I read this today: https://www.failuretolerated.com/my-favorite-problems and was really motivated to think about this issue. Attempting to identify problems rather than just discussing solutions.
My GM and fellow blogger Kevin [read his blog!] and I mostly talk about problems in running ttrpgs. I think this makes us better as a GM. We don't accept something is good or even great. Can we find better? This is not to say focusing on problems makes us a better GM than others—just to say it pushes us to be better.
A small list of problems I don't have good answers to are:
Players Missing Sessions
I've had a policy of so long as we have a majority—I run. Other DMs will only run if everyone is present. There isn't a right answer as neither are perfect. Not running unless all are available sounds great, until the calendars come out for scheduling the next game. Yet, only running for some (or most) can cause disconnect from those who miss a session and mess with verisimilitude for those who are present.
Can There Be a Horror TTRPG?
That is actually horrifying. 10 candles is good—though I think it usually seems to skew depressing and sad. But do I leave the game scared? No not really. And I like to think I'm at least a decently engaged player. The closest thing to horror I've felt is in the Mothership module "Gradient Descent" where the theme discusses how can you tell you are human v. being a robot. It was really thought provoking on what it means to be human. Not scary though—at least—not enough to where I think it fully qualifies as horror.
How Can Combat Engage Players?
Without dragging on. I do not like crunchy combat systems. Combat takes forever and I lose the cinematic visual in my head. But when I ran Dungeon World, the cinematics were great! But I felt like there weren't enough tactical considerations + I do love putting minis on the table. Can I have both?
The Best Way to Store Campaign Notes?
Good lord is the answer to this probably just use Obsidian. Or Notion. Some people like OneNote I guess. Why does Word work the best for me? It is not good for organization nor is it conducive to smooth play. My Chromebook that I use for running the game at the table won't handle Obsidian so I guess maybe Notion is the play? Obsidian is strong enough to where if I could easily use it on ChromeOS I would.
As a member of the Obsidian cult, there are a few of options for using it on Chrome OS:
ReplyDelete1. If you have a PC somewhere in your home, you can access Obsidian on it via https://remotedesktop.google.com/ . Works like a dream on my crappy laptop. It just requires a chrome extension on the PC you are streaming from and you access your PC from the brower.
2. There are a number of ways to install it on ChromeOS that are easy to do, often just requiring copying and pasting commands into your terminal to get the linux version (terminals look intimidating but I promise they are not, I'm no coder). The problem will be syncing your notes if you have them on another device but Obsidian has a great solution for that, and I think their product is worth tossing them some coin.
3. There is an android app which is easy to use. I would just buy a bluetooth keyboard and it's usable. Not as responsive as the computer apps but its obsidian, bones and all. The syncing problem is still an issue but you have more options here.
All these options require a little elbow grease, but so is using ChromeOS to run a game so hey.
I've tried remote desktop and felt kinda meh about it - the delay was sufficiently high (probably because the chromebook is not good) that the experience wasn't enjoyable.
DeleteI've also tried the Linux option which had the syncing problems you mentioned as well as it felt very unstable
I'd much rather not use a chromebook lol. My frustrations are completely self-inflicted in many ways but present a sufficiently annoying problem
If you haven't done it recently, I would give them another shot. There have been some significant updates recently.
DeleteThe other option if you are staying in chromebook hell is to place your obsidian vault in google drive and open the text files there during the session since they are just that, text files and they will sync. For a while I actually preferred the simplicity of writing in markdown in text files before Obsidian.
Engaging and cinematic tactical combat I think requires some work. Some games, like Break!!, I think do this naturally on a fairly rules-light chasis if they have really cool cinematic things the players and creatures can do on a turn that matter, without out the need for descriptive fluff. In Break!! the ability descriptions are so evocative that simply declaring that you are using them and saying what they do is enough give everyone a great visual. The abilities are also very effective on the battlefield, resulting in shifting tactics on both sides.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with many rules-light games is they are pretty bare bones in the menu of cinematic actions the players have access to. You might say that in those games there are an unlimited number of cinematic things the players can do, because they can do anything they want with their action and what they are holding. The problem with this is that it is not obvious what those options are, what the tactical benefit they might get out of it, and what the difficulty of doing that stuff is.
Those are just a couple thoughts I had.
I think it really sucks when players miss sessions. It's an emotional thing, at least for me, rather than an issue of verisimilitude . It's like going to a party you are planning, expecting all your friends to be there, and then 1-2 of them have to sit the event out because of unforeseen events. It doesn't help that sometimes you prepared some food (content) just for them. It's probably not their fault, but it doesn't change the fact that it is an emotional blow. The more advance notice you get the less it stings but it won't ever feel like a positive thing.
ReplyDeleteI think if you are running a game with an open table policy from the beginning, then it would probably feel better but that may not be conducive to the game you want to run.
Yeah I agree re: that it sucks - especially when food is prepared with the expectation that certain players are attending.
DeleteI think, even in an open table game, I'll feel disappointed when there are cancelations. And that's the issue on deciding whether to run or not. I've tried canceling the session until all are present, which I disliked because it killed game momentum. I also didn't want players to feel like they were the reason everyone didn't get to play.
I don't think there is a clean perfect solution which is why I labeled this as a problem I wish someone could "solve!" With tech getting better, hybrid sessions are becoming legit options and maybe this will be a solution to the problem in part.