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Post by hengest on Dec 29, 2016 14:18:27 GMT -5
Mighty Darci suggested that I actually start this one... A long time ago, I thought this might be nice in one place from the various experienced contributors here. Can you describe in a paragraph what actually happens at the table? Not your prep, but who has what in front of them -- character sheets, map, screen if any, notes...if someone watched video of your game with the sound off, what would they be able to identify? What are the physical mechanics of running your game at the table?
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Post by ffilz on Jan 5, 2017 12:33:37 GMT -5
Hmm, since these days the GMing I am doing is Play By Post, what I have in front of me is my laptop. As needed I will open PDFs with the rules. Nearby on the desk is a bowl of dice, pencil, and eraser. Somewhere off to the side is a folder with game notes that I pull out as necessary. One sheet is a turn record for exploration (dungeon, town, or wilderness). Monster hit point tracking is done right on that sheet. Behind me is a small nightstand with physical books (mostly I just grab Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names or maybe something else.
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 13, 2017 15:21:22 GMT -5
Mighty Darci suggested that I actually start this one... A long time ago, I thought this might be nice in one place from the various experienced contributors here. Can you describe in a paragraph what actually happens at the table? Not your prep, but who has what in front of them -- character sheets, map, screen if any, notes...if someone watched video of your game with the sound off, what would they be able to identify? What are the physical mechanics of running your game at the table? BItd when we started in 1975, I as the ref would have the 3LBBs, reference sheets, a pad of paper and a few pencils and my dice. The 12 or more players would each have their character sheet which was self-created with the stats and basic player info and possessions, a pencil and they shared dice. A couple of players who had some artistic ability would do the mapping when they thought it would help. A video of the game, that would have been wild, the game went rapidly enough that the camera would have had a hard time keeping with who was talking as that would bounce all over the room with next to no delay between players. They would have see a lot of talking, attentive faces and a little dice rolling. They would have seen a while gamut of emotions on the players faces. |
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Post by hengest on Jan 15, 2017 21:43:10 GMT -5
A video of the game, that would have been wild, the game went rapidly enough that the camera would have had a hard time keeping with who was talking as that would bounce all over the room with next to no delay between players. They would have see a lot of talking, attentive faces and a little dice rolling. They would have seen a while gamut of emotions on the players faces. May that spirit live on! |
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Post by makofan on Jan 20, 2017 10:12:20 GMT -5
Mighty Darci suggested that I actually start this one... A long time ago, I thought this might be nice in one place from the various experienced contributors here. Can you describe in a paragraph what actually happens at the table? Not your prep, but who has what in front of them -- character sheets, map, screen if any, notes...if someone watched video of your game with the sound off, what would they be able to identify? What are the physical mechanics of running your game at the table? Face to face? Characters have character sheets, pencils, dice, and a lot of food and drink. There will be some graph paper for mapping that everybody will try to pawn off on everybody else. I'll sit at a separate card table with papers spread out and a random book as an impromptu GM screen. I'll spend half my time leaning over the players table, interacting with them, and occasionally going back to my table to check some notes. I'll let the roleplay breathe until I need to push the action, and then people get animated and start rolling lots of dice. If I don't know a rule or a mechanism, I will probably make something up on the spot and discuss it with the players if objections, rather than consult the rules (I'll do that afterwards for next time). They key is to get the momentum freight train of communal engagement running and then to let it go. At the end of the night, people are exhausted, happy, and updating character sheets and squabbling over magic items. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Jan 20, 2017 12:57:45 GMT -5
