Refs: How do you run your game?

[stofsk]

I'm interested in hearing how you decide to ref your games. Do you plan things down to the finest detail, do you make use of the adventures that are released? Or are you the 'fly by the seat of your pants' referee? Where improvisation rules and planning be damned.

Both are extremes, so I wager most refs will fall in a middle ground. Though I imagine there is always room for manoeuver. Planning more than improvising, or planning for certain things while the rest is more or less on the fly.

Secondly, what little things do you do - either in-game or out-of-game - to *enhance* the play experience? Do you have atmospheric music run in the background? Do you have artwork that depicts who or what is encountered in-game? Do you get a game tithe thing happening where players come with offers of booze and feasts of snacks to appease the mighty gamemaster? Do you use miniatures, do you have a large print off starmap you pin on the wall the players can always get up and look at? "Oh! So THAT'S where we are... and that's why we're being attacked, because there's this red circle thing around the system."

Thirdly, is there stuff that you just don't do? Certain things that haven't worked (the music thing: maybe you found that it was too distracting)?

 

[selunatic2397]

I am definately a fly by the seat of my pants ref.

I let the jump capacitators hold a charge pert near indefinately. And even let the pc's fuel up after charging up to add jump range.

Most, if not all, of the ships that I use or design are way over the tonnage or space allowed for that ship.

I've cheerfully used the traders and gunboats plan for the far trader without nary a peep from my players.

And don't let me get started about putting drives and weapons into ships that not ought to have them fit all right and proper.

Why???

Because we have fun playing this game

And that's why we're all here too.

 

[Ron]

All my stuff is created while comuting to and from the work by subway. Later at home I make some notes, which rarely take more than a single sheet of paper. That's all I need. No wonder I am fan of Traveller's simplicity as it fits nicely with my gaming style.

 

[JAFARR]

Plans last about 5 minutes of playing time, so I make a generalized outline of what I want to give my players to work with, then it goes from there. As a player, I usually tear up what the ref had in mind, so turnabout is fair play. If we start with a generalization and the players want more specifics, either they get made up on the spot or pushed to the back burner til next session when I fill in the blanks.

For example: The game I am running head to head with a single player was left behind when he branched off in the opposite direction I was going. I made up things right and left to keep up with him. He met a NPC, asked a few questions about something, and I ended up with a main character when he decided to bring justice into that NPC's life. He ended with leaving the system, subsector, and even the Imperium just ahead of the local noble's wrath that his (the noble's) corrupt handling of the NPC was exposed. My opening plan was for the retired scout (PC) to take a message to a covert operative in the Federation of Arden, but he took up his fight for the underdog before I could get him his assignment with the old "You are a retired scout with a scout ship who has just been recalled..." routine. He went to Darrian, got a job looking for skipped shipowners and is now back in the Imperium playing bounty hunter to support his scout. He doesn't dare go to the Vilis subsector until he can find proper authorities to pass incriminating evidence about a certian Marquis. If we ever get a chance to play again, I have an offer that I think will entice him to turn in his scout ship at the nearest scout base. Then we will see if I can get my new plan going before he adopts another cause to scrap that plan.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

I like to plan each session as an outline with an "If/Then/Else" format. The more detailed the plan, however, the easier it is for the players to make it irrelevant. On that note, here are a few things for every referee to keep in mind:

- Anything a referee does can get the players angry. This includes doing nothing.
- Arguing with the referee is a sure way for players to get results (but not the results they want, right?).
- Bonus experience points should only be awarded when the player was smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough for his or her character to survive.
- Allow the players to munchkinize their characters; because if the players can bend the rules and munchkinize, then so can the referee!.
- Incoming pizza always has the right of way.
- Keep all the players involved; it gives them more to think (worry) about.
- Long-time players are predictable; it's the newbies that are dangerous.
- Never trust a player who carries more books and dice than you do.
- No plan of events ever survives the first few minutes of play intact.
- The only thing more deadly to a character than a critical hit roll is a critical failure roll.
- When in doubt, roll the dice and smile.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

I start with what the characters are like, and go from there. I sometimes make event so large that they could not handle it, and must solve Around the Event. Either that or I keep them wound up so tight that even the mundane stuff has been seen to be potentially lethal.

