6 ms·

I tried getting friends to play RPG's in the early 1980's but they didn't show much interest until I came across a supply of 6" (150 mm) square pieces of styrof

I tried getting friends to play RPG's in the early 1980's but they didn't show much interest until I came across a supply of 6" (150 mm) square pieces of styrofoam (discarded packing material from work) which I painted with gray acrylic paint. I cut some in half and some in quarters and used them to depict the dungeons for use with metal miniatures. After that I had a group which showed up every month for 5 years. I wrote a program for my computer which generated dice rolls, monsters, treasures, and random names to assist me in my role as Dungeon Master but the critical element was my ability to ignore or re-roll any result which seemed too unfavorable. Good players really help the game but a good Dungeon Master is essential for an enjoyable game. Computers alone cannot exhibit the empathy necessary for a great game.

azernik 9y ago
Not just empathy - it's also a sense of drama that's required. A DM writes the story in (semi-)real-time, whereas in CRPGs the "DM" (the writers) have to predict player actions in advance and railroad the players a lot more in order to get a good story progression going.
- taneq 9y ago
  This is the key insight which many new DMs seem to miss. D&D isn't a "game", it's a framework for telling an engaging story together.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    Kinda. I would say that story is the least important bit when in the moment as a player. It is once the session is over that the story emerges.
  - MichaelGG 9y ago
    Exactly. I played DnD, asynchronously, over the phone. Hours at a time with the DM, rarely a die rolled.
  - arkh 9y ago
    It also goes both ways. The players have to engage and help build the story. I love the Feng Shui RPG for how they insist about the back and forth between player and DM. They also encourage the DM to pre-roll everything to make fights go smoother.
  - tehwalrus 9y ago
    This is much more explicit in a different, much simpler RPG called Fate, which is my new favourite. GM'ing (Game, rather than Dungeon Master) is nearly as hard because of the improv story authorship, but the lack of rules-lawyering judgement that is required of you in a D&D game (even in a good edition like 5th, sadly) is not missed.
    - StavrosK 9y ago
      A friend of mine is a very good DM in D&D, wrote his own stories, world, etc, and we got a group of 5 people together and played two games before he had to leave, so we disbanded. We very much liked the vibe, though, so I want to get the group together again. Is Fate a good game for inexperienced players (especially with an inexperienced DM)? If not, what would be a simple system to start with and play, but still enjoyable? Fate Accelerated seems to be what I want (I'm not even sure what the differences are with Core, even having read the comparison), but the site doesn't really do a good job selling you the system. EDIT: Man, this site is terrible. It links you to a store where I can't figure out where to buy Fate Core stories, it doesn't tell you what equipment you need, where to get it, jeez.
      - tehwalrus 9y ago
        I don't know much about the difference between Core and Accelerated, I just bought the Fate Core rule book (amazon?) and workout out of it. This is how I run pretty much all my games, buy the book and read it. A new DM should (IMHO) try playing in a game of the specific system run by someone else first, even in a minimalist system like Fate. The thing about Fate is that the jargon is generic fiction terms, rather than medieval fantasy or whatever. So you have to read the rules cover to cover before DMing, and make sure to jump forward and back to remind yourself of definitions etc. Once you get going, and are familiar with the two or three mechanics you can use, it's very liberating though! If it's what I think it is, you should be able to start with Accelerated and then convert to Core if some things aren't working (i.e. it's too simple).
        StavrosK 9y ago
- Steko 9y ago
  Eh, they don't have to (cf Eve), they just decided not to and so they've largely missed the chance for more interesting and sticky player driven story (cf Eve) by following EQ's model of "here's what you do next kids".
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    Eve is kind of a different thing, I think. Hardly anyone is actually roleplaying in Eve, for one. For another, most tabletop RPGs give you a fighting chance at being the hero, whereas in Eve you're overwhelmingly likely to be Faceless Extra #54265. There's nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but it scratches a different itch than RPGs.
davedx 9y ago
Yes, I did something like that for when I DM'd Shadowrun! (Writing bits of computer code for dice rolls).
- macavity23 9y ago
  One of my favorite things about Shadowrun was rolling a 1/2 pound of D6s at once!
pault 9y ago
The thing that turned me off is the fake british accents people seem to feel are necessary. It's a fantasy world, who's to say what kind of accent they have??
- saiya-jin 9y ago
  this is only due to US. rest of the world either laughs on this stupidity or completely ignores it without any added effect
- lscotte 9y ago
  Right, who is to say that, including yourself. :-)
- lotharbot 9y ago
  in my current game, the dwarves all have redneck accents, and if anyone questions why they're not talking in bad Scottish accents, they start talking about "ijits" who've never seen a real dwarf but only halflings dressed in fat-suits at the minstrel shows pretending to be dwarves...

