Sigurd
April 10th, 2006, 04:16
12 Tips For Internet GMing
https://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=135
A Guest Article by Daniel Howard
Playing over the Internet using ICQ, OpenRPG, or some other Internet chat-based system is similar but not the same as playing across a GM's screen and a dinner table. For example, typing is slower and more formal than speaking, but whispering using Internet chat is much less obvious and more viable than passing notes in full view of other tabletop players. To account for these differences, tips for Internet players and GMs will be somewhat different than for regular tabletop players and GMs. Use the following tips to help you run efficient, organized, exciting, and popular Internet RPGs.
1. Be A Fast Typist
If there is one GM and four players, the GM has to type four times as much (and usually more) than each player. Since a GM needs to type so much he will always be the bottleneck. Find and use those cut-and-paste shortcuts. Look for every way to shave a second or two from getting that text to the players. In the end though, nothing beats being able to rip out sentence after sentence by being a demon typist.
Return to Contents
2. Set The Scene In One Sentence--Be A Frugal Typist!
The corollary to being a fast typist is being frugal with words. Make scenes and places as vivid as possible with a single, short sentence. Then transition immediately into NPC actions, scene updates or "now that you look at it" details. That way, players will imagine the scene quickly and be able to type in their actions and questions.
Accuracy is important, too; your frugalness will be wasted if laden with misspelled words. Misspelled words and abbreviations can break the mood as players struggle to decipher you.
Return to Contents
3. Suggest Actions To Clarify And Speed Things Along
When you turn your attention to a single player and ask "What do you do now?", consider adding some obvious and sensible actions. "Lanival, what do you do? Roll d20 to attack? Run away? Do something else?" will both clarify what is expected (allowed) and help out a confused player. Sometimes, players get stage fright or get stumped. Help them out.
Return to Contents
4. Use "Best Guess" And Go With It
Sometimes, it isn't worth clearing up little misunderstandings from the players. Make your best guess at their intentions from their input, describe what they actually do, and then describe the result. As long as you guess sensibly, the players will not complain. Slowing down to make everything precise is not worth it. Over time, if you give your players the benefit of the doubt and make them look smart, they will come to trust you.
Return to Contents
5. Use Narrative To Move The Game Along
If you are running out of time (or trying to keep the pace up), consider describing rather than role-playing pieces of the game. If the party is returning to a previous spot, you could just type, "The party turns around, runs down the hall, turns left and jumps over the trap. They skid to a stop in front of the unexplored corridor." Why take the time to role-play it?
Also, if you are ending a session, a few sentences where you "make" the party perform some (reasonable) actions that get them back to "town" is preferable to just "freezing" them in a dungeon. Ending each session in "town" gives the players a sense of finishing and prevents the awkward, incontiguous problem where a "frozen" PC does not show up to the next game.
Return to Contents
6. If Players Do Not Act, Make Them React
The players might be confused or they might be indecisive (decision by committee is never easy). The solution is to have something explode. Have water drip. Make a door swing open. Have footsteps be heard on the floor above. Don't waste precious session time while players dither trying to find something sensible to do. Force a decision or, at least, a reaction. Imbue a sense of immediacy. As things happen, little misunderstandings will be cleared up and your players will get a better sense of what their options are.
Return to Contents
7. Keep Everybody Involved & Address Everybody Directly
When you type, nobody can tell who you are looking at or who your statement is directed towards, so start a line meant for a certain PC with his name. You don't have type: "Lanival, what do you do?" over and over. Mix it up. For example, "Lanival falls back after being hit. What do you do?"
You might also consider scrambling the initiative order to keep the players on their toes. Try to draw in the players who haven't typed anything in a while and might be getting lost in the shuffle. Through a chat window, it is much harder to tell when a player is distracted or bored so be proactive about keeping each player involved.
Return to Contents
8. Use "Whisper" To Its Best Advantage
Most Internet chat systems allow you to send a message to a single person in the room without letting the others see it. Rather than describe details, use this "whisper mode" to give details to a single player and let that player relate the information to the party.
Encourage your players to use "whisper mode" to ask about rules clarifications so they do not disturb other players. A GM who is a fast typist can even let the party split up and neither group will know what each other is doing. Internet chat shines in comparison with tabletop games in this respect. "Whisper mode" is less obvious than passing notes during a game. Use it to its best advantage.
