'Brew Club

[GMMichael]

Do you have a finished or in-process RPG, and need some playtesters? Is it one that can be played online? Are you willing to playtest someone else's game to earn your playtesters?

A homebrewer just posted a thread asking people to playtest his game, and it occurred to me: why can't you buy playtesters with your own time as currency? Can a bunch of homebrewers get together to playtest each other's games?

Here are the (draft) rules of 'Brew Club:

1. You do not talk about Brew Club.
2. Okay, you can talk about Brew Club but only after you've completed rule 8.
3. Games last as long as they have to. Which is 2 hours.
4. If a guy taps out or skips someone else's game (SEG), he must wait at least two sessions to play his game again.
5. Only 5 guys to a game.
6. Gamers choose the next session's game, but it must be a different game than the current session.
7. Once your game runs for three sessions, you must set it aside until the other games hit three sessions.
8. If this is your first night at 'Brew Club, you have to play SEG.

The rules need a little polishing, but who's interested?

 

[RSKennan]

I might be, but not until the end of the month at the earliest.

Also, it might be better to have a point system; X points allows you to GM a session of Y Hours in your game. 2 Hours is a pretty anemic session, IMO.

 

[GMMichael]

The intent behind two hours and game rotation is to increase the likelihood that someone sticks around to play SEGs, instead of bolting once he's happy with his results.

So yes, two hours is short, but don't you think it's enough to try out a few rules and whet appetites?

 

[RSKennan]

I guess, for something like pure combat or other systems stuff, but I don't really get rolling as a GM until the second hour. I concede on this issue.

 

[Piratecat]

I will mention Metatopia, every November in NJ. It's an astounding convention designed for designers instead of players. Slots are generally 2 hours long and you can run alpha tests, beta tests or roundtables to get ideas. It's freaking remarkable.

http://www.dexposure.com/m2014.html

 

[GMMichael]

but I don't really get rolling as a GM until the second hour.

You lost me right here. Rephrase?

A Brew Club session might look like:
- Players log in.
- Perform necessary set up for the pre-voted first GM/game.
- Play two hours.
- If players have time, switch to second pre-voted game.
- Play two hours.
- Vote for next two games, excluding games that have been played 3 times.
- Sign off.

Sound about right? Need changes?

Thanks Piratecat. I've never been to NJ, but now I have a good reason to go!

 

[The Crimson Binome]

A Brew Club session might look like:
- Players log in.
- Perform necessary set up for the pre-voted first GM/game.
- Play two hours.
- If players have time, switch to second pre-voted game.
- Play two hours.
- Vote for next two games, excluding games that have been played 3 times.
- Sign off.

I wasn't imagining more than one game per session, which is possibly why the 2-hour window seemed so short to me.

As an amateur designer who likes reading different systems and helping people with their homebrew, I'm not sure that it's in anyone's best interests to try and learn multiple systems simultaneously. It's kind of like in school, when you'd have tests on different subjects in rapid succession, and you really feel that lack of focus.

 

[GMMichael]

True, but it's also not in someone's best interests to help someone else playtest his game, just to discover that no one's sticking around to playtest his own game.

Short game sessions makes for a sort of simplicity litmus test: if it takes too long for players to grasp your game, you might think about some streamlining.

One thing you didn't have in school during tests was a teacher guiding you toward the right answers...I hope. That's the GM's job.

But hey, if you're interested Saelorn, I'm flexible. There's no money at stake here - it's just designers helping each other out.

 

[Dour-n-Taciturn]

What about taking a rules set, be it an original work or a home brew, and having a short one off with your local group, say on a day when most of said group is unavailable for the game you usually play? I often find that with the group I play with every few months, we get together for a whole weekend, it takes everyone a few hours to show up since they come from in from all over the state (Florida), so we may play another game, usually a board game, until the whole crew arrives.

 

[GMMichael]

I believe, DnT, that Brew Club would be an option for people who can't do what you propose.

Now, it's not a regular game for designers, but I have some GM and player opportunities here, if anyone's interested.