea that the Fear The Boot guys preach so hard, wherein the characters are generated as a group rather than a bunch of guys showing up with characters that were created in a vacuum.
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sam
Initiate Douchebag
A Happy Jacks GM
Posts: 41
Preferred Game Systems: Savage Worlds, GURPS, Star Wars: EoE
Currently Playing: I mostly GM.
Currently Running: Star Wars:EoE, Savage Worlds
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Post by sam on Jan 10, 2014 20:35:45 GMT -8
yup, it's come up a few times now and I'm going to be using this method from now on. I figured that its come up enough it might be worth being a topic.
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Post by jughead5187 on Jan 14, 2014 2:45:08 GMT -8
So here's one.
TLDR FIRST: GM is making newbie mistakes. We tell him whats wrong, give him suggestions for additional resources (Podcasts like Happy Jacks, Books like "Never Unprepared") He turns them all down. How do I tell him that running a game isnt the same as writing a book?
Full Version: I have a GM thats new to GMing. As a player I am somewhat experienced and I fully understand things like "player agency" and "cooperative improvisational storytelling"
We only play via roll20. The first few sessions were great, but the last session was... terrible. Not knocking the GM too much- the story is wonderful, the npcs are well thought-out, all that fun stuff.
But there were a few things that went horribly wrong and eventually one of the other players EXPLODED and ranted for a good 10 minutes while everyone else, including the GM sat in uncomfortable silence.
First, we are hunting some mysterious bad guy thats doing bad things. We get into the first major city (still pretty out far into the wilderness) and we find out that contact with another border village has been lost.
Eventually we make out way to see the mayor, let him know we were already hunting this guy and that we think he is responsible.
Well the mayor tells us to take this young SILVER DRAGON with us. WTF bro, we are 3rd level. We dont want/need to deal with that kind of bullshit yet. Tried to roleplay around it to no success.
So we travel a while with the dragon, keep in mind its still a young one. Eventually we get to the town that had gone silent. The GM used some pretty cool imagery leading up to the town (we think the road is covered with mud, but it turns out to be blood. we walk for a day in the mud/blood before we finally get to the town)
Once we get there, the imagery kinda stops. Three of us basically get mind controlled almost immediately. Combat ensues against a bunch of demons. One player saves, so myself and the player that eventually exploded spent the next ten turns or so just walking away. I tried to make the best of it, my character was singing and dancing- completely oblivious to the battle behind me. The dragon kills a bunch of the demons before my buddy can I can save. My character was an archer so I could at least attack. The other guy was a melee rogue-like character. He literally spent the rest of the battle TRYING to engage.
And to make matters worse, we had a new player, playing a third level cleric. Because he had not specifically stated that he had prepared spells, the GM wouldnt let him cast, so he had to attempt to hit things with his weapon...
Once the dragon finished mopping up the demons was when that guy exploded.
After his ten minute or so rant, one of the other players just said... "so how do we fix this?" We spent the next fifteen minutes or so pretty much criticizing the GM and his playstyle. I mostly kept silent, trying to wait out the storm.
Afterwards, I mentioned "player agency" and the other terms we learn on this show. I WANT to tell him that "if he doesnt want to let the players PLAY, he should write a book instead." But that can only come across as harsh and he really is trying to learn. I then sent the GM a list of cool podcasts he can listen to (mostly HJ, but also FTB and PFTD) I also listed a few books/blogs that really help GMs.
He pretty much said that he would "look into it," but that he doesnt have time for any of that.
What do I do now? We have a game in a few days. HOPEFULLY things have improved. If they do improve i'll stick with the game.
But how do I convince him to go and get outside help for the betterment of his game and overall enjoyment of his players?
Advice? Questions? Comments?
Happy gaming, Tarin
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sbloyd
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WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Jan 14, 2014 5:32:52 GMT -8
I dunno if it might work in your case, but maybe running a one shot - teaching by example? Though it's hard to keep player agency clean in the railroadiness of a one shot game...
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Post by Kainguru on Jan 14, 2014 6:54:01 GMT -8
If time is the GM's issue then take sbloyd's suggestion: run a couple of one shots each, to give the GM a) time way from the main campaign to read/listen and learn b) time to experience being a player . . . who knows he might use the time to write that book he wants and get it out of his system so he can get back to running a game . . . Aaron
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Jan 14, 2014 8:31:37 GMT -8
Definitely wouldn't try to deal with it DURING the game. I would email/hangout with him separately and tell him what you like/don't like about the game. Hearing a player make a ten minute rant made me feel a bit nauseous...yikes! Is that player ever a problem ? Because in my opinion thats a pretty horrible way to deal with your dissatisfaction of a game. Good luck!
