Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
DM Quits The Game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 6753893" data-attributes="member: 5100"><p>Yeah. I'd have called the <u>session</u> long before you did. I've got one player whose job occasionally keeps him late. We might hold the game a few minutes, but probably not. In fact, that's how my daughter ended up joining the group -- he called ahead (yay) to say he was going to be at least 2 hour late, if present at all (boo), so the group added a sorcerer in place of the wizard.</p><p></p><p>I used to have a player who would show up late or cancel at the last minute due to events on EverQuest. After much ribbing about having weird priorities (hanging out, in person, with folks he's known for years vs virtual meet-ups), I had to give him an ultimatum.</p><p></p><p>As far as having a timeline goes... wow. In 30+ years of GMing, I've never set a real-world timeline. Not even for the periodic pick-up game when the college gang gets together. It's just obvious, to me, that it's a recipe for disaster. That isn't to say that I don't have rough expectations about how long it'll take to get through a published adventure, or that I never add <em>in-game</em> pressure on the characters.</p><p></p><p>As much as I say that I believe in GM authority, that authority isn't absolute. The other players come with their own goals and wants. Those flat-out won't match up with yours exactly. Ever. That doesn't mean you have to run a game you hate -- I'm a big believer in "no hard feelings, but let's play Risk". Honestly, each of the players is going to have slightly different goals, too. That's why many GM sections, in D&D and elsewhere, have a breakdown of "player types".</p><p></p><p>The better a GM is, the better he can read the various players and serve their needs, without stepping on anyone else's fun (including his own). IME, that takes a combination of rules mastery, people skills, and <em>just enough</em> preparation. </p><p></p><p>Your intent to use a session 0 is a good one. Explicit is better than implicit, when it comes to expectations. A couple of caveats, though. First, during Session 0, everyone has a voice. It's time for the GM to "lay down the ground rules". There may be some things that you lay out, as GM -- for example, after playing Vampire, I realized that the final arbiter of moral labels had to be the GM, save the politics for later, this is a game and needs a consistent standard. Some players might have similar hang-ups, like "I hate Planescape". Just because they've all agreed to let you GM doesn't mean that you get to GM whatever you want.</p><p></p><p>Really, Session 0 extends beyond a single session. Maybe it's better to say that there's stuff before Session 0. The earlier in the process, the more say the players have. The group may not even have agreed upon a GM, yet. Or a system, for that matter. As you get closer to the start of play, the GM starts to put bumpers on the options so that there's enough structure for him to work with it.</p><p></p><p>The short form of the above is that, as much as I believe that the "GM is God" method leads to the best games for all involved, it's a trust that's earned, not claimed. If you try to claim it, it'll break your game. It sounds like you may be taking liberties to which you're not yet entitled. I'm not there, so I can't say for sure. I just feel the need to give you the caution.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mercule, post: 6753893, member: 5100"] Yeah. I'd have called the [U]session[/U] long before you did. I've got one player whose job occasionally keeps him late. We might hold the game a few minutes, but probably not. In fact, that's how my daughter ended up joining the group -- he called ahead (yay) to say he was going to be at least 2 hour late, if present at all (boo), so the group added a sorcerer in place of the wizard. I used to have a player who would show up late or cancel at the last minute due to events on EverQuest. After much ribbing about having weird priorities (hanging out, in person, with folks he's known for years vs virtual meet-ups), I had to give him an ultimatum. As far as having a timeline goes... wow. In 30+ years of GMing, I've never set a real-world timeline. Not even for the periodic pick-up game when the college gang gets together. It's just obvious, to me, that it's a recipe for disaster. That isn't to say that I don't have rough expectations about how long it'll take to get through a published adventure, or that I never add [I]in-game[/I] pressure on the characters. As much as I say that I believe in GM authority, that authority isn't absolute. The other players come with their own goals and wants. Those flat-out won't match up with yours exactly. Ever. That doesn't mean you have to run a game you hate -- I'm a big believer in "no hard feelings, but let's play Risk". Honestly, each of the players is going to have slightly different goals, too. That's why many GM sections, in D&D and elsewhere, have a breakdown of "player types". The better a GM is, the better he can read the various players and serve their needs, without stepping on anyone else's fun (including his own). IME, that takes a combination of rules mastery, people skills, and [I]just enough[/I] preparation. Your intent to use a session 0 is a good one. Explicit is better than implicit, when it comes to expectations. A couple of caveats, though. First, during Session 0, everyone has a voice. It's time for the GM to "lay down the ground rules". There may be some things that you lay out, as GM -- for example, after playing Vampire, I realized that the final arbiter of moral labels had to be the GM, save the politics for later, this is a game and needs a consistent standard. Some players might have similar hang-ups, like "I hate Planescape". Just because they've all agreed to let you GM doesn't mean that you get to GM whatever you want. Really, Session 0 extends beyond a single session. Maybe it's better to say that there's stuff before Session 0. The earlier in the process, the more say the players have. The group may not even have agreed upon a GM, yet. Or a system, for that matter. As you get closer to the start of play, the GM starts to put bumpers on the options so that there's enough structure for him to work with it. The short form of the above is that, as much as I believe that the "GM is God" method leads to the best games for all involved, it's a trust that's earned, not claimed. If you try to claim it, it'll break your game. It sounds like you may be taking liberties to which you're not yet entitled. I'm not there, so I can't say for sure. I just feel the need to give you the caution. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
DM Quits The Game
Top