Just recently I’ve rediscovered the art of painting miniatures. I’d dabbled with it in high school and again in college, but I was never really happy with my results. At that time, before the Internet, it was difficult to find information on how to paint minis and I was reduced to trial and error, since no one else I knew did it.

Not so anymore. With the Internet, there’s a wealth of mini painting resources available. Here’s some the ones I really like:

• Brushthralls.com. This is a blog devoted to miniature painting. While it hasn’t been updated since 2009, it’s still has a lot of great articles available.
• Cool Mini or Not. This is a forum for miniature painters. They have a slew of articles on just about every aspect of painting you can think of.
• Dr. Faust’s Painting Clinic. Offers a whole slew of painting tutorials from highlights and shading to creating believable flesh tones to basic sculpting.
• How to Paint Miniatures.com. Just as the name says, this site will take you step-by-step through painting miniatures. Offers both beginning and advanced tutorials.
• Jenova Project: Tips and Tutorials. Has a variety of painting tutorials, including recipes for creating various skintones.
• Miniature Mentor. If you like video tutorials, this might be the site for you. They offer both beginning and advanced to tutorials for download and some on DVD for an extra charge. I haven’t tried any of them yet, so I can’t vouch for how good they are.
• Necromancer Tales Miniatures: Tutorials, How-To, and Tips. Has a variety of tutorials, including several on building great bases for your minis to stand on.
• Painting Miniatures Figures Made Quick and Easy. While aimed at the miniature wargamer, who wants to turn out whole regiments as quickly as possible, this site is still a great tutorial for the basics, even if your minis are one at a time labors of love.
• Reaper Miniatures: The Craft. The granddaddy of miniature makers has a whole host of articles on their site. One of my favorites is on how to replace those gigantic swords.
• The Ultimate Miniature Painting Guide. Offered by Cool Mini or Not, this is a PDF book of 400+ pages. While it could’ve desperately used some good copy editing (there are places I’ve had to guess the author’s meaning), it’s chock full of great mini painting advice, covering everything from preparing your miniature to painting to making bases to photographing your minis. At $10, it’s a book that’d be a steal at twice the price.

[Photo courtesy of dalangalma at Flikr Creative Commons]

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Color My World: Painting Miniatures is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Sometimes the hardest part of building a character is  coming up with a good name. You can always take a name from Tolkien or other fantasy novels, but you’ve seen those names over and over and you want something a little different, but not way out there. How about an historical name? Or one from a different culture? So far in this series, we’ve covered Roman, Russian, Italian, and Anglo-Saxon names. If none of these suit you, how about an Ancient Egyptian one?

Ancient Egyptian Name Structure

Names in ancient Egypt seen to have been chosen with great care for their meaning. Many contained the name of a god, as well as common words or phrases and could be used by either men or women. In some cases, as needed for identification, a person might be known by two names: one as their formal name and another, which was what they were called most of the time.

As with all posts in this series, the list here isn’t intended to be historically accurate. It’s merely providing suggestions for use with role-playing games. If historical accuracy is important, you’ll want to check your name against reliable historical records.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr, ©isawnyu 2010)

Male Names

• Abi
• Ahmose
• Amenemhet
• Ahmose
• Bes
• Den
• Djet
• Hekanakht
• Heru
• Horemheb
• Kamose
• Menes
• Metesouphis
• Nebnefer
• Neferirkare
• Padiu
• Pakamen
• Pakapu
• Panhsj
• Seti
• Siptah
• Ti

Female Names

• Achotep
• Ahori
• Amenirdis
• Beset
• Cena
• Henut
• Hetepet
• Iutenheb
• Khentkaus
• Meritnit
• Mutemwia
• Mutnodjmet
• Naunakht
• Nefertari
• Nitocris
• Nithotep
• Peseshet
• Rennefer
• Sacmis
• Sekhet
• Senen
• Sobkneferu
• Taiemniut
• Tawaret

Sources

• Ancient Egyptian Names
• Ancient Egyptian Names (Parents Connect site)
• Ancient Egyptian Queens
• Behind the Name: Ancient Egyptian Names
• Childbirth and Children in Ancient Egypt
• Female Pharoah, The – Women Who Ruled Ancient Egypt as Pharoahs
• Glossary of ancient Egyptian terms and names
• Some Everyday Women in Ancient Egypt
• Women in Ancient Egypt

Other Beyond Fred Posts

• Beyond ‘Fred’: Roman Names for Characters
• Beyond ‘Fred’: Italian Names for Characters
• Beyond ‘Fred’: Russian Names for Characters
• Beyond ‘Fred’: Anglo-Saxon Names for Characters

Beyond ‘Fred’: Ancient Egyptian Names is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Game conventions are a great place to introduce new players to your favorite system. But running a game designed to teach a new system is a bit differently than running a game for experienced players. For one thing, you can’t assume that the new player knows anything about the system you’re running–even what type of die to use, if any. Also, you’ve somehow got to do a quick over-view of the rules without boring your players to tears and yet also manage to complete your scheduled adventure.

It’s a lot to juggle. Below are some steps to help you successfully pull off a teaching game. These steps don’t have to be limited to convention games; they’re also useful if you’re running a demo at a game shop or even trying to convince your regular group to try that new game you bought and are dying to run.