Action wise, it goes like a Book. I do an intro to a thread or Adv. and then the players react and do dialog. Players do a lot of the description of what thier character does. How effective that is , is up to the character.

Even a well described action can not always end up good for the player, but at least it is interesting, and fits an overall scope.

As far as technically, I automate everything into adaptable segments to anticipate any player divergences from the Event Outline.

But key is keeping it moving.

 

[Klaus]

I ref like I teach - think about it all for an hour before going to sleep and then just make it up when the time comes (though I'll often have loads of npcs pre-prepared). I tend to play by the seat of my pants, and if thrown heavily off course I'll slot in a favourite scene from a sci-fi novel (which can sometimes give my players a weird and strangely personal sense of deja vu when reading a new book...)

 

[parmasson]

My players are mostly self-directed with objectives and goals. My job is to get in their way.
Level of Plot Detail: General points, goals and objectives. Mostly I use their guesses and fears to build the next adventure. Action and encounters are location based like traps. Go to system X and event A occurs, in system Y event B occurs. Sometimes they are part of the plot sometimes not. Try to make encounters that will engage everybody.

Humor, we must have that.

Support materials: Loads of details, NPCs, TAS news updates, and homemade maps. Detail the locations till you need a database to keep track of it and adventure is sure to follow. We always have good food and wine to make the event something special.

Things I don’t do: Get bogged down by rules and tables. Good role playing beats good dice rolls any day. No mood music.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

Long ago I realized that the best laid plans of mice, men, and referees will be thwarted by a hot dice hand, munchkin players, and lack of preparation.

I losened my planning to just include bare notes and location of subplots in my voluminous poorly filed notes. Naturally everyone expects the ref to look at noites during play. With everything cross referenced, I can counter player's surprises with my own!

I pretty much let players get away with almost anything, if they can throw some convincing technobabble at me and can convince me that their handwavium is plausible.

Background music, handouts, pictures...It all gets thrown into the mix. I don't allow recrestional narcotics, though...too much loss of attention span...

 

[JAFARR]

Originally posted by Dominion Loyalty Officer:
.... With everything cross referenced, I can counter player's surprises with my own! ...

As a refereeing friend of mine used to warn players who saw problems of some sort in everything, and proceeded to run on and on about what was going to happen, "Don't give me any more ideas. What I have planned for you is bad enough already." or words to that effect.

 

[aramis]

"My butt never hits the chair" - Flying by the seat of the pants so much. I still use published adventures, tho', when I can tweak players to do them.

I use MT, and the Task system, for excellent effect.

 

[Jame]

I do something like what Andy Fralix does - write down enough of an outline to get me through a few hours, which is what I want to do, but use it primarily for reference and NPC stats and reaction guidelines. And my primary rule is to not know exactly what will happen in the next adventure until the current one is wrapped up.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by stofsk:
Or are you the 'fly by the seat of your pants' referee? Where improvisation rules and planning be damned.

I've found that being good at improvisation takes far more planning than running a more-or-less standard "adventure."

I like to play with players whose characters have goals (hopefully that they can pursue together...!), so I prefer to give them maximum latitude: Have Spaceship, Will Travel. Most of my prep time then is spent on creating NPCs and their motivations, fleshing out UWPs into interesting star systems, and understanding the "big picture" events at varying degrees of granularity. That means when I roll up a random encounter in space or on a planet, I can seamlessly fit it into the setting. (At least that is my goal. Whether or not I achieve it is another story!)

