Everything is printed, and hopefully, ready to go. It is four thirty on Friday evening. Your first players are wandering in. It is no longer production time. It is runtime. You are no longer an event producer. You are a GM, or storyteller, or director…whatever your group feels most comfortable with. In the next paragraphs I am going to use the term "GM" – remember a producer might not be a GM (choosing to be cast or support staff instead) and a GM might not have been a producer. I'll also be using the term "AGM" - Assistant or Associate GM, as you prefer. This means a person who is working in a strictly subordinate capacity.
Player Relations
No matter what you do, remember the players come first. These days, saying that is generally preaching to the converted. But I’ll hit this once, just for anyone who hasn’t thought it through. Because it wasn’t always this way.
In the early days of theater style events, it was common for GMs to call themselves "Gods." They believed that the GM was the center of the event, and that a good GM was powerful and capricious. I rolled into full length GMing in 1987 with a group of folks who thought this was a bad practice, and wanted to establish good, solid, professional GM skills. Sure, sometimes GMs need to play powerful villains, or characters that have great power over players. In a good event this is solidly integrated with the plot.
If you are a GM, remember that you aren’t there to be entertained. You are not there for yourself! You have taken up GMing because you want to give a live roleplaying experience to a group of players, and that is what you are doing. If you like GMing, and it entertains you, that’s great. But you need to make sure the players have a good time. This means that everything you do, every action you take, should in some way benefit the players. Whether it is playing a super-powered villain, or just wandering around in street clothes.
What do you do?
Most GMs think that the most important thing you can do during an event is make critical, exciting, decisions about the course of the event, and wield the weighty responsibilities of the GM to make decisions affecting everyone. That’s the glamorous part...but you don’t actually do much of that. And old adages about the "GMs not knowing what to expect" aside, most of the critical decision making should be well past at this point. If there is a hydrogen bomb in your plots, you should already know when, how, and if you are willing to let it actually detonate, and who dies or not as a result. That’s contingency planning.
The most important thing you will do during a event is what I call "pounding the pavement," which means moving around on the floor constantly getting a feel for what is going on, and helping your players. Unless of course you are setting up special assignment of some sort – Computer GM, Wargame GM, or so on.
Being a Lead GM
A Lead GM is one of the core group of people who are taking "the lead" in producing the event. I use the term "lead" GM, because often the leads are not bosses, or senior, or anything else special. Sometimes they aren’t writers. It’s a term I use to distinguish the "core" GM staff from the people they have brought in from "outside" to run an event.
Don’t hide behind egalitarianism as an excuse to shrug off the responsibility of being lead GM. If you are one of the people who has been driving the project, and the other GMs are looking to you as a leader, you have a responsibility to act that way. There is nothing worse than seeing an experienced GM with 200 hours of floor time laying blame on a green GM with 10 hours of experience because they didn’t perform up to standards.
If you wrote most of the characters, you are probably a lead GM. If you are the most experienced GM on staff, you are probably a lead GM. But you may not be.
There can be more than one lead GM, and probably are. Within the core group, one or two people may be "boss." But the lead GMs will be the people that everyone else looks to for help, and guidance.
You have a vested interest in using your Auxiliary staff to its full capacity. If you are doing something, consider if it is something that your Auxiliary staff could do better. Or just as well.
Many groups make a big deal of the fact that their AGMs are "fully empowered" to make decisions, but then either don’t really give them the authority, or don’t give them the knowledge. Authority without knowledge is worthless. A good GM may have permission to make major decisions, but be unwilling to do so without basic knowledge.
You have a responsibility to use your AGM staff to best possible effect.
Brief the AGMs fully. I like a breifing on two separate occasions, before the game, and after the AGM has read the characters. At one briefing, run through every character, and say what they are doing. At the next, run through every major plotline. For a full length game, four hours is not too long for each session. These are good refreshers for Lead GMs as well.
Sometimes, characters aren’t done. Have the AGMs read the drafts. In fact, if you are really far behind, you may try writing drafts and having AGMs put them into final. Some things don’t get produced until the last moment.
Talk through "likely scenarios" with the AGMs. The GM who finds that the players "never do what the GM expects" is doing something wrong... Players will occasionally launch off on a tangent, but if four or five bright people sit down, and talk through every possible way they see a situation working out, there is about an 80% chance that the players will take one of the options they foresaw. This leaves GM time free to deal with the 20% of time the players don’t do what the GMs expected
Trust AGMs with everything, unless they are being used for a specialty. Knowing half the picture leads to half baked solutions. Never try to be "cute" by keeping surprises from the AGM staff.
Don’t be afraid to limit the scope of an AGM (or a Lead GM for that matter!). Sometimes you don’t need a fifth person trying to make plot decisions. Sometimes you need someone to go around all weekend running a specific system. Get someone who enjoys that sort of thing, and make it their provenance. Every GM doesn’t have to have full powers to arbitrate everything on the floor. Some obvious ideas for specialization: Combat, Special Locations, Items, Special Systems.
Don’t lie to the AGM staff about what isn’t done. They are going to be taking abuse for it all weekend. You owe it to them to tell them up front what hasn’t been finished, and what is being done to compensate. If you are honest, they’ll appreciate it and go to bat for you, but if you try to pull the wool over their eyes, they’ll soon see through it, and your game will suffer for it.
Supervise. The AGM staff isn’t going to know what to do and when to do it. AGMs tend (worse even than lead GMs) to glom up in a knot and tell war stories. Remind them that there is work to be done, firmly but politely. If they can accomplish nothing more, send them to bed.
Assign the grunt work to the AGM staff. Don’t be "too considerate" of your AGM staff to assign them dull, boring, tasks like cutting and stacking cards. You need your time for other things, and they volunteered to help. If you spend your time doing the work your AGMs could do, and then don’t have the time to do the work only you can do (because it requires more intimate knowledge of the writing), you won’t have done anyone any favors.
Remember to tell them thank you. A little (a lot of) praise goes a long way!
Auxiliaries: Being an AGM or Floor GM.
Some groups use the term "Assistant (or Associate) GM," some don’t. I generally don’t use it. I like to have other GMs be "full staff" or be designated by a specialty "Combat GM," etc. I use "Floor GM" for those members of the staff who did not take part in the writing, and are only working before and during runtime. You can use any term you want. There are numerous shades of distinction, but what it boils down to is "auxiliaries." People who are not, specifically, critical to production. Though you couldn’t do without them come runtime.
Notice I haven’t said anything about "green" or inexperienced GMs. The fact is many inexperienced GMs start feet first, as Lead GMs, and there are plenty of occasions when oldtimer GMs will pitch in to help out as "Floor GM" on a friend’s production. I think doing some "Floor GM" work is vital to being a well-rounded GM. Nobody should be "in charge" all the time.
There is nothing second class about being an Auxiliary. You may be an assistant because you are learning, or because you are doing a favor. But you do have a different role to play.
Your job is support. Depending on your experience, you may end up taking some "lead" responsibilities, and you may not. But you need to look to the lead GMs for signals, and take your pace from them. Don’t get carried away with your own brilliance, and carry someone else’s production off someplace that it isn’t supposed to go. Watch for signals, and take them, and don’t try to take over.
Try to help. If you were called in because you are the best combat ref around, don’t be arrogant and sit around idle while other GMs work. Pitch in, and ask what you can do to help. Whether they say so or not, most GM crews expect their assistants to help with process of "loading in" the materials for the event, and clean up. Even if they don’t it is polite to offer.
If you are turned down, keep out of the way. You may be the most brilliant computer programmer around, but the lead GM may not want you to tinker with the hypercard stack on Thursday night. Offer to help, and let your lead know what you are capable of, but don’t badger. Often a lead is too swamped to figure out how to delagate, and its best to let them go at their own pace. Part of your job will probably be to "hurry up and wait." Do it smilingly. If you see an opportunity to help, offer. If you are refused, then keep out of the way! You are there to help, and driving your lead crazy isn’t helping. This isn’t about your ego. It is about making your players have a good time.
Becoming an AGM on short notice
Occasionally, you may become an Auxiliary GM on short notice. Novice GMs suddenly realize they need more help, or another GM falls sick (or worse, leaves the team) and you are asked to work as a replacement.
You will need to cram, and you will need to ask for help.
See if it would work for you to be a specialty GM, even if the game wasn’t broken down that way before. If there is some system that soaks a lot of the GMs time, you could try to learn that one system, and run it to the exclusion of all else.
Read the characters. If necessary, read them aloud in the car on the way to the site. My weakness. I get carsick while reading. One event I had characters such a short time before the game that I had my wife read them aloud in the car on the way. She was also running, and she can manage reading while Riding better than I can.
Write a list of questions. The Lead GM doesn’t have time to have a long bull session with you - if they did, then you wouldn’t be working on short notice. Figure out everything you can, then ask the questions at once.