1. Always use pre-generated characters. I’ve yet to see a successful teaching game which started with the players creating their characters. I’m sure someone’s done it, but it does make teaching the game much, much harder. With pre-gen characters, not only do you save valuable play time, but you can also plan your adventure around those specific characters.
2. Create “iconic” characters. Teaching games aren’t the place for off-beat or unusual character ideas. If you use archetypal  (or even cliché) characters, players can spend less time figuring out their motives and more time learning the game itself.
3. Don’t make your players add. The other good thing about using pre-generated characters is that you can do as much of  the math ahead of time as possible. You want to be able to tell a player to “roll a d20, then add your BAB [marked in large numbers on the character sheet] to it.” As much as possible, try to keep your players from having to add more than two or three numbers together at a time.
4. Prepare “cheat sheets” or “quickstart” versions of the rules, if the game company doesn’t provide them. I always make a one to two page summary of a game’s basic rules so the players have something they can refer to while playing.
5. Consider creating character packets. I create an information packet for each character that contains the character sheet, any relevant character background, written descriptions of the character’s powers, and a brief summary of the game’s setting and background. It seems like a lot, but if you limit the background information to its most crucial elements, your players will thank you for putting what they need to know right at their fingertips.
6. Simplify the mechanics. Strip away anything not absolutely critical. You want new players to get a feel for the system, not bog them down with modifiers and exceptional cases.
7. Plan to spend the first quarter of the session explaining the game and its basic concepts. Here you want to focus on the essence of the game, not the mechanics. Sure, do a real-quick mechanics run-down (I usually go through the cheat-sheet), but spend most of this time going over the character sheet and game background and answering player questions.
8. Tell players to hold their questions until after your explanation. If you’ve done a good game introduction, you may find you’ve already answered the players’ questions. This also helps prevent you from getting bogged down in player questions and having time to finish your introduction.
9. Begin with a bang. Start your adventure with the PCs in the middle of something: they’re in the car on the way to the haunted house; they’re trapped in a burning building; they’ve just been locked in a room with a group of people, one of whom is murderer. Unless you’re running Tales from the Floating Vagabond, try to avoid the “You’re sitting in a bar…” opening.
10. Do the  math for them. Try to handle as much of the mechanics yourself as possible. You want to give players a feel for the game, not bog them down with situational modifiers. Let the players roll dice, but add the modifiers yourself and describe the results to the player in words, not numbers. Sometimes you need to give the player numbers, but try to serve them with some descriptions as well: “You’re knocked back against the wall as your opponent’s blade rips through your shirt, drawing blood and pinning your sleeve to the wall. Take 8 points of damage.”
11. Be flexible. Keep an eye on the clock. If your game is running over time, try to bring it to a conclusion, even if it’s not the one you’d originally planned. You may need to improvise scenes or cut some out. Allow the players to ask questions about the game, but try to keep them focused to the adventure at hand.
12. Get feedback. If you’ve got time after you finish the adventure, ask for player feedback. What did they need the most help with? What game concepts need to be made clearer? Is there anything that should’ve been covered in the introduction that wasn’t. That type of thing. Really listen to what the players say and, if need be, modify your introduction and information packets accordingly.

This steps should help you teach new game systems to players successfully, particularly when you have a short amount of time to do it in, such as at a game convention. Please feel free to leave comments letting me know if I’ve left anything out or need to improve something.

Class Is in Session: Running a Convention Teaching Game is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

The Collected Beg, Borrow & Steal is a PDF eBook containing the first ten issues of the Beg, Borrow & Steal newsletter. More than just a reprint of the newsletters under one cover, the information in this book has been edited and reformatted to make it easier to read and use. Also included is a new list: “20 Magical Curios” that is unavailable anywhere else. This book contains

• Campaign Control Journal
• 14 Last-Minute Tips to Customize a Published Adventure.
• 20 Magical Curios for Fantasy Games
• On-line GMing Resources
• How to Age Paper
• Game Money
• 9 Ways to Use PC Dreams
• Unstick the Stumped with Bibliomancy
• Tips for Creating Memorable NPCs on the Fly
• 20 Unusual City Encounters
• 20 Unusual Wilderness Encounters

For an example, check out the 20 Unusual City Encounters post.  The cost for the eBook is only $7 (US dollars)

You can purchase it by clicking the button below:

The Collected Beg, Borrow & Steal Now Available is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

First off, thanks to Mad Brew Labs for hosting the July carnival on Growing the Hobby. It really got some great discussion going. This month’s carnival actually (and inadvertently) extends that discussion. Much of the consensus about growing the hobby focused on how we, as RPG players and GMs, need to teach our games to as many new players as we can. This month, I take that one step further and ask how do we teach them?

I’d originally intended to call this “Passing it Down” and focus on children and roleplaying, but then I realized that was only one type of new RPG player. So this month, I want to focus on the hows and wherefores of teaching RPGs to new players, whether they be adults or children, people just joining their first game or people who’ve been playing for decades learning a new system.

Here’s some possible questions to get you going:

• How do you find new players?
• How do you help them learn the mechanics of a system (and how much of the system do you require them to learn?)
• How do you teach the non-mechanics part of the game?
• How do you teach someone to GM?
• What’s the best beginner system?
• What’s the best system for teaching roleplaying to kids?
• How do you run games for kids?
• What was your first game like? How could it have been better?
• Should roleplaying be taught in the schools?
• Do you play with your own kids?
• Are all-kid game groups better than adult-kid mixed groups?

And, of course, anything else you can think of.

I’ve always enjoyed teaching games and most of the convention games I’ve run have been designed to introduce new players the whatever system I’m running. Later this month I’ll post my techniques on running a teaching game. I’m looking forward to seeing your posts; just put the URL of your post in the comments section below and at the end of the month, I’ll do a wrap-up post listing everyone’s contributions.

Teaching the Game: August Blog Carnival is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Finding a good name is sometimes the hardest part of designing an NPC. You want something more exotic than “Fred the Fighter”, but “Frewxyque the Grand Thunder Duke” becomes too hard to say with a straight face after the first first time.  Baby name books can help, but some of the best names come from real-world sources. Beyond ‘Fred’ is a series that lists names from various sources broken down by region and/or time period.

We’re doing Anglo-Saxon names this time. Some of these names are still in use, but others are as unusual as any gamer-made names. As usual, I’ve separated them out into male and female names.

Name Structure

Historically, Anglo-Saxons had no surnames as we would think of them. Sometimes, a person (usually aristrocracy) would be identified by a trait or play on words  (Aethylred the Unready, for example) or by a connection to a famous ancestor. If your game setting requires a character to have more than one name, you can always use a place name (“of Meadowbrook”), a profession name (“Smith” or “the Baker”), or “son/daughter of” and a parent’s name (“Oswynson”).

Note: many Anglo-Saxon names use the letter “eth” (Ð, ð). Since I’m not concerned with historical accuracy here, I’ve substituted “th” for any eth in the names below.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr, ©Snake3yes 2006)

Male Names

• Acwellen
• Aethelred
• Aethelwulf
• Aheawan
• Badanoth
• Baldred
• Beornric
• Caedmon
• Cælin
• Cenhelm
• Ceolwulf
• Cuthen
• Delwyn
• Denewulf
• Eadfrid
• Eadric
• Eanlac
• Elwyn
• Fremund
• Frithulaf
• Godfrith
• Grimbald
• Guthred
• Hardred
• Hereric
• Horik
• Horsa
• Idmaer
• Ingwulf
• Irminric
• Leofric
• Liudolf
• Merewald
• Morcar
• Ordmaer
• Osred
• Oswyn
• Raedfrid
• Rægenhere
• Reduald
• Romund
• Saeward
• Selred
• Sigeric
• Sighere
• Stithwulf
• Swithun
• Theodgar
• Thrydwulf
• Thunor
• Trumwin
• Turec
• Waldere
• Wihtlac
• Yric
• Wulfhere

