What to do...

[Dave0047]

Due to a schedule change I will no longer be able to play D&D 4th with my current group (which only plays maybe once every two months due to the DM's inability to run a game if any one of seven different players can't make it). What a shame right?

So now I'm once again leaving the player arena and probably returning to GM/DMing because no one ever wants to do the work. My new gaming night will be Sunday evenings (I work nights, and will be off Sunday evenings). I know people usually work Monday mornings so it might prohibit people from playing, and I'm unable to run the game at my own house on Sunday evenings for various reasons, so I'm not really sure what to do. I could obviously just put feelers out and see who bites but then there's always the option to just give up roleplaying altogether until my schedule changes or something.

Anyways, the other issue I'm having is I'm not sure which system to run. I'm a huge fan of:
-Star Wars Saga Edition (or Mass Effect via SWSE using my own campaign document, but that document is only 70% done)
-Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
-Serenity (either Margaret Weis or SWSE and my own campaign document)
-Supernatural (Margaret Weis)
-Deathwatch/Dark Heresy (Fantasy Flight)

Whenever I say I'm going to start up a roleplaying campaign I usually get 5-10 people dying to get in on a game and bugging me to join (well, for D&D and SWSE at least), so finding players won't be a problem but limiting them will be. I suppose when I say "Sunday nights only", or maybe "Sunday nights every other week", combined with "I want to run X system", that will help dwindle the player pool.

Anyways, I've already got a bit of work done for D&D 4E. I started a 5x5 grid for a Paragon tier campaign that takes place after all of the 4E Essentials adventures and sorta/kinda ties in to the H1-2-3 modules by WotC, with Kalarel (or equivalent) trying to destroy the Nentir Vale by summoning armies of Demons and eventually Orcus. As for Star Wars, I keep busting out notepads and jotting down plot ideas starting with major plots and twists then boiling it down to minor plots, small linked adventures, and missions, all based around a small campaign I ran back in 2008 where a Sith Lord is trying to revive pre-KotOR-era Sith Lords with a machine that was destroyed and buried on Korriban.

So I guess I'm asking what do you guys think I should do as a whole, and if I shouldn't give up, which system/campaign should I run? Which sounds more fun/interesting?

 

[delericho]

Due to a schedule change I will no longer be able to play D&D 4th with my current group (which only plays maybe once every two months due to the DM's inability to run a game if any one of seven different players can't make it)

Wow, really? If I insisted that we only run with all players present, we'd never get a game! We run provided no more than 2 players (out of 6) are missing.

Anyways, the other issue I'm having is I'm not sure which system to run. I'm a huge fan of:
-Star Wars Saga Edition (or Mass Effect via SWSE using my own campaign document, but that document is only 70% done)
-Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
-Serenity (either Margaret Weis or SWSE and my own campaign document)
-Supernatural (Margaret Weis)
-Deathwatch/Dark Heresy (Fantasy Flight)

Whenever I say I'm going to start up a roleplaying campaign I usually get 5-10 people dying to get in on a game and bugging me to join (well, for D&D and SWSE at least), so finding players won't be a problem but limiting them will be. I suppose when I say "Sunday nights only", or maybe "Sunday nights every other week", combined with "I want to run X system", that will help dwindle the player pool.

Yeah, I would suggest putting out the feelers, and accepting players on a "first come" basis. If someone proves unreliable, bump them in favour of someone who is.

Anyways, I've already got a bit of work done for D&D 4E. I started a 5x5 grid for a Paragon tier campaign...

What's a 5x5 grid, and how do you use it?

So I guess I'm asking what do you guys think I should do as a whole, and if I shouldn't give up, which system/campaign should I run? Which sounds more fun/interesting?

If you're keen to play, you shouldn't give up. As for which you should run... you should run the one that interests you most of all. You'll do the best job that way.

(Personally, I'd go for the SWSE one, but that's a system preference as I'm not keen on 4e. But that's a poor reason for you to choose, given that I won't be playing either way!)

 

[scourger]

Do what is the most fun for you. I, too, like the sound of the Star Wars game. I think you could make it an episodic game so that you play regardless of who is present on a given date.

 

[Derfmancher]

Ive always wanted to run a Serenity game. I think it would be a blast with the right people.

Please do tell what a 5x5 grid is!?

 

[S'mon]

If your fellow players are flaky, I suggest an episodic campaign where each adventure can be completed in one night - like an episodic sf tv show, or Gygaxian megadungeon delves, or single-session missions. That way you don't need to worry so much about every player showing up. It's also more amenable to long breaks between games.

This would tend to argue for a system where you can get a lot done in a night; so possibly not 4e unless you are using 3-room Dungeon Delve type adventures.

 

[S'mon]

Wow, really? If I insisted that we only run with all players present, we'd never get a game! We run provided no more than 2 players (out of 6) are missing.

I usually regard a game as quorate if I have 3 players, out of typically 5 or 6. But I wouldn't just send them home if only 2 showed, I'd use a companion NPC or they could do stuff that only needed a couple PCs.

AD&D was a lot better for running with 1-2 PCs AIR, by mid-level the PCs were very robust and could easily handle low-level adventures solo.

 

[Dave0047]

Thanks for the input guys!

And here's a link to what I meant by a "5x5 grid" (which I really meant "5x5 method"):
The 5×5 Method : Critical Hits

and another:
Using the 5×5 Method for Adventure Design : Critical Hits

and another:
Critical Hits Podcast #18: Planning Your Campaign Using the 5×5 Method Seminar : Critical Hits

with associated podcast:
http://www.critical-hits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/5x5Method.mp3

 

[Lwaxy]

Find players who don't work Mondays. Like hairdressers. At least they don't work Mondays over here.

I am sure there are others who can only play Sundays. I had/have a group which can only play Wednesdays.

 

[Water Bob]

Due to a schedule change I will no longer be able to play D&D 4th with my current group (which only plays maybe once every two months due to the DM's inability to run a game if any one of seven different players can't make it). What a shame right?

I've always used that rule for all of my games. I've never once run a game where I would allow the game to happen should everyone not be present (unless the player's character was logically somewhere else).

Those who don't make our game session a priority in their lives once everyone has agreed to the next game time do not get invited back.

Many people do, but I would never enjoy a game where different players showed up inconsistently.

 

[S'mon]

When I ran games at my house I used to expect all players to show up. But since mid 2008 I've been GMing at the London D&D Meetup, and I just run with whoever shows - hopefully they tell me in advance if they're not coming, but often not.

Even pre-2008 I would never have cancelled a game just because a player or two cancelled, though. I've always found that momentum requires sticking to a regular schedule. I could never play in a campaign where the GM cancelled whenever a player could not make it. There are a couple GMs (out of about 15-20) at the Meetup who constantly move their game around to accommodate players with odd schedules. Every session is preceded by a negotiation exercise as to when it will take place. I could never play in a campaign like that, I need to know that the game will be happening (eg) fortnightly on Mondays, and that it won't be cancelled barring a major emergency/illness hitting the GM. This lets me set my teaching and domestic schedules to keep Monday evenings free, which requires a lot of planning months in advance.
Generally, I think trying to accommodate irregular players is a bad idea, and if the GM himself is irregular then that's a game to avoid.