Watch for signals. Discuss ahead of time that you are going to need to ask extra questions, and will need some patience. Let the GMs you are working with know what they can expect. Try to hit them at good times, and not waste their time.
The "One Man (or Woman) Show"
Mostly, I’ve been going into details on full weekend runs here, but fairly frequently, mini-games are a "One person show" with a single writer and producer, and perhaps a couple of runtime assistants. It is less common for full lengths to be a one man show, but it happens.
Sometimes, even a large group is so focused on one creative personality that the answer to every question is "Ask so-and-so." This can be a real problem. It can come from an overly tyrannical lead writer, or an insecure runtime staff. It can also come from poor communication where the writers simply didn’t get their game concept across to the floor staff.
It is best not to operate this way, but for better or worse such games reach the floor. In any case, the same conditions apply as apply to coming in on short notice. Try and figure out everything for yourself, and let the person in charge know you have to watch them for signals.
If you are at the center of a one man (or woman) show, remember that nobody around you is a mindreader. Don’t lose patience with people who you have assisting you. Remaining calm won’t always save a game, but it is about 80% of the battle.
Getting Prepared and Dealing with Other GMs:
Take Care of Yourself and the Other GMs
Don’t forget about real life. If you have medications, take them. Be militant about eating and drinking on a relatively normal schedule. You aren’t doing your players any favors if you are a wreck, and can’t make good valid decisions, or keep your temper. Some teams have a "Game Mommy (or Daddy?) who helps with such things, but a responsible adult should be able to feed him or herself and still run a complex event.
Yes, I’m the GM who wrote about breaking out amphetamines after being awake for sixty hours at Covention I. But that was more than ten years ago. The lining of my stomach was in better shape then. One ideal of the IL community is that GMs should live to be old GMs, and that means not having waking hallucinations from sleep deprivation on the way to the event. Obviously this applies more to full-weekend events than minigames, but events are events
Let me put it on a less moralistic level. If you are drop-dead exhausted on Friday night at 5:00pm, you are not going to run well. You will miss obvious solutions to problems, and you will have a hard time having the patience to deal with players. You certainly won’t have energy and enthusiasm to drive your event.
There used to be a saying "No food, no sleep, only the game." We found that the rule actually was "Food or Sleep." You can do without one or the other, but usually not both. Few GMs have the luxury of a long peaceful slumber the night before the game. Even if the writing is 100% complete and in the box, there is usually packing to be done, and often travelling as well.
Know how much sleep your minimum is, and get it. I have found my minimum is four hours. On four hours of sleep, I may be a little tired, but I am basically still a functional human being. I couldn’t go on forever on four hours a night, but two or three nights of four hour sleep won’t kill me. I sleep at least four hours before running. Even if I don’t think I have time. I’ll save four hours on Friday by being more alert and awake, and not making time-costly mistakes.
Care and Feeding of GMs
Eat. Forget your damn diet. Just eat. If you survive on junk food, eat that. If you need carbs and protein, get them. Back when I was writing, running and not sleeping, I used to live on Sustacal and Breakfast Bars. I wouldn’t recommend that, but it did keep me alive.
Remember that if you stay up all night, you will probably want a meal in the wee hours of the morning. Your body will need extra energy to fight off sleep-dep. Consider keeping around some foods like Breakfast Bars, or Instant Breakfast. If possible eat a balanced healthy meal. If not, at least try to eat plenty, and don’t try any radical diet changes.
Make sure to drink too. Juices or something like Gatorade is the best - Coke is not as good, but probably what you’ll drink. Try to balance it with some water. If you need the kick, remember that coffee has more caffiene than Coke.
You aren’t going to start eating a healthy diet the day before a game. But eat something, and eat plenty of it. And keep around snack foods that have some carbohydrates, if you possibly can. If your group is impoverished, peanut butter and jelly is good... cheap too. If you have the money, order Pizza or Chinese, and have a real dinner. If you can, actually eat a decent meal at home or at a restaurant.
If you are not doing anything else, feed the other GMs. If you are a new AGM, and you want to stay up late to prove yourself but don’t have anything to do, consider going to 7-11 for drinks and food.
Breakfast is the most important meal you’ll eat Friday, mostly because it is usually the last. You may get lunch, but often you’ll be at a strange location, with a choice of the golden arches, or a very slow hotel restaurant. Eat something for breakfast: cold Pizza, an Egg McMuffin - anything! But for God sakes, eat!
Responsibility to Cast
If you want to burn yourself ragged, that’s okay. But remember that your cast did not sign on for the "no food no sleep," experience. No matter how much esprit de corps you’ve tried to build they are not your core team. You have a responsibility to give them work assignments that allow for food and sleep.
The 24 Hours Beforehand
In an ideal world, the GM team has completed work early in the week.
A final meeting is held midweek, and everything is assembled and ready
to go. Thursday night the lead GM makes phone calls (not e-mail, unless
he or she is sure it will get checked) to the entire staff. This
phone call:
Sometimes, you’ll be having a crisis. The Printer died on Wednesday, and the new cartridge didn’t arrive until 10:15pm on Thursday night. Fifteen characters aren’t done.
When you have a crisis, the first thing to do is Stop! I’ve wasted more time than I would care to think about by plunging blindly ahead to try to Get it all done!
Send the rest of your group to bed. There is nothing more wasteful than having two GMs up at 5:30am, "keeping company" with a GM who can’t go to bed because they’re tied to a computer. The worst part of it is that the poor GM who they’re keeping company with might have been finished in time to sleep - if he hadn’t had the distraction of two bored fellow GMs for "company." If you aren’t doing anything the night before a game, you should be sleeping. If you can’t sleep, lie down and rest. Too many GMs pull useless all nighters because they stayed up late on Thursday "keeping company," unable to sleep out of nervousness.
It’s hard to make yourself sleep, especially if you are an AGM who isn’t needed, but is new and a little nervous. Do whatever works for you. Lie down in a dark room. Put a pillow under your neck Japanese style. Listen to music. Drink a bottle of beer or a glass of port. Have sex with your Significant Other, or any other reasonably cooperative party. You’ll have enough tension in the next 48 hours.
If you are a lead GM, it is your job to send your AGM staff to bed. They probably won’t go on their own. They aspire to be like you, and they will try to pull the long shift, even if they have nothing useful to do. You’ll need them awake and alert when you are not. Send them to bed.
This situation isn’t as bad nowadays, because there is less tendency of GMs to cluster at one house or another before the event. But it still happens, and it is still worth trying to combat.
Well before Thursday night, your group should have decided who is going to be taking the public "lead" at the opening of the game. This is the person who introduces the game, and acts as "master of ceremonies" for rule briefing etc. If your game doesn’t have a formal opening, this will be the person who is running your registration desk. This person or these people need to have some energy, and not have a short fuse when your game goes up. Make sure they get some sleep, even if it is just in the car on the way to the site.
The basic message: don’t be a bunch of kids. It’s easy to get carried away in the camaraderie of putting a game on, and not sleep or take proper care, the two days before a game goes up. Force yourself to think ahead. Otherwise, your body is going to be giving out just as your players get revved up to go. And that can be anywhere between disappointing and disastrous.
Alarms, Transportation Arrangements, and Checklists
Get your act organized before you get onsite. Time becomes increasingly valuable as runtime approaches. An hour of time to run out and buy supplies on Monday is no big problem. An hour of wasted time Friday afternoon can mean a delayed opening, and fractious players.
Make out a list of all the supplies you will need onsite. Don’t forget the actual components of the game - character sheets, envelopes, etc. Include office supplies.
Make a mental, or written timetable of your schedule for Friday. Allow time for breakfast and lunch, and consider how you’ll get dinner (or if you need to eat an extra big lunch). I usually buy two burgers at McDonalds, and stash the second one onsite to eat just before opening.
Get up an hour earlier than you think you need. I always build an hour of "slack" into my carefully planned Friday, and I always use it. You’ll probably remember some minor purchase or last minute errand, or have someone call and dump something on you.
I have a "game box" which is a big wooden chest of the kind that is sold at Wal-Mart for college students. It seems clumsy at first, but it is better than a suitcase or boxes for several reasons. First, it can ride on a little foldable metal baggage cart I have, and actually have a great deal of other stuff piled on top of it. It is actually sometimes easier to get onsite than a bunch of unwieldy carboard boxes. Second, it doesn’t allow game materials to get mutilated in a tightly packed car. Finally, it can serve as furniture or a table wherever I end up running.
What I keep in the "game box"
Emergency Supplies
Electronics Supplies
Computers made theatre style writing as we know it possible. There were theatre style games written before computers were available, and there have been a few games written without a computer. But the ability to quickly revise a stored document allowed for consistent cross referencing, which is a keystone of theatre style live roleplaying.