Female Names

• Aerlene
• Aethelthryth
• Alduulf
• Alodia
• Anlienisse
• Baldeth
• Beadohild
• Bregusuid
• Burwena
• Ceolwynn
• Cynethryth
• Cynwise
• Domneva
• Eadwynn
• Eanfled
• Eanwin
• Eoforwine
• Frigyth
• Godwyna
• Golderon
• Hendina
• Hild (or Hilda)
• Hrotsvitha
• Mildgyth
• Modthryth
• Oslafa
• Osthryd
• Rimilda
• Roswitha
• Saewynn
• Somerild
• Sunngifu
• Tonild
• Tortgith
• Turgiua
• Wenyld
• Winfrith
• Wulfrun
• Wulfwynn
• Wynflead

Sources

• Anglo-Saxon Dithematic Names
• Anglo-Saxon Names
• Behind the Name: Anglo-Saxon Names
• Birth Care: Anglo-Saxon Names

Other “Beyond Fred” Posts

• Beyond ‘Fred’: Roman Names for Characters
• Beyond ‘Fred’: Russian Names for Characters
• Beyond ‘Fred’: Italian Names for Characters

Beyond “Fred”: Anglo-Saxon Names for Characters is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

For this month’s blog carnival Mad Brew Labs has posed the question “Challenge: Growing the Hobby”. Since I started playing in 1980, the hobby has grown exponentially and shows no sign of stopping. Sure, in the general population interest flares up, wanes, and fares again but the sheer number of people who play RPGs has grown considerably since its beginning. Do we really need it to grow more?

I think that before we can really answer the question of how to grow our hobby, we need to define exactly what hobby it is that we’re trying to grow. It’s RPGs, of course. But what, exactly, are RPGs? Tabletop games using traditional rules systems such as D&D, GURPS, Storyteller, Savage Worlds, etc. are obviously RPGs. But tabletop games have grown away from the table or were never there to start with. Are LARPs (live-action roleplaying games) RPGs? I think most of us would answer “yes”, simply because they’re usually based on a tabletop system.

But that being the case then, do the How to Host a Murder games that were popular in the late ’80′s also RPGs? I tend not classify them as RPGs for the simple matter that they involved reading lines from a set script. But what about the murder mystery trains and interactive theatres? How about re-enactment and re-creation such as the Society for Creative Anacronisms and black-powder rendezvous? What makes them different from LARPS?

Moving back to tabletop (in a way), we come to Play by Mail, Play by Email, and Play by Post games. Are they also RPGs? I think most of us would, again, say “yes” because they’re still playing something we recognize as an RPG. But that, then, leads us to open the big can of worms … MMOs. Are MMOs a type of RPG?

My point here isn’t to spark debate about what is or isn’t an RPG. My point is that the hobby may already be more mainstream and wide-spread than we frequently think.

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• Growing the Hobby? from Whitehall ParaIndustries (whitehall-paraindustries.blogspot.com)
• Let’s Make A List: Cool Things People Are Doing In The RPG Hobby (rpgblog2.com)

Growing the Hobby is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Sometimes running a game feels like herding a group of toddlers through the glassware department of  a department store while carrying an armload of wet cats. While most of the time players act like the responsible adults they usually are, there are times that I feel I’ve got a table full of cranky toddlers. On those times, I’ve found the following parenting skills really useful:

1. Never give your players an option you hate.
2. Look for ways to say “yes.”
3. Don’t tell your players what their character thinks, just tell them what they can do.
4. Don’t give in to whining.
5. Never be afraid to say “no.”
6. Limit their choices, if need be, but let the players make their own choices
7. When everyone’s tired and hungry, take a break
8. Admit when you’re wrong.
9. Apologize when you need to.
10. Let players make their own mistakes
11. Insist on good manners.

How about you? What parenting (teaching, whatever) tips have you found helpful as a GM?

[Photo courtesy of fiskfisk under the Creative Commons 2 license]

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• Fred’s Missing *Again*?
• Handling Problem Players
• Want to Be a Better GM? Ask Your Players

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11 GMing Tips I Learned from Being a Parent is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

In addition to the world setting I’m creating, I’m looking at producing a line of products to help GMs run better and more immersive games. To that end, I’ve created a short survey asking for your input. Please help me out by taking a moment to give me your ideas. I’ll post the results here next week.

Click here to take survey

What Do You Need Help With? is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

As you’ve all noticed by now, my writing has been rather sporadic recently. It’s not because I’ve run out of ideas or developed a sudden allergy to blogging. No, the reason I’ve been rather absent is because my fiance Jay and I just bought a house and (being a foreclosure), it’s taking a lot of work to make it livable. Since I work from home, this will also be the new office of rpgGM.com.

We’re currently in the middle of ripping out all of the carpet and priming the entire house for repainting. Luckily, most of the work that needs to be done is cosmetic and we saved enough on the purchase price of the house itself that we’ll be able to hire someone to install the bamboo floors we’ve picked out. But meanwhile, there’s a lot of “sweat equity” to be put into it.

I’ve got a couple of “before” pictures — photos of the place before we began work. You can see one of them above; I’ll be posting more on my martial arts blog On My Own Two Feet.

Notable Absence is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

I hate gaming dry spells. I think the longest period I’ve gone without gaming was two years, if you’re talking about actually sitting at the table, either as GM or player. If you’re counting game preparation and research, it’s more like, well, 6 months.

How to do I manage? Gaming is a priority for me: right after the important personal relationships in my life and equal to martial arts.  Which puts it way ahead of just about everything else, since rpgGM.com is my job as well as my love. It also helps that just about everyone in my immediate family are also gamers. I’ve been very, very blessed, especially with a fiancé who’s actively encouraging  me to (and supporting me while) I get my own game publishing company off the ground.

But this is about how to survive the drought. Like everyone else, I’ve had times when I couldn’t get a group together or couldn’t find one I wanted to play in. Here’s what I do when I’m game deprived:

• Worldbuilding. Number one top slot. I love worldbuilding, which is why rpgGM.com’s first series of products is the game world, Guang Keshar. But it’s not just building worlds from scratch. I also consider rewriting the background of existing game worlds as worldbuilding.
• Reading game systems. I try get my hands on and read as many game books as I can. This helps me keep the creative juices flowing, which leads to…
• Campaign creation. I’ll spend a lot of time fleshing out the bare structure of a campaign for a game I’m itching to run. That’s a bit trickier, since I have a very hands-off GMing style and tend to build my games around my PCs. But I can do a fair amount of preparation work so that I’m ready for character creation when it does happen. I often have three or four campaigns I’m working on (but not currently running) simultaneously.
• Reading about GMing. I’m always looking for ways to improve my GMing. I like reading game-related blogs, though right now I don’t have time to keep pace with more than a handful of my favorites. I also love reading books like Robin’s Laws of Good Gamemastering.
• Playing RPG computer games. For me, this is something of a last resort. I generally dislike the rigidity of computer RPGs (though they are getting better). I prefer gaming with real people who’re in the same room as me.
• Running “Play by Email” (PBEM) campaigns. This is actually one of my old stand-by’s when I can’t get a group together locally and the number one of the reasons my dry spells are so short.  They’re still not the same, but I find them a better substitute for a tabletop game than computer games. With the advent of MMOs, I know many people who prefer the other way around, though. To each their own .
• Writing about games (non-worldbuilding). Most of the game stuff I’ve written has happened when I was between game groups.
• Painting miniatures and creating game-related art.

