Variation of Style

[Ian O'Rourke]

Okay, this is sort of inspired by a couple of the threads in the Sorcerer forum, but it's not Sorcerer specific, and this forum seemed the closest fit. This issue is this: in many games I've played in the past not much thought has been put into the delivery of the game by the GM and the players. I would single out the GM only because he often provides an opening play or even a lead in such situations.

In short, each and every game is delivered in pretty much the same style.

I've always been off the opposite opinion, and that the style the game is delivered in is of utmost importance. How else do you get the mood, style and setting of the game across?

Just wondering what thoughts other people have on the matter?

[Paul Czege]

Hey Ian,

in many games I've played...not much thought has been put into the delivery of the game by the GM and the players....In short, each and every game is delivered in pretty much the same style.

By "delivery" are you referring primarily to the way the GM portrays the game world through descriptions, and NPC's through use of histrionics, the way he "flavors" the game scenario? If so, I think we're talking about issues of talent, skill, and personal comfort. People get into a groove that's bounded somewhere comfortably within their possible range. The question you find yourself asking is, "Why does this quizzical damn gnome remind me of the old swamp woman in the Chill game he ran last time?" It's talent and skill; the GM doesn't think those two characters are coming across to you as being similar.

If you're referring to things like variations in the pacing of the game across multiple sessions, control and release of dramatic tension, escalating the scenario's moral significance, then I think you're starting to talk about things that're more heavily influenced by a game's mechanics.

I guess my question is, are you talking about the things that vary from GM to GM of the same game system, but not across game systems with the same GM, which are the talent, skill, and comfort things, or are you talking about things that vary for a given GM only across game systems?

Paul

[James V. West]

This question piqued my interest because I feel that I'm seriously lacking as a GM.

I say that because I think I'm sometimes that GM Paul mentioned whose gnome sounds just like that swamp lady from the last game. Part of my problem is that I tend to do very little (if any) prep work before running a game. I happen to believe that wonderful things can happen when you don't plan them and I often take that philosophy too far and get myself into trouble.

That being said, I find myself relying on stock character-types or stock situations when I can't think of anything new in a pinch. Perhaps a lot of GMs fall into this category of poor planning combined with lack of oomph for lack of a better word. But this is my own lack of confidence speaking and maybe if you asked my players they would tell a different story. I dont' know. The fact that you as a player notice a kind of complacency to do things the same old way every time says that GMs need to consider what they're doing as much more than a routine job. Its an art form.

Just some random thoughts from the random guy.

James V. West
http://www.geocities.com/randomordercreations/index.html

[Bankuei]

  I agree, while many games give a nice rundown on the basics of gm'ing, I don't think I learned what it was supposed to be about until I played with some truly enthralling gms.  It's the difference between reading sheet notes of jazz, and really playing jazz.

 I suppose as a GM, I always focus on the plot, and not so much upon the characters or the descriptions.  I play with other folks to try to watch what they're doing that I can learn from, but its hard to get out of a style or a rut that you may be in.

 Maybe what we need is some classes on improv acting :smile:

Bankuei

[Mike Holmes]

On 2001-10-28 05:01, Bankuei wrote:
 Maybe what we need is some classes on improv acting :smile:

Well, that probably wouldn't hurt. But easier, and more effective is just to practice by playing. WhenI say that, I don't mean justplayingthe same style over and over again, I mean trying to improve in-game. I formerly was a ski instructor, and one of the things the pro instructors always taught was that in order for people to really improve, they have to get out of that comfort zone that Paul mentioned. If you ski the same easy ski run repeatedly you'll find that you can do it OK, but never really get past OK. But move to something more difficult and tackle that and you'll find that when you come back to the old slope that you find that you can do it better than ever.

Same thing goes for anything. In an RPG stretch you're abilities, go beyond what you already know. Sure you're going to fall sometimes. But that's part of the process. Eventually you'll have conquerd something new. And when you come back to the familiar territory you'll find that you can do things with it you never could before.

My great shame is that I haven't pushed myself more as a GM. I only occasionally get outside what I know. But when I do it works. I have improved over the years, almost soley because I've at least occasionally challenged myself.