That said, computers are always a nuisance. They are sophisticated pieces of equipment which have a habit of glomming up when you least expect it.
Here are a few tips to keep your game from being an electronic nightmare:
1) By Thursday, no single computer should be indispensable. Everything should be backed up in at least one location on a media that can be read by the other machines. If any printing is to be done onsite, the backups are onsite.
2) There is at least a plan to get an alternate printer if the printer fails. Ideally, a printer is onsite
Checklist of Computer Components
I mention this because I’ve seen it happen - twice! If you are in the Mac/Apple world, be aware that the rest of the world doesn’t know about your hardware’s peculiar needs. Don’t borrow a printer from someone, and assume it will have a place to plug in your unique printer cable. Check ahead of time for hardware and software compatibility.
I don’t use Mac/Apple, and I honestly have noticed this as a unique failing of Mac/Apple based teams. All Mac equipment is supposed to be standardized and work together. PC users are trained to assume that nothing will work together until tried. Mac/Apple users tend to forget this, and I’ve seen several teams be devastated when they borrowed equipment and found that it didn’t have the correct connectors or capabilities. Know your equipment’s particular needs.
No Computer Onsite
Occasionally I’ve run into teams who said "well, if you have to take your computer onsite, then you aren’t prepared anyway." This is not necessarily the case.
First, there are occasionally game mechanics, or pieces such as reports of results that need to be produced by computer during the game. For example in "The Four Aces," results of gang warfare are produced on in Excel during runtime, from turn to turn.
Secondly, a wise team brings their raw material onsite in some form, just in case. There may always be something missing. Even if you’ve had time to print, stuff, and do a quality control check, that thing fluttering across the parking lot could be a character sheet.
It is possible to have enough backups that this isn’t an issue. If every character has been printed out and quality control checked in every GM notebook, then probably you are safe. Still, it can be better in many cases to have the option of producing materials onsite in emergencies. Distance makes some difference as well. Running in Baltimore I always have the ultimate fallback that it is only a two and a half hour round trip to my house. Running in New Jersey, a trip home is completely out of the question.
Just remember. If you don’t have a computer and a printer "Anything you don’t have with you, you just don’t have!"
The ten minute hour - When to lock another GM up!
Eventually, it happens. You are onsite, and something is not finished. Some card, some sheet. Even the most careful group can lose a sheet in transport, or need to accommodate a sudden walk-on. Whatever the situation, you are onsite, and you have a GM on staff doing office work.
I learned at my first game how not to get the work done. Put your PC up just as you planned to for consultation, on a table in your public access control center. After all, you have four other Staff on the floor. You figure Bill can just sit back there and type. He can’t.
With four Staff in the same room, an astonishing percentage of players will walk up to the person behind the desk and interrupt their work to ask a question. There are reasons for this, so don’t assume your players are idiots. First, staff who are surrounded by players aren’t visible. Second, earlier we discussed the slew of questions right after the event starts. Usually any last minute work takes place during this time. Staff that would normally be more than adequate may be swamped. And a GM typing furiously is fair game. Worse, after one player interrupts, however rudely, another player may think that the GM is available - they have no reason not to.
Thus commences the ten minute hour. This is when you sit at a keyboard for an hour, and produce ten minutes of work.
Stop. Take your computer equipment, and get your GM out of there. If you have a laptop, lock them up with that. If not, then move your entire desktop machine. But if you want work to get done, get that GM out of contact with the public.
This may save your image too. It is hard to tolerate the nineteenth interruption without snapping "What the hell do you want!" I never mastered it.
The same rule applies to your own staff. Four staff in one room will tend to talk to each other and accomplish absolutely nothing. Three staff stuffing packets will talk incessantly to the GM trying to type, and make sure he or she accomplishes nothing. It’s human nature.
Sometimes the person behind the computer is also the Lead, and you feel they are needed to do something else. Call out combat stats, answer critical plot questions, etc.
This is when you have to make a decision. Either isolate the GM, or just wait. That may seem anathema to you. You think "it will only take half an hour to get that sheet done, and we’ll have everything finished."
Well...it won’t get done in a half hour. In a half hour you’ll have work that isn’t done, and a GM that has been inactive. The worst of both worlds. Decide. Either the work is important enough to lose the GM for half an hour, or the work can wait until the GM can be off the floor for half an hour. But having a GM trying to write onsite just does not work!
GM to Player Ratio
The normal GM to player ratio ranges from as low as 1:4 to as high as 1:10. In general, games with a 1:4 or 1:5 ratio on the floor tend to suffer from too many GMs unless they are very, very, rules or GM intensive systems. With so many GMs, the players get distracted by the number of "out of character" conversations around. If you have a ratio of 1:4 GMs, it is probably best if some of them are technical staff (sitting behind a computer) or are acting as cast. 1:6-1:8 seems to be the best ratio.
I’ve run plenty of times at 1:9 or 1:10, and it does tell. The staff gets frayed, people get bogged down waiting for a GM. If you have a very non GM intensive system, you may get away with less GMs, and if you have a very GM intensive system, you may need more. But don’t count on it. Remember, if you are drawing on a crowd of players with experience, many of them will automatically seek GM intervention even if they don’t need it. For example, many players don’t feel comfortable having non-GM adjudicated combat even if the system is "self adjudicating."
Even if they are the best troops in the world, one cavalry brigade can seldom take on an army. If you have a 1:10 GM ratio, your GMs are going to be swamped, even if they are very good. I’ve seen too many groups make the mistake of assuming its better to run with three really good GMs, rather than three really good GMs and two green GMs. Don’t. You’ll need all the help you can get. My rule of thumb is to always have at least one more GM on staff than you think you need. In a minute we’ll talk about how to make green GMs useful to your group.
Identify yourself
A GM should have something to make them recognizable. It is easy to think that you’ve covered identification by introducing yourself at opening. But that may not be the case. Some players may arrive late. Some players have a lousy memory for faces, or can’t put faces with names. A distinctive badge, T-shirt, or arm band, or even a whistle around the neck, sets off a GM. Go with whatever works in your ethos, but make sure it is consistent enough that the players can spot it. It is particularly frequent that the most junior member of the staff gets ignored, because no one knows they are a GM, especially if the group is well known, and consists of four established faces, and one less well-known face. If you have a GM sitting idle because no one will approach them, that is increasing the burden on you. If you have an established team, take special pains to introduce any new personnel. It is especially important to identify all your GM staff. Often there’s an "odd man out" - maybe a new GM who isn’t part of an established team, who gets ignored because they don’t look like they’re part of the staff.
GM Meetings
Usually GMs hold meetings on Friday and Saturday night. Some GM groups have a daytime shutdown at dinner or even lunch on Saturday as well. These are your chances to make adustments to the game as it is running.
These meetings should not be wasted time. This is the appropriate order of business, before unwinding and telling war stories:
1) Every GM tells what major plots they’ve handled, and any environment changes they have created.Some groups like to run down the timing on timed events before doing anything else, and I don’t see any problem with this. Some groups may want to take a fifteen minute break, or eat, before getting down to business. Put this on a timer. Usually either a dinner break, or sleep, are closing in, and there is not much time to waste.2) Every GM tells what plots or characters they think are in trouble.
3) The group workshops every trouble spot. Try and produce at least one or two ideas for every problem.
4) GMs double check times and procedures for upcoming GM instigated or assisted events (the alien invasion, the high holy festival, etc.)
5) Individuals or teams develop specific ideas for run-time corrections (add in plots, messages, NPC appearances, events, etc.)
Keep an eye on the time. If you see that you are halfway through the break, and are still discussing the first item, move on!
Remember that the entire group doesn’t have to hash over every problem or situation. It can be enough to decide on a general course of action, and establish who is handling it. "Tom, you and George need to find something for the Space Aliens to do...Hal and I will work with the Spanish Neurosurgeons." Obviously if you think that a plot is really sinking, breaks are the time to brainstorm with the group on ideas to save it. But don’t try and have five people workshop a major game revision during a break. Farm it out to a couple of people, or even one GM, and keep moving on with other matters. In the final section of this article, we’ll go into the how of saving plots...for now, take it on faith that it can be done.
I like to use a white board, if there’s one available, to track meetings. First I run down the list of everything we need to talk about and write it on the Board. It keeps the other GMs aware of what has and hasn’t been discussed, and what still needs attention.
Communicate with other GMs
You also do need to communicate with other GMs. If another GM tries to tell you something, stop what you are running and listen. It may be routine, and less important than what you are doing. But if another GM is waiting on you, they are not helping players. Another GM's general report is more important than a player’s priority event. This is just logic. It might not seem like it, but if GMs waited until other GMs "weren’t busy" to exchange routine information, no information would ever get exchanged.
On the other hand, think about what you are going to say to your fellow GMs and keep it short. Don’t go off telling another GM who is trying to run a player event how totally cool some player action was. Communicate essentials: deaths, changes in the environment that affect other players, plots that are advancing or failing, etc. If another GM wants more detail because they are handling something in that plot, they’ll ask.
