Text Club

Hello again!

In my last entry I discussed that training new players into the FG system is a bit of additional work for text-only games. I laid out a few things to make it easier (videos and such), but the work is still there when trying to get the freshmen through that first difficult hour in FG.

Dulux-Oz mentioned the idea of making a training module for teaching new players. Basically everything that I planned on typing anyway, pre-typed and ready to go. Linked pictures would also be available for pop-up to point out selection items rather than have to type out a description on the location. This is a fantastic idea, and something I will be working on. If anyone else has been working on such a project, let me know, and I can just send you some of my stuff to help you complete yours instead.

On the topic of pre-typing, I will lead into one of my new favorite things as a Text-Only DM in FG. That is how FG allows us to add chats for stories and NPCs ahead of time. Having things to cut and paste has been a staple of text gaming long before I ever showed up, but is difficult to organize and is often just left being room descriptions and such. FG allows for a grand organization and clarity between what is supposed to be shown to players and what is for the DM only.

I still type most things as they happen, but I like the time spent entering things in ahead of time. I call it pre-playing. I anticipate the things the players will ask about and get those things entered into a chat-box for them early. I get all the fun of thinking out my witty wording, and then later get to see it in action on my players. It gives me a way to be connected to them before they even join my server.

The trick is to not go overboard. (Actually that is the trick in all things “DM”). Try not to layout vast text walls for every possibility as you might find yourself railroading in order to keep those blocks from going to waste. You do know that the players will immediately type “search!” “What does it have?!” “Search it!!!!” long before your NPC’s severed head hits the ground. You can have a description particular to that search all ready to go. “The table the blind, one-armed Orc was guarding has a single copper on it and a note written in common ‘Dear mom…’” or whatever works for your brand of murderhobos.