What can I say? I’m a game junkie. Gaming is one of the things my family does together and that’s something I’m very grateful for.

[This post is a part of RPG Bloggers' May blog carnival].

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Games…Must Have Games… is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Awhile back I did a post on 21 Surefire Ways to Loose Players. With this being Player Month here at Evil Machinations, I thought it time to do a post for the players. Even the most die-hard GMs will change sides of the table, even if it’s a pick-up game at a con. You’d think we’d make the perfect players, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, all too often GMs-turned-PCs are the most difficult players in a group. While orginially aimed at GMs, even players who’ve never sat behind the GM screen should enjoy this list as well.

[Photo courtesy of House of Sims via Flickr Creative Commons 2.0 license]

1. Repeatedly arrive extremely late to a game session without calling to let people know.
2. Repeatedly miss a game session after assuring the GM you’d be there.
3. Refuse to read the rules of the system you’re playing.
4. Hog the spotlight.
5. Give long lectures on how the game you run is better than this one.
6. Tell the GM what he’s doing wrong and offer frequent unsolicited advice on how to run the way you would.
7. Recite a Monty Python or Princess Bride quote for everything that happens during the game.
8. Insist on roleplaying every moment of a supply run.
9. Turn everything said into a sexual innuendo.
10. Make overt sexual advances to every eligable PC in the party.
11. Make overt sexual advances to every eligable player in the group.
12. Argue for every advantage you can squeeze out of the system, even if it takes an hour to win a +1 bonus.
13. Insist that the GM look up an obscure rule in the middle of combat.
14. Expect everything to go your way because the GM is your significant other.
15. Loudly and frequently complain about how your favorite rules system is better than the one the GM is currently using.
16. Insist that the group run your favorite system, especially if they don’t want to change.
17. Constantly brag about your über-character in another game and how she would wipe the floor in this game.
18. Refuse to get dice of your own and insist on borrowing someone else’s.
19. Continuously forget your character sheet so you can make up numbers on the fly.
20. Play while drunk (or high)–unless your entire group enjoys drinking to excess while gaming.
21. Deliberately and/or constantly ignore the rules of the host who’s house you’re playing in (such as putting your feet on the coffee table, not using a coaster, etc.)
22. Torment your host’s pet(s).
23. Play computer games while you’re roleplaying
24. Repeatedly charm members of your own party.
25. Repeatedly steal from members of your own party.
26. Insist on going off on your own on a regular basis.
27. Claim every useful bit of treasure as your own.

How about you? What have I forgotten that really raises your hackles? Please share!

Related Posts

• 21 Sure-Fire Ways to Loose Players
• Fred’s Missing *Again*?
• Handling Problem Players
• How to (Respectfully) Disagree with Your GM
• What’s My Motivation?

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27 Surefire Ways to Get Kicked Out of a Game is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Your GM picked out the adventure, did all of the background work, fleshed out the NPCs, balanced treasure and other rewards. Now it’s finally time to run the adventure, it’s up to the GM to find a way to motivate your character. Right?

[Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/philippeboukobza/ / CC BY 2.0]

Wrong.

True, the GM will most likely provide you a motivation for going on the adventure, but you can help by providing your own motivation for your character.

While “My character wouldn’t do that” can be a legitimate concern (I’m a “method actor”-style player, myself), it’s not helpful. If you try hard enough, there’s usually some way you can provide your character with a motivation to undertake the adventure.

Character History

Even if you don’t have a detailed backstory for your character, you can find a way to work something about this adventure into your character’s history. In fact, it’s probably easier to do it without a detailed history. But even if you’ve written down information for every month of your character’s life, you can still usually find a way to work a motivation for the adventure in there.

Perhaps you stumbled across this dungeon when you were growing up and always wondered what was down there that was so dangerous your parents wouldn’t let you explore it. Or your now-deceased mother had been an adventurer but had fled from this dungeon before exploring it thoroughly and you want to find out what could make a generally fearless woman flee in terror.

These are simply suggestions; you’ll do much better to find some reason yourself. The point is, that it doesn’t have to be a driving passion to provide motivation. Simple curiosity can be enough. Maybe the owner owes you some money and if you can’t get the money, you’re going to take payment in goods of equal value. Or perhaps you want to prove yourself a better adventurer than your mother who’s shadow you’ve been in since you started your career.

Character Relationships

That brings us to our next type of motivation: other people and the relationships your character has with them. It could be your favorite uncle asked you to check out the city sewers to find proof of the giant cybernetic rats and cockroaches he’s always said live down there. Maybe your familiar or a favorite pet wandered into the Mayor’s Mansion and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. Or maybe, just maybe, your brother dared you to go into the spooky cave.

Again, the reasons don’t have to be deep of life-changing or part of The Big Picture. It can be petty concerns. The important thing is to have a reason that will motivate you to undertake the adventure. It could even be something simply as the party’s cleric said “Please” when he asked you to come along. Of course, if you want to have this adventure affect your character deeply, go for it.

Character Goals

This brings us to our last set of motivations: your character’s goals. Maybe you want to collect one of every type of potion in the world. Or maybe you need some  scrapings from the wall to to mix the exact shade of grey paint to finish your current project. See, even here you don’t need grandiose ideas — simple ones will do as long as it gets your character moving.

Of course,  you’ll want to clear your motivation with your GM. If he hears, for instance, that you think there may be potions for your collection, then he’ll most likely go out of his way to put one in there as a reward.  Maybe you just want to complete your rock collection and the last type of rock you need is said to exist in this lich-controlled forest. placed in there.

Brainstorming or “Mind-Mapping” can help you find a reason. You can get special software for that, but I find good ol’ pen and paper work great for the job. If you’re really stuck, you might try having the GM other person you trust over for a brainstorming party. If something doesn’t come to you immediately, keep trying until you come up with something you can play. You’ll find the game much more enjoyable.

