Getting Busy Adults Together to Play Games

[AntiStateQuixote]

Work for 9 hours.

No, THAT'S the real problem.

 

[mmadsen]

As the original post points out, the real problem is coordinating a number of busy people with less-than-predictable schedules.

The nature of RPGs only exacerbates this. An RPG requires everyone to show up every time. Is there any way around this? Is there a more flexible way to run an RPG?

 

[Arnwyn]

Another barrier is what I call "rigid tastes." Whem some people say they want to role-play, they mean "If I think I am available to do some role playing it's only going to be "X" game, otherwise, I'll suddenly don't have the time at all." Some take this preference a few steps further, by having their heart set on a certain style of playing their perfered rpg or only playing with certain people.

It seems that as gamers get older, many of them lean this way. It's tough to get something going when the few gamers you know all have their ruts and would rather not game at all than game their way.

This is exactly how my group and I work. And we consider it a good thing.

 

[Valen]

I just started a Star Wars RPG with four players, all but one is married and each has a full-time job (only one with a child). Here are some steps we've taken so far to get as much participation as possible:
1. We plan to play once a month-- tentatively the 3rd Saturday of each month. At each session, we plan the next date.
2. Sessions are on Saturdays, starting around noon and going to about 6 pm. It is a big committment of time, but it is easier to schedule than 2 3-hour sessions.
3. Each adventure is self-contained/complete. While there are on-going storylines, each session has a definite conclusion. Less to remember for the next session, no need to justify sudden "disappearances" of characters mid-adventure, and more satisfaction as each player feels something has been accomplished after each session.
4. Characters have rich, detailed backgrounds. This gives plenty of fodder for subplots and such that keep interest in the game and "excuses" for absent player characters.
5. Game time passes between each session. Like in the films, time passes between "episodes", so lots happens "off screen". It allows PCs excuses to not be there for the session. It also gives us a chance to handle some plots/equipment purchasing, etc. via email.
6. We use email extensively. Keep everyone informed with dates, character developments between games, etc.
7. No fear in splitting the party, using cut scenes. Like in the films, I ran the game with the party split up most of the time. I also inserted cut scenes to the villains plotting -- essentially just reading off scripts. Rather than feeling left out, the players said they enjoyed "watching" the scenes that didn't involve their characters. Hopefully, I can maintain this without causing boredom -- since the characters have detailed backgrounds interwoven together, scenes where a player's character is not present could, nevertheless, greatly impact his character.
8. We remember that it is only a game. Everyone has different priorities and commitments. We try to pick a date that suits everyone, but no one is offended if we hold a game when they can't make it. (I've even suggested to the players that if they can schedule a game for everyone on a date I can't make it, someone else can run an adventure. Since its Star Wars - everyone knows the setting so there is relatively little risk that a side-adventure would ruin the plots I have brewing.)


How well do these steps work? Well, we've had only one session so far, so I suppose it is a bit early to tell. One player couldn't make it to the first session, but we played anyways and he is eager to make an appearance. We scheduled a second session for mid-July. Already one player thinks he cannot make the date and he and I are working on side-plots that would justify where his character has gone. The side-plot may well end up being the opening scene to our August game. I may also run a short one-on-one session for the player who can't make it if we both have the time.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I never understood this 3 hour "decompression period" people mention. I can understand the concept, but at most (if there isn't anything interesting going on) I might spend 15 minutes vegging out when I get home from work. If there is something going on (and gaming is nearly the top of the list) I have no trouble dispensing with it entirely.

Heck. After a Saturday at work, gaming IS my "decompression period"... We all work and use gaming as a way to relieve stress. Not to mention socialize. I only get home on those days long enough to clean up and change and then head off to see what we can kill this week!

 

[Darth K'Trava]

I have a group of seven working adults (including myself), broken down into the following: 3 married with children, 2 married, and 2 single. What we do is devised a schedule several months in advance (I'm the host and DM, so that responsibility falls to me). We play every other Sunday (generally). I send an e-mail out to everyone telling them when the games are and then I remind them the Monday or Tuesday prior to the upcoming game. Since the game dates have already been schedule several months in advance, all the married guys can coordinate with their wives. The e-mail is just a courtesey, since we're all busy with work, home ownership, etc.. It works pretty well. Since I've started this system of saying "We're playing on 4/X, 4/X, 5/X, 5/X, 6/X, 6/X, etc. attendance has been a lot more regular.

Before we just planned things week to week. Now we know when we're playing all the way up to GenCon.

