|
So here it is...that time again. This was a month of little inspiration for me, I've actually picked up a bit of roleplaying (started a Rifts game, and finally got around to learning Rolemaster)...so my random thoughts have been more focused in serious directions.
However, starting GMing again has brought up other things, things that I had long since forgotten. And that will fortunately be the topic of this column. What I'm talking about here is one of the most dreaded thing a GM ever has to deal with (or their spouse, in my case)...scheduling. Here's an example:
You slave long and hard on you free time to come up with an awesome campaign. You set everything up carefully, so that it reads like a novel by a famous person (Kevin Siembieda comes to mind). Only, it's better, because it was made by you. You put a bit of youself into it, when your pen ran out of ink, you grabbed that kryss blade and wrote the rest in blood, bound in the flesh of those siblings that dared to interrupt you. It drove you insane, but you completed it.
Or, more likely, you went down to the local RP store (what're those?) or comic shop and picked up a dinky pre-written module.
You spend almost as much time getting that group together. It's almost like a jigsaw puzzle, but with the capacity to make you much more violent. You know, fitting together statements like "Well, I'm free Tuesdays, but only on dates that when multiplied together form prime numbers." with "I'm free every day, except any day you want, and any day directly before or after that." When you do fit the pieces together, you get everything started, then someone has to leave early to clean that stuff out from between their toes. Or the pizza makes them sick (no, they didn't listen to you when you said that anchovies and raspberry pudding aren't good toppings to have together) and they need to go to the emergency room. There are plenty of reasons, all of them very rude to you, who did all of the work to get this set up (distributing of work to lesser mortals, i.e. -- players -- still counts).
So, what do you do when this happens? The easiest thing to do is to say "Forget it." and put it off until next time. This has the added bonus of making the rest of the players mad at the one who left, and if they know where that person lives, it might not happen again. However, the negative side of this is that you have to put off the game until next time, and the only other thing you have to do is homework or write an article. Those aren't viable alternatives. I care about you, though, so I've compiled this list of a few things you can do. Just to mix things up a bit, I'm going to put it in paragraph form tonight.
Consolation games come to mind first. Now, before you get consolation prizes in your mind, and thus the negative connotation, think about this first -- you're absolutely right. It involves a bit more work from you, or at least some improv skills, but sometimes they can actually be more fun then the original. This is great when you're feeling vindictive, or when that player is gone one too often -- they don't have a character. Maybe they could help play NPCs.
A player recently brought up an idea in my game, when something similar happened. Normally I wouldn't deign to admit I paid attention to something a player said, but being that this is my wife, I figured I'd make an exception (and no, I don't treat her any differently in the game, really***). She mentioned trail rations. This is pretty much self explanatory. In the case of the absence of cannabalistic player characters, check in you local Monstrous Manual, and you will find plenty of qualified applicants.
One of the worst threats I have for players is that I will play their character. I usually do interesting things to their character, or nothing at all. They come back "What happened to my character?" "Oh, he slept for a bit." "A bit, how long did this session span?" "Twenty years or so." NPCs are people too, but even in my game there is a bad habit of living about as long as an extra on a STTNG show going out on an away mission.
The worst threat is to let another player play their character. Some people don't mind this. To get around that factor, you need to pick the player that has the most animousity to them. Pretend it's random. Say, "Look, I'm rolling a die to see who gets to play the character." Then roll a die and pick that person. No one has to know that the range that would pick them was the range of the die. The other side-benefit is that it breeds player interaction, the type I mentioned in my tips for being a GM list. The last example is that you only have to do it once. After that, just the unspoken threat will keep them there, or they won't be playing in you game anymore.
Buy the food. That's pretty self-explanatory. However, people have a bad habit of leaving after the food is eaten. That's why you say "The food should be here soon." Just keep saying that until they either 1) Forget, or 2) Give up and order pizza. Either way has its benefit.
Some people say that having a really great game is reward enough, and that players will flock to you if you show a bit of talent. I say lots of things too, but people who know any better don't pay attention to me. So since I said what they say, and if what they say makes sense and I don't, then they didn't really say that and it doesn't exist. Based on that logic, you can see it's really late at night here.
All of these things are nice, but sometimes players have a legitimate reason not to be there. When this is the case, you should show caring, sympathy, politesse and taste. Wait until after they leave to complain about them.
***This statement brought to you by husbands who GM and are also in denial.***
|