Mike "Advanced Intermediate GM" Holmes

[Blake Hutchins]

Go for the throat.  It's the only way to move into truly exciting dramatic territory, IMO.  But then, I'm a writer with stage experience.  The best games, the best plays, and the best writing for me happen when I listen to that little voice from waaay out in left field.  You know, the little voice you automatically diss 99.9% of the time because it's too weird or too far out.  It's hard to listen to that voice, hard to let your instincts override your internal censor, but it's The Way as far as I'm concerned, and I'm still working at it.  Ain't easy to get past those inhibitions.  I still remember falling into heavy Actor stance in an old Vamp game and screaming at some player (all in character, of course) whose character was acting like a shithead.  It was great and the players thought it very cool (afterward), but it's tough to hit that zone and tougher to stay there.

We start The Pool "Irongate" game today. *heh*  Gonna take my own advice and try to hit 'em hard.

Best,

Blake

[Ian O'Rourke]

I'm talking about the way the GM presents the setting, influences the pace of the story and edits the piece to make one sessions different from the next.

This all links in with setting, mood, pace, story type, etc.

Very little to do with system in the most part.

[Mike Holmes]

Ian,

I'm confused. You seem to imply that we have not responded to what you are talking about. But I thought that we had responded to those things pretty well. Perhaps we're still not getting the question. Could you try rephrasing it?

Mike

[Ian O'Rourke]

I just responding to Paul, who seemed to be asking for clarification.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Ian, Mike,

Very little to do with system in the most part.

I've come to realize that my ability to accomplish certain things as a GM with pacing, dramatic tension, and premise/theme is very much impacted by the game system. A boggy combat system creates all kinds of problems for pacing and dramatic tension. A game with complex character creation rules keeps me from being able to improvise NPCs into existence during play. I've been able to accomplish a frenetic pace with my scenario for The Pool, and a cluttered cast of compelling NPCs, because conflict resolution is one quick roll, and because the GM never rolls I don't need stats for NPCs, which allows me to easily create them on the fly. My energy during a run is focused on cycling through the player group, framing scenes, and I'm able to keep issues of character protagonism in the forefront of my mind better than with other game systems where I have to juggle more mechanics and dice rolling related to NPCs.

Why are cults so popular as the force of antagonism in scenarios for most horror games? Try to run a multi-session scenario with one of these games where the antagonist is a single mummy and see if you can maintain escalating tension.

I really do think system has a lot to do with the perceived lack of variety in mood, pace, and story type with a lot of games.

Paul

[Laurel]

Ian, one thing I'd suggest is that you set up your "style" to correspond with the game you are playing.  

For Vampire, we used to play with the furniture covered in black sheets, with wine, fresh roses, gothy music playing in the back ground and no snacks.  No eating allowed, except to leave the game and go into the kitchen and quietly eat there.  Game always started with us sitting in silence, eyes closed, as the GM read a piece of poetry before launching into the setting.  The poem always had a clue about what we are about to experience.  Pretencious?  Incredibly.  Effective? Definately for Vampire.

When we used to play Werewolf, game always happened on Saturdays after we took a 3 mile hike through the woods near campus, and usually brought leaves or weird shaped rocks or other little 'treasures' with us.  The plots came from real newspaper and magazine articles translated into "If this the was the World of Darkness, this would be happening because..." by the GM.

Probably the best thing you can do is look at what game you are playing, and come up with a style that would make that particular game system or group of players really shine.

[Ian O'Rourke]

Back to systems then :smile:

Seriously, I think Paul's probably correct. If I have to think about the system, I usually end up running a crap session. I love playing in our current 3e game, but I hated running it (I did a few guest slots) as I had to keep too much system stuff in my head. Also, creating all the NPC's beforehand was a nightmare.

Anyway, so we can say systems free you to do all the fancy pacing and stuff - no argument with that.

[Blake Hutchins]

Laurel,

Black sheets.  Nice.  In my old Vamp chron, we used to play by candlelight and pass around a battered hand-thrown bowl of V-8 mixed with wine for everyone to drink from before we started play.

Best,

Blake

[mahoux]

At least I'm not the only one who tries to set a mood occasionally. When I run Deadlands I have an assortment of western themes in the CD player, and for Broomstix, which is a Harry Potter game, I keep the music light and childlike.

Another problem which I run into is not playing NPCs but rather saying "this person tells you this" or "the old woman does this". I tend to intersperse this with actual roleplaying and I think that is just a personal problem, not wanting to seem goofy.

But Laurel, Blake, I love the atmosphere idea. I think I may try doing a little more when our group meets up again.