I find that I learn a heck of lot from reading about other GMs style just from their descriptions of game play.

I was wondering, does anyone have transcripts of games that have played? Obviously, this is probably something few people do, given the resources and time needed. But perhaps soe of you run online games where this is feasible?)

Hi James.

Well, you're in the right place for that sort of thing, the Actual Play forum. Not every thread posted here is a transcript, but all of these threads discuss some aspect of actually playing. So hunt around, see what you'll find.

note the Forge policy on posting to older threads see: Etiquette at The Forge (policy)

F. Thread "resurrection"

If you find an older thread (not on the first page of the forum) that you wish to discuss, we ask that you create a new thread and link to the old one instead of "resurrecting" the thread. This helps everyone in terms of researching threads, and seeing where a discussion started and stopped.

Jack Spencer Jr.,

Thanks for the welcome! I've been reading the Forge for about 2 weeks now.

I'm familiar with most of the Actual Play reports. It's a very high level affair. I'm not looking for the abstractions of play, I'm looking for the word-for-word-what-actually-happened stuff. And yes, I realize that's a tall order.

I have seen some online transcripts. I enjoyed them immensely, so I'm looking to see if the, how shall I put this, more descriminating tastes at the Forge can provide the same.

I'm not sure the Forge encourages a lot of word for word-type "and then this happened" type Play posts.
I know there are some interesting play transcripts posted at the Universalis webpages(for the game Universalis)
http://universalis.actionroll.com/index.html

For on-line game transcripts, try the indie-netgaming group on Yahoo, we try to store most of those transcripts, and we change game systems a lot!
You can find the Group at...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indie-netgaming/

I hope this helps,

Hi James,

I don't have any game transcripts (though I do have some extensive notes, including scene by scene breakdowns and commentary for a couple of games) but I've always been intrigued by the concept. Or better yet, an actual audio recording of a session, or a video recording even. If you've ever been involved in an organized sport you know how interesting and informative it can be to review the tapes after the game... I wonder if there's a useful parallel to the game.

Of course, then you run into issues about the "observer" (be it a tape recorder or video camera) affecting the game; though this may not necessarily be a negative thing. I think we had a discussion awhile ago about observers in role-playing games that might be applicable.

-Tor

i'd even like to HEAR some audio of actual gameplay...with the requests for Mt. Dew or Funyons edited out, of course. ;)

there's so much talk about narrativism, i'd actually like to HEAR some... i.e; i'd like to listen to a Ron Edward's Sorcerer session.

granted, these would be wayy too big to probably download, but they could be streamed or something just like internet radio broadcasts.


-kreg

An alternative is to visit an Indie-netgaming IRC session and *watch* some. (Boy... it'd be great if we could get Ron in on one of those...)

Hi there,

Um, I'm just another role-player, guys ... it's not like the heavens open or anything when we play ...

Although I am considering recording a session or two. I don't have the technical know-how to set it up as an on-line thing (I mean, they made it look so easy in American Pie), but I'll ask around.

Best,
Ron

I convinced some of the regulars of our gamign group to try an online (via GRIP, most likely) game of Sorcerer.

I intend to post the results, of course, and put the transcripts up some where.

I asked the players what they would be into, and some of the responses included "horror," "letters [as in correspondence]," "realistic fantasy," and "historic."

I had an idea for a scenario set in London, in the late 1880's. Sorcerer by Gaslight!

Then the players began to email their character outlines and Kickers.

I thought I'd seen some degenerate PC concepts. But these folks are losers, dope addicts, rotten cops, and opium addled demon summoning freaks. I cannot wait.

JamesDJIII wrote:

I intend to post the results, of course, and put the transcripts up some where

I've heard of it. Perhaps I should do that too, some day, and post THAT as well?

JamesDJIII wrote: I've heard of it. Perhaps I should do that too, some day, and post THAT as well?

This discussion has got me thinking, is anyone going to bring a video camera to Gencon? I've really enjoyed looking at the photos of last years excursion, but video of Forge booth in action could be cool too.

I have some short video clips of game sessions of Sorcerer (Charnel Gods), d6 Star Wars, and Appalachia Now!. I will see what I can do to get them into mpeg format if there is interest in me doing that. I'm not sure if you would learn anything from them though.

,Matt G.

Matt Gwinn wrote: This discussion has got me thinking, is anyone going to bring a video camera to Gencon? I've really enjoyed looking at the photos of last years excursion, but video of Forge booth in action could be cool too.

I have some short video clips of game sessions of Sorcerer (Charnel Gods), d6 Star Wars, and Appalachia Now!. I will see what I can do to get them into mpeg format if there is interest in me doing that. I'm not sure if you would learn anything from them though.