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Advice on how to have a successful game
HappylilElf
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I had an idea for a thread wherein we give some general advice about how to play a tabletop game successfully. Just list some common (or uncommon) things you've discovered in your years of tabletop gaming that you found help things go smoother, be more fun, etc.
To start it off here's some very basic things because, while I'm apparently awake enough to come up with the idea for the thread, I'm not awake enough to come up with mindbogglingly awesome advice-
Don't be a rule whore. Just because the DM/GM is fudging a rule to make the story flow it doesn't mean you have to whip out your personal copy of the rule book, hand it to him, and ask him to read page 126, paragraph 3, line 4. Especially try not to do this is combat unless it's absolutely necessary since you'll probably not only annoy the hell out of your DM/GM, but the other players as well.
Don't pout. I know it sucks that you thought you had a masterly plan to finish off a group of orcs in one fell swoop but it didn't work out. Or that the mummy got you with it's disease and now you have to do something about it. Try to go with the flow and not let it drag the game down. Don't get bitchy just because something bad happened to you. This isn't to say there aren't offenses so egregious that they don't warrent being angry about, but don't let the little and/or understandable things get you down.
When you're making a character don't just browse the rule books until you find a super powerful build and then make that (unless of course that's supposed to be the way you're playing the current campaign). Give some thought to the background behind your character and where they came from in the world he/she is in, what the characters motivartions are, etc.
As a DM remember that you're there to run a game that's fun. Everytime a PC foils one of your clever traps or manages to kill the villain you put time into creating it's really not some sort of personal insult. Your job (in most classic RPGs) is to put obsticles in their path that they can overcome and fun in doing so. There's an episode of Dexter's lab where Dexter is the DM and takes what appears to be physical pleasure in killing off PCs as quickly as possible. Don't do that
To start it off here's some very basic things because, while I'm apparently awake enough to come up with the idea for the thread, I'm not awake enough to come up with mindbogglingly awesome advice-
Don't be a rule whore. Just because the DM/GM is fudging a rule to make the story flow it doesn't mean you have to whip out your personal copy of the rule book, hand it to him, and ask him to read page 126, paragraph 3, line 4. Especially try not to do this is combat unless it's absolutely necessary since you'll probably not only annoy the hell out of your DM/GM, but the other players as well.
Don't pout. I know it sucks that you thought you had a masterly plan to finish off a group of orcs in one fell swoop but it didn't work out. Or that the mummy got you with it's disease and now you have to do something about it. Try to go with the flow and not let it drag the game down. Don't get bitchy just because something bad happened to you. This isn't to say there aren't offenses so egregious that they don't warrent being angry about, but don't let the little and/or understandable things get you down.
When you're making a character don't just browse the rule books until you find a super powerful build and then make that (unless of course that's supposed to be the way you're playing the current campaign). Give some thought to the background behind your character and where they came from in the world he/she is in, what the characters motivartions are, etc.
As a DM remember that you're there to run a game that's fun. Everytime a PC foils one of your clever traps or manages to kill the villain you put time into creating it's really not some sort of personal insult. Your job (in most classic RPGs) is to put obsticles in their path that they can overcome and fun in doing so. There's an episode of Dexter's lab where Dexter is the DM and takes what appears to be physical pleasure in killing off PCs as quickly as possible. Don't do that
HappylilElf on
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I agreee. It really depends on group dynamics and the system being used but if there is a clear rule on a subject and it is being broken to your serious detrment (not something trivial) then I see no problem with bringing it up.
In my mind the DM not fudging rules to screw over players is kind of part of the advice for a DM to not go out of his way to screw over PCs simply because technically he can.
If that's not possible, make a call. Then, if it turns out you as DM were wrong, and you made a call that hurt your players, tell your group that the next week, and award some bonus EPs because you made the encounter more difficult than it was supposed to be. If you fuck up the other direction, don't penalize EPs. If they know they'll be compensated for your fuckups, they're a lot more likely to let things go, and want to move on with playing.
See, this is what I was hoping for. That's great advice.
EDIT: However, you need to be fair. The most important thing is that everyone have fun, so don't go letting that lvl1 kobold wreck the party just because. Also, if your PCs make you angry, you can always just chuck more rust monsters at them.
It also depends a lot on the group - some people like it better one way, some like it the other way. I think it's the kind of thing you need to feel out when the game starts.
That's good advice. There's no problem in the world which cannot be solved with more rust monsters.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
1. If you, as a player are playing in a new setting for the first time (Eberron this time around), for fuck's sake, READ THE SETTING INFO. There's nothing worse than describing what is going on in the world and someone looks up from there character sheet to say "Wait, there's trains in Eberron? Since when?". If nothing else, you will feel more involved with the game.
2. If you're in a group that has involved roleplaying (again, us, we try and stay away from hack and slash) don't be the only character with a backstory of "Orphan, mad at the world, swearing vengeance on bad(insert here guy, girl, horse, pig monster, whatever really) that killed my parents, and I ran out of copper for beef jerky, which lead me to a life of adventure with you assholes".
3. At least pretend to learn the rules for your class. Enough said.
4. This one is for DM's. If you are trying to run a high roleplaying game, I've had a lot of luck getting people into their character more and roleplaying better by awarding roleplay exp. I'm sure you already do this, but set a cap for max roleplay exp each week, and let them know what they got as opposed to what they could have earned. Yes, it will spur some fights into happening if you have some immature players, but overall if helps people shoot to be that much more in character.
