Face to Face GM style: How do you do it?
Hello everyone, the purpose of this thread is to hear how other GM’s handle and run Face to Face game-play for their player groups? I am also interested in hear how players would like to see or prefer to play a Face to Face table top game session as well too!
So let me start with saying I am in the old school of GMing and etc. I am a 49 yrs. old male, and have been gaming D&D and Traveller now for over 37+ yrs. I have created and built my own campaign for D&D and Traveller and started creating my own set of House Rules some 25+ yrs. ago. These House Rules are all written up and updated as changes happen and the games that greatly influenced them were; D&D ver. 2.5, All Traveller versions, and BRP d100 system.
My gaming group is made up of 7 players that have played in my group now for 11+ yrs. with me always the GM, and we play every other week at my home at my dining room table that sits 8 people. My wife is kind enough to let me take over the dining room as long as we clean up afterwards. I should also point out that all my gamers are guys my own age or older and have gamed about the same amount of time that I have too. Also each player also has their own gaming group outside my group and they all GM their own games the other week that my game is not playing. I should point out too, that each of them use my set of house rules with each having a few of their own tweaks for their own specific games.
Note on the house Rules, we as a collective group have always voted on which rules and etc. we wanted to use in the House Rules. I view and consider all of my gamers as friends and we do a lot more than just gaming together. Our families do a lot of things together, and our wives and kids also get together too. My oldest son runs a Hero Systems v5R Super Heroes game with a number of my gamers kids as well too, they meet on a different day to game than we dad’s do.
So my game is held at my house every other Wednesday night. Starts at 6pm and runs till 10:30pm, when clean up begins. Now these guys start arriving from 5:35pm on and we usually do homemade chili with French bread. Everyone kicks in food stuffs, snacks, and soda! At the end of the night everyone helps out on total clean up and we are usually done and put away by 11 pm for my wife’s inspection!
Now as for the gaming room, I am lucky that I have box doors that I can close off the dining room with to cut down the noise factor. Next I have both Hex and grid battle matts that I lay on the table top, and then place down a Plexiglas cover over the top of the matts being used. The matts almost cover the table and works real well. We use Grease Pencils to draw with on the glass for situations and etc. Now we use painted figures, that I have hundreds of Lead ones (yes I have all the Traveller ones), or we use Resin minis too. Also I even have a Chalk board that I can roll into the room to draw things on or puts pictures up on to help with the story.
As for the seating around the table, I am at one end and then the rest are around the table. Three on either side with one at the end across from me. Next to me on my end I roll up a Victorian Tea cart, take off my wife’s silver Tea set and sprawl my 4 section GM screen on and then put note book, adventure info, figures I will need and dice all within the GMs screen area. Then the players have their game sheets, dice and figures out by them. They each have a figure painted in some detail for their characters and then there is their groups ship, Robots, and other items that are often used (air raft). Plus let’s not forget every ones glass on coasters<g>! I also have a large 5 minute hour glass that sits in front of me there that we might use if there is a called player Time Stop. We eat at the table so you also have plates and snacks around the table too. They get cleaned up as we go throughout the evening, makes clean up at the end a lot easier.
From there it is a typical guys Face to Face gaming session. Everyone gets along with each other, and they are all role players. They prefer politics and plot digs, than a combat. I will say they do like realism, and details a lot. They are all deep thinkers like myself, and that requires really well thought out plot lines and being able to “think on ones feet”. For me I run with the motto, that the players can go into any direction they want…all is an adventure for me. As I have said I always have plots within plots within plots. Now since I know my players, I know what each of them likes and wants, so I have an advantage in planning for that.
So that is my gaming situation for my Face to Face game and group…what do the rest of you like to do?
Hello everyone, the purpose of this thread is to hear how other GM’s handle and run Face to Face game-play for their player groups? I am also interested in hear how players would like to see or prefer to play a Face to Face table top game session as well too!
So let me start with saying I am in the old school of GMing and etc. I am a 49 yrs. old male, and have been gaming D&D and Traveller now for over 37+ yrs. I have created and built my own campaign for D&D and Traveller and started creating my own set of House Rules some 25+ yrs. ago. These House Rules are all written up and updated as changes happen and the games that greatly influenced them were; D&D ver. 2.5, All Traveller versions, and BRP d100 system.
My gaming group is made up of 7 players that have played in my group now for 11+ yrs. with me always the GM, and we play every other week at my home at my dining room table that sits 8 people. My wife is kind enough to let me take over the dining room as long as we clean up afterwards. I should also point out that all my gamers are guys my own age or older and have gamed about the same amount of time that I have too. Also each player also has their own gaming group outside my group and they all GM their own games the other week that my game is not playing. I should point out too, that each of them use my set of house rules with each having a few of their own tweaks for their own specific games.
Note on the house Rules, we as a collective group have always voted on which rules and etc. we wanted to use in the House Rules. I view and consider all of my gamers as friends and we do a lot more than just gaming together. Our families do a lot of things together, and our wives and kids also get together too. My oldest son runs a Hero Systems v5R Super Heroes game with a number of my gamers kids as well too, they meet on a different day to game than we dad’s do.
So my game is held at my house every other Wednesday night. Starts at 6pm and runs till 10:30pm, when clean up begins. Now these guys start arriving from 5:35pm on and we usually do homemade chili with French bread. Everyone kicks in food stuffs, snacks, and soda! At the end of the night everyone helps out on total clean up and we are usually done and put away by 11 pm for my wife’s inspection!
Now as for the gaming room, I am lucky that I have box doors that I can close off the dining room with to cut down the noise factor. Next I have both Hex and grid battle matts that I lay on the table top, and then place down a Plexiglas cover over the top of the matts being used. The matts almost cover the table and works real well. We use Grease Pencils to draw with on the glass for situations and etc. Now we use painted figures, that I have hundreds of Lead ones (yes I have all the Traveller ones), or we use Resin minis too. Also I even have a Chalk board that I can roll into the room to draw things on or puts pictures up on to help with the story.
As for the seating around the table, I am at one end and then the rest are around the table. Three on either side with one at the end across from me. Next to me on my end I roll up a Victorian Tea cart, take off my wife’s silver Tea set and sprawl my 4 section GM screen on and then put note book, adventure info, figures I will need and dice all within the GMs screen area. Then the players have their game sheets, dice and figures out by them. They each have a figure painted in some detail for their characters and then there is their groups ship, Robots, and other items that are often used (air raft). Plus let’s not forget every ones glass on coasters<g>! I also have a large 5 minute hour glass that sits in front of me there that we might use if there is a called player Time Stop. We eat at the table so you also have plates and snacks around the table too. They get cleaned up as we go throughout the evening, makes clean up at the end a lot easier.
From there it is a typical guys Face to Face gaming session. Everyone gets along with each other, and they are all role players. They prefer politics and plot digs, than a combat. I will say they do like realism, and details a lot. They are all deep thinkers like myself, and that requires really well thought out plot lines and being able to “think on ones feet”. For me I run with the motto, that the players can go into any direction they want…all is an adventure for me. As I have said I always have plots within plots within plots. Now since I know my players, I know what each of them likes and wants, so I have an advantage in planning for that.
So that is my gaming situation for my Face to Face game and group…what do the rest of you like to do?