The Environment
The environment of the game is all the reality that doesn’t really exist. The amount of magic in the air is environment. Whether or not the City Hall is on fire is environment. Green alien troops wandering the streets is environment. A change in the exchange rate is environment. If you make a change to the environment, communicate that information to another GM as quickly as possible.
Keep GM disputes private
I have been in GM groups with tensions, and I have seen GM groups with tensions. I have been in GM groups with staff members who would not speak to each other. Sad but true.
If it is important not to be rude to players, it is doubly important not to have public disputes with other GMs. Events produce a lot of stress, and GM teams tend to be made up of artists with hot tempers. GM groups are usually made up of friends, and often, lovers. Personal break-ups have happened on staff, during runtime, as have all manner of personal quarrels.
Keep it out of the event. And if you can’t, then consider removing yourself from the event. There is absolutely nothing more destructive of player morale than an ongoing fight between GMs. Having a fight between lovers or spouses adds a note of personal embarrassment that assures firstly that no one will talk about anything else, including the event's plots, and secondly that anyone with the slightest sensibilities will be so mortified that they will not dare talk to a GM.
Since people who are having relationship problems are unlikely to be able to help themselves, if you are a member of a team that is having such a problem, it us up to you to bring it under control. "Shaming them into behaving" is the standard tactic. I don’t know if it is the best or not - it generally allows the event to proceed, but the relationship rarely survives it. Another tactic would be to suggest that both disputants take a four or five hour nap, or gel and watch TV. Ideally, they’ll come back, and if they do, with luck they’ll have enough sleep to be calm and be able to deal. If one GM does not come back, that may be for the best.
Of course there are a few GMs who simply vent their temper at each other. This just isn’t allowable. It makes your group look amateurish, and it mortifies even hardened players. It also insures that everyone’s attention is taken away from the game. If a GM on your team begins to lose their temper, you have two options, and you need to exercise them fast. First, and probably best, call a GM conference. Trying to solve the problem is usually destructive and time consuming. GMs usually fight over referee decisions. Try turning the whole thing over to another GM, and get the disputants to try and stay away from each other. Let both disputants tell the "moderator" GM their side of the story. It might help if the most mellow person in your GM group is appointed as "moderator" in advance if you know your group has spicy tempers.
The other option is to knuckle under. If it looks like you are on the brink of a GM yelling match, consider just how likely the game is to belly up and die if you just give in. Then count to ten and do it again. If your only choices are a screaming contest, or letting something you think will damage the game happen, consider it very carefully - a GM scream fest damages the game in a big way. I’ve several times let major events happen that I disagreed with, because it was clear that another GM was going to cause a public scene if I did not. In several circumstances this has involved seeing a player get screwed over very badly by a poor GM decision. I felt terrible. But I would have felt more terrible if twenty players had a terrible time because I had chosen to stand and fight, and ripped the game to shreds. There are very few turning points in a game that brook no reversal. If you really think a GM decision is going to wreck the entire event, call a GM conference, and get the entire group to work on setting it straight.
Sometimes you may need to get another GM to back off. Saying "no that’s wrong" is a bad thing to do to your colleagues in front of players. Try "Joe, there’s something that I need to tell you before you make that ruling…I have to tell you in private because the players don’t know." When you get in private say "I’m sorry, I disagree with that decision, but I didn’t want to contradict you in front of the players. Let me tell you how I think it should be, and if I can convince you to change your mind, they’ll just assume it’s because of some metagame point I knew about and you didn’t." Even if you have a knock down drag out, at least it won’t be in front of players.
There is another facet to the GM disagreement situation. Often, GMs get possessive over characters they have written, and seem to give them unfair advantages. This can become doubly true if a GM has given a character they love to a close personal friend. If you are a member of the writing team, beware of "competitive" GMing, where GMs fight each other with a player as a pawn. This is an area where only communication will work. Do it privately, without the players present. You may need to say "Bob, I think you are giving Grond the Barbarian an unfair advantage. I realize you are really proud of that character, and that you really like George who is playing him, but if you continue to give him extra throwing cats, it is going to wreck the whole dead-cat economy of the game." If Bob hits the ceiling, get another GM involved. If you know that Bob reacts poorly to you, get another GM involved beforehand. Try not to gang up on a single GM. When push comes to shove behind closed doors, GMs are inclined to be ruthless. Just remember this. If a disenchanted player floating around is a mine, then a disenchanted GM is a free-falling nuclear bomb. It is very important to practice the fine art of compromise. And in the long run, it may be better for one or two players to have a lousy game, than for everyone to have a lousy game.
Obviously, the corollary here is "don’t play favorites." A GM is by definition supposed to be fair. Obviously this means, "fair within the game ethos." If you have a PC who is a demigod and can, by design, crush other players like fleas, this means letting them crush other players like fleas.
Pounding the Pavement
Now that we’ve seen how to work with your fellow GMs, let’s look at what to do while you’re out there dealing with the players.
Getting through the initial rush
Usually right after the event starts, there is a "cattle call" as players mob Game Central. Good runtime planning can ease this. Get rules out well in advance. Use known mechanics and systems, and rely on experienced players to act as mentors to teach them.
A good rules briefing is essential if your opening or briefing is boring, you’ll just get asked all the questions you answered, because no-one was paying attention to the answers. Have your best speaker run the rules briefing, and always brief from a prepared script. If you plan on audience participation, plan it well in advance. At some events, the players are asked to "pair off" and fight a brief combat against each other, so they know how it works.
Do not take random questions during your briefing. Politely…and remember you are making your first impression on your players…ask your players to wait for a question period. Take a few question, but offer to explain technical issues privately. In nearly every briefing there is a player who feels the need to show off their understanding of the rules system by asking questions, or worse pointing out flaws. Be polite and promise to talk to them privately immediately after the briefing. Questions seldom clarify anything for the majority of players.
Immediately after briefing have your team ready for "cattle call."
Most of the questions you’ll get at cattle call fall into three categories.First, many players come to complain about some physical property they didn’t get. Remember, even if your prep was flawless, there will be players who misunderstand and think they should have an item, special ability, reference, or other piece of paper or property that they don’t. These players will take just as long to resolve as players with actual errors or missing paper or props. Don’t be sharp with them, however tempted you may be. You’ll put a damper on their spirits, and that damages your event.
Second, many players will want rules clarifications. Even if your rules are simple and crystal clear, there will always be someone who didn’t understand them, or wants to do something they don’t allow for. Don’t expect all of this to be handled at the initial player briefing. For example, the player who wants to assassinate the Pope is hardly going to blurt out a question on the "tiara targeting" system at a public rules briefing. Private questions will tend to be on "secret" mechanics - unknown super powers, breaking and entering, hacking, etc. Don’t think that if you don’t have these systems it will prevent questions on them. Some player will want to know how it is done, and again, even if the answer is "it isn’t" you’ll have to spend some time explaining that.
Finally, there will be "people" questions. Questions about whether or not a specific person has checked in yet. Questions about relations in character sheets, or about who is playing who. "So is Lady Bzangor my cousin or my aunt...", and self questions "am I a Lieutenant, or a Captain?."
Many players are very reluctant to make introductions without having these questions answered, so even if they seem transparent to you, it is important to answer them right away. Some players are especially reluctant to introduce themselves to a character they "know" in character when they have never met the player before. If you are GMing for players you know something about (and more often than not you will be if you are running locally), a quick bio will help build their confidence – "that’s George Stockton - he’s a new player, and I don’t know much about him, but he knows Ed Black and Joe White. He seems like a very nice fellow, though his character is extremely sinister."
Make Introductions
This is an important sidelight. As a GM, in some ways you are basically hosting a party for ten to two hundred (or more!) people. Odds are, you will know some of them. Try to get acquainted with the ones you don’t know early on, and find out something about them. Try to introduce people across groups of friends. This is important for you, because it will keep your event from bogging down as players forsake "character alliances" to hang out with a social group they know and feel comfortable with. It is also just polite. Obviously as gaming gets bigger and bigger, individual GMs will know less and less about the players. If you know that you are running for a very mixed group, having introductions before event opening might be useful.
Pound the Pavement!
Meaning, circulate! Don’t sit behind a desk and hide. Actually, there probably should be one GM who does sit behind a desk, usually a materials person. This GM would be charged with fixing any problems with items, furnishing new cards or other material, handling any interim paperwork (handing out new spell points, healing points, marking damage on combat cards, or whatever other paper impedimenta accompanies your event). Whether or not they take questions is up to your GM team - I favor having the table GM take "resource" questions (does my supplier have Uzis- can I get a card for one?), "off site" questions (my stash is #174, and I’d like the secret documents from it), and perhaps history questions requiring reference to the full background, especially if it is a big event and the printed background is too heavy for every GM to carry. Some big events have had five or six GMs behind a table with an array of computers, papers, and processing bins.
