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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pramas" data-source="post: 1408242" data-attributes="member: 995">Article, part 2Running the GameAll right, now you've designed the game and you've got the characters. If you're lucky, you've even had time to playtest it with your regular gaming group. Now you're at the con with six hungry players sitting before you. You think you're ready for every contingency and the next thing you know your game has been ruined. What went wrong?Running a game for a group of people who are not only new to you but also strangers to each other can be quite a challenge. The one thing you can't plan for is the type of players you're going to get. A popular reason for running multi-round tournaments is that you can weed out the disruptive elements and insure a quality group for the final. You're not always going to have that luxury, however, and there are all those first rounds to get through. In my experience, you need to be on the lookout for three types of players who can ruin your game. First, there's the type I call the know-it-all. This category includes the dreaded rules lawyers, as well as those who consider themselves to be experts in the background and history of the game. The worst specimens of this type combine both characteristics. Now there's nothing wrong with knowing the rules and background of a game. In most cases, it's a positive boon. However, there will always be those people who feel that they must prove before the world that they know more about the game than the GM. They'll interrupt you to quote rules, start lengthy arguments on your interpretation of a rule or part of the game's canon. Anything really to show off how much they know. The best thing to do with these players is to be assertive early. Don't let them interrupt, explain to them calmly but forcefully that its your game and your going to take whatever liberties you want to with the background and rules. This usually solves the problem. If it doesn't, ask them to leave and stop wasting everyone's time. Second, there's the type I call the needy-children. These are the players who need to be the center of attention all the time. They often will talk louder than everyone else and attempt to browbeat the other players into following their lead. They try to have their characters involved in every part of the adventure, even if their character is somewhere else. They try to butt in on other character's scenes and steal them. In short, they are rude and inconsiderate. As a GM, you need to be aware of how a needy-child can dominate a game. If you sense it happening, make a note of players who have lapsed into silence. Then start specifically asking the silent characters what they want to do and ignore the needy-children. Try to give everyone a chance to act before resolving situations and don't assume everyone is following the lead of the loudest player. Your players will thank you. Lastly, there are those I simply call idiots. As you can tell, I have no patience for idiots. These are the types of players who show no consideration for all the work you've put into designing an adventure. They have their character pick fights for no reason, insult major NPCs no matter the circumstances, and run off on their own with blatant disregard to the actual plot of the adventure. I often wonder why these people play at all, since they have absolutely no interest in the adventure provided. If you don't get them to behave early on, your game is doomed. It's best to simply ask them to leave the game, since the tight schedule of most cons does not allow time for the years of therapy that these people need. While it is easy to blame the players for disastrous games, sometimes the fault lies squarely at the GMs feet. Apart from issues of preparation and style, the GM needs to maintain a sense of fairness and equity throughout the game. Try to give everyone a chance to participate, and stay away from the deadly game of favorites. No one likes to be snubbed, and this is double true in RPGs. Above all, do not let one player kill or incapacitate other characters. This usually results in the dead characters' players leaving the game and feeling ripped off. In one Stormbringer game I played, the GM let one player run wild and this ruined the entire game. The GM loaded the character down with potent magic items and then let his player utterly dominate the game. Then, when a friend and I plotted against this classic needy-child for a lack anything else to do in the adventure, the GM simply told the player what we had done. As we prepared to for a showdown, the GM favorite used a magic item to dominate our wills and take over our characters. Not only were we forced out of the game, we had to give this yahoo our character sheets as well. The sad thing is that this was a demo event sponsored by Chaosium and such actions on the GM's part were hardly going to sell people on an otherwise fine game. Wrapping UpOne way or the other, with the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat, your game will end. While you may be tempted to rest on you laurels (or knock back a fifth of scotch depending on how the game went), there are a few tasks that still need doing. The most immediate of these is to determine the "winner" of the game. This is not necessary at all cons, but many provide gift certificates for each event and it's your job as GM to hand them out. How you do this is entirely up to you and in many ways depends on your temperament. Some people refuse to play the winner/loser game at all, and simply have the players dice off for the prize. I've even seen it done before the game starts to kill the spirit of competition in its crib. Many GMs go with the prize concept to encourage better roleplaying, using it as a kind of carrot and stick device to get better performances out of their players. Prizes are then awarded by either popular vote or GM fiat. There are problems with both methods (popular voting usually rewards the blatant over the subtle, while GM fiat is by its very nature extremely arbitrary). I tried to fall somewhere in the middle myself. I would let the players vote but reserved the final judgment for myself. I usually found that my judgment and that of the players coincided, but sometimes I did overrule the vote if I thought someone was really being overlooked. Again, there's no right way to do this, but it can become an issue (some folks take it mighty seriously) and it's best to plan ahead. If you're planning on running a sequel to your event the following year, definitely sit down and write out how the adventure played out and what key actions the players took. Believe me, you'll be glad you did nine months later when you're working on the next adventure and you can't remember exactly what happened the year before. I made that mistake once and I never did it again. Repeat players, a sure a testimony that you're doing something right, expect a sense of continuity between years. That is, after all, one of things that brings them back to your table time after time. Final ThoughtsAfter reading this article, you may well think all of this is too much bother to run a few games at conventions. I would urge you all, however, to give it try before giving up on the idea. Yes, it's hard work but there are still many things to recommend it. There's nothing quite like the feeling you get after a great session. When you get the right group of players and they click with your story, it's a beautiful thing. When players take your characters and give a virtuoso performance, or add a whole new level to their personality, it's a joy to watch. On a social level, it's a great way to meet like-minded gamers, as well as industry people, who are usually very happy that you've taken the time to promote their game a convention. I'll never forget the final of the third year of my tournament. The game went extremely well and I was quite pleased. Afterwards, one of the players came up to me and said, "That's the best game I've ever played at GenCon." That's when it's all worthwhile.Copyright 1997Chris Pramas</blockquote>

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