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Post by Stu Venable on Jan 14, 2014 9:51:49 GMT -8
"Dear GM,
I have a couple comments about the last gaming sessions. Firstly, I appreciate that you're taking up the GMing mantle to learn the craft of GMing. It's a big task; However, in the last session, a couple things happened that I, as a player, found discouraging.
The Silver Dragon NPC. Rather than scaling the encounter so that we might be able to handle it, you gave us a powerful NPC ally. Rather than get into a rant at the table, I want to explain why, from a player's perspective, this was a let down.
I want my character to be a hero. I want him to do awesome stuff, to save the day. In this case, I didn't get that chance. We were overpowered by the demons and the dragon sent to "help" us.
Rather than being part of the story, our characters became an audience, watching your NPC fight your combat encounter. We were, at best, supporting cast to your story."
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Post by jughead5187 on Jan 14, 2014 10:55:08 GMT -8
The only issue I have with one-shots is that I have never GM-ed myself. I would probably also make newbie mistakes, and I wanted to get him to listen to the more experienced ones from HJ, RPPR actual play thread, etc. Im not opposed to GMing, I just wouldnt want to start under those circumstances. and stu, everyone else had already ranted and we had made clear what we did and didnt like about it. One of the thing I said (in a better way than I post here) was something along the times of, "I dont mind deux ex machina, but try not to make it too apparent. We need to feel challenged. I get that the bad guy we are chasing is SUPER powerful compared to us, but our characters wouldnt KNOW that. If you feel that we need to get a taste of his power and evil, there are better ways of doing it. Hell, give us magical weapons and armor. Or if you dont want us to be TOO powerful for the rest of the game, give us 'The Holy Handgrenade of Antioch,' but its only usable ONCE. And more importantly, WE get to choose when/if to use it." A lot of the stuff I sent him to try and read/listen to was after the dust had settled from the explosion. I waited a few hours to let everyone cool down first. But instead of saying "Hey bro, these guys are a million times better than you could ever hope of being, go steal some shit from them," I wanted to find a more diplomatic way of trying to convince him to go check out some outside resources that might really help him. (Also, as an aside, I kinda wanted to post this here so the HJ crew had something to snag if they found themselves without a topic or too many emails to read) Thanks all, Tarin
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Post by yojimbohawkins on Mar 6, 2014 12:58:56 GMT -8
I put this in a (yet to be read out) email . I had a new player join my group who is visually impaired. I asked for any suggestions for making the game a bit more fit for purpose. Sound boards & background music are out, as we play in a rec room at work, which is always busy. It's an established game, with others waiting for a spot to open up (mainly because we always look like we're having a blast), so permanently moving to another venue or time is out as well, which our new player doesn't mind. He quite likes only having to walk 30m to get to the game! I already use accents and speech idiosyncrasies for NPC's, so I've started using a lot more descriptive terms when setting the scene. I sent him an electronic character sheet so he can blow it up to whatever size/font he needs, and the other players check his dice for him, so we're covering most of the bases, I think. I'm hoping for some 'out of the box' thinking from you bunch of magnificent bastards. Ta in advance!
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Post by Forresst on Mar 6, 2014 16:33:25 GMT -8
yojimbohawkins - how severe is his impairment? I have a few ideas that are more or less useful depending on how much or little he can see. Also, does he read Braille? Imagine the secret notes you could send if he did. Maybe there's a dice-roller app out there that will make a noise for success or failure. Also, maybe he can have one of the other players be his buddy, to repeat descriptions or explain stuff if the background noise disrupts his understanding. I'll hold off on making more suggestions until I know how severe his visual impairment is.
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Post by yojimbohawkins on Mar 6, 2014 23:37:13 GMT -8
Forresst He has no vision in one eye and is very, very short-sighted in the other, to the point of holding his character sheet up to his nose to see it. He likes to roll dice (& who doesn't!) & no-one at the table objects to checking his rolls; they check each other's anyway! I don't use battle mats and the like for this game as we play in a busy rec room at work in our lunch break (love flexible working!), so he doesn't need a buddy to repeat or explain stuff to him, as he hears everything the other players do just fine. I feel it would be a touch patronising to assign him a buddy; he's virtually blind, not stupid. My new guy is a great player who loves the L5R game we're playing, so I'm looking for story-telling techniques & other GM tips from anyone who may have been in a similar situation. Keep 'em coming, guys! All ideas welcome!
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