It is important to have GMs who circulate. I really do believe that this is an absolute. A GM staff with a "floor GM to player" ratio of between 1:8 and 1:10 should be able to circulate without being "pinned" by a constant stream of business. In circumstances where I’ve seen GM groups that stay in one place and make the players come to them, I’ve invariably seen unhappy players, and drop outs. If you aren’t out there, you aren’t running your event!
Pound the pavement - (have I mentioned that before?…I’ll mention it again). Get out there and circulate among the players. I usually start just like I would at a party. On Friday night I wend my way through the function space saying things like "hope your having a good time. I just wanted you to know we’re around if you need anything." Or "how are you doing...is there anything you need help with." After the initial rush you still have a lot of work to do. You will have answered questions for all the players that are self confident, and aggressive. Now there will be a number of people with the same questions who didn’t approach you. They fall into two categories, experienced and inexperienced or shy.
The experienced player
First, there are experienced self-confident roleplayers, who felt they could get started without bothering you at the busiest time of the evening. "I need to know how to assassinate the Pope, but since I don’t have to do it until tomorrow, I figured I’d ask you when you were less busy." These are your dream players. You owe it to them to seek them out and answer their questions, and it is time effective to do so. By letting them know that they will get answers even if they don’t mob the GMs, you insure they’ll continue to be respectful of your time all weekend.
The inexperienced player
Second, there are shy players, who didn’t feel comfortable asking questions at all. They’ll be the hardest to identify, but here is a hint. A new player, who didn’t ask any questions, probably has some. If they don’t, it is very rare that someone will respond negatively to a polite inquiry from a GM, so ask anyway. As a rule, ask all of your new players how they are doing on Friday night, and let them know to come to you for help. It’s common courtesy, and it could save you a lot of grief and frustration on Saturday. New players who feel overwhelmed on Friday night, and aren’t confident enough to approach a GM, sometimes drop out without ever telling anyone. In particular, players who come out of a tabletop RPG background may not realize that the GM is the person to go to for "guidance" as well as questions about rules and adjudication. They may feel the GM is a "rival" who will use whatever knowledge they pass along to screw them over in the long run.
Even if a player trusts the GM, they may feel that their question "I don’t have any idea what I’m doing" isn’t something they can approach a GM with. Watch for people who disguise "I don’t know what I’m doing" with a question about the rules. Don’t embarrass them of course. But if a question about the rules seems to overlie a more general lack of grasp of what interactive gaming is about, offer help.
Use positive approaches:"You look like you could use a few suggestions on people to talk to and things to do" not "You don’t know what you’re doing do you?" and "Sometimes a little rough getting started" rather than "You haven’t played before, have you?"
Never directly allude to a player’s inexperience. For one thing, you could be embarrassingly wrong. People change weight and hair style, or drop out - it is damned embarrassing to have someone reply to "you’re not very experienced" with "I’ve played your last three events." I’m personally terrible with faces, and can meet someone several times, and know them well by name, but not recognize them until I am prompted about where I know them from. Even if you’re a wizard with faces, you may not recognize someone. You may also run into a player who has played for years on another "circuit" and quite reasonably takes offense at being considered "inexperienced" because they haven’t played in the same events as you.
Often the best approach is to simply offer some advice. "Have you met Lord Trogbury yet?" is a good lead in. If you know the character sheets well, you can help introduce players to each other, especially if they are having a slow start. If you direct an inexperienced player to an experienced player you know well, use common sense. Some players like to meet newbies, others have no use for anyone who they don’t consider to be another "power player." Direct new players to friendly and receptive people, and if you have to direct them to a player who you know isn’t so receptive, give them a lead in. It usually won’t wreck the event to go by and whisper "I just sent Lady Trogbury in your direction...I think you’ll find she knows some things that will be of use to you." Obviously use your discretion and don’t endanger any plots.
Some GMs are very resistant to this sort of "tampering." But take this into account. On Friday, many players will not have fully read their character. If it was mailed months ago, they may not remember it well, and if they just got it they may not have fully absorbed it yet. The player has just become "Lord Trogbury" but the character has been Lord Trogbury for decades - a few metagame hints to facilitate mingling can offset the fact that the player is drastically less familiar with his social situation than the character.
You should also consider this. It may be annoying to have to stretch "game reality" a little to facilitate introductions and get plots into gear. But you'll be a lot more annoyed if you have to stretch that same game reality to "plug a hole" when a disenchanted new player packs up and checks out of your venue on Friday night. Use common sense, but whenever possible facilitate social interaction just like you were a host at a party.
Batting them back into play
Try and break up "metagame conversation" circles too. All too often four or five very experienced roleplayers will come together on Friday night. They’ve worked all day, they are tired, maybe they are thinking of dinner. They drop character and begin to talk about past events, gossip, etc. In other words four or five of the dramatic forces that should be driving your event are sitting idle. Don’t be a pest or a party pooper. But most experienced players are sensitive to what they should be doing. They paid money and they want to play. A simple reminder "hey, this sounds interesting, but you know there is a gentleman over there looking for General Groznur...and Dr. Schnelling, don’t you need to go sell some widgets..." will generally disperse the cluster. A sort of friendly chiding is usually permissible with more experienced players with whom one is on good terms. I’ve been known to disperse a group of my friends by making "beating motions" and driving them down the hall saying "go mingle...mingle" in a humorous accent. With experienced players, and personal friends you’re the best judge of what will work.
Allow time for socializing and out of game conversation
Have a realistic appraisal of how interesting your event is, and how driven players are going to be to play it. Don’t get sidetracked.
You need to stay in circulation too. As the hours wear on, it will get easy to get sidetracked in one of two ways. Either you’ll find a friend and drift away into a metagame conversation, or you’ll get attached as a GM to a "big plot."
If you find you are drifting away from the event, you may need a break. Take it. Look at your watch (always, always GM with a watch on!) and give yourself fifteen minutes. You aren’t any good to the players if you are burned out beyond repair. But don’t sit down and have two hour bull sessions during runtime, especially not Friday night. You may fool yourself by thinking that if you are sitting chatting with another player you are "accessible," to anyone who needs you. But you are just kidding yourself. You are accessible to the sort of fairly confident player who would have no trouble getting a GM anyhow. Shy players will tend to avoid interrupting you...they will be looking for a "free" GM. Even fairly confident players may assume you are discussing character matters. So take a break, but time yourself, then get back out onto the floor. Remember, the player whose time you are monopolizing is also not getting anything done, and may need a little "push" to get back into play.
Don’t spend all your time with one group of players (unless you’re supposed to), even if they seem to have a "big plot." This is probably one of the most frequent GM traps, right beside playing favorites among characters. A GM gets involved in running the game for a group of players, especially one that has a lot of special abilities. A GM can also get wrapped up in Councils, secret societies, etc., or even worse two or three players who are playing an intense scene together. Theoretically the GM is there to handle any rules questions, but all too often, the GM is really there to be an audience and cheering section. The GM is gratified to watch characters he or she wrote in action, and the characters are "playing" with the GM, just like they would at a tabletop RPG, and playing to the GM as an audience. Nothing annoys other GMs more than hearing you talk about the "great scene" you spent two hours running for two players, while they had to work to keep the event running in your absence.
While this is loads of fun, it isn’t fair to other players. Moreover, it isn’t helping the overall success of your event. If you have a group that requires full time GM attention, then by all means attach a GM to them. But make it plain to them and the other players that you are doing so. No player likes to be blown off by a GM saying "I can’t help you with that...I’m running Council affairs right now." If you find that you have become permanently attached to a large group, talk to the other GMs about it. If you find you are playing the game with two or three individuals, then bat them and yourself back into play.
Walking the beat
I usually set a "beat" and walk it over and over, from one end of the event space to the other. This is a good way of testing whether or not you are getting too easily sidetracked or spending too much time with any one group of players. If you are walking a beat, and you are not back where you started at least every hour and a half, then you may need to think about how you are dividing up your time. I usually set the start/finish point of my beat at Game Central. That means I can check with the control desk GM at least every two hours to see if there are major event developments I should be aware of. If possible, I try to set the other end of the arc at someplace where there is food and drink, as it gives some incentive to keep moving back and forth.
Using Saturday morning
Saturday morning is a valuable time. Don’t waste it relaxing. Your team can probably get by with a slightly lower GM ratio, so if you have GMs on staff who pulled all nighters on Friday getting supplementary work done (ideally you wouldn’t have anyone working on Friday night after close, but in some cases you will) let them sleep in late. Set an alarm and a wake up call, and make sure your function space and Game Central open on time. Charge at least two GMs with opening Event Central, because it is possible that one of them will oversleep. Always make sure that you know the room numbers of your entire GM staff (this applies even more so for Sunday morning). There is nothing more annoying than having ten players waiting for a plot that needs to be resolved by Bob, and having Bob oversleeping somewhere in the hotel, out of contact. Players do not take kindly to this, and it can seriously break up the pacing of the event.