BItd when we started in 1975, I as the ref would have the 3LBBs, reference sheets, a pad of paper and a few pencils and my dice. The 12 or more players would each have their character sheet which was self-created with the stats and basic player info and possessions, a pencil and they shared dice. A couple of players who had some artistic ability would do the mapping when they thought it would help. A video of the game, that would have been wild, the game went rapidly enough that the camera would have had a hard time keeping with who was talking as that would bounce all over the room with next to no delay between players. They would have see a lot of talking, attentive faces and a little dice rolling. They would have seen a while gamut of emotions on the players faces. The main way my current game differs from the above is I have usually 4-5 players (2 women and 2-3 men) on average and instead of the age range being 18-22, it is currently 25-50 for the players, with most of the players having little experience with OD&D(one player will be playing in her third game on the 28th). In the beginning, by the time we entered the second real time year of the game most of the players had at least 600 to 700 hours of OD&D under their belt. By the beginning of the 4 year we had people with over 2000 hours. That is without any gaming during the summer months or our month long Christmas break. Oh, and now the character sheet which is home made and printed out for the players to use. |
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Post by dicebro on Jan 19, 2020 11:44:41 GMT -5
I try not to consult the rule books during the game, just the ref sheets. For spells I wing it. If a rules lawyer pipes up, then I tell them that they are in a world where magic fluctuates in intensity and effect. I roll dice several at a time so that the players can’t specifically tell what die I am paying attention to. I don’t try to kill characters, but they may take a fatal blow if they are careless or negligent. Group initiative rolls favor the party in the event of a tie. D20 for attack rolls. I tend to make on the fly rulings with various die rolls.Sometimes I roll dice just to hear the sound they make. I like to “interpret” what the dice are telling me rather than be tied to a table in a book. I slowly reveal my world’s secrets to the party during play. If a player can adequately describe what the pc is doing to increase their chance of success, then I may grant them a point or two in their favor. Monsters from the book may have powers that aren’t described in the book. I try to give all the players equal time to describe their pc actions.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 19, 2020 16:15:54 GMT -5
I try not to consult the rule books during the game, just the ref sheets. For spells I wing it. If a rules lawyer pipes up, then I tell them that they are in a world where magic fluctuates in intensity and effect. I roll dice several at a time so that the players can’t specifically tell what die I am paying attention to. I don’t try to kill characters, but they may take a fatal blow if they are careless or negligent. Group initiative rolls favor the party in the event of a tie. D20 for attack rolls. I tend to make on the fly rulings with various die rolls.Sometimes I roll dice just to hear the sound they make. I like to “interpret” what the dice are telling me rather than be tied to a table in a book. I slowly reveal my world’s secrets to the party during play. If a player can adequately describe what the pc is doing to increase their chance of success, then I may grant them a point or two in their favor. Monsters from the book may have powers that aren’t described in the book. I try to give all the players equal time to describe their pc actions. Awesome, I love it. All of it. Great example of the way it is done. Have an Exalt! |
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Post by El Borak on Jan 19, 2020 19:12:13 GMT -5
dicebro that is solid, what version of D&D did you start with? (back in IIRC you started in 1981) Also you said you were starting a blog and a 'zine, a link to the blog and what are you calling both of them? Is the 'zine print or digital?
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Post by dicebro on Jan 20, 2020 9:03:51 GMT -5
Hey, El Borak, I started with Moldvay Basic. Here’s a link to my website: dicebro.com/The zine is called Wizard Funk. It’s here: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/273587/Wizard-Funk-Zine-Issue-1I’m hoping to do more to promote the OD&D game when I hopefully can retire from my day job later on this year. Thanks for the likes and Exalts. I will be ref’ing some OD&D at Gary Con and North Texas RPG Con this year. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 26, 2020 22:51:20 GMT -5
dicebro I like the look of your Blog, Dicebro's Old School RPG Zone, and I hope to be back working within the next month and then I will check out your zine, I have previously emptied my RPG budget for the time being. I am really looking forward to reading your blog posts when you get going. Maybe I can feature some of them on my new blog I am building as a link to every old school blog I can locate.
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Post by dicebro on Jan 31, 2020 8:05:59 GMT -5
Perilous, thanks! I hope to get it running on a regular schedule in the fall.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 31, 2020 13:21:28 GMT -5
Perilous, thanks! I hope to get it running on a regular schedule in the fall. I am looking forward to it. That would be great! |
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