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The Caller and the Mapper
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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 6319140" data-attributes="member: 6680772"><p>I'm 37*. I'm not old! /dennis</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 9px">*Actually 38, but I feel his pain these days.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I have found a caller to make a significant difference in a group as small as four. And it wasn't because they were especially squabbly. It just seemed to bring the group together as a team, and kept things running smoothly. And the minute we didn't have a caller, we ran into "Wait, I don't think I'm in the room. I'm back here..." and "Okay, so you head down the passage..." "No, wait, I still want to check this thing out."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I like having at least two mappers. Also, I've used dry-erase boards or maps to quickly draw the shape of a room to keep the map-making as quick and easy as possible.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I do not have much hope. I just figure that with the return of turn-based exploration rules to the game, the DMG or some online stuff may include advice on using this style of play.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I absolutely want the PCs controlling the outcome of the story. It's their story. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5Emptr3tE" target="_blank">This</a> is how I imagine myself as a DM. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think there are a number of reasons for the caller going out of fashion. Group size may have played a part, but I suspect it was mostly the weakening of turn-based exploration. As more and more people simply eschewed turns in favor of simply describing movement from room to room, and encounter to encounter, the need for a caller went by the wayside.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>None of that has been my experience. Typically, I need a few moments to view notes and other tasks, and doing that while the players are huddling and making their plans takes out a lot of dead time. Even if I don't have much to do, hearing players tell the caller their plans before the caller "commits" by telling me allows me to prepare the dice/rolls/rules/monsters that will be needed ahead of time. Then I can address their actions in a quick and orderly matter. Thief's going to sneak down the hall...okay, better get out my d10s and find the statblock for the shrieker...fighter's listening at the door, so here's my d6, and here are my notes for what's on the other side of the door...wizard's holding the light near the fighter, okay, I'll go ahead and note one turn's passed for their lantern...and cleric is looking down the opposite hall, and it's about time for a wandering monster check...no monster. The caller "commits" the party to their actions for that turn, and then I just go ahead. "Okay, your lantern has about an hour's oil left. Cleric, you don't see or hear anything coming down the hall; (rolls 2 on d6) fighter, you hear some scuffling sounds on the other side of the door; (rolls hide in shadow, fails, rolls move silently, success) Thief you creep down the hall, not making a sound, (rolls surprise for shrieker and thief) and you hear a slight squeak above you. Looking up, you see a shrieker, seeming to slumber. It doesn't seem to have noticed you."</p><p></p><p>And if they change actions before the caller "commits", no time is wasted by me getting something ready -- I can simply go with the flow.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I believe he's not suggesting multiple characters, but rather the players having some roles in the game in addition to simply playing their character. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>These things aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, IMXP the bean counting can even lead to derring do, action, drama & funny dialogue. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's an issue of execution rather than the idea itself. The caller has no greater importance than the quartermaster or the mapper. They simply process and relay certain information. But it's not for all games. I think it's pretty much best suited for the turn-based dungeon and hex crawl. If the game doesn't really make use of such turns, simply moving from encounter to encounter, then a "caller" is entirely superfluous, since they have very limited utility at the round-based encounter level.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>For me, the excitement is less about the specific rules that they've released in the playtest so far, but the fact that such rules are there in the first place, and may be expanded on in the DMG, or may lead to having more labyrinthine dungeons/hexmaps ripe for exploring. I can always simply import turn-based exploration from B/X to any edition. It's less the actual rules than the hope that the kind of play will again be supported.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 6319140, member: 6680772"] I'm 37*. I'm not old! /dennis [SIZE=1]*Actually 38, but I feel his pain these days.[/SIZE] I have found a caller to make a significant difference in a group as small as four. And it wasn't because they were especially squabbly. It just seemed to bring the group together as a team, and kept things running smoothly. And the minute we didn't have a caller, we ran into "Wait, I don't think I'm in the room. I'm back here..." and "Okay, so you head down the passage..." "No, wait, I still want to check this thing out." I like having at least two mappers. Also, I've used dry-erase boards or maps to quickly draw the shape of a room to keep the map-making as quick and easy as possible. I do not have much hope. I just figure that with the return of turn-based exploration rules to the game, the DMG or some online stuff may include advice on using this style of play. I absolutely want the PCs controlling the outcome of the story. It's their story. [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN5Emptr3tE"]This[/URL] is how I imagine myself as a DM. :cool: I think there are a number of reasons for the caller going out of fashion. Group size may have played a part, but I suspect it was mostly the weakening of turn-based exploration. As more and more people simply eschewed turns in favor of simply describing movement from room to room, and encounter to encounter, the need for a caller went by the wayside. None of that has been my experience. Typically, I need a few moments to view notes and other tasks, and doing that while the players are huddling and making their plans takes out a lot of dead time. Even if I don't have much to do, hearing players tell the caller their plans before the caller "commits" by telling me allows me to prepare the dice/rolls/rules/monsters that will be needed ahead of time. Then I can address their actions in a quick and orderly matter. Thief's going to sneak down the hall...okay, better get out my d10s and find the statblock for the shrieker...fighter's listening at the door, so here's my d6, and here are my notes for what's on the other side of the door...wizard's holding the light near the fighter, okay, I'll go ahead and note one turn's passed for their lantern...and cleric is looking down the opposite hall, and it's about time for a wandering monster check...no monster. The caller "commits" the party to their actions for that turn, and then I just go ahead. "Okay, your lantern has about an hour's oil left. Cleric, you don't see or hear anything coming down the hall; (rolls 2 on d6) fighter, you hear some scuffling sounds on the other side of the door; (rolls hide in shadow, fails, rolls move silently, success) Thief you creep down the hall, not making a sound, (rolls surprise for shrieker and thief) and you hear a slight squeak above you. Looking up, you see a shrieker, seeming to slumber. It doesn't seem to have noticed you." And if they change actions before the caller "commits", no time is wasted by me getting something ready -- I can simply go with the flow. I believe he's not suggesting multiple characters, but rather the players having some roles in the game in addition to simply playing their character. These things aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, IMXP the bean counting can even lead to derring do, action, drama & funny dialogue. That's an issue of execution rather than the idea itself. The caller has no greater importance than the quartermaster or the mapper. They simply process and relay certain information. But it's not for all games. I think it's pretty much best suited for the turn-based dungeon and hex crawl. If the game doesn't really make use of such turns, simply moving from encounter to encounter, then a "caller" is entirely superfluous, since they have very limited utility at the round-based encounter level. For me, the excitement is less about the specific rules that they've released in the playtest so far, but the fact that such rules are there in the first place, and may be expanded on in the DMG, or may lead to having more labyrinthine dungeons/hexmaps ripe for exploring. I can always simply import turn-based exploration from B/X to any edition. It's less the actual rules than the hope that the kind of play will again be supported. [/QUOTE]
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