Because the players will not yet be up to speed Saturday morning, it will be your chance to get immersed in the event, to find out what is going on, and to try and pick out the slow starters. As the day wears on, you’ll spend more and more time GMing critical events (combats, etc.) This means that you’ll have less and less time to pursue the things that you should to make the event run smoothly. Get to work right away on Saturday morning. If the GMs are active, the event will become active more quickly for the players as well.
Look for the player who isn’t having fun
Once your event is underway, and you are walking your beat, you’ll have plenty to do handling questions, and handling any GM intensive rules. But one of your fundamental responsibilities is to look for players who aren’t having much fun.
The Disaffected
In an ideal world, every event would be complete, perfect, and have no errors. Every event would be full of riveting material that each player enjoyed a great deal, and no one would ever be lost or bored. Unfortunately, most events aren’t perfect. Even the best events, those remembered as "classics," have problems. Often the difference between a event that receives good critical acclaim and one which goes down in infamy is the attitude of the GM Staff. Some of the "classic" good events were rife with minor snafus, and problems, often because they were ground breaking and experimental. A friendly GM staff, that has an attitude of cooperation with the players can get players to go along with even shaky material.
Take care of disaffected individuals and groups
Try and deal with groups of disaffected players because they are your event’s worst enemy. Two or three players who have dropped character to complain about their event experiences can derail fifteen players who are still on track. Some responsible and mature players realize that the fact that they are not having fun doesn’t mean that everyone isn’t, and if they have problems they can’t deal with, leave. Everyone has had a bad part, or a bad casting job, or just a bad weekend. For the most part though, misery loves company. A player who isn’t having a good time frequently blames the GMs, and starts working, consciously or subconsciously, to see to it that nobody else has a good time either. Usually, the GMs are at least partially to blame, thought players are usually also the author of at least some of their own misfortune as well. If a GM group writes forty characters, there are odds that a few will be mediocre. If a mediocre character meets a player with a low energy level, or a confrontational attitude you’ve got a problem.
This can be compounded if you are experiencing breakdowns in mechanics, production, or a short staff. But whatever you do, don’t ignore unhappy players. Approach them try and find out what is wrong and why they aren’t playing. If you give an earnest shot at trying to make them happy, they may not spend the rest of the weekend sitting around trying to torpedo the other players. We’ll look at runtime remedies a little later, but for now, it is important to realize that an unhappy player is a walking mood sump, and can suck up a lot of your event’s energy and vitality. No matter whether the player is to blame for their own problems, or your group’s material is to blame, you have to make that person at least feel you have made an effort. Otherwise you are basically cutting a mine free to drift through your event, destroying other players morale.
How to handle a disaffected player:
There are five basic steps to successfully handling a player who is not having fun.
1. Acknowledge that the player is dissatisfied.
2. Find out why the player is dissatisfied. This may take some work
3. Let the player know you understand why they are not happy
4. Talk with them, and work out what things it would take to make them happy
5. Agree on steps that you will both take to clear up their problem, and agree that you’ll get back together later and check on their progress.
Let players know you’ve recognized them, and put them in line
This seems simple, but many GMs are very rude to players. Players often tend to be rude to GMs, but a good GM will take that with a grain of salt. If a player tries to get your attention, try to let them know that you’ve recognized them. If I’m really rushed, I’ll sometimes just say "you’re first, you’re second, and you’re third..." Try really hard to stick to the order. If the first thing you were working on looks likely to take a while, quickly check the other players to see if they have a "long question or a short question" and either let them know they need to find another GM, or preferably find one for them.
Treat your players well
Treat your players like valued customers. Try to explain yourself, and never lose your temper. Sometimes GMing means telling players things they don’t want to hear. Many players will try to bully the GM into giving them things they want that would not be fair to other players. Act like you are talking to a respected employer - don’t ever yell at a player.
Learn to say "no" without being impolite. Usually a polite "I really don’t think we can do that" is sufficient. If a player presses, "I’m very sorry, but I have to say ‘no’ on this one" is apropos. Don’t be harsh, and don’t gloat, even if a player request was unreasonable, and you are glad not to have to honor it. Remember: what you say to one player may be overheard by another. And that other player may conclude from a snappy or hostile manner not that the request made of you was unreasonable, but that you need an attitude adjustment. "’tude" on the part of GMs can put players off like nothing else.
If you think a player is being unreasonable, say so, politely. You don’t have to tolerate an endless stream of unreasonable requests, but you don’t have to be impolitic about it. Whenever you refuse on the grounds of policy, make it clear that the policy is yours, but do not try to make the player feel it should be typical. Say "we don’t allow that in our event," rather than "no event would allow that!" Chances are, someone, somewhere would allow it, and your player probably knows that.
Never make accusations of cheating
Never accuse anyone of cheating. I’ve seen only a few circumstances where players were cheating, and its an ugly scene if you are wrong. Even if you know a player cheated, and you know they know, no one will admit to being a cheat. The player will argue until blue in the face, and backed against a wall will have a million reasons why they weren’t cheating. Rules for Live Roleplaying events are almost never watertight enough to make it clear that someone cheated, and because rules vary from event to event the player can always claim they misunderstood, forgot, or whatever. No matter how enormous their transgression is at the time, later on they will be able to claim that you were unfair to them. And a player whom you have accused of cheating is an enemy forever. This might all be worthwhile if it helped the other players, but it usually doesn’t. It starts an ugly, embarrassing fight, that leaves everyone wanting to crawl into a hole. It is the one accusation no one can back away from gracefully. Just correct the player who is a cheat, and let them know they’d better not try anything else. Obviously someday you’ll have a repeat offender, and have to have that ugly confrontation. But if you accuse someone of cheating, you’d best throw them out of the event right then and there. If you aren’t prepared to do that, then make some lesser accusation like "taking advantage" that isn’t a challenge to their honor, and doesn’t demand an immediate fight. That will let them know you mean business, without stopping the flow of the event. You’ll also have some ground for backing away if you realize the fault is with your rules, a different player, or your memory, which after eighteen hours on the floor it may well be.
Handling Problems on the Floor
The question of how much a GM should affect the course of events tends to be put in bleak black and white terms. "Should the GM manipulate the players, or let them choose for themselves." This makes the assumption that the player and the GM are enemies, working towards goals that are mutually opposed.
The player looks for, and expects, guidance. In many interactive events, the GM is referred to as the "Director," for just this reason. The GM knows vastly more about the work, its potential, and its weaknesses, than the player. The GM has a responsibility to guide the player along paths which will yield maximum drama. This does not mean that the GM should drive the player hard. The best guidance is subtle guidance.
In this section, we’ll first take an in depth look at how to resolve player problems. Then we’ll look at some basic pacing controls for your event, as well as some other important rules for directing from the floor.
Problem Solving Skills
When you have a player problem, you need to use problem solving skills. This a very basic basic mini-course in problem solving. There are two things you might need to do in response to a problem:
Expand your thinking - you need to do this if the problem is plain, but you cannot see a solution.
Gather information - you need to do this if you cannot get a handle on the causes of the problem
Sometimes you need to get information, and you don’t have much time. Here is (roughly) the pattern of questions I ask a player who appears to have a problem
Do you know whats wrong?
What do you need to do that?
Who have you been talking to?
Who have you been working with?
You may try and give your player a preliminary lead that will give you more information, even if it doesn’t solve the problem - for example telling them to go talk to another character who has peripheral information about their plot, or who you think might be involved.
If your game has something that is a "one shot" diversion, you might suggest they do that while you work on their problem. For example "this is going to take me about an hour. Why don’t you go to Madam Fortunato and get your fortune told." You could even send them out of game "look it’s going to take me an hour to get an idea of what to do...why don’t you go grab lunch (or a shower, or a nap), and I’ll try to have this ready by the time you get back. Make sure to come and see me."
Here are some ways to expand your thinking:
Specific Fixes
A Dangerous Solution - Re-running Actions
When something goes wrong there is a natural tendency to want to set it right. Sometimes this leads a GM to "recall" actions that have already happened - stopping time and reversing it.
Different groups have different rules. The worst groups have no rules or policy at all, but find themselves driven to re-runs by a demanding player, or the whim of a lead GM.
The policy I prefer is "never re-run anything." Re-runs are almost always called to offset some spectacular loss or victory which a lead GM feels has unbalanced the game.
My cold assessment is this. You make a stupid decision and screw one group of players over. Another group wins a victory. The screwed players complain, and bring up some major fact that you overlooked. So you re-run the event. The original group of players now feels mildly vindicated, but is likely still annoyed with you. A new group of players is extremely annoyed, because they have been hosed by a re-run.