5. On the other side of the coin, if you are shooting for a more hack and slash type game, you better have the combat chapter memorized. No one wants to play a session that consists of 3 fights that last 2 hours long each.
As a Player: Don't be afraid to be evil or to backstab the party, but at the same time, discuss it with your GM. If the GM feels he can handle such a thing and keep the plot going, then by all means, fuck over the guy who told you off three games ago. Or, if you get the feeling the gm CAN'T handle such a tangential event, then you might wanna hold off, especially if it involves killing the other character (some GMs are TERRIBLE at bringing in new party members).
As a GM: Avoid pet NPCs. It's okay to have NPCs that are stronger than your PCs, but dont have every bartender in the setting able to have better weapons and use them faster and more accurately than the PCs. Even if your pet would be HELPING the group, it still detracts from player enjoyment. So please, avoid extended use of these NPCs...and if you MUST have a recurring NPC that can easily outdo the party, give him a damn by-the-rules character sheet for god's sake. None of this "He's level ten with epic feats because I feel that to justify parts of his backstory he has to be able to do such things" bullshit. Fuck that noise.
Another thing along that note:
For a GM: DO NOT run a setting if you haven't at the very least read the setting information AT LEAST twice. I myself have done this, I'm afraid. It went badly.
Also, if you're gonna run a system, and you dont at the very least read the BASIC RULES and CHARACTER CREATION before running the first game (and have serious plans on reading up on deeper rules over time), then kill yourself. Nothing's worse than a GM running something he's barely looked at.
I've dealt with this a lot. I had to drop out of our old group because I couldn't tolerate our dm, and everyone else was so hard up for d&d that they could handle being abused every week. If we were level 1, the npc was level... 37, or something equally retarded. It wasn't really to show us up, so much to let us know that we were insignificant, and there was no point to us actually playing. Nothing the players did mattered in this game. I have no idea why my friend's continued to play after I left. They complained about it to me week after week, just never left until the guy moved.
That being said, I have pet NPC's in the campain I currently run. Theres a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. We're playing Eberron. I have a halfling bard and a warforged warrior that have joined the party from time to time. It's not forced, and its only there as a measure of moving the story along. That's the thing to realize is that they are merely story devices, not an extension of your ego. The bard moves in and out of the group, sometimes tackling an adventure with them, but always showing up with a juicy piece of information that often leads them to a new story element should they follow up on it. Can they die? Yeah, I have a point written into my story where one of them will die unless the party goes out on a limb (really far out) to intervene. It's all how you use them.
As for knowing the setting as a DM, I read the Eberron campaign setting 3 times before starting to even write my game. I read the players guide and sharn city of towers between games just to keep myself fresh on world knowledge. Most of the games I run take place in Forgotten Realms just because I've read almost every book or peace of literature published for it.
2. If you're a moron, don't be a GM.
Once these are met, everything else is easy.
It also helps to have people's initiative, etc. right there on their character sheets for easy reference. Have a GM copy of everyone's character sheet if people hold on to their own character sheets.
Oh and have a piece of paer with a list of at least 10 random male and female names each. That way you don't draw a blank when you need a belivable name for an npc.
1. Do not touch another players miniatures without asking. This is just common courtesy. A simple "Man, that model looks really nice - can I take a closer look?" works wonders. These things cost a lot of money and take a lot of time to make look good and I want to throttle the children who drop my shit all over the place.
1a. Be respectful when ROLLING THE DICE. You have a large terrain setup, usually, you don't need to be throwing your dice into my units.
2. Be up front with your rules - particularly when a lot of people aren't up to date on the hundred billion specialty rules and FAQs for your rules. Be truthful when you are asked a question. This goes doubly for 40k, where out of print books are still considered tournament legal (I'm looking at you Chapter Approved 2004 and Index Astartes).
3. Playing to win does not always mean enjoying yourself. This is more of an addendum to the above "don't be a rules lawyer" rule. Nothing pisses me off more then when an opponent sacrifices common courtesy and socializing to win the game. Be merry and jovial.
4. Shake hands post game and congratulate the opponent on a job well done. You remember when you were in little league and had to shake the other teams' hands after the game - well, you still do. At least, you have to if you don't want to look like a total cock gobbler and be a good sport.
The worst thing ever is playing Mechwarrior and losing to a powerplay army without a single mech in it.
However, douchenozzles who play cheese armies and power game for a casual game are fucking scum.
Which is precisely why I don't play in tournaments. I don't play a game to win - I play to enjoy myself, chat with friends, and to socialize. If I want to win at a game I'll open up any number of FPS's I'm moderately good at and win online matches. I see real life, person to person gaming, as an avenue for social interaction - not as an excuse to pound a buddy into the ground.
Certainly more competitive games have their uses, but I think they should be the exception, rather than the norm.
the gm is the rules... most game books i have read clearly state that if a gm wants to bend/change the rules he is more then welcome to do so.
Fuck that noise. The "GM is never wrong" stance is the most retarded thing ever.
Here: If you're going to change any rules, you have to make it clear beforehand. Changing rules on the fly is not acceptable (unless you have full agreement from the players, as on a 'well, let's not slow things down, we'll figure it out later' kind of call), I don't care what the book says.
If your GM is just trying to beat you then why bother even playing ...
I GM all the time and im of the opinion if the rules get in the way just change or ignore them...Aslong as everybody enjoys them self following the rules to the leter dosnt mater..
Change the rules all you want GM, but it should be a positive rather than a negative experience.