Return to Contents
9. Make Every Session Exciting And Complete
It is a drag to play in a game for 3 hours as a new player and your only accomplishment is killing a few wandering monsters. It is also a drag to have to "flash freeze" your game in the middle of a dungeon. That makes PCs unable to perform any action over e-mail.
Even if a player only shows for one session, he should have an exciting time and a sense of accomplishment. Plus, Internet players are brutal. If your game is boring the first time or is just a "building up" session, they'll quit. Make every session worthwhile and avoid those "bridge" sessions.
Return to Contents
10. Be Ready To GM, No Matter What
The Internet is an anonymous place. If you ran a tabletop game, you could phone or run over to your player's house to get him to come to a session. On the Internet, however, people can drop out of the game with no warning.
Furthermore, if a player's first session is dull, he probably won't come back for a second one. As a GM, be prepared to deal with old players who don't show up, new players who don't have character sheets, too many players, or too few.
If you have a policy to play--no matter what--you'll be fine. Games with GMs who are picky or dictatorial quickly turn into solo sessions.
Return to Contents
11. Have A Web Site
Consider using a web site as a preparation and organizing tool. When you are too busy, a site can help players with information on:
* How to join the game
* Your e-mail address
* Your style of play
* How to install any necessary software
* Example character sheets
* An example log from one of your sessions
* An introduction to your campaign world
* Scanned images of campaign maps
* House rules
* GM's suggestions to new players
* GM's commentaries
* Links to other sites
Return to Contents
12. Have And Use A Campaign Message Board And E-Mail
Sign up for a free message board for your group on Yahoo! or any number of other free sites on the Internet. Use the message board to maintain a list of your current players and their e-mail addresses.
More importantly, between sessions, you can involve the group in PBEM (Play By E-Mail) story lines for your game by posting role-playing narratives on the message board. Players can then post their actions and discuss party strategy.
If a player wants to pursue a private plot line, he can e- mail you directly. By doing this, you can reserve your chat sessions for parts of the game, such as combat and play-by- play role-playing, while using the message board for longer and more personal narrative-style role-playing. The best of both worlds!
Links to sites mentioned in the article: ICQ: https://www.icq.com
OpenRPG: https://www.openrpg.com
Yahoo! Groups: https://www.groups.yahoo.com
https://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=135
A Guest Article by Daniel Howard
Playing over the Internet using ICQ, OpenRPG, or some other Internet chat-based system is similar but not the same as playing across a GM's screen and a dinner table. For example, typing is slower and more formal than speaking, but whispering using Internet chat is much less obvious and more viable than passing notes in full view of other tabletop players. To account for these differences, tips for Internet players and GMs will be somewhat different than for regular tabletop players and GMs. Use the following tips to help you run efficient, organized, exciting, and popular Internet RPGs.
1. Be A Fast Typist
If there is one GM and four players, the GM has to type four times as much (and usually more) than each player. Since a GM needs to type so much he will always be the bottleneck. Find and use those cut-and-paste shortcuts. Look for every way to shave a second or two from getting that text to the players. In the end though, nothing beats being able to rip out sentence after sentence by being a demon typist.
Return to Contents
2. Set The Scene In One Sentence--Be A Frugal Typist!
The corollary to being a fast typist is being frugal with words. Make scenes and places as vivid as possible with a single, short sentence. Then transition immediately into NPC actions, scene updates or "now that you look at it" details. That way, players will imagine the scene quickly and be able to type in their actions and questions.
Accuracy is important, too; your frugalness will be wasted if laden with misspelled words. Misspelled words and abbreviations can break the mood as players struggle to decipher you.
Return to Contents
3. Suggest Actions To Clarify And Speed Things Along
When you turn your attention to a single player and ask "What do you do now?", consider adding some obvious and sensible actions. "Lanival, what do you do? Roll d20 to attack? Run away? Do something else?" will both clarify what is expected (allowed) and help out a confused player. Sometimes, players get stage fright or get stumped. Help them out.
Return to Contents
4. Use "Best Guess" And Go With It
Sometimes, it isn't worth clearing up little misunderstandings from the players. Make your best guess at their intentions from their input, describe what they actually do, and then describe the result. As long as you guess sensibly, the players will not complain. Slowing down to make everything precise is not worth it. Over time, if you give your players the benefit of the doubt and make them look smart, they will come to trust you.
