Keeping the “I” out of Team
By Cape Rust
This week we are going to look at sharing your ideas and concepts with your players and ways to do it. Socializing the next game while your current game is going on can become distracting and quite disrespectful to your current GM. The big problem is that if you are on-deck to run the next game and are doing your best to keep it from turning into an epic fail, then some socialization might be in order.
If you have already been invaded by the GIF (Good Idea Fairy) then the socialization process might fall into the knife fight mentality. This is the point where you might get cut but you’re not going to die. You might not die but the idea that was born because of the laborious collaboration between you and the GIF might turn into a bleeder. I think you can guess that while I see the benefits of the GIF, I tend to want to engage the GIF on my terms and on my time table. If you feel like you have yourself squared away, have the time, and are open-minded enough to run a game, you are ready to prepare for the next step. Yes, more preparation!
This preparation is completely self-serving in its nature, and that is a good thing. At this point, you should be getting ready to appropriately approach your future players to get their input and feelings for the next game that you happen to be on-deck to run. I have stressed gaming as a team sport and mentioned how important it is to get player input, but as the GM you have a vote and you have a say. If you are cunning and flexible, you can shape and influence the players feedback to develop a game that you want to run and they want to play.
While shaping and influencing might sound dirty and underhanded, they really are not. Because you are running the game, you deserve to set some parameters for the upcoming game. You want player ideas and input, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. One big mistake I made when my children were young was to give them too many options. Players will be overwhelmed with options and you will be no closer to knowing what kind of game your players want.
I think the best way to approach these dirty sounding concepts is with a walk-through. So here I am: I am going to run the next game and my current GM thinks she has three or four more weeks until the current game ends. I just got done re-re-re-watching the Firefly series and want to run a game in the Verse. I haven’t discussed this concept with the other players, but this is the route I want to go. Because I read Tales from the Gazebo, I know I shouldn’t just go all out and develop a complete adventure without socializing this.
The first thing I do is analyze with my gaming group this question: Has everyone seen Firefly? Ok, everyone has seen Firefly. That works in my favor.
- Three of the five of us really, really like Firefly.
- The other two like it well enough.
- One of the gamers who likes Firefly isn’t a fan of modern games.
- We have been playing a fantasy Savage Worlds campaign for the last six months.
- Three of us own the Serenity rulebook but no one has run it yet.
- One player who is on the fence about Firefly doesn’t like to learn new game systems.
- Based on table talk, all of the players are happy with the current game but want a change of pace.
I mentioned Sun Tzu in past articles and this is a great example of knowing yourself and your players. I will actually start my shaping and influencing right away. First, a few posts on Facebook about Firefly. Heck, I’ll even change my profile picture to a picture of the cast. All of my fellow gamers are my friends on Facebook so they will see the picture change and see the posts. Next, an innocent call to the player who is the biggest Firefly fan in the group with a question about River. After some small talk, I ask him what he thinks about the Serenity RPG. If he likes it, I’ll discuss what type of character he would like to play. If he doesn’t like the game, find out what he thinks is wrong with it and discuss it.
Next I’ll focus on the players who could keep my idea from growing into an epic game. Let’s go with the gal who owns one of the copies of the rulebook. I’ll talk to her about the change of pace she has mentioned then ask her if she has read the Firefly RPG rulebook. If the answer is yes, get her feedback on it. If not, ask her why she hasn’t read it and if she might be willing to read it through to give her opinion. If she consents to read the book, ask her to think about what type of character would appeal to her and what part of the Verse she might like to run around in. You can see where this is going.
We’ll move on to my tough customer, the guy who isn’t fond of modern games. First, I will not ask him any of these questions while the other players are around. This will keep him from feeling like he is being ganged up on or backed into a corner. I will be direct and ask my player if he would be willing to play in a Firefly game. Notice I didn’t say modern game or pussyfoot around my intentions. Passive-aggressive might work on some people, but not this guy. If he says he’ll think about it, I will let him know what I’m thinking about but will step away to give him some time to think it over. Here is where I get ready to compromise and make concessions. I’ll re-engage him in a few days and ask him if he was in a Firefly game what would he want to be and exactly what kinds of things he would want to do. Is he into ship-to-ship combat? Does he want a game that is focused on trading? What is it that will make him willingly join in a game in a setting he is not fond of? Ask the tough questions, then be willing to integrate those thoughts into your planning.
If he won’t bite on the Firefly game, then get some ideas on what he is willing to play in. If he does bite, let the other prospective players know he is in and let them know what kind of character he wants to play. I’m not saying this guy should get everything he wants but he is the long pole in the tent. Get him to buy into the game and the rest of the group will be much easier to convince. Let’s face it, if he is willing to join the modern game, it becomes a much easier sell to the other players.
You can see how I have shaped and influenced this game. Our group’s next game will be a Firefly game and I have an idea of what they players are interested in and what types of characters they might want to play. So I know you are asking, “What should I do if two of my players want to be a pilot?” Well, there is such a thing as a co-pilot, but I’m thinking about adding my own twist. What if both of the characters are part owners in the same ship? This would make for some great in-game situations and both of the players can play the character class they want to. My next step would be to take this idea to the players and see what they think. If they both like the idea, you can see how much fun the game will be. This ”Who is going to fly the ship?” thing can be ongoing, but it shouldn’t be the focus of the game.
This is just one example of how you can shape and influence the next game. By approaching the players with a few ideas and a willingness to listen to what your players want. you can end up with a win-win situation and your game will be better for it. Next week we will take a look at one additional planning tool.