General What are the personal qualities/skills of a good referee?
- Thread starter kilemall
- Start date
I would say prep is key.
Not necessarily having every encounter mapped out and every NPC fully statted with backstory, but rather knowing the material, preparing for Plans B and C, and having your notes, etc well organized.
In my current face to face game the Ref is continually referring to rules and charts when caught off guard by our actions and it slows the pace. Sometimes he has to refer to his story notes to verify something before he provides an NPC response. Occasionally conversation drifts away from the game to outside topics while he's trying to decide how to handle the situation. It's mildly frustrating but nothing worth leaving the game over.
Having said that, we're having a blast because it's a great game and we're an easy-going group. I just keep thinking how much more we could be doing if he were better prepared.
Not necessarily having every encounter mapped out and every NPC fully statted with backstory, but rather knowing the material, preparing for Plans B and C, and having your notes, etc well organized.
In my current face to face game the Ref is continually referring to rules and charts when caught off guard by our actions and it slows the pace. Sometimes he has to refer to his story notes to verify something before he provides an NPC response. Occasionally conversation drifts away from the game to outside topics while he's trying to decide how to handle the situation. It's mildly frustrating but nothing worth leaving the game over.
Having said that, we're having a blast because it's a great game and we're an easy-going group. I just keep thinking how much more we could be doing if he were better prepared.
Neither.
Both.
Online videocam.
All.
Whatever way you play or ref, and if you think the medium affects which skills count, then by all means differentiate.
The ability to improvise allows refs to react to players and go with their crazy ideas without railroading them.
Understanding of How Things Work gives the ref background knowledge on which to base decisions concerning skills and adjudicating skill checks. If you have no idea about, say, driving at 100 kph over rough terrain, you won't know how to judge a dice check (or decide if a dice check can be waived away) or how to describe what happens.
Social Intelligence allows a ref to read their table and know when someone is bored or checking out or upset, and address it. A good ref knows their audience.
Multitasking and time-management skill lets a ref hand off a decision to one or more players before jamming one's nose back into notes and books, so players aren't just sitting there bored and waiting.
Understanding of How Things Work gives the ref background knowledge on which to base decisions concerning skills and adjudicating skill checks. If you have no idea about, say, driving at 100 kph over rough terrain, you won't know how to judge a dice check (or decide if a dice check can be waived away) or how to describe what happens.
Social Intelligence allows a ref to read their table and know when someone is bored or checking out or upset, and address it. A good ref knows their audience.
Multitasking and time-management skill lets a ref hand off a decision to one or more players before jamming one's nose back into notes and books, so players aren't just sitting there bored and waiting.
I would say every Ref does, at least in their own universe.
When I was a kid playing Trav and D&D, things were in hindsight quite ridiculous. In one encounter I had a dwarf fighter using wine for molotov cocktails and the DM allowed it. We didn't know any better. But we created a precedent for that game and it became consistent. Turns out wine in that universe was REALLY strong. And probably tasted like crap but it was kobold wine, so whatever.
These days I have real life experiences which I can base game decisions upon. So while I've never fired a PGMP I have fired a few weapons (non-combat environments) and I feel I can extrapolate and make the baseline reality for a game with magical weapons. I could go on (high speed air maneuvers, third world countries, aquatic operations) but I'm sure you take my point.
To me that falls under prepping the material. YTU works your way, another's TU works their way. Prepping and knowing your material can allow for or even define Understanding of How Things Work.
I would like to add the ability to improvise to my initial list above. Plans B & C are prep; improvisation is knowing when to implement them.
What it's "like"? Sure.
A good ref expands their experiences so they can extrapolate. Try on a hazmat suit and do something. Fire a large rifle. Read accounts of people in artillery combat, or of astronauts trying to do stuff.
And then know your rules and how they apply to tasks, so that you can at least apply the rules as consistently as possible and be able to describe the results in an interesting way.
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(muffle) (MUFFLE)
a band of drunk roman soldiers sitting around the campfire one night, extrapolating what war will be like in 2000 years ...
"in the future everyone will have a horse!"
"oh shut up, that would be too expensive!"
"and everyone will have one of those new mechanical crossbows!"
"did the centurion hit you in the head? that much iron would cost a fortune, they'd never issue something like that to us plebes! besides, nothing beats a good roman sword in a good roman hand!"
"and the same messenger network that brings ice to the emperor will bring him battle reports every day!"
"that would take more men than are in the legions now. off to bed with you."
"but women will be soldiers too!"
(stare)
These.
Nitpicking and off-topic, I know, but from what I remember, Ancient World crossbows were powered by a composite bow. Not sure whether it applies to Roman crossbows, but even then, a gladius definitely had more iron in it!
Can't contribute much to your discussion, because I'm not sure what, exactly, you're arguing for, or against.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
The Romans, and indeed, the Ancient World did not really use the crossbow, except for the Greek "gastraphetes" or "belly bow", an early form of hand-held ballista. The Chinese were apparently using it much earlier, and the use may have spread from them. The Later Medieval crossbows actually used steel springs for the bow, and have been found to have pulls in excess of 1,000.
With respect to the subject, I figure the most important thing for the Game Master to remember is that the players should enjoy the game, and do what is necessary to make that happen.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
You have combined arms, so crossbow troops need a buffer zone in order to operate properly, since they need to be reloaded; the Chinese did have a magazine variant.
An interesting hybrid solution was issuing the Roman legionary with a pilum, whose two primary variants could allow them to launch a light javelin at some distance to thin out the unprotected opposition, a heavier one to open up holes in the enemy line, and it could still be used as a pig sticker.
An interesting hybrid solution was issuing the Roman legionary with a pilum, whose two primary variants could allow them to launch a light javelin at some distance to thin out the unprotected opposition, a heavier one to open up holes in the enemy line, and it could still be used as a pig sticker.
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