Other Player Month Posts:

• How to (Respectfully) Disagree with Your GM

Articles Zemanta thinks might be related

• The Characterisation Puzzle: When personalities are hard to find (campaignmastery.com)
• The DM Treasure Chest (dungeonmastering.com)
• Beyond the Module (dungeonmastering.com)
• The Characterisation Puzzle: The Inversion Principle (campaignmastery.com)
• Six Self Motivation Tips To Give Yourself A Boost! (slideshare.net)
• 10 Ways To Find New Motivation (psychcentral.com)

What’s My Motivation? is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Please bear with me as I finish upgrading the theme for this site. I had technical difficulties installing the new theme and upgrading to the most recent version of WordPress (which for several reasons on my end, most of which come down to RTFM).

I’ll be finishing the set-up on the new theme over the course of the next few days. Everything’s there and you should be able to access it without difficulty. It just doesn’t look pretty yet.

Thanks for your patience.

Upgrading Issues is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

This month, Evil Machinations celebrated it’s first anniversary. On top of that, this is my 100th post. Because of all that, I want to say thank you to everyone who’s made this blog a success.  Without my readers, there would be no Evil Machinations .

Below is a count-down of your top ten favorite posts and pages on this blog since it began in April 2009:

10. An A-to-Z List of Lesser-Known Roleplaying Games: Part 1
9. X Marks the Spot: 11 Map Making Tutorials
8. Building Better NPCs III: Character Webs
7. Handling Problem Players
6. What’s Good About 4th Edition?
5. 20 Unusual City Encounters: From Beg, Borrow, & Steal
4. What GMs Really Want (Poll)
3. “Where are we again?”: Creating Unique Fantasy Cities and Towns
2. Character Questionnaire
1. Your Teacher Was Right … Creating Adventures with the 6 W’s

Next post will be the continuation of player month, which has now become extended through the end of May. Hey, that’s an idea: let’s turn this into a blog carnival. I hereby christen May “Player’s Advice” month here at EM. If others would like to join me on this, I’ll post a link from here to your page. Just leave me a reply to this post with your post’s URL.

Top 10 of 100 and One is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Here it is–the first post of our “Player Month”, designed to give advice to the players on how to make a game better. After all, the GM isn’t the only one playing and the players share some responsibility for making a game great.

At some point or another it will happen: your GM will make a call you don’t agree with. Do you just sit there and take it? After all, it’s the GM’s game and his word is law, right?

Well, yes and no. True, the GM decides the rules and has the final say on all matters. But that’s just it: the final say is final. That doesn’t mean you can’t have your input on making that final decision before it reaches the “final” part. There’s a big difference between a ruling and a final ruling. Depending on your GM, you can sometimes make your case and see if you can reach a compromise.

The trick here is that you need to make your cases respectfully. No shouting, no temper tantrums, no storming off. Here are some tips for successful resolution with your GM.

[Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/taylar/ / CC BY 2.0]

Figure out what you want

You need to do this before you talk to your GM. What do you want to come out of this discussion? What specific result are you looking for? It’s amazing how many players get into a “knee-jerk” reaction. They take issue with something the GM says or does, but they have no idea how they want that changed. If you have an idea of your ideal result, you can figure out a compromise much more easily.

Wait until after the session

You’re much more likely to get a positive result from a GM if you approach her after a game session, rather than during it. Bringing up an issue during the session takes up valuable play time. At best, it leaves other players with nothing to do; at worst, it opens the floor to a free-for-all argument as the other players try to put in their complaints. Not only does this make the GM feel like she’s begin ganged up on, it tends to make her dig her heels in and stick to her ruling.

Sometimes you can’t wait–for example, if your character’s about to die–and you have to deal with the issue during the session. You will, most likely, gain a better result if these cases are rare. That way, you’re more likely to get the “benefit of the doubt”, such as “Gee, he always talks to me after a session. It must be really important if he’s bringing it up now.”

Talk about specifics

When you do talk to your GM, you want to bring up a specific issue or ruling. If the GM doesn’t know exactly what’s bothering you, how can he fix it? Focusing on specifics also avoids the “Your game sucks” attitude, which is guaranteed to cause a GM to ignore anything you’ve got to say. Remember what you’re bringing up is your problem, not your GM’s.

A related point is to “marshal your argument” ahead of time. Why do you disagree with the ruling? What about it makes you unhappy or uncomfortable? Focus on how the ruling affects you and your character and cite specific examples. It’s most likely that the GM just didn’t foresee the problems you’re experiencing or didn’t see them as problems. You need to let him know why this is a problem.

Have alternative suggestions

This goes along with knowing what result you want. It’s much more likely a GM will listen and adjust things accordingly if you have some ideas on how to fix the problem. Even if she doesn’t seem to keen on changing things, having something specific to try out (“Can we try this next week and see if it works?”) is much more likely to bring a change in your favor than a “this is a problem with your game–fix it” attitude.

When you’re thinking of suggestions, take the game as a whole in to consideration. Think about how your idea(s) will affect game balance and the other players. Also consider the plot of the game as you know it so far and what you foresee happening in the future. This communicates to your GM that you’re not just looking for a result that makes you the center of the game or gives you an über-character.

Take the GM’s final word gracefully

Only your GM knows the whole game. It’s possible that the “bad” ruling needs to stand because of something that’s coming down the pipe. There’ve been many times during a game when I’ve had to say “There’s a reason, trust me.” After all, if you can’t trust your GM maybe it’s time to find a new group.

Final thoughts

As always, watch your manner and your tone as you bring anything up with your GM. Remember your Ps and Qs and common-sense advice (focus on the problem, not the person; use “I” language; remember who owns the problem, etc.).

Articles Zemanta thinks might be related:

• Roll or role – is it always fair? from abstract xp (abstractxp.wordpress.com)
• Bringing on the next generation, Part Two: Gamemaster Mentors (campaignmastery.com)
• Someone Else’s House (gnomestew.com)
• The Pursuit Of Perfection, Part 4: Evolving The Campaign (campaignmastery.com)
• Ask The GMs: Essential Game Master Skills (campaignmastery.com)
• The GM Sounding Board (gnomestew.com)
• Watch Your Tone, Young Man (rpgblog2.com)

How to (Respectfully) Disagree With Your GM is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Stumped for a background for your newest character? Why not try some randomly generated ones? Last week, we covered the steps for generating a random background event and the tables for bad things that could happen to your character. Today, we’re covering the good things. Check out last week’s post for full details.