azernik 9y ago

Not just empathy - it's also a sense of drama that's required. A DM writes the story in (semi-)real-time, whereas in CRPGs the "DM" (the writers) have to predict player actions in advance and railroad the players a lot more in order to get a good story progression going.

taneq 9y ago
This is the key insight which many new DMs seem to miss. D&D isn't a "game", it's a framework for telling an engaging story together.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Kinda. I would say that story is the least important bit when in the moment as a player. It is once the session is over that the story emerges.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  Exactly. I played DnD, asynchronously, over the phone. Hours at a time with the DM, rarely a die rolled.
- arkh 9y ago
  It also goes both ways. The players have to engage and help build the story. I love the Feng Shui RPG for how they insist about the back and forth between player and DM. They also encourage the DM to pre-roll everything to make fights go smoother.
- tehwalrus 9y ago
  This is much more explicit in a different, much simpler RPG called Fate, which is my new favourite. GM'ing (Game, rather than Dungeon Master) is nearly as hard because of the improv story authorship, but the lack of rules-lawyering judgement that is required of you in a D&D game (even in a good edition like 5th, sadly) is not missed.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    A friend of mine is a very good DM in D&D, wrote his own stories, world, etc, and we got a group of 5 people together and played two games before he had to leave, so we disbanded. We very much liked the vibe, though, so I want to get the group together again. Is Fate a good game for inexperienced players (especially with an inexperienced DM)? If not, what would be a simple system to start with and play, but still enjoyable? Fate Accelerated seems to be what I want (I'm not even sure what the differences are with Core, even having read the comparison), but the site doesn't really do a good job selling you the system. EDIT: Man, this site is terrible. It links you to a store where I can't figure out where to buy Fate Core stories, it doesn't tell you what equipment you need, where to get it, jeez.
    - tehwalrus 9y ago
      I don't know much about the difference between Core and Accelerated, I just bought the Fate Core rule book (amazon?) and workout out of it. This is how I run pretty much all my games, buy the book and read it. A new DM should (IMHO) try playing in a game of the specific system run by someone else first, even in a minimalist system like Fate. The thing about Fate is that the jargon is generic fiction terms, rather than medieval fantasy or whatever. So you have to read the rules cover to cover before DMing, and make sure to jump forward and back to remind yourself of definitions etc. Once you get going, and are familiar with the two or three mechanics you can use, it's very liberating though! If it's what I think it is, you should be able to start with Accelerated and then convert to Core if some things aren't working (i.e. it's too simple).
      - StavrosK 9y ago
Steko 9y ago
Eh, they don't have to (cf Eve), they just decided not to and so they've largely missed the chance for more interesting and sticky player driven story (cf Eve) by following EQ's model of "here's what you do next kids".
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  Eve is kind of a different thing, I think. Hardly anyone is actually roleplaying in Eve, for one. For another, most tabletop RPGs give you a fighting chance at being the hero, whereas in Eve you're overwhelmingly likely to be Faceless Extra #54265. There's nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but it scratches a different itch than RPGs.

davedx 9y ago

Yes, I did something like that for when I DM'd Shadowrun! (Writing bits of computer code for dice rolls).

macavity23 9y ago
One of my favorite things about Shadowrun was rolling a 1/2 pound of D6s at once!

pault 9y ago

The thing that turned me off is the fake british accents people seem to feel are necessary. It's a fantasy world, who's to say what kind of accent they have??

saiya-jin 9y ago
this is only due to US. rest of the world either laughs on this stupidity or completely ignores it without any added effect
lscotte 9y ago
Right, who is to say that, including yourself. :-)
lotharbot 9y ago
in my current game, the dwarves all have redneck accents, and if anyone questions why they're not talking in bad Scottish accents, they start talking about "ijits" who've never seen a real dwarf but only halflings dressed in fat-suits at the minstrel shows pretending to be dwarves...