Every RPG ever published follows a set structure. This structure follows a set format. That format being...

1. Group mostly gets together at one person's house. Except for one guy who keeps getting lost, and two players who said they'd be there on time this week.

2. Group socializes as GM sets up for the game. During socialization one player notices the GM's new computer game and starts setting it up for play. In the process deleting the GM's doctoral thesis, a 4 year project the GM will never be able to recover.

3. One absent player calls and says he'll be there a little late thanks to an unexpected event.

4. GM finally manages to corral those players actually there and get the game going.

5. GM begins the long, futile process of getting the players motivated enough to actually follow up on a lead.

6. The player who messed around with the computer game back in step 2 complains that the adventure is boring, and he'd rather be playing that computer game.

7. The players as a whole get into a long winded argument about how said computer game rocks, sucks, is an antique, and/or is cutting edge.

8. GM starts to wonder if maybe he should go into something more spiritually fulfilling. Homosexual prostitution for example.

9. After 2 hours of bullshitting, 1 hour of deciding on what to eat (the Jew isn't there, so it's pizza that night), 55 minutes of eating that pizza, 1 minute of everybody remembering that Hiram isn't even an observant Jew, and 4 minutes of actual game play everybody heads home telling the GM what a great time they had.

10. Both of the late players call to let the GM know they can't make it that week.

11. The lost player shows up at the front door. With a couple of lady friends. They liked what they heard and they want to see what this RPG stuff is all about. The GM runs an off-the-cuff adventure that lasts until the wee hours of the morning. Everybody has a blast. The girls go home happy and excited, promising to bring some friends along next week.

12. The members of the old group, minus the player who kept getting lost, get an email telling them the game has been cancelled for the foreseeable future.

Funny stuff. I have to admit to some of it having happened with me... I'm the guy with the curious female noobs. Good times.

I figure four hours of fucking around and playing four square/watching one of the players Parkour (that's the word for it right? Anyway, jumping cars and climbing buildings and shit)/looking over peoples' shoulder at ytmnd or downloaded episodes of the XMen animated series will usually do the trick. After that, the ideal amount of time actually gaming is five hours. I only have the patience to prepare for one solid hour, after which time my players have their characters fight each other for the hell of it in whatever impromptu arena I think up. Then some movie. Once or twice we've followed up at some Chinese buffet.

It takes a week of prep and almost a full day of hanging out to support one hour of RPG. Sad really.

Quote from: beejazz...I'm the guy with the curious female noobs.

Dude, seriously -- hormone treatments.  Talk to your doctor about them.

!i!

Not like that. I wish, but it isn't.

Yeah, should have clarified: DISCLAIMER: LARGE NUMBER OF FEMALE FRIENDS =/= SEXUAL CONNOTATIONS.

It's just my luck that women everywhere see me as "harmless"... Can't honestly say it's a situation I'm happy with, but...

Funny stuff, and all too true.  Getting gamers together is like herding fucking cats, I swear.  One thing that I've found helps is to include a meal in the game plans.  Have everyone bring something and spend time eating and bullshitting before the game.  This encourages everyone to show up, as people are more likely to if they know we're going to eat at 5:00 and they're supposed to bring the chips.  It gives you a chance to get the BSing out of the way, and everyone isn't feeding their faces (as much) during the actual game.

And you can do theme nights.  We had punch and sandwiches for our Homecoming episode.  

These days I just say "Hey folks!  I'm havin' games at my house on wednesday.  I'll take all comers in Jungle Speed!  Oh, and we can do some roleplaying too."

Then, whoever shows up, we figure out what we're going to play, and play it.

It's ever so much less stressful, and I actually get much more gaming in, because we don't cancel/reschedule every second session around someone's other commitments.

We're also seeing the possibility that we can just invite people we've never met before, and get to know new gamers, but the person who was eager to come last night got pretty seriously sick, so that's still unexplored potential.

Anyway, I'm liking the less organized approach.  I recommend it.

Quote from: beejazzIt takes a week of prep and almost a full day of hanging out to support one hour of RPG. Sad really.

OMFG! I do about half an hour of prep to run a 6-8 hour game every week, about 5-7 of it roleplaying. How do you do it?

-clash

It must be a "swine" problem or something..

Me, I manage to run 3 6-8 hour games every week with just a couple of hours prep time total.

edit to add: and while my players sometimes take up to 2 hours to show up (its Uruguay), once they're all there, we get right to business and play a solid 6-8 hours of game.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditIt must be a "swine" problem or something..

Shit, man.  Those swine are everywhere.  Do you check under your bed before you go to sleep?

The issue described isn't a "swine" problem.  It's a normal "people" problem.  Change the words "GM" and "players" to "Worshipful Master" and "Brothers" and mythusmage's post describes half the meetings my year sitting in the East.

Quote from: jrientsShit, man.  Those swine are everywhere.  Do you check under your bed before you go to sleep?

The issue described isn't a "swine" problem.  It's a normal "people" problem.  Change the words "GM" and "players" to "Worshipful Master" and "Brothers" and mythusmage's post describes half the meetings my year sitting in the East.

Jrients:

I think the Pundit was replying to my post about beejazz' "week of prep for an hour of playtime." I took mythusmage's original post to be a humerous exaggeration - something the Pundit seems to be familiar with - and had no problem there.

I don't care what system you use, a week's prep for an hour's playtime indicates something is very wrong to me.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceJrients:

I think the Pundit was replying to my post about beejazz' "week of prep for an hour of playtime."

Ah. My silly mistake then.  Sorry, Pundit!

QuoteI took mythusmage's original post to be a humerous exaggeration - something the Pundit seems to be familiar with

Understatement suits you admirably, sir.

To clarify: it was a little hyperbole on my part. While I do tinker with the system, setting, and some feeble attempts at any kind of plot in my spare time, I really only use about eight self-statted opponents per session. Beyond that, my PCs rarely (if ever) go quite where I expect them to.

I do, however, feel a little dissatisfied with the prep-to-play ratio, though. Maybe if I had decades of experience and a couple of groups I could recycle more of my stat blocks (cutting down on prep time) and plot ideas.

Beyond that, I'm more a n00b (at least compared to you oldsters) than a swine.

Quote from: beejazzTo clarify: it was a little hyperbole on my part. While I do tinker with the system, setting, and some feeble attempts at any kind of plot in my spare time, I really only use about eight self-statted opponents per session. Beyond that, my PCs rarely (if ever) go quite where I expect them to.

And so say we all!

Quote from: beejazzI do, however, feel a little dissatisfied with the prep-to-play ratio, though. Maybe if I had decades of experience and a couple of groups I could recycle more of my stat blocks (cutting down on prep time) and plot ideas.

I think a lot of people spend way too much time on prep work. You're not alone! I tend to play - and write - systems where it's fast to create NPCs, but even using a stat heavy system your load can be lightened by creating a few NPC creation tools to use first, then using them to gear up.

Quote from: beejazzBeyond that, I'm more a n00b (at least compared to you oldsters) than a swine.

Hehe! No problemo! We were all n00bs once!

-clash

No problem, Jrients. Its probably my bad for having failed to quote the post.

RPGPundit