Tell me about your experiences running games at a FLGS

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've been playing in a three-shot game at my FLGS and really, really liking it. Once it wraps up, I'm considering going to the owner and pitching him on having me run a trial game of either Pirate Borg or Shadowdark and, if that goes well, doing it on some kind of regular schedule.

I know a lot of people here have done similar things. What can you tell me about those experiences, including things you wish you knew before you started.

Thanks for your help!

 

[GM Lent]

I've been running games in a FLGS for years. Initially it was a 5e game a decade or so ago where the players were folks I'd met at a different FLGS but who I didn't know well enough to want them in my house. On top of that, two were women and I wanted to make sure they felt safe coming to play; a game store seemed a great compromise.

A couple of years later I started running DCC games as part of their Road Crew setup, and I been doing that ever since. It's different, since there's no way to predict who's going to be there for any given session, but I've found that just rolling with it makes it all work.

Honestly, that's probably the best lesson I e learned from the experience: don't stress about the rules and just keep things moving. I'd say it's improved me as a GM enormously, tbh, and my players definitely enjoy and appreciate the flexibility.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's different, since there's no way to predict who's going to be there for any given session, but I've found that just rolling with it makes it all work.

So do you mostly focus on adventures that can be completed in a single session because of that? And it's largely DM-driven, rather than player-directed for what adventures they pursue?

 

[GM Lent]

So do you mostly focus on adventures that can be completed in a single session because of that? And it's largely DM-driven, rather than player-directed for what adventures they pursue?

We generally have about a 2 to 2.5 hour block of time to play, so there are basically no single-session adventures at all. I run DCC modules, both those published already and some I'm playtesting myself to be published later.

Among the "roll with it" aspects I've had to adoopt is just not worrying about who is where when. By which I mean, in Session A, PCs 1, 2, 3,and 4 arrive at the adventure locaiton. They enter it and begin exploring. But then in Session B, PC 3 couldn't make it and we have PC 5 instead. We act as though PC 5 had been there the whole time in terms of them knowing everybody/the mission/etc, because it saves a ton of time. If PC 3 is back the following session, we again proceed as though they were never gone.

This approach is narratively nonsensical, but given our time constraints it's just the easiest solution. We keep things lighthearted, and occasionally the PCs will joke about it (What do you mean I wasn't on the ship? I was the one cooking for the last three weeks! Weren't you paying attention?).

An exception: special stuff like magic items only go to PCs who are present when they're distributed. It's a way of rewarding the folks who make it regularly (we have exactly one person aside from me who has never missed a session since they started, and interestingly it's not my wife).

Regarding DM-driven vs player-driven: I run modules, but I will work in stuff relevant to the PCs' backstories to make them feel more prersonal. And if a player has a specific destination they want to visit, I'll work whatever I was planning to run into and around that location.

In home gamesd I like to keep things intense and more player-focused and character-driven and intense, but in a public drop-in game I find it's best to keep stuff more lighthearted. That way nobody gets upset that they missed out on things and it's easier to just keep things moving.

 

[Celebrim]

I know a lot of people here have done similar things. What can you tell me about those experiences, including things you wish you knew before you started.

I learned a ton spending a summer running games weekly for an open table. I started with like three players, but by the end of the summer I was running over a dozen with people driving up to 90 miles for the game. It gets very overwhelming.

I learned that the game you run depends on how many players you have. I also learned that the 1e AD&D DMG only makes sense in the context of expecting to have a dozen strangers show up at the table.

Keep things simple. The work load of running a game weekly is insane. I started out running simple scenarios that I knew could finish in 3-4 hours, with 6-12 encounter areas. However, that was too much work, so I switched to a more West Marches format with delves into a Mega dungeon where everyone left at the end of the session.

 

[John Lloyd1]

It has changed over the years.

The first campaign I ran was Goodman Games's In to the Borderlands ending in a TPK. The players were relatively constant. I would usually have a core set of players who would be there from session to session.

Over the years, the store wanted to ensure new players could join tables. So, they moved to an Adventurer's League program (but weren't really interested in the organised play side of it). The players were less consistent than before, but I still had a reasonable set of players that turned up every week. I ran the entire Waterdeep AL campaign for that with the final session at level 20.

I then moved to Friday nights. I am the only D&D table with the rest being card players. It is very inconsistent with who turns up. There is a fair amount of no shows. I started by trying to run Lost Mines, but there wasn't the consistency for that. So, I have ended up running the One-Shot Wonders adventures.

We have 3 hour sessions and players may not have a character prepared (especially on Fridays). I keep a set of pre-gens available, but experienced players generally want to create a character on the fly if they don't have one already. This means we don't start on the dot. I can generally go a bit over the 3 hours because the card players are still playing. But, previously, the store has wanted us to stop by 9pm so they could close up.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I started out running simple scenarios that I knew could finish in 3-4 hours, with 6-12 encounter areas. However, that was too much work, so I switched to a more West Marches format with delves into a Mega dungeon where everyone left at the end of the session.

Do they get handwaved back, do you make them roleplay getting back out or do you use some other mechanism?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I started by trying to run Lost Mines, but there wasn't the consistency for that. So, I have ended up running the One-Shot Wonders adventures.

I've got that book and that's a really good idea for store adventures. Short and sweet, and very easy to prep. And family friendly (to the extent that stabbing monsters is family friendly).

We have 3 hour sessions and players may not have a character prepared (especially on Fridays). I keep a set of pre-gens available, but experienced players generally want to create a character on the fly if they don't have one already. This means we don't start on the dot. I can generally go a bit over the 3 hours because the card players are still playing. But, previously, the store has wanted us to stop by 9pm so they could close up.

Yeah, that's the hard stop my FLGS has, too, but will allow groups to go a little over if they're playing, not chit-chatting, and close to being done. (The last store employee on duty wants to go home eventually, obviously.)

 

[loverdrive]

I'm almost exclusively running games in our local RPG club. I enjoy having a big pool of players, and I obviously ain't going to anyone's house or inviting anyone in mine.

Structuring the game in a way to make it possible for characters to switch is a must -- whether it's by making each session a self-contained adventure or by having some sort of resupply camp nearby.

Other than that, giving players something to fiddle with inbetween sessions is good for engagement. Our game has city building (re-building? it got obliterated at the end of Season 1) during downtime, where players can pour resources into doing projects that provide long-term benefits (like how upgrading tavern improves morale, represented in meta-currency generation) or unlock content (like a Halloween special!)

Honestly it's kind of funny how we basically reinvented seasons and battlepasses from first principles. Yesterday I caught myself thinking about handing out/selling campaign memorabilia to players to induce FOMO ><

 

[Celebrim]

Do they get handwaved back, do you make them roleplay getting back out or do you use some other mechanism?

For the purposes of the weekly game, they handwaved back when we ran out of time. I would guess we only ran about 6-7 sessions in the mega dungeon (I ran like 13 weeks) and so at no point did anyone get more than 5 or 6 rooms from the entrance/exit, so it was never a big deal to suggest everyone retreated.