Okay, so this may or may not turn into a recurring thing. Like all things on PBOCS, there is no way of knowing whether this will be the case until you actually observe it. It’s Schrodinger’s Column.

Right, first off, that was a bad joke, even by my standards. I sincerely apologise for putting you through thatAND NO SAFARI THATS HOW WE SPELL “APOLOGIZE” IN THE QUEEN’S ENGLISH GOD DAMMIT. Okay, calm. Calm. Click “learn spelling”. It’s all gonna be just fine. Um. Wait. Where was I?

Ah, yes, this possibly-recurring column I’m writing right now. So, as you should have guessed by the title and the badly conceived and even more badly executed theoretical physics joke, this is a column specifically talking about geeky, geeky things. This week, it’s that thing I wish I did more of, GMing (or DMing if you’re a philistine).

For the uninitiated: GM stands for “Game Master”. Ever heard of pen-and-paper or “tabletop” RPG’s? Well, it’s the GM’s job to make sure everyone gets to play through a fun, engaging adventure. Some individuals might claim that the relationship between player and GM should be an adversarial one, with the GM actively trying to off the PC’s (Player Characters. Us gamers love our abbreviations, as you will no doubt realiseGOD DAMMIT SAFARI! REALISE! NOT “REALIZE”!) at every opportunity. I think this is, on the whole, the wrong way to approach GMing. It gives the players a hard time, and can be a little tiresome. No, I prefer a more balanced approach, that of co-operative storytelling. Look, I’m gonna come out and say it right now: I’m a very fluffy GM. I know that. My players know that. I’m trying desperately to rectify this, but it’s difficult. But I’ll delve a little deeper into this a little later. For now, here’s the current situation.

I’ve run around 3 games in total so far, each with a different system and different players. Not that many. Especially when you consider that that’s spread out over around two years. The thing is, it’s not really that I’m lazy. Okay, so it is partially, but it’s also because it’s so damn hard to get a group together. The last game was with three players who I now consider to be my gaming group. They’re keen, they enjoyed their first pen-and-paper gaming experience, they gave good feedback. But even now it’s hard to get everyone back to the table for a second game. I don’t know what it is. I guess it doesn’t help that one of the players is Declan who, let’s face it, is a lot more busy. He, unlike me, has both a job and a more active social life. Understandable. So, getting a solid day of gaming is quite difficult.

It might have something to do with the fact that I suggested we try different game systems and see which one we prefer. Now, personally, I think this would help greatly in giving the group a nice broad range of roleplaying experience, but I do sense a little resistance to this idea all the same. I can see where they’re coming from though (“MORE chargen? But we just spent like 2 hours doing it last time, and you want us to do it again with another system? Oh, please”). So yeah, maybe we should just stick with WFRP for now. I don’t think I should be too hasty.

Yes, having continuity of character is important for players. They like to know that their character, a person that they built from the ground up, don’t forget, is still around, effecting the world. I guess, as a GM, I tend to get a little bogged down in mechanics and scenarios and the like, and I forget that really, it’s all about the players and their experiences. THAT’s what defines a good game.

All gaming groups are different. Some of them really like character interaction (the “roleplaying”), and some really love crunchy combat. My group falls more into the former than the latter category. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of having all the character interaction up front and then piling in loads of combat afterwards. This made it so that the start of the session was exhilarating, but by the end it had sunk into a quagmire of dice rolls and failed checks. Granted, there was a highlight towards the end that featured an NPC draped in entrails and stuffed into a barrel to lure an ogre out of its cave, but apart from that it kind of sagged a bit. I could sense the players starting to get a little exasperated, and I was beginning to as well. But, I’ve heard every game is a learning experience, and that was definitely true of this one.

I think my plan for next session is to get them back into some tasty tasty roleplaying and away from boring lengthy combat and over use of dice rolling. And I’m certainly NOT going to force them into trying a multitude of new systems. Not yet, anyway.

So, I think a GM needs to help tell a good story with the players. I don’t think he should be out to kill them. However, there is one particular exception to this rule, and that is Call of Cthulhu. I think I’ll run it when I’m feeling particularly vengeful.