And peripheral players who are affected by the re-run are also annoyed. You go from maybe six annoyed players to maybe sixteen. This is not a cost effective trade.
Alternatives to "Re-running" Events
Barter instead. Do something arbitrary to even up the odds, but don’t "re-set" time and stop the entire game. Let’s say that a player was killed in a group combat because one GM didn’t know the character had an item that should have prevented the death. Just be honest with players. Say "I realize the transmogifier should have saved you. I’m very sorry...Bill knew it had that power because he wrote it, and I didn’t. We should have been more coordinated. But I can’t re-start time for the whole game. I’m going to rule that instead of being dead, your item malfunctioned and only offered you partial protection - you were actually catatonic, with no EEG, but when the paramedics found you, they were able to get you back."
Sometimes you need to tell the other side, sometimes you don’t. If the player were very cooperative, you could just put them back in the game - let the other side figure out that they had a powerful item that saved them from what appeared to be certain death. On the other hand, if your fix is very arbitrary, say "instead of plummeting to his death, Fazzik landed in a mattress truck," I tend to think it’s best if you just go ahead and tell the other players.
"The GM staff made a mistake. Your Zarf ray shouldn’t have been able to kill Fazzik, but because of some information that I didn’t know, I made a bad ruling. We can’t reset time, but we are going to rule that although he appeared dead at the time, the paramedics were able to save him, so he will be back in the game. I wanted to level with you, and apologize for the problem."
Who to tell is a judgement call. There is no point confessing to any problems you don’t have to - for one thing, if some players get the idea that the GM staff is uncoordinated or "soft" they’ll start probing for loopholes, and you’ll have a lot more players trying to get actions retroactively changed. On the other hand, if it is obvious you had to pull an arbitrary fix, then it may be best to just tell everyone. Remember – most players want the game to go well, and work out. They appreciate honesty, and will try to work with you. They appreciate seeing a fellow player – even an adversary – get a fair break. Because they want to get a fair break when it is their turn.
A fix need not be returning a character to life. A very common problem is that an item gets "cloned." For example, there is an out of game location the "Temple of Grub." At the temple is the Holy Spuzzik. Two GMs run parties going into the Temple at roughly the same time, and both parties come out with the Holy Spuzzik. Fifteen minutes later, another GM finds two groups of very irritated players waving Holy Spuzziks at each other in a threatening manner. This could have been fixed in advance by having one GM responsible for "offsite" actions – but it’s too late now.
First, do a quick assessment. One rule to keep in mind is that what the players don’t know can’t hurt them! Do the players know, absolutely, that there can be only one Holy Spuzzik. What if Holy Spuzziks are magical, and reproduce themselves. Perhaps the party that arrived chronologically later took the most valuable object around, assuming it was a Holy Spuzzik.
Don’t take this too far. If the players suspect, tell them. But remember that vast sections of the mechanics are not visible to the players. If it doesn’t wreck the game entirely, it may be best simply to leave them with the enigma of two Holy Spuzziks. Perhaps the GMs can even work up a little plot around it on Saturday night, to flesh out Sunday morning. The God Spud is low on energy because he has created two Holy Spuzziks, or demands that the holders of the rival Spuzziks duke it out to see who will be the true bearers of the Spuzzik.
Don’t get so attached to your pre-set mechanics, that you can’t be flexible in order to avoid having to recall actions. In an early run of Le Soiree Finale, I had two groups of players trying to get clues to the location of an out of game stash of weapons. The weapons had been hidden by an arms dealer, who had been murdered. Unfortunately both groups got the weapons, because both figured out where they were at roughly the same time, from different clues. At first I was worried. It would have been a lot more fun if the GMs had realized the players were arriving to claim the weapons simultaneously, and had a confrontation. But we hadn’t and the players were off doing other things now. I checked and realized that neither group had any way of knowing that the weapons the other group had were the same cache. So I simply decided the arms dealer had had two different caches. A few of the players thought the resolution had been kind of easy, but they had fun anyway. If I had tried to "fix" the continuity error, I would have had two angry groups of players, as well as angering any other player that they had sold arms to since. I noted the error, and fixed it in subsequent runs.
The point is to be creative, and not automatically panic just because an event happened that contradicts the set game framework. Players had usually rather have a few continuity errors than have objects confiscated.
If there isn’t any alternative, level with the players, and try to give a consolation prize. "We realize that you couldn’t have gotten the Holy Spuzzik. So we are going to rule that the artifact you got is the Holy Snarg, a slightly less powerful, but formidable, artifact." Players who are given a consolation prize are less likely to become irritable than players who are retroactively screwed, and given nothing. Obviously, in some rare, terrible, cases there is no worthy consolation prize. But try, and you’ll likely think of something. The important thing is to communicate to the players that you are sorry about the error, and want to try to restore play balance.
Some GMs are very thick about the concept of consolation prizes. If you have to take something from a player, or rule adversely against them, always try and give them a little something in return.
The Dreaded "Style" Re-run
GMs will occasionally decide to re-run a scene because of some missed connection that would have been a "really great moment." Such as the warehouse confrontation I mentioned above. I’ve never done this, but if you think it’s a good idea, go ahead. Just make damn sure the players also think it will be a "really great moment" or you will have some exceedingly pissed off players. If players are annoyed at having actions recalled because of mechanical errors, they are furious at having actions recalled at the whim of a curious GM.
If everyone who could be affected by the re-run is cool with it, go ahead and give it a shot – but be very sure everyone is 100% on the concept.
Obviously this rule isn’t as true for light or comic events as for drama. If the stakes aren’t high, or the reset would merely provide an opportunity for an amusing confrontation, go ahead and run with a loose hand.
Some Good Ideas for Fixing Problems
There is no universal guide to fixing problems. The more devices for problem solving written into a game in advance the better. But there are a few universal types of problem, and a few nearly universal fixes:
Player Lost
One real problem with run time is that you can’t think straight. You are bombarded with problems, questions and background noise. You are tired, and you are trying to track a thousand things. Good GMs usually build a set of back doors into their game that allow run-time corrections without disrupting the flow of events.
Some examples of these include: interventionistic deities, corporations, governments, or other non-player powers, information brokers, sites or characters that act as information brokers, and various "item sources" which periodically introduce new materials into the game.
The concept of "cast" has added an entirely new dimension to pacing controls. A cast is the perfect pacing control. The cast can pass among the players and do any number of things. Drop off items or information. Instigate fights, or stop them. Give dire warnings or administer threats.
It is odd to say that players will accept these things at face value from cast in a way that they would not if the GMs tried to "describe" the event, or even roleplayed the participants. Players instinctively understand that cast may be agents for other players who have the ability to act behind the scenes, or may be taking roles too shallow or uninteresting for a player. But they don’t resent being affected by cast the way they would resent being affected by a GM, or a single GM run NPC. Perhaps part of this is that cast players often do not stay around to gloat afterwards, so it is easier to accept them as pure "outside forces," and harder to personalize them as adversaries.
Let me give an example here. In an early event I played, the GMs had gotten a friend to NPC a character who was, essentially, "The Devil." As an NPC he had a pacing function – he made sure that certain "evil" players did not succeed too wildly, and allowed the GMs a way to put a damper on their activity. The actual effect however was that the character who should have had the experience of being one of the leaders of the "bad guys," felt like nothing more than a trivial minion. This is because he had the almost constant personal attention of his powerful boss. And the NPC felt the need to be witty and clever, which quickly got irritating for the involved players.
In more recent events I have seen very powerful "bosses" portrayed by cast without much resentment including entities as diverse as fantasy deities and New York mob bosses. Because they showed up only when necessary, and left as soon as they had made an impression, the players did not resent them. Players don’t mind being acted on by a powerful outside force. They like it better if that force is personified by a cast character. But they like it less if that cast character hangs out to trouble and mock them. Effectively that makes them just another player – a player that they are "losing" to.
It is better to use an existing device to help a player than to simply intervene as a GM. Unfortunately, all too often GMs forget about their devices in the strain of the game. I suggest you keep a list, divided into three categories:
2) Devices for giving players help
3) Devices for wasting players time/slowing down plots.
Devices for getting information out:
In an early run of RMS Titanic insane amounts of money were offered to a particular servant NPC by players who were well endowed with cash, but did not care to expend the energy to track down their own solutions to problems.
Putting on the brakes and hitting the Accelerator - controlling the Pacing
Sometimes players do too well, and risk bringing plots to an early conclusion that could effectively demolish the game. A well plotted game does not have single plots that could bring the game crashing down, but you may not always be floor GMing a well plotted game.