Life Path Good Events

1. Gain a local ally. You’ve gained an ally who has a fair amount of influence or clout in the city, town or village you’re in.
2. Strike it rich. You come into a sizable sum of money.  Whether you won it gambling, received it as payment for services rendered or simply found it, the money is yours–free and clear. No strings. It’s not enough to retire on, but it can certainly keep in you in some comfort for 1d10 months.
3. Big job. You perform a job that brings not only financial reward, but also some recognition. Whether your face is widely known in the streets or to an elite few is up to you. In either case, you gain a positive boost to your reputation.
4. Find a weaponsmaster. You find a skilled warrior/fighter whose abilities exceed your own and who’s willing to teach you. You improve one of your combat-related skills or add a weapon proficiency. The GM will tell you how many improvement points you gain.
5. Find a skills master. You find someone who can help you either improve a non-combat skill you already have or learn a new one at a beginning level. The GM will tell you how many improvement points you gain.
6. Powerful favor. Someone in political power in your game world owes you a favor. Maybe you ran an important errand or maybe you just babysat his favorite nephew. In any case, you will be able to call in one favor from this person. The GM will decide whether or not the favor you’re asking for is equitable with the one you received.
7. Friends in low places. You make some friends with a local group or gang. It could be the local thieves guild or it could be a teenage gang of misfits. In either case, you can call on them for one small favor a month. This does cut both ways and the gang will expect you to return small favors should they need them. These should be easy favors that won’t hurt your reputation or your bank account.
8. Friend on the force. You make a friend on the local constabulary or town guard. You can call on your friend for information or minor favors once a month. Again, this is two-way street and you friend can also call on you for the same.
9. Friends in high places. You make a friend to has some measure of clout. Perhaps you rescued a local prince or duke or perhaps the princess has simply taken a liking to you. You can call on your friend for a small favor once a month, but don’t push it.
10. Gain an asset. You find or are given a very useful or minor magic item (GM’s choice). However you come by it, it’s yours with no repercussions or strings attached.

Of course, you can also use these for “down time” events in-between adventures.

Look for next week when we’ll begin a “Player Month”, with articles for the players in your group.

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• Aces and Eights: Character Creation (gnomestew.com)
• The Tome of Secrets (a review) from abstract xp (abstractxp.wordpress.com)
• The Function of Randomization in Simulation (iflybynight.blogspot.com)

Livin’ the Good Life: More Random Background Events for PCs is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

Sometimes a good background is hard to find. Usually I have no trouble coming up with a full-fledged past for my characters, complete with NPCs, subtle plot hooks, and flaws ready-made for the GM to exploit. Usually, I hand the GM a six-page character questionnaire loaded with personality quirks and background events.

Usually.

A few months back, my fiance (I’ll call him “Jay”) started a 3.5 D&D game and I sat down to make a new character. I’m currently playing a bard/sorcerer in another D&D game and wanted to try something different. I thought playing a “blaster caster” would be a lot of fun, so I built my character as a half-even sorcerer/rogue. I pulled out my well-used list of character questions and sat down to fill it out.

Nothing.

I couldn’t think of anything really interesting to build this character around. All of my ideas seemed trite and over-used. Six months of play later, and I still didn’t have any background to this character.

Now, I know I can play the character without any background material. But I’ve always been a “method actor” type roleplayer and I find it really hard to get enthused about a character that’s just stats and abilities. That’s when I remembered Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 and its lifepath tables. If I couldn’t think up a background for my character, I could roll one up!

[Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/draconianrain/ / CC BY 2.0]

The LifePath

Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0′s life path is a very thorough. It involves rolling on several charts to determine what the character’s personality is like as well as what’s happened to him in his background. I’ve simplified the process greatly and changed the options to fit a fantasy game setting.

First, determine how many life events you want to roll for. As a limitation, I decided I could stop rolling for events when I wanted to, but that I couldn’t remove any results already obtained. I developed two tables: one for bad events and one for good. To determine which table to roll on for each event, I rolled a d6. If it came up even, then I rolled for a good event. If the result was odd, I rolled for a bad event. Of course, you can also pick some thing rather than rolling for it at random.

Bad Events

1. Money loss. You’ve incurred a major debt. Bill collectors track you wherever you go and, depending on the size of your debt, your lender may have hired someone who will take drastic measures to recover the money.
2. Hostage or Imprisonment. You’re being held captive–either in prison or perhaps as a hostage–Roll 1d10 to find out how many months you’re imprisoned.
3. Illness or Poisoning. You’ve contracted a serious illness or were poisoned. Roll 1d10 to determine how many months you need to recuperate.
4. Betrayal. You’ve been betrayed by someone you trusted. Roll 1d10 on the table below:
   1-3 Your betrayer is blackmailing you
   4-6 A dirty secret from your past has been exposed
   8-10 You lost a friend, lover, ally, or job because your betrayer spread rumors about you (your choice whether or not they’re true.
5. Accident. You were in a terrible accident. Roll 1d10 on the table below:
   1-2 You were disfigured or lost a body part
   3-6 You were under medical care for 1d10 months
   7-8 You lost 1d10 months of memory due to trauma
   9-10 You have frequent and terrible nightmares where you relive the event over and over
6. Death. Someone close to you was killed. Roll 1d10 on the table below.
   1-5 The death was accidental
   6-8 Your loved one was murdered by an unknown assailant
   9-10 Your loved one was murdered by someone you know
7. False Accusation. You were framed for something you didn’t do. Roll 1d10 on the table below to find out what you were accused of:
   1-3 Theft
   4-5 Cowardice
   6-8 Murder
   9 Rape or “taking advantage” of someone (like seducing the farmer’s daughter and getting her pregnant)
   10 Treason
8. On the Run. You’re being hunted by someone in a position of authority. Maybe you committed a crime, maybe you were framed for a crime, or maybe you don’t even know why you’re being hunted. Roll 1d10 on the table below to find out who’s hunting you.
   1-3 Local constabulary or town watch
   4-6 The king’s forces
   7-8 Private guards
   9-10 Bounty hunters
9. Hunted. You’re on the run from some organization who wants you bad for some reason. They may not want to kill you, but they certainly don’t have your best interests at heart. Roll 1d10 on the table below to determine who’s hunting you.
   1 The local assassins’ guild
   2-3 The local thieves’ guild
   4-6 A merchant’s guild or craft guild
   7-8 A slaver’s guild or gang
   9-10 A powerful local clan
10. Mental incapacitation. You’re sufforing from something that’s causing you to not be fully in control of yourself and your behavior. Roll 1d10 on the table below to determine what the problem is.
    1-3 Mind control or possession. You’ve been possessed or mentally controlled by a powerful entity.
    4-7 Mental breakdown. Some kind of trauma has left you with severe anxiety attacks and maybe even a phobia.
    8-10 Severe mental illness. Your choice.

That’s enough for one day. I’ll post the good events next week.