Return to Contents
5. Use Narrative To Move The Game Along
If you are running out of time (or trying to keep the pace up), consider describing rather than role-playing pieces of the game. If the party is returning to a previous spot, you could just type, "The party turns around, runs down the hall, turns left and jumps over the trap. They skid to a stop in front of the unexplored corridor." Why take the time to role-play it?
Also, if you are ending a session, a few sentences where you "make" the party perform some (reasonable) actions that get them back to "town" is preferable to just "freezing" them in a dungeon. Ending each session in "town" gives the players a sense of finishing and prevents the awkward, incontiguous problem where a "frozen" PC does not show up to the next game.
Return to Contents
6. If Players Do Not Act, Make Them React
The players might be confused or they might be indecisive (decision by committee is never easy). The solution is to have something explode. Have water drip. Make a door swing open. Have footsteps be heard on the floor above. Don't waste precious session time while players dither trying to find something sensible to do. Force a decision or, at least, a reaction. Imbue a sense of immediacy. As things happen, little misunderstandings will be cleared up and your players will get a better sense of what their options are.
Return to Contents
7. Keep Everybody Involved & Address Everybody Directly
When you type, nobody can tell who you are looking at or who your statement is directed towards, so start a line meant for a certain PC with his name. You don't have type: "Lanival, what do you do?" over and over. Mix it up. For example, "Lanival falls back after being hit. What do you do?"
You might also consider scrambling the initiative order to keep the players on their toes. Try to draw in the players who haven't typed anything in a while and might be getting lost in the shuffle. Through a chat window, it is much harder to tell when a player is distracted or bored so be proactive about keeping each player involved.
Return to Contents
8. Use "Whisper" To Its Best Advantage
Most Internet chat systems allow you to send a message to a single person in the room without letting the others see it. Rather than describe details, use this "whisper mode" to give details to a single player and let that player relate the information to the party.
Encourage your players to use "whisper mode" to ask about rules clarifications so they do not disturb other players. A GM who is a fast typist can even let the party split up and neither group will know what each other is doing. Internet chat shines in comparison with tabletop games in this respect. "Whisper mode" is less obvious than passing notes during a game. Use it to its best advantage.
Return to Contents
9. Make Every Session Exciting And Complete
It is a drag to play in a game for 3 hours as a new player and your only accomplishment is killing a few wandering monsters. It is also a drag to have to "flash freeze" your game in the middle of a dungeon. That makes PCs unable to perform any action over e-mail.
Even if a player only shows for one session, he should have an exciting time and a sense of accomplishment. Plus, Internet players are brutal. If your game is boring the first time or is just a "building up" session, they'll quit. Make every session worthwhile and avoid those "bridge" sessions.
Return to Contents
10. Be Ready To GM, No Matter What
The Internet is an anonymous place. If you ran a tabletop game, you could phone or run over to your player's house to get him to come to a session. On the Internet, however, people can drop out of the game with no warning.
Furthermore, if a player's first session is dull, he probably won't come back for a second one. As a GM, be prepared to deal with old players who don't show up, new players who don't have character sheets, too many players, or too few.
If you have a policy to play--no matter what--you'll be fine. Games with GMs who are picky or dictatorial quickly turn into solo sessions.
Return to Contents
11. Have A Web Site
Consider using a web site as a preparation and organizing tool. When you are too busy, a site can help players with information on:
* How to join the game
* Your e-mail address
* Your style of play
* How to install any necessary software
* Example character sheets
* An example log from one of your sessions
* An introduction to your campaign world
* Scanned images of campaign maps
* House rules
* GM's suggestions to new players
* GM's commentaries
* Links to other sites
Return to Contents
12. Have And Use A Campaign Message Board And E-Mail
Sign up for a free message board for your group on Yahoo! or any number of other free sites on the Internet. Use the message board to maintain a list of your current players and their e-mail addresses.
More importantly, between sessions, you can involve the group in PBEM (Play By E-Mail) story lines for your game by posting role-playing narratives on the message board. Players can then post their actions and discuss party strategy.
If a player wants to pursue a private plot line, he can e- mail you directly. By doing this, you can reserve your chat sessions for parts of the game, such as combat and play-by- play role-playing, while using the message board for longer and more personal narrative-style role-playing. The best of both worlds!
Links to sites mentioned in the article: ICQ: https://www.icq.com
OpenRPG: https://www.openrpg.com
Yahoo! Groups: https://www.groups.yahoo.com