Page 82
Chapter 9: Running the Game
GM Roles
GM as Co-Writer
Game Masters provide adventures for the players to enjoy. This means either writing an adventure yourself or using a pre-made one and rewriting it to suit your needs. The topic of writing and designing adventures is exciting and lengthy, and is discussed in its own section later in this chapter.
Writing a Roleplaying adventure is not quite like writing a short story or film. Because the players will be actively participating in the adventure (as opposed to passively reading or watching the story) it will become their story as well. This means that they have the power to influence outcomes. They may find a solution slower or quicker than you had anticipated. When writing and then running the adventure, a certain amount of flexibility must be built in and allowed for.
The players may do things that threaten to totally derail the story (hint: they probably don’t like being on rails). When this happens, you can subtly guide them or drop hints, but fighting against their plan (whether clever or rash) will only frustrate the players. Pen and Paper Roleplaying games offer the promise of freedom. Hopefully you come up with an objective that the players want to accomplish, which will at least keep them on track. You can’t expect to dictate how they actually go about accomplishing the objective.
When players come up with the unexpected plan of action, best to just go with it.
When players come up with the unexpected plan of action, it’s best to just go with it. Let them try it, and see where it takes them. If their plan works perfectly, the worst that can happen is that you all finish early. Try and come to each session with a backup adventure. If their plan doesn’t work out well, give them a chance to try and salvage it. Let them experience whatever happens next. As for what does happen, it’s time for you as the GM to look at your story notes and decide how the Non-Player Characters you have crafted will now react.
As the adventure writer, your job is to draw out and detail the places and characters associated with the adventure. By focusing your writing on what you can count on, such as your NPC’s and their habits, locations and plans, your job is made easier, regardless of how the players decide to approach a situation.
Prep Work
Being the GM requires some prep work. Most of this time is taken up writing and preparing an adventure. It doesn’t need to be a lot of time, nor does it always need your full attention. You can dream up the basic premise and some of the basic details anywhere. Eventually, though, the GM should write down things like the names and stats of the major NPC’s in the adventure, a basic layout of major locations, and how the story events connect. Many GMs enjoy the time spent creating and detailing adventures.
How prepared you are will have to do with your personal style. An experienced GM only needs a few pages of notes. Remember that it’s a game, which means you shouldn’t spend an excessive amount of time (over) preparing. You’re going to have to wing it a little bit regardless of the time put into the adventure. At the same time, don’t show up planning on winging the entire thing, which means you haven’t written anything down and you’re not even sure what the adventure will be. If you have to stop to think up each NPC’s name and are contradicting yourself in front of your players, it gets awkward.
GM as Director
The GM, like a good director, can see the big picture. The GM knows how long an adventure is. When necessary, you should use your ability to move things along in the game. When the players want to visit a store or check out something related to the next part of their mission, by all means let them do it. But don’t let these diversions consume the entire game session. Some things are fun to Roleplay and some things only need to be roleplayed now and then. It’s ok to fast track some events, to tell the players in the abstract what has happened in the last hour of shopping: “You visit both of the town’s general stores and find six shovels, all good for digging, no problem. Costs you 20 Silver Credits for the half dozen. It takes an hour in total, what do you do now?”
Even fast tracking some events, the players still might try to spend the entire session planning and preparing. No one will be happy if the game session ends and no real action or progress has happened. This comes back to you knowing how long the adventure should be and keeping an eye on the clock. (Most game sessions are 3-5 hours long and time typically goes by quickly.) Do what you can to keep the players moving. Build a time limit into the adventure’s mission from the start. (Make the time limit reasonable: allow the players a chance to do a little prep work, but try to allow them to keep moving all on their own.) If they are still not taking action, the GM nagging them might not be the answer – instead, have the reminder come from the game world. Another body shows up. Their contact asks for a progress report. Combat finds them.
Setting the Tone
Is this a comedy or a thriller or an action genre?
The director sets the tone of the story. Yes, the story is a shared experience with the players, but they will follow your lead. At some point you will have to stop and consider what kind of game you want to have. Is this a comedy, a thriller or an action genre? Each genre and sub genre has its own conventions. If you want to the players to take your game seriously, avoid the conventions of a comedy. For example, don’t purposely give the persons, places and things in your game world absurd or humorous names.
This doesn’t mean that you should get upset with the players each time they say something funny at the game table. Everyone sharing a laugh is a good experience. Try, though, to lead by example and avoid cracking too many jokes. And always check what the players name their characters. If needed, politely remind them that a more serious name might be better suited to the game.
Play environment
Setting the tone also means controlling your play environment, within reason. Try to select a space where everyone is physically and socially comfortable. It makes life easier for everyone if you have a good table to play at that has space for books, a GM screen and notes, character sheets, dice roles and snacks. Being able to talk or laugh without whispering is also important. Basically, look for a setting suitable for a small party – a place for a group of friends to drink soda and make a little bit of noise.
Beware of the cat: cats like to chase rolling dice and walk over carefully placed battle figures. Also, check to see if anyone is allergic to pets.
