Doing Things Better #1: Entertaining your fellow-players - Page 2

johndallman · 09-01-2014, 05:35 PM

To follow on from the #RPGaday series, a "doing this stuff better" series. I don't believe I'll be able to think of thirty daily things, so anyone else who wants to start a thread of the day is welcome.

Entertaining your fellow-players is always good. It's really important when the party has to split up. Unless you're playing a highly cinematic game, sneaky infiltration is a job for specialists, and it can take significant amounts of playing time. So is computer hacking, doing an autopsy, or forensic accountancy. So making these jobs interesting is worthwhile.

The way I try to do this is to make clear what's happening: describing what I'm doing clearly to the GM is worthwhile anyway, but making the narrative good is harder. That does not mean purple prose, since letting the audience realise the implications of something is far better than a verbose description, in a game played mostly in the imagination.

Pacing also matters. Keeping things moving fairly swiftly gets the other players back into the game sooner, but rushing is bad. You want to give them a chance to make observations or jokes; that helps keep them involved.

Really, it's an application of GM technique to playing. What have you done along these lines?

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

09-01-2014, 05:35 PM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Doing Things Better #1: Entertaining your fellow-players To follow on from the #RPGaday series, a "doing this stuff better" series. I don't believe I'll be able to think of thirty daily things, so anyone else who wants to start a thread of the day is welcome. Entertaining your fellow-players is always good. It's really important when the party has to split up. Unless you're playing a highly cinematic game, sneaky infiltration is a job for specialists, and it can take significant amounts of playing time. So is computer hacking, doing an autopsy, or forensic accountancy. So making these jobs interesting is worthwhile. The way I try to do this is to make clear what's happening: describing what I'm doing clearly to the GM is worthwhile anyway, but making the narrative good is harder. That does not mean purple prose, since letting the audience realise the implications of something is far better than a verbose description, in a game played mostly in the imagination. Pacing also matters. Keeping things moving fairly swiftly gets the other players back into the game sooner, but rushing is bad. You want to give them a chance to make observations or jokes; that helps keep them involved. Really, it's an application of GM technique to playing. What have you done along these lines?