The Caller and the Mapper

[Emerikol]

We jokingly nicknamed our caller the menial decision maker. Honestly that is what he does. Turn left or right and no one has a good reason why let the caller decide. I've always had a mapper too.

I do not think dungeon play was niche in 1980. Not a chance. Many of the great modules came out after 1980 and they were practically all dungeons. We played dungeon oriented campaigns and still do all through that time period. In those days, I knew of many groups though (far more than now) and they all were dungeon exploring.

Now let me caveat. A castle, tower, cavern complex, haunted house, etc... are all dungeons the way I'm using the term.

A dungeon is a restricted movement area that is mappable in five or ten foot squares.

 

[diaglo]

In my experience, this varied from table to table, or game to game. Some used a caller only outside combat, others used one during combat, others used them at both times.

:ditto:

as a referee i make all the players callers. they are the caller for their individual PC. but in large groups it helps a lot if you have someone take the role of organizing the players actions.

example> referee: you find the passage ends with a door.
thief: i check the door.
magic user: i cast detect magic
cleric: i cast detect traps
fighter: i attempt str check with my open door...

referee: hold on. i heard thief, magic user, cleric, and fighter in that order... i will run it as such.

but imagine the referee heard the fighter first over the cacophony and there was a magic trap. it would be an argument with the rest of the group saying they had made the right call.

what a caller does best is get the party to act as a team and come up with a strategy for normal occasions and less so normal ones.

 

[diaglo]

likewise someone mapping helps the party recall past adventures. even years (in game terms and real life) later.
yes, some referees like me pull modifications to old sites. restocking them when abandoned. restyle them too. since obviously the previous tenants didn't fair so well the way it was laid out.


and as mentioned someone tracking party items is good too. you want to know who has the last potion of healing when the cleric needs it cuz he went down.

 

[howandwhy99]

Each player operates a playing piece in the game. This piece is usually hidden on the game board the DM keeps behind the screen.

Some of the features of the board and piece may be abstracted for the DM's ease, but they can be laid back out on the board, if necessary.

When the player takes a move the game may result in different consequences according to the rules the players are attempting to decipher in order to achieve their self-selected objectives.

The DM will move the playing pieces and relay the consequences after every move each turn.

When a player announces their move they are acting as a Caller. Performing this action is performing the action of a Caller.

Groups of players working together usually select a single Caller for the group depending upon the situation. For ease, we call this the Group Caller.

In almost all cases using a Group Caller speeds up play. The Group caller relates the moves of all the player in his or her group and each receives a response either collectively or individually as the game rules determine.

Group Callers are an especially good tactic for large groups as, say, 4 hours of play with 17 individual callers and 1 DM can make the game feel interminable rather than fast, responsive, and thrilling.

Placing a 1 minute limit on all groups to determine next actions can also speed up play and increase excitement, but this should be a house rule.

 

[GMMichael]

PC jobs

Is it too early/late for this thread to dovetail?

As a GM, I am now 100% serious about keeping players involved by giving them more to do. Caller and mapper are two very good examples of such tasks.

What else is there?

Treasurer's not bad. Its application seems more limited than Caller or Mapper.

What about Rules Lawyer? Only one player is allowed to look up rules, and only when it's not his turn. If the rules lawyer can find the rule before a round has ended, then it's not too late to change the outcome. While this one seems limited too (only during rules disputes), I can easily see some players constantly sifting through the rule books. Which might keep them away from Angry Birds.

Herder? Someone to keep PCs focused and preventing Out Of Character conversation?

Snack Wrangler?

If we're averaging four PCs, we should have four different PC secondary jobs, right?

 

[diaglo]

Is it too early/late for this thread to dovetail?

As a GM, I am now 100% serious about keeping players involved by giving them more to do. Caller and mapper are two very good examples of such tasks.

What else is there?

Treasurer's not bad. Its application seems more limited than Caller or Mapper.

What about Rules Lawyer? Only one player is allowed to look up rules, and only when it's not his turn. If the rules lawyer can find the rule before a round has ended, then it's not too late to change the outcome. While this one seems limited too (only during rules disputes), I can easily see some players constantly sifting through the rule books. Which might keep them away from Angry Birds.

Herder? Someone to keep PCs focused and preventing Out Of Character conversation?

Snack Wrangler?

If we're averaging four PCs, we should have four different PC secondary jobs, right?

some groups have players with small bladders, need for smokes, or have to take calls from kids or work.

a substitute Caller, Mapper, Party treasurer to keep the flow going helps.
but most times the referee can just call a 5 minute break for the group to help take care of business. it also helps clean up things like rules discussions or hidden actions or the players to talk outside of the referee's hearing if they want to try a new approach to the scenario (i am not saying this is player vs referee or vice versa). some people just think better saying things out loud.

 

[dd.stevenson]

Snack Wrangler?

Beer fetcher.

 

[DaveyJones]

Beer fetcher.

someone has to bribe the referee.

 

[Emerikol]

Is it too early/late for this thread to dovetail?

As a GM, I am now 100% serious about keeping players involved by giving them more to do. Caller and mapper are two very good examples of such tasks.

What else is there?

Treasurer's not bad. Its application seems more limited than Caller or Mapper.

What about Rules Lawyer? Only one player is allowed to look up rules, and only when it's not his turn. If the rules lawyer can find the rule before a round has ended, then it's not too late to change the outcome. While this one seems limited too (only during rules disputes), I can easily see some players constantly sifting through the rule books. Which might keep them away from Angry Birds.

Herder? Someone to keep PCs focused and preventing Out Of Character conversation?

Snack Wrangler?

If we're averaging four PCs, we should have four different PC secondary jobs, right?

Good idea. Great idea actually.

The rules lawyer one though I wouldn't go for. I never look up rules at the table. It slows the game down. If the player doesn't know then I make a call usually conservatively so that next time he is ready. I'm almost always ready because I take notes but if not I make an executive decision. I'm not opening a book and stopping the game.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Morale Officer and Hygiene Officer.