JediSoth

A friend of mine has set up a website with the gaming schedule on it with the names of those who are in each game (there's 4 different ones running) so we have an advance notice of the schedule and noone can say that "we didn't see it!" when ALL have 'net access.

 

[mmadsen]

3. Each adventure is self-contained/complete. While there are on-going storylines, each session has a definite conclusion. Less to remember for the next session, no need to justify sudden "disappearances" of characters mid-adventure, and more satisfaction as each player feels something has been accomplished after each session.
4. Characters have rich, detailed backgrounds. This gives plenty of fodder for subplots and such that keep interest in the game and "excuses" for absent player characters.
5. Game time passes between each session. Like in the films, time passes between "episodes", so lots happens "off screen". It allows PCs excuses to not be there for the session. It also gives us a chance to handle some plots/equipment purchasing, etc. via email.
7. No fear in splitting the party, using cut scenes. Like in the films, I ran the game with the party split up most of the time. I also inserted cut scenes to the villains plotting -- essentially just reading off scripts. Rather than feeling left out, the players said they enjoyed "watching" the scenes that didn't involve their characters. Hopefully, I can maintain this without causing boredom -- since the characters have detailed backgrounds interwoven together, scenes where a player's character is not present could, nevertheless, greatly impact his character.

Those all sound like great suggestions for reducing the inflexibility of RPGs. In a similar vein, I'd suggest troupe play, where each player doesn't necessarily play exactly one character.

 

[scourger]

I'm glad I clicked on this thread. I agree with many of the replies. The system in the original post nicely descibes "transactional costs" but presumes that people are interested in a general gaming group as opposed to an RPG group. I'm not. My weekly commitment is to play RPGs. Other games are just filler to be used very sparingly. That is how I justify the cost of keeping one night per week free against the benefit of playing among friends. In the past, others' rigid tastes have caused them to abandon the group and their commitments to it (and to themselves, I believe). Now, we have a much smaller and more volatile group. I tried to modify a d20 D&D campaign to accomodate 1d2+1 players, even when it turned into 1d3+1 players, but it didn't work the way I hoped. It's just too much effort for not enough reward. I recently picked up Savage Worlds and hope it can present a more flexible game with a lower work effort on my part to prepare and run, but I haven't even gotten it ready. I would rather let someone founder at GMing another RPG and spend my free nights playing Texas Hold 'Em, watching TV, posting here, or playing a computer game. As an expectant father, I realize that my time is precious and limited; moreso now than ever. And yes, I'll cancel in a second if my wife or son needs me--without hesitation or regret. What I will not do is cancel because I don't like some game or I would rather engage in another leisure activity instead of playing a particular game. It is very inconsiderate of everyone else's time and commitment to do so, especially when the other players are friends. Anyway, those are my expereinces and opinions. Thanks for all the thoughts and for reading.

 

[mmadsen]

The system in the original post nicely descibes "transactional costs" but presumes that people are interested in a general gaming group as opposed to an RPG group.

The point is that it's his switch from planning for a specific (board)game to planning a (board)game night that made the whole thing work. If he tried to put together a Diplomacy night, it invariably fell through. If he planned a game night, enough people showed up to play something -- maybe Diplomacy, maybe not.

Are there any tips or tricks for pulling off the same thing with RPGs?

 

[scourger]

The point is that it's his switch from planning for a specific (board)game to planning a (board)game night that made the whole thing work. If he tried to put together a Diplomacy night, it invariably fell through. If he planned a game night, enough people showed up to play something -- maybe Diplomacy, maybe not.

Are there any tips or tricks for pulling off the same thing with RPGs?

I wouldn't want to try to have more than 1 RPG ready to go at once based on who might or might not show for a particular session. It's too much work to prepare 1 RPG to run, let alone multiple RPGs because some people can't or won't play. It seems to me that the real issue is not knowing how many players will show when a particular RPG day is offered. I don't think the solution is to have any number of RPGs ready to go but to have an RPG ready to go that easily allows a variable number of players.

The best I've ever done with an RPG that could accomodate fluctuating numbers of players from week to week was Judge Dredd d20. The modules were written so that there were X foes in a given enounter per judge PC present. The scenes were episodic. Since the game was set in Mega-City One, the PCs could come and go on their lawmasters (motorcycles) at will. If a player was absent, his judge was called away by Control for other duties. If a player showed one week after missing the previous week, he just rode up and got into whatever was going on. It was nice for me since I didn't really have to worry about which players would or would not be there. I remember having 6 players one week and only 2 the following week with no problem.