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• The Characterisation Puzzle: The First Decision (campaignmastery.com)
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• 54 Sorcerer Hooks (campaignmastery.com)
• The Characterisation Puzzle: The Inversion Principle (campaignmastery.com)
• Retcon Rightly (campaignmastery.com)
• 63 Wizard Hooks (campaignmastery.com)
• The Characterisation Puzzle: The Thumbnail Method (campaignmastery.com)

Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune: Random Background Events for PCs is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

How do you know how good a GM you are? You’ll need to ask your players. Below is a questionnaire I hand out to my players from time to time to find out what’s good about my game and what needs to be improved. Please feel free to change, update, modify the questions to fit your game.

[This article is part of the March 2010 RPG Blog Carnival: How to be a Better GM].

GM and Game Evaluation Questionnaire

Please check all answers that apply. Feel free to add any commentary, answers, or smart-ass remarks .

1. Game difficulty

• I think your game is much too easy for characters. No matter how stupidly we play, we always achieve our goals
• Your game is much too difficult. If I wanted the brutality of real life, I’d watch the evening news.
• I think your game is at a good difficulty level.

2. PC experience / power level

• I like to play beginning characters, who are just figuring out their abilities and how to use them.
• I prefer to play mid-level character who know their abilities and have some clout in the game world.
• Really powerful characters are the most interesting. I like the challenges that come from having a lot of ability.
• I like starting with low-powered characters and work my way up to the be as powerful as the game allows.

3. Gaming Group Size

• I prefer small groups of 2-3 players.
• I think medium-sized groups of 4-8 work the best.
• I fell that really large groups (10+ players) are the most fun.

4. Character Death

• I don’t think PCs should die. Ever.
• It’s okay if the GM kills a PC every once in a great while, but only if they die heroically and during a hard struggle, or if their death can have some meaning.
• I don’t think the GM should kill PCs, but if the PCs get themselves into a fatal conflict, the GM shouldn’t rush in to save them.
• PCs should drop like flies.

5. Threat of Character Death

• I like knowing that my character probably won’t die. It allows me to take more risks than I would otherwise.
• I would find it more interesting if there were more of a threat of death over my characters head.

6. NPC Quality

• Your non-player characters really help bring your game to life. We run into the most interesting and/or believable people.
• Your NPCs are okay. Every once in a while we get a really great one, but the rest are a little cardboard. They could use some more individuality or development.
• Your NPCs are totally flat and unbelievable. Where did you get them–a Dover paper doll collection?

7. Story Quality

• The stories in your game are really good. The make the game interesting and enjoyable.
• Why do you make your players think so hard? I just want to hit things!
• Your game is too intense; couldn’t you lighten up a little? Do we have to have to do major soul-searching every game session?
• Your game isn’t intense enough. Let’s have some depth and meaning here.
• I don’t care about a story–it just interferes with my hitting things.
• You have a story?

8. Game Session Mood

• I like it when GMs vary the moods of their game sessions, like running a silly session after a particularly dramatic one.
• I prefer it when the GM varies the mood within the game session, but keeps the overall mood of the game the same.
• I like roleplaying to be serious and intense. The GM should never let up on the pressure.

9. Game Humor

• Your game has too much humor for me.
• Your game has too little humor for me
• Your game has just the right amount of humor for me.

10. Game Pacing

• The pace of action in your game is just right. Things are happening fast enough to keep me interested, but not so fast that the game feels out of control.
• I think thing are happening way to fast in the game. I can’t keep up with it.
• Your pacing is too slow. Please pick it up a little, I’m getting bored.
• Your pacing is too inconsistent from one game session to the next. Please smooth it out.
• Some more variety in your pacing would make your game more interesting.
• Pacing? You have pacing?

11. Creating Characters

• I prefer to create my characters one-on-one with the GM, even if it takes a few weeks to actually start playing. The mystery about the other characters off-sets the delay.
• I prefer to create my characters a group so that we can balance our party.
• I like to create characters with the whole group, but I don’t want to know much about the other PCs until play starts.

12. Background Information Sheets

[I always create a short background information sheet--one to two pages--that tells players how their character fits into the game world].

• I loved the background sheets you created for our characters. It makes me feel like I have a real place in the game world.
• I didn’t care one way or the other about the background sheets you created.
• I hated the background sheets. You mean I have to learn this stuff about my character before I can actually play?

13. Character Advancement Knowledge

• I don’t like any ambiguity about my character. I want to know how much experience I have at all times.
• I don’t mind not knowing how much experience I’ve gained, number-wise, but I want to be told when my abilities or powers increase.
• I like not knowing exactly where I stand, experience-wise. I enjoy finding out about ability and power increases through game play.

14. Adult Content in Games

• I would feel comfortable role-playing “adult scenes” (sex, etc.) with this group.
• I would feel okay about role-playing adult content with the GM (i.e., with an NPC) or with the player involved, but I want to do it in a one-on-one situation.
• I don’t think sexual and other such situations should be role-played at all. Just acknowledge that it happened and move on.
• I don’t think the game should contain any adult content at all.
• Is hitting things adult content?
• What a question! I’m not sure how I feel about it; I think we should discuss it as a group.

15. Power Balance.

Your game gives too much advantage to:

• magic
• combat skills
• psionics
• class abilities
• other [please specify]:

16. Power Restrictions.

Your game puts too many restrictions on:

• magic
• combat skills
• psionics
• class abilities
• other [please specify]:

17. Event Balance.

Your game could use more/less [please circle your choice]:

• magical events
• combats
• power contests
• NPC enounters
• non-combat skill challenges
• other [please specify]:

18. Player Input

• You don’t let the players have enough input in how the game runs. After all, it’s our game too.
• You let one/more of the players bully you too much. You need to be stronger about making executive decisions.
• You expect too much input from the players. We don’t want to have to make every decision–that’s why we have a GM.
• The amount of input we have is just about right.

19. Mid-Campaign Rule Changes.

I would rather you:

• Discussed the situation with the group so that we can have a say in how things are going to work from now on.
• Do whatever you want. It’s your game.
• There should never be any mid-campaign rule changes. You should always play by the rules you set up in the beginning, even if they don’t seem to be working.
• I don’t mind some mid-campaign rule changes, but if they’re going to affect my character, I’d like a chance to change my character so that my character idea stays consistent with the new rules.
• Make all the changes you  want as long as it doesn’t hinder my ability to hit things.

20. Rule Questions.

On the occasions when you can’t remember a particular rule, I would rather you:

• Look up the answer, no matter how long it takes.
• Only look up the answer if you feel you absolutely have to.
• Never look up anything during play. I’d prefer you make a decision, any decision, as long as you don’t slow down play.