Obviously the first question is "is this as important as I think it is." Often something that one GM feels will "ruin the game" is just a case of the GM having a preconceived notion about how the plot will work out. Get a second and third opinion from other players. Remember, any time you are intervening against players, you may be considered to be acting unfairly. In some games, where the emphasis is competition, such GM intervention may not be a possibility. In more drama-oriented games, however, GMs usually have a set of devices available for controlling the pacing of the game.
Try player cooperation first. Say a group of players has just come to you and said "we’re ready to shoot the Hierophant." It is 4pm on Saturday, and most of the game is at dinner.
First, ask yourself "does it matter if they shoot the Hierophant now?" You decide that it does. The Hierophant is supposed to preside over the Gnurll Festival at 6pm. The player will be very disappointed if she doesn’t get to preside. The event, which is critical to several plots, may crumble, and be replaced by nothing.
You suggest "Well...after the Gnurll Festival, the Hierophant has to process out of the Cathedral. That would be a good time to kill her." Nine chances in ten the player goes along with you.
Occasionally, players are resistant to GM pacing suggestions. Find out why. It may be possible to cut a deal in metagame terms. For example the players might say "we need to assassinate her right now, because the Verginti Plartz will explode at 5:45 if we don’t."
You might just come out and confess that you need the Hierophant in play until 6:00 and promise to delay the explosion if the players are cooperative. Some GMs hate to do this sort of bartering, but if a quick metagame discussion with a cooperative player can help the event dramatically, and save hours of GM deus ex machina, I feel it is almost always worth the trade.
In some cases, you may not dare to give away metagame information, and you are forced to use a plot device for braking the game. There are as many different devices as there are game plots. General Emergencies, confrontations, unexpected out of game news, etc. This is why keeping a list is handy. If you are floor GMing for a group that isn’t organized well enough to have a list, try and ask enough questions to get one together Friday before the game starts, or at the Friday night GM conference.
One thing I recommend avoiding is simply putting the players on a "delay." The bomb expert plants the bomb, set to go off in the middle of dinner. The GMs, who have never thought this far ahead realize that as written, this will kill everyone in the game. So rather than actually deal with the situation, they arbitrarily delay the explosion until the hall has cleared. Never mind that this wrecks the plots and fortunes of the characters that put the bomb there. For the most part this falls into the category of "planning ahead," but if a situation like this does occur, come up with a solution, do not sidestep the question.
Changes on the Fly can Cause Problems
Any plot or item that you "jury-rig" in runtime will be several times more likely to have unforeseen implications, complications, or problems than something you thought out ahead of time. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. But when a brief metagame conversation, or simple extension of a character plot/item/special ability will do the trick, don’t do anything elaborate.
It is better to "jury-rig" in downtime than on the fly. There is still room for mistakes, but at least you can workshop ideas with other GMs.
When the rules do not apply
Eventually, you’ll hit a spot where your rule system doesn’t apply, and you frankly don’t know what to do. You have three options:
1) Make something up. That’s fine if all the players involved are decent fun loving sorts who are likely to go along with you amiably.
2) Get the players to help. Life doesn’t come to an end if you admit you don’t know something. If you are standing there going "hummmmm" it is probably pretty damn obvious to your players that combat between a potted geranium and a giant radioactive preying mantis isn’t in your combat rules. Try asking each player "what do you think should happen?" You’ll be amazed how often they both answer the same thing. It is a game after all. Some players resent being asked, but most are all too eager to have a say in deciding their own fate. Often a player who is obviously at a disadvantage will admit it up front. At worst, you will have delineated two possible choices.
3) Roll dice. Carry dice with you. Always, even if your system has nothing to do with dice. Iscosahedral (percentage) dice are the universal equalizer, and they are smooth to fit into the pocket. They are the universal antidote to things that aren’t in the rules. Players generally like the fact that you are at least giving them each a chance, and they will blame luck, not you, if the roll goes against them. Often, you can simply assign one player high, and another low, and roll the dice. The winner gets to realize their vision of "what should happen."
Sometimes its more complicated. I might say "hmm...well we don’t have rules for what happens if you mix a polymorphic phased weapon blast and a baryonic pulse...you’re trying to destroy the alien so I’m going to say on 1-40 it works, on a 41 to 60 it does some damage but not enough to stop the alien, above sixty it fails, and above ninety it blows up in your face..."
When Solutions Fail
Some player problems are things you cannot help. For example a player confesses that in real life "I’m on Lithium, I just broke up with my boyfriend, and my dog was run over by a Zamboni." Offer polite consolation. Find out if the person wants to keep playing. If they do, but just don’t have the ability to keep up with their plots, you may want to have a brief metagame word with other people in their plotline "Joan is still in the game (or has decided to drop out of the game), but she’s rather upset, and doesn’t have much energy. I wanted to give you a warning. You may want to check up on her, but I’m afraid that getting the Maltese Iguana is going to be mostly your task. If there is something we can do to make up for it, I’ll try though I can’t promise anything."
There is a time to cut a player loose
As sad as it is, not everyone can have a good time in a game. Don’t spend more than a half hour to an hour on any one player unless you are making constructive progress. Give them your best advice and help, then keep moving. You may feel guilt as their sad, forsaken eyes beg you to stay for a while longer. But you’ve got a responsibility to everyone who has paid. A player who is a real basket case, especially for emotional reasons, can tie up a GM for the entire game. I have seen players who essentially acquired a member of the GM staff as their personal, full time, play partner, essentially playing the game for them, while they tagged along to watch. Even if this keeps the player happy, it isn’t fair to everyone else. A player who won’t act on any initiative without direct GM input is not going to make it no matter what you do for them.
Sometimes one player is more important than another.
As fair as we might like to be, it happens. When you have to prioritize on the basis of importance, try to make it clear to your player that it is the character and the event that are more important, not the player him or herself. Try to prioritize without offending. "This affects a lot of people - let me keep the game moving for them, then I’ll get back to you" rather than "John is more important than you."
Other miscellaneous tips and hints:
Stay away from other GMs
Two GMs talking is a player who is not getting attention. You’ll need to unwind occasionally. Time yourself, then get back to work.
Remember your responsibility to the venue
Some GMs get so caught up in GMing they forget where they are. Remember that you are usually responsible, either to a lead GM, or a host convention. As a GM, part of your job is to be a traffic cop—because the players certainly won’t be. You carry the implicit authority to shoo players out of hallways, or other areas where they shouldn’t congregate, quiet players who are being too noisy for the venue, and so on. Don’t be a shrew about it, but bear it in mind.
Keep your breath fresh
Keep your breath fresh. There is nothing more disgusting on Sunday morning than a GM with bad breath. Remember, when you have been up for sixteen hours, your breath may not have that minty fresh quality it did when you awoke. Keep Tic-Tacs in Event Central, and use them.
Pair off to run combats
Usually GMs work solo. If you have a big combat, or other mass action, try and split it up in order to make it move faster. Have one GM work one side, and another work the other, or split up the room left and right.
Don’t disappear
If you are going to be gone for a while, let your fellow GMs know. This includes being closeted with players as well as taking a break. This is important, because if the entire staff doesn’t know you are offline, they may waste time looking for you.
Try and be helpful if you have to cross ref to another GM.
Telling a player to see another GM can seem dismissive and arbitrary. Try to tell a player why. "I’m sorry, Bertram has been handling the plot with the guppy-powered launch vehicle. I’d like to help you, but I’d just make mistakes, and we’d end up having to re-run actions, and making you miserable. Bertram knows more about it than I do."
How long will it take me to be an experienced floor GM?
Before 1990 floor GMing was not even a science. Event writing was considered to be the pinnacle of achievement, and the actual presentation of events was a sort of incidental adjunct to writing. Even now, far more has been written about writing than about runtime GMing, but groups are at least conscious of their run-time profile, and put thought and effort into it. We can say that it takes less time now to learn to be a good floor GM than it did in 1990. Why?
First, writing and production are better evolved. Most events get produced more or less on schedule, and while missing material on Friday night is still extremely common in first run events, the events are in general better planned and developed. That means GMs spend more time practicing fine tuning skills, and less time doing triage and disaster control.
Second, there are many more examples. In 1988, there weren't more than a handful of groups, and most of them were in the dark ages as far as run time skills. With dozens of groups, some very customer service oriented, there are good and bad examples, and that very much helps. The LARPA community has played a large part in the exchange of knowledge.
Start by becoming an LARPA member through your subscription to Metagame, if you haven't already.
Then take advantage. As an LARPA member, look for panels, group discussions, build-your-own-event events, and socials as opportunities to trade valuable information with other GMs. By trading information about what does and doesn’t work, we can keep from reinventing the wheel. That means that every successive generation of GMs will start out at an advantage, as knowledge makes up for experience.
Copyright 1998 , Gordon Olmstead-Dean. You
may reprint or cite, providing the source is attributed.
Some of this material has appeared previously in
identical or substantially similar form in the LARPA Periodical
Metagame