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<blockquote data-quote="John Dallman" data-source="post: 9362328" data-attributes="member: 6999616">Mostly not. I'm well aware that the cosmic significance of the games I play and run is limited. I've had some wonderful experiences along the way, but they don't affect anyone except me and the other players.&nbsp; If they keep turning up and are not vociferously complaining, things are going reasonably well. &quot;Enough&quot; and &quot;Too many&quot; players are very fuzzy concepts: I'm happy with groups of 3 to 6 players, and those can withstand one person missing. If I don't have enough, I look for another, and ask the players for suggestions.We definitely take new players on probation, in case we don't get along, although I've never had to tell someone &quot;don't come back.&quot; Don't get too worried about spotlight hogging. If the subject of a session is especially relevant to a particular character, then of course they'll do more talking. Good players will step back deliberately when it's someone else's session.Play what you want to, and can agree on with the others. If a system or genre is becoming tiresome, are you using it effectively? Don't be afraid to try plot lines or locations that aren't at the centre of what the game is about: similarity of sessions is deadly.&nbsp; Are you playing RPGs for fun, or because they're fashionable, or to &quot;build a personal brand&quot;? I only play them for fun, and don't worry about what other people think. I do enjoy occasionally surprising people who have condescending opinions about &quot;geek hobbies&quot; with tales of occult dramaturgy in Elizabethan England, or characters who write operas based on The Silmarillion. Enough prep is &quot;You know what's going on, who's involved apart from the PCs, and what the environment is like. You have some idea what the response might be to the obvious things the PCs might do.&quot; That can involve no work at all, or a great deal. The longer you run a setting, the less work is involved, most of the time - occasionally, you need more.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="John Dallman, post: 9362328, member: 6999616"] Mostly not. I'm well aware that the cosmic significance of the games I play and run is limited. I've had some wonderful experiences along the way, but they don't affect anyone except me and the other players. If they keep turning up and are not vociferously complaining, things are going reasonably well. "Enough" and "Too many" players are very fuzzy concepts: I'm happy with groups of 3 to 6 players, and those can withstand one person missing. If I don't have enough, I look for another, and ask the players for suggestions. We definitely take new players on probation, in case we don't get along, although I've never had to tell someone "don't come back." Don't get too worried about spotlight hogging. If the subject of a session is especially relevant to a particular character, then [I]of course[/I] they'll do more talking. Good players will step back deliberately when it's someone else's session. Play what you want to, and can agree on with the others. If a system or genre is becoming tiresome, are you using it effectively? Don't be afraid to try plot lines or locations that aren't at the centre of what the game is about: similarity of sessions is deadly. Are you playing RPGs for fun, or because they're fashionable, or to "build a personal brand"? I only play them for fun, and don't worry about what other people think. I do enjoy occasionally surprising people who have condescending opinions about "geek hobbies" with tales of occult dramaturgy in Elizabethan England, or characters who write operas based on [I]The Silmarillion[/I]. Enough prep is "You know what's going on, who's involved apart from the PCs, and what the environment is like. You have some idea what the response might be to the obvious things the PCs might do." That can involve no work at all, or a great deal. The longer you run a setting, the less work is involved, [I]most[/I] of the time - occasionally, you need more. [/QUOTE]

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