Emirikol
Adventurer
Since I saw that a similar thread on this issue had gone bad, perhaps we do this a different way.
I've been through many groups over the past 24 years (I'm 33 now) and discovered (again) that there comes a time where you just need to quit a group and start over somewhere else. It's never personal when you quit a group. It's just what's best for your sanity. Afterall, why let someone else wreck YOUR good time.
I recently quit a group that I'd been with for several years. Most of the players had kind of gone sour and the 'big idea' was scattered. We had a few whiners, a few drunks, and too much non-gaming drama going on. So, I just quit the whole thing and started over with a couple of my players. I just joined a new group nearby and am happier already. As a DM, I think this is even easier because there's ALWAYS a demand for DM's.
Since it was a new group, I talked to the guy who set it up and he and I laid down a few ground rules that we went over with the group. Nearly everyone in the group agreed on all of the points because nearly all of us had similar BAD experiences in the past.
We have limited game time (2-3 sessions / month for 4-5 hours per session) so we try to game during that time, not do things that we can do the other 332 hours before the next session.
Here are our ground rules:
1. Everybody fills out the potential player questionaire (email me if you want it) and nobody invites anyone else without the whole group's permission.
2. People are here to game. If you're not here to game, you're in the wrong place.
3. Nobody sits at the table until their character is finished and has been reviewed by the DM (that includes levelling). You and everyone else in the group have 332 hours to finish your characters before the next session. Is that enough time?
4. Players police their own. That means that the DM is not a baby sitter. The DM assigns 2 or more players to set the offending player straight or kick him out.
5. Nobody questions the DM's rulings during the game unless it would mean instant death for someone's character otherwise and they've already looked up the rule and have their finger on the actual paragraph and are about to read it out loud. If it's abiguuous, the DM's ruling stands [period]. You are at the wrong place if you just want to whine about every little thing the DM does (http://www.mandrgames.com/WHINERDoll.htm).
6. Players who create stupidly munchkin characters can expect a stupidly short life and not at the expense of the other PC's lives.
7. Time is of the essence so plan ahead (bring food and beer rather than stopping the game to order and receive). We don't stop the whole game for someone who needs to take a cell phone call or go have a smoke.
8. Want x.p.? Participate. All x.p. is given anonymously via email and will vary 10-50% from the next PC's.
9. Nobody is a 'permanent' member of the group. Anyone, including the DM, can be 'voted out' at any time. Nothing personal. It's just gaming.
10. Every couple months we'll talk about how to make the game better. Bring some positive feedback as well as some things you'd like improved.
11. Every player can expect to have their character die at some point. Try to be mature about it.
Of course, it's not that harsh in reality, but we lay down some anti-pet peeves the first session. I've done this in the past and found that players want to know stuff like that. House rules and ground rules. If a DM can't get off his butt to set these, I'd think twice about what you've gotten yourself into
Others you wish you'd done (or will do?)
jh
..
I've been through many groups over the past 24 years (I'm 33 now) and discovered (again) that there comes a time where you just need to quit a group and start over somewhere else. It's never personal when you quit a group. It's just what's best for your sanity. Afterall, why let someone else wreck YOUR good time.
I recently quit a group that I'd been with for several years. Most of the players had kind of gone sour and the 'big idea' was scattered. We had a few whiners, a few drunks, and too much non-gaming drama going on. So, I just quit the whole thing and started over with a couple of my players. I just joined a new group nearby and am happier already. As a DM, I think this is even easier because there's ALWAYS a demand for DM's.
Since it was a new group, I talked to the guy who set it up and he and I laid down a few ground rules that we went over with the group. Nearly everyone in the group agreed on all of the points because nearly all of us had similar BAD experiences in the past.
We have limited game time (2-3 sessions / month for 4-5 hours per session) so we try to game during that time, not do things that we can do the other 332 hours before the next session.
Here are our ground rules:
1. Everybody fills out the potential player questionaire (email me if you want it) and nobody invites anyone else without the whole group's permission.
2. People are here to game. If you're not here to game, you're in the wrong place.
3. Nobody sits at the table until their character is finished and has been reviewed by the DM (that includes levelling). You and everyone else in the group have 332 hours to finish your characters before the next session. Is that enough time?
4. Players police their own. That means that the DM is not a baby sitter. The DM assigns 2 or more players to set the offending player straight or kick him out.
5. Nobody questions the DM's rulings during the game unless it would mean instant death for someone's character otherwise and they've already looked up the rule and have their finger on the actual paragraph and are about to read it out loud. If it's abiguuous, the DM's ruling stands [period]. You are at the wrong place if you just want to whine about every little thing the DM does (http://www.mandrgames.com/WHINERDoll.htm).
6. Players who create stupidly munchkin characters can expect a stupidly short life and not at the expense of the other PC's lives.
7. Time is of the essence so plan ahead (bring food and beer rather than stopping the game to order and receive). We don't stop the whole game for someone who needs to take a cell phone call or go have a smoke.
8. Want x.p.? Participate. All x.p. is given anonymously via email and will vary 10-50% from the next PC's.
9. Nobody is a 'permanent' member of the group. Anyone, including the DM, can be 'voted out' at any time. Nothing personal. It's just gaming.
10. Every couple months we'll talk about how to make the game better. Bring some positive feedback as well as some things you'd like improved.
11. Every player can expect to have their character die at some point. Try to be mature about it.
Of course, it's not that harsh in reality, but we lay down some anti-pet peeves the first session. I've done this in the past and found that players want to know stuff like that. House rules and ground rules. If a DM can't get off his butt to set these, I'd think twice about what you've gotten yourself into
Others you wish you'd done (or will do?)
jh
..
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