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Game Master's Laboratory

304 members • Free

199 contributions to Game Master's Laboratory
"For TTRPG Game Masters ..."?
So it just came up when I asked my players for permission to use our game in the workshop. Are players welcome in this community (many of whom also Game Master), or do we want to keep membership to game masters? I think we should keep the focus on game mastering, but wonder if some player perspective would be helpful.
3 likes • 18h
I would love to see if players become more inclined to run when they see how supportive and enthusiastic other GMs can be.
Have you had a chance to play (as a PC) in a proactive game?
Other than Tristan and Jonah, have the rest of us gotten to play in a game with a GM following these proactive principles? I have not and I wonder if that is one of the challenges I am facing, that I don't understand the subtlely of how some of these principles feel or should feel in practice. I don't have first hand experience with which things a GM does enhances or supports proactivity and which errode it.
3 likes • 3d
@Jonah Fishel @Tristan Fishel : Great ideas! We don’t have a big bad, yet. We also don’t collaboratively build the world, so the only factions at play are Rebels and Imperials. I’m sure that if I worked with our GM to come up with some kind of ISB official and staged some kind of political takedown, he would be amenable to that. I just don’t know if it’s my place to do that at the table, if it wasn’t invited. I could easily start wrapping players into a backstory web that leads us to some dastardly imperial official. That would help our bloodthirsty cutpurse learn restraint, give our Demolitionist a chance to see the long game, help our Pilot experience some real achievement instead of shoving booze down the bottomless pit of his sadness, and renew our clone’s sense of purpose. I definitely need to ask for clearance on any of that first though. Our GM might have a grand plan, which is fine. It’s a style choice.
1 like • 1d
@Tristan Fishel : Yes! I would love some input on how to approach it with our GM. He’s no longer a stranger, and very amiable. So far I’m thinking I’ll ask him if he’s got a big bad or other sort of higher villain in mind for the end, and/or if he’d like me to lead a discussion with the other players to tie our backstory into someone like an ISB agent or Imperial Moff or something. I agree a big takedown would be really fun. And @Eric Person : I think the whole PARP mindset is independent of system/rules. My longterm goal has been to work on a set of principles that work with all or most games.
Play With Us in a Proactive Game!
Starting Wednesday March 18th, we'll be running a West Marches style, ongoing campaign that anyone can join! We'll use the practices of our books to build an emergent, proactive game, starting with a Session -1 and creating character goals. We're expecting to run a few different games in the future, but to start, we'll be using Blades in the Dark for it's pretty easy-to-pickup rules, and its crew rules (which facilitate a rotating table). Something we've been seeing in the lab a lot is that most of the GMs here haven't actually been able to play in a proactive game (as a PC, that is). So much of this hobby is learned via experience, plus we just want to run more games, so this is our way of getting both. So how will it work? On the 18th, we'll have a Session -1. There will be polls and other events in the leadup for folks who can't make it, so everyone will help shape the variation of the Blades in the Dark setting we'll be playing in. Afterwards, we'll play each Wednesday. Signups for a game will go out two weeks before it starts for our Gold members, and one week before for the rest of the lab---seats are first come, first serve! Our tables will start at a max of five players---this may change as we learn and adjust. The games will be absolutely free of charge to make them as accessible as possible (for reference, StartPlaying games will usually be about 15--30 bucks a seat). This is what's called a "West Marches" game. For anyone who doesn't know this style, it's basically an open table campaign with an ongoing setting. Whoever can make it to a session forms the group, they set their own objectives, and they usually work as some sort of broader organization (in this case, a crew of criminals). A player could attend a dozen sessions, or they could just try once and not need to feel pressured to continue. If you're interested in more info about what this style of game is, give it a google! If you want a longer explanation, this video has a great overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAC-gBoX9k
3 likes • 3d
Wednesdays?!?!? Oh my god I am IN! 🔪 🔪
Lots of fun and charity lately
Just starting a new TTRPG Castles and Crusades. It looks awesome and I’m very excited Also I just ran a charity D&D 5.5 game for 7 people this weekend. 12 hour high level game with terrain and lots of cool stuff on an adventure I wrote and we raised $1750 for Shriners Hospitals
2 likes • 3d
Charity gaming is an amazing idea! I’m curious how you did that, logistically. Were spectators watching and donating money to help the party? Or betting?… ☺️
Need advice
I’m looking to create a TTRPG experience that I can run for 25-40 people in a team building event for a company in like 2- 2 1/2 hours. I’ve got a lot of ideas on paper and I used some AI brainstorming to help me in spots. I’m probably 80 percent to completion for a final product. I use tables of 5 people and everyone gets a d20 to roll. Each table of 5 is the same class…ie strikers, defenders, scouts, arcanists etc an each table gets a story quest to figure out and accomplish using their teamwork, ideas and d20. Then each member of the team rolls and you add them up and compare group success or failure to a chart. The story is lead by this and consequences occur based on how each table’s missions go. Eventually leading to the final battle. I’m planning on using sound and PowerPoint for visuals. Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas ? Any help I’d appreciate greatly
3 likes • 3d
There’s also Blood on the Clocktower and Fiasco. Fiasco works well with multiple tables of five to six players. https://bloodontheclocktower.com/ https://bullypulpitgames.com/products/fiasco
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James Willetts
6
1,379points to level up
@james-willetts-2216
He/Him. Big time RPGer, sound engineer by trade, improv theater novice, cat lover, father of two, always looking to improve my GMing and PCing. ☺️

Active 6h ago
Joined Aug 10, 2024
Tucson
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