Eliminate distractions: having a television on in the background means you’re going to be fighting for attention. Have someone turn it off, if at all possible. You don’t want to compete with some of the players’ favourite epic films (or videogames, or websites); schedule movie night for another time. If cell phones, text messages, and the like become an issue, talk to the group and agree upon a solution. (Be conscious of the players’ families: try to decide ahead of time about how long you will play.)
Playing music sets a desired tone and is a means of controlling the play environment. Certain film and videogame soundtracks can make good choices – anything that complements the game world. Classical music or music that emulates a medieval theme (or futuristic, depending of the story’s location) can work well. There are other things that you could do to control your environment, but you don’t need to go to extremes. If your play area is comfortable and free of major distractions, you have the basics covered.
GM as an Actor
Each time the Player Characters (PCs) have a meaningful interaction with Non-Player Characters (NPCs), the Game Master portrays the NPC. Some characters are created ahead of time; others are created on the spot by the GM. The GM will create the NPC who is the catalyst for the start of an adventure in advance. A random barkeep who the players decide they need to question will probably be made up on the spot by the GM.
Some NPCs will like the Player Characters. Some will dislike the PCs. Most will be indifferent, influenced only by the given situation and what they have to gain or lose. The Game Master’s job as an actor is to think briefly about the NPC’s perspective and then decide how cooperative or hostile they are. Different things may motivate each NPC: money, power, fear, threats, security, kindness, friendship, loyalty, justice, truth, personality, charm, jealousy, hate, revenge and so on. Each of these can be part of a short-term or a long-term outlook.
Making NPCs Distinct
The players will get to know NPCs in two basic ways. First, the GM will often describe the NPC: what the person looks like, their style of clothing or armour, their age – that sort of thing. Secondly, the GM will speak as the NPC: Offering greetings, answering questions, making demands, trading barbs and so on.
When describing an NPC, you do not need to offer a full description. Offer a key feature or two and leave it at that. Full descriptions for each character can get a bit boring for everyone. Omitting information leaves room for a player’s imagination to fill in the blanks. If a player has a question about something left out, they can always ask about it. Try to vary the details given about an NPC. There are lots of different features that make a person feel a little more unique: Hair style, beard, hat, ears, complexion, teeth, jaw, face shape, body shape, height, weight, jewellery, piercings, tattoos, hands, cost and style of clothing, footwear, age or eyes (wise, perceptive, dimwitted, trusting, cruel). A person’s job can help narrow down a few details. A fisherman is likely to have different hands than a nobleman. You can probably even get away with more general and abstract descriptions: He reminds you of a walrus; the thin clerk smells like ink and garlic; she is plain looking save for her big smile.
There are exceptions to leaving out details. It is probably best to always mention the type of weapons and armour visible on an NPC. Something like this is fine: “The guard has light empowered armour, a heavy pistol secured in his belt holster, as well as what may be a stun club”.
When speaking as if you are an NPC, it is okay to use your own voice. You don’t actually need to be an actor in order to be the GM. That said, they are things that you can do to make key NPCs feel more unique when you speak as them.
How might they tilt their head?
How much confidence do they have?
What emotions might they betray?
Try to imagine the character you are representing: What kind of posture do they assume? How might they tilt their head? How much confidence do they have? What emotions might they betray? Each character will probably be different: a crime boss versus a subordinate; the Queen versus a commoner. Keeping in mind how that character carries themselves, allow your own body posture to mimic it. Sit up straight or slouch down in your chair when it feels appropriate. Guarded characters cross their arms. Nervous characters won't make eye contact. If you let it come natural, it isn’t a chore at all, and you end up communicating a lot of subtle, non-verbal cues to your players.
Choice of diction can also make a character feel unique. Some NPCs might like to use big words, others tend to use simple words. Some characters might give one-word answers, which can also signal that the NPC doesn’t much care for something or someone. You might consider an NPC’s intelligence score, profession and age when deciding how they speak.
Using accents has pros and cons. Obviously, an accent can make an NPC more distinct. The biggest issue with an accent is that it is not subtle, which means the players will notice if you don’t keep it up every time they go back and speak with that character. Some accents might be fun at first, but can really start to hurt your throat after a while. Also, accents can occasionally be hard to listen to. With that in mind, we give you permission to talk like a pirate as much as you would like to!
You can also make an NPC’s voice somewhat different by varying the character's rate of speech and inflection. It is important, at the gaming table, that the Game Master is heard and understood, so don’t make a character speak so softly that half of the players can't hear you speak. You can however speak calmly or anxiously or with commanding authority when appropriate.
Regardless of how you end up portraying the cast of NPCs, try to make them memorable and exciting. Throw some energy into it. The players’ interactions with the NPCs will reflect your enthusiasm.
Friends and Foes
Someone who has gamed a few times will think nothing of it, but it can seem a little strange at first: the GM portraying both the players’ allies and their enemies. But it’s not really that strange, the GM just gets to portray all of the characters that the players don’t. Remember to consider an NPC’s motivations and perspective (including what they know or don’t know about the players). If you do, what they say and do comes easy.
Up Next: GM as Narrator