21. Bad Rulings.

When you realize you’ve made a “bad call” in a previous session, I’d prefer you to:

• Discuss it with the group before you begin the next session and come to a group consensus about how to run similar situations in the future.
• Tell the group you made a ruling you’re unhappy with and explain how you’d handle it differently in the future, but not allow any changes to the events of that previous session.
• Tell the group you made a ruling you’re unhappy with and allow the party a “do over” with your new ruling.
• Don’t tell anyone and just run it differently next time. Every situation is different, after all.

22. Adherence to Printed Rules

• GMs should always go exactly by the rule book at all times.
• Each GM creates an individual version of the game universe. The books are really only background and guide-lines.
• Make what ever rules you want, as long as it doesn’t harm my ability to hit things.

23. Adherence to Source Material,

If your game is based on pre-existing source material (such as Dr. Who, Serenity, Amber, etc.):

• I don’t like it when you deviate from from the published background material. You should follow pre-existing material exactly.
• I like it if you’re not tied down to published material. It makes your game more interesting because I don’t know what’s going to happen.
• I don’t mind some deviation from pre-existing source material, if there’s an in-game reason for it that we, as players, could potentially find out.
• I don’t care about pre-existing source material. I just want to hit things.

24. Internal Consistency

• Your game is internally inconsistent. Please keep better notes so aspects of the game world don’t suddenly change on us without warning.
• Your game is very consistent. New information builds logically on old information we already know.
• I don’t care about consistency. I just want to hit things.

25. In-Game Time. Time in our game is:

• Consistent. It makes sense, even if the GM plays with it some; there’s always an in-game reason for any inconsistencies.
• Inconsistent. In one session, it takes us two weeks to get from our fortress to the capital, in another it takes us two days. What gives?

26. GM-Player Direction

• We could use more direction in your game. We spend too much time stumbling around blindly.
• You’re directing us too much. We want off the train tracks.
• You give us the right amount of direction. We can choose our own path through the game world, but if we get lost, you always give us in-game assisstence.
• I’m not sure what you’re doing, but it works for me.

27. Types of Adventures.

I’d like your game to have more or less [please indicate which] of the following:

• Dungeon adventures
• Wilderness adventure
• City adventures
• Combat scenes
• Role-playing scenes
• I like the mix you currently have

28. Intra-Party Conflict

• I think they’re way too much intra-party conflict in your game. PCs should always work together and should know each others’ strengths and and weaknesses. Otherwise, how can we plan anything?
• I like it when PCs are at cross-purposes to one another, but not to the point of harming another party member or making it impossible for the party to accomplish things together.
• I love intra-party conflict. Bring it on! That’s what makes the game fun for me.

29. Session Rating.

In general, your game sessions are:

• fantastic
• pretty good
• fun
• better than being hung up by my toes for four hours
• a few more like least ones and I’ll stay home an wash my hair
• awful; I didn’t get to hit things once!

30. The Best Part

The best part of your game is:

• the incredible detail of your game universe.
• the fascinating NPCs.
• the intrigue and politics.
• seeing my characters advance.
• the inventiveness you encourage in your players.
• the fact the PCs can have major and permanent effects on the game world.
• the interaction you encourage between the players
• other [Please specify]:
• There’s nothing enjoyable about your game.

31. Please add any information you think I should know.

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Want to be a Better GM? Ask Your Players is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle

I myself have 12 hats, and each one represents a different personality.  Why just be yourself?
–Margaret Atwood

I love props. I’m constantly making props for my games, from fake newspaper articles to treasure maps. Sure, you can tell your players what their characters fine, but then they’re seeing the prop through your eyes. You can’t help but put a spin on their findings as you describe them. Having an actual prop the players can handle allows them to form their own opinions without any “coloration” by the GM.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/dspender/ / CC BY 2.0)

Why use props?

Props can also help you get into character. This is what I love most about them. Each of my characters has (PCs and important NPCs) has something that identifies them.  Not only does this prop help distinguish one character from another, the type of prop chosen says something about the character who uses it.

The  main props I use with my PCs are costumes. Every one of the characters I play has a “costume” that comes straight out of my wardrobe. Now, that doesn’t mean I come to the gaming table looking like a refugee from the local Renaissance Faire (though that can certainly be a lot of fun once in a while). Instead, I find something in my wardrobe that reminds me of my character.

For Galen, my 14th level human bard/sorcerer, it’s a purple tank top with a green shirt over it, his patron’s colors. On the other hand, Feynan, my half-elven rogue/sorcerer with a penchant for lightening, requires an orange tank-top. Rafe, a classic WoD mage, wears a black leather motorcycle jacket, while Naiya, a Tremere vampire always sports an antique rhinestone necklace. The one thing all these costumes have in common is that none of them cause anyone to look oddly at me when I stop at the grocery store for some snacks. Having a prop (or clothing article) helps me get into character before the game even starts.

Props as a GM tool

I find props immensely valuable as a GM tool, as well. Now, I don’t worry about a prop for every Tom, Dick an Haley in my game; only the major NPCs get props. But having a prop for each character allows for two things: 1) my players know immediately who they’re talking to and 2) it helps me keep my NPCs straight and helps keep me from getting sidetracked. Having something in my hand or on me reminds me to stay focused on that one character.

Types of good props

Hats make great props for NPCs because they’re generally quick and easy to put on and take off. Small trinkets, particularly if they inspire a physical mannerism, also work really well. Perhaps your NPC likes to stack coins, play with Chinese harmony balls, or roll dice. Maybe he always has a toothpick in his mouth. Or maybe she carries a walking stick or cane and uses it to punctuate her speech. Or perhaps he doodles while he talks or creates origami animals.

Using props

The main point when using props is to avoid overusing them or making them so obvious they upstage the what you’re saying. Usually, a prop in use should be subtle, something the character does absent-mindedly. You want to use the prop in such a way that it helps the players remember who they’re talking to, but without causing the prop to take center stage.

Notice, though, that I said usually. Sometimes a prop is absolutely crucial to the story. If your players know that any prop you pick up when you’re speaking in character actually exists in the game, you can have an NPC play with it to bring it to the PCs attention. Or you can place it on the table in front of you and wait until someone asks about it.

Any of the techniques above can help your players (and you) feel more immersed in the game. Props are great tools for both players and GM. You can start small — pick one prop for you PC or for a major NPC. Think of a way that character would use that prop. You know you’ve really got it down when your players can tell who they’re speaking to without you having to say a single name.

Related posts

• Building Better NPCs II: 8 Steps to Memorable PCs
• Character Backgrounds
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Change Your Hat, Change Your Character is a post from: Evil Machinations
©2009 by Cherie Arbuckle