Question about GMing without voice chat

[Irondrake]

I prepare my material ahead of time, if not everything I need, at least encounters, descriptions and treasure entries. I can wing it if need be on descriptions as well, but I try to keep some notes on hand to minimize that. The game tends to flow just fine for my players most of the time.

[Galdrin]

Thanks Toph,

Valuable feedback and it's in the direction I have been thinking. I understand chat only is less social and that's bad, but there is no option for me to use voice most of the time. I'll probably be trying a game where players can use voice for OOC if they wish for the social part but enforce typed text for PC actions.

Worth a try, I'm not ready to abandon Fantasy Grounds just because it's impossible for me to use voice but then again I'm not prepared to make the gaming sessions into "computer games"

Galdrin

A couple of thoughts on this. I both play and DM in chat only environments, for the same reason as you - it's quieter.

As a DM I found:

- preparation is everything. In my story entries I have a bunch of NPC 'speech bubbles' ready. I might not use them exactly but editing text is faster than typing new
- move long winded, out of action stuff offline if possible such as overnight camps, shopping and selling etc. you can do this by email or BB
- have rules around player action order even when out of combat rounds. Makes it easier to keep up.
- rule that OOC chat is done in OOC chat mode. You can ignore it then

As a player

- as with round the table, if it isn't my move I spend time planning my move. I like the gradual pace
- chat only is difficult for quickly explaining how to use FG features. Voice is much faster
- it works best when things are structured - running encounters, clear direction within party.
- party consensus for a choice of action can be hard to get. This leads to stop start/ dead end actions

It does reduce the social interaction side of gaming. If you are playing primarily for the game experience, thus isn't a biggie. If you are playing for social reasons it's not as good as round the table or voice.

All the best

Toph

[brochr]

I'll probably be trying a game where players can use voice for OOC if they wish for the social part but enforce typed text for PC actions.

We played a game last night with exactly these rules. I muted my mic and took off the headphones to concentrate on the chat screen. The chat play was much richer than in face to face sessions. I also suspect they used TS to share my "whispers" and decide on actions without alerting the 'monsters'. Very clever!

I did a rough calc - about 15% of my stuff was straight drop, 25% edited and drop, 15% long ad lib story, the remainder simple responses to player actions/questions

The family slept through it undisturbed!

Worth a try, I'm not ready to abandon Fantasy Grounds just because it's impossible for me to use voice but then again I'm not prepared to make the gaming sessions into "computer games"

More than worth a try! It is quite rewarding. One thing I am watching is what Doug does with Obsidian Portal as this style of gaming will probably lead to better adventure log entries if it is automated from the chat log.

Happy gaming!