As a referee, I enjoy the challenge of interpreting random results into something coherent and consistent. I really like the "Events and Encounters" system from (of all places) the 1e AD&D Oriental Adventures campaign setting. The other day I randomly created the yearly and monthly events for a half-dozen polities in the Gateway (JG version) - the results were (1) a war between the Sydymic Empire and the United Systems following a major beltstrike in the Empire that attracted corsairs from the US, (2) the assassination of the Duke of Jullanar's daughter and heir on an inspection tour in the old Matirishan Federation of the Imperium, (3) a series of high-level security meetings between the Ramayan Federation and the Sphere Fenix (prompted by the war between the Sydymics and the al-Amyi), and (4) a rebellion in the Mandanin Co-Dominium that will be ruthlessly suppressed, along with dozens of smaller events that fill out my TAS bulletins, explain why there is an increase of both naval patrols and corsair activity in the Outworlds, and help me to create a few patrons and merc tickets on the off-chance that the player want to hire themselves out.

On that latter point, I will have a few "adventure skeletons" sitting around, as a contingency. I'll slip them in at opportune moments, and add flesh to the animated bones based on the current circumstances. These skeletons usually consist of an NPC or three, a goal, and barriers to that goal - I don't bother with deciding in advance on things like locations other than in very broad strokes that can be placed as needed should the occasion arise. I also create tables of rumors, most based on those random events, a few tied to the different skeletons - if the characters pursue one of the skeleton rumors, then I can drop in the encounter. The emphasis is on flexibility.

I read something on another bulletin board that stuck with me, that describes my own style to the tee: to paraphrase, the referee or gamemaster isn't a director or a writer, but rather a set dresser and the production assistant who herds the extras around the lot. The players are the actors and tell the "story" by their actions.

As referee I like to be as surprised as the players by the final product that emerges during play, rather than having all the answers and pulling the strings so that the right questions will be asked.

 

[kafka47]

I usually have a broad outline as well complete with maps but then rely on the flying by the seat of my paints, although, I am not adverse to using NPCs to get the players back on track, it usually involves nasty individuals pointing big guns at them.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by kafka47:
...although, I am not adverse to using NPCs to get the players back on track, it usually involves nasty individuals pointing big guns at them.

Another fan of the Raymond Chandler school of refereeing: "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand."

 

[kafka47]

Actually, I do take a lot inspiration from Hard Boiled Detective Stories for a lot of my adventures with a liberal spreading Cyberpunk dished up with a Hard/Soft SF. Railroading has ugly connetations but sometimes a neccessary evil. Being a Referee is a thankless task but never a dull moment when one has interesting, innovative players. Relay less on the dice, more on your wits, and you will be fine.

 

[Klaus]

I tend to go easy on my players, but make them feel they're always in a gun sight.

I've played against (and that's how it felt) an insanely vindictive GM and it's not nice. I was guesting in a game (a weekend trip, GURPS Space) playing a character not unlike Charlise Theron's Aeon Flux, and within the first half hour of playing she'd been blinded and knocked unconscious by the gm's nutty npc gunslinger, and while the 2 other players were arguing about what to do the npc cut my hand off for fun. Fun it wasn't, and I'll never play GURPS again.

 

[Whipsnade]

stofsk,

Being a lazy SOB, I used every published Traveller supplement I could get my hands on. There was no need to make animal encounter tables as there was a supplement full of them. You could tweak those tables to make new ones faster than you could create your own. Ditto all the NPC supplements GDW made available for CT.

I rarely detailed NPCs beyond a stripped down UPP and a relevant skill. Is the NPC a bar bruiser? All you really need was STR, END, and DEX plus their brawling and knife skill levels then. You can see how you can 'strip' down NPCs in other ways for other encounters.

Thanks to the published GDW adventures, I had many detailed NPCs at hand. Each adventure had a set of 6 to 8 fully generated characters. I kept those and others on 3x5 cards for easy reference.

I was also a big fan of using props, hand-outs, minis, and boardgames during play. Acting as the patron, I'd pass along maps (hand drawn stuff it was the 80s remember), 'photos' of persons of interest (stuff snipped from magazines), memos and other documents ( written or typed stuff, later dot-matrix printed stuff from my KayPro-II computer), and other goodies. I also encouraged the players to make documents for the characters too; maps, trading sheets, 'rolodexes', troubleshooting procedures, etc.

In play, I used minis either on tabletop with basic 'kitchen cabinet' terrain or on grids like Snapshot. I used various wargames too. Both GDW published, Mayday especially, and others like AH's Squad Leader.

I used my hand-outs and the minis/games not only as ways to move the plot but also as a means of misdirection. The 'documents' and 'photos' I passed out were always suspect. The players learned they should never take them at face value, but shouldn't dismiss them out of hand either.

After a jump, I'd routinely pull out the Mayday, set up the players' ship, other ships, and the planet they were travelling towards. I'd then have the player pilot and/or navigator move the ship to the planet as I moved the other vessels. As they did so, I'd watch with great interest, making noncommital noises, and occasionally rolling dice behind a screen. Sometimes I had an 'event' planned. Sometimes I had nothing planned. Sometimes I simply applied a roll to an encounter table. The players never knew the difference and never treated a 'routine' journey to or from the jump limit in a ho-hum manner.

I pulled this same 'trick' with tabletop minis and board wargames too.

Despite my use of props, I didn't spend a lot of time preparing for my sessions. I'd jot down an outline of where I wanted the session/campaign to go, cobble together my 'props' as needed, and generally let things happen. Joe Fugate(1), one of DGP's head honchos, once wrote answered a role-playing question concerning players going off on unplanned tangents. His advice mirrored my experience perfectly. He wrote that you should allow the tangent to take place, but then 'bend' or 'loop' the players back towards the path your plot requires.

Case in point: I was running a trade/speculation campaign centered on Grote/Glisten. (i've heard this described this as a 'hub & spoke' campaign. You heavily detail one world and use it as a base from which your players' adventure revolve around.) For plot purposes, I wanted the players to visit Forine and get in trouble there. Instead, they followed a tangent that took them towards Adabicci. Rather than 'force' them back towards Forine by the heavy handed GM methods, I gradually 'bent' or 'looped' their travels back towards Forine with a series of cargos and charters. They arrived months after when I'd wanted them to, but I could easily push the plot back that amount of time because I had deliberately kept things vague even for myself.

I suppose one thing I learned as a GM is that, the more you plan and plot, the more you tie your own hands and the more your players complain of railroading. After a certain point, details(2) are handcuffs. Go with general outlines and not detailed paragraphs.

Pay attention to your players' body language. Nothing is more deadly than boredom around the gaming table. If someone seems antsy, throw them a 'bone'. Have a NPC talk directly to them, create a task they have the best chance of completing, tweak the session towards something they like to do.

In one campaign, one of my players wasn't as enthusiastic about 'looting' pre-Maghiz Darrian sites around District 268. The players had found and had translated a very old Darrian database. They'd uncover each site, survey it, remove a few choice items for later resale, and then sell the location to the highest bidder(3). I cobbled together a 'sub' plot for him revolving around researching and writing a scholarly paper concerning one of the sites. (The PC was part Darrian and therefore had a research avocation.)


Have fun,
Bill

1 - Going by Mr. Fugate's answer to that and other role-playing questions, I must assume that he ran a game that must have been fun as hell to play in!

2 - By details, I don't mean details like Filthy McNasty has gold teeth, a crooked nose, and carries two snub pistols under his coattails. What I do mean by details is writing your campaign plot in such a manner that the players must be at a specific place at a specific time to see Filthy McNasty shoot someone.

3 - This eventually got them into quite a deal of trouble naturally.

 

[JAFARR]

I have never played in the GURPS system, but it seems you should refrain from playing a game run by that GM.

The system or even the game never have as much effect on wheither or the session is fun or not as those you are playing with (or even sometimes aginst). IMHO, the ref, GM, or who ever is to facilate the game, not to be the opponent. Sure he may set up a situation that opposes the players because that opposition gives the PCs purpose and something to oppose, but he should also structure it so that the PCs have a reasonable chance to achieve their goal(s).

Edit: I started this post before BillC. posted, but it looks like he posted before I did. The comment refers to the post before BillC's End edit

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by kafka47:
Actually, I do take a lot inspiration from Hard Boiled Detective Stories for a lot of my adventures...

Kafka,

I was fortunate enough to have access to quite a bit of Dashiell Hammett's magazine writings as a child. I've always incorporated the hard boiled and pulp genres into my campaigns.


Have fun,
Bill