Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of heavy game criticism,
Or to take arms against a sea of system backlash,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
Of a lack of players, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream of a great home group: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of no games to GM what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off to a convention for games?
So I am having a little bit of a crisis at the moment as far as my GMing games goes. I seem to have lost faith with my ability to GM at conventions as I have fallen under some heavy criticism.
I am really struggling to keep my home group together. I have had some excellent players join over the last couple of years yet they seem to find excuses when to next session is scheduled not to come.
Now I am a good host – I provide a cooked meal and snacks as well as a full fridge of drinks [beer and soft drinks], I run a reasonable game with a good story, I am well organised with nice maps and handouts. The setting is fairly cool though I do know that many people do have an issue with Glorantha as a setting.
I do also know that many people dislike the HeroQuest system, but I didn't expect it to the point that several people have condemned my games on the RPG con circuit here in the UK. This is just not an attack on HeroQuest but my games in general. Now it could be just rumours but having heard this from two different sources is troubling. Bad-mouthing my games seems a little bit cruel and vindictive and the rumours are appearing to spread by word-of-mouth.
It is now getting to the point that I may have to give up GMing games at conventions all together.
I plan to run a few HeroQuest games at Tentacles Omega, a RPG convention that takes place in Germany at the end of May this year, and get some detailed feedback from those games.
I may just attend less RPG conventions in future; I'll just concentrate on help organising some conventions that I am involved with instead.
At Furnace I'll not run any games for instance.
I am just not sure what else to do?
I don't have an advice to share with you right now but I certainly sympathize. I assume most GM go through a tough patch from time to time. I know I did. Sometimes it's just a "half empty/half full" thing. The gossips and attitude though are really despicable. Everybody is entitled to enjoy or dislike the way you run games though I don't see the point of bad mouthing you in conventions. I would never join RPGA events for instance but I fail to see the point of spreading gossips about them... Is it part of some clique warfare between different styles of game at those conventions ?
If conventions are bringing you nothing but grief then take some time off. Always look on the bright side, and if there is no bright side then find one even if that means time off. How is the reaction at the conventions? Do people compliment you or seem to have fun?
You seem pleased and dedicated to your home game so that's cool. Find out whether it's just life getting in people's way or if they actually have things about the actual gameplay which keeps it from being a priority.
Screw the convention-goers. You're someone they don't know and only met once, so you're bound to have a few backstab you. That's just the way it goes.
For your home group, consider each of the players in turn, whether they're your friends or just players. I distinguish between "friend" and "acquaintance" in that an acquaintance is someone who you do just one thing with, take that common activity away and you've nothing to say to each-other. Like when you leave a job and everyone says "we must keep in touch!" but hardly anyone does. A friend is someone who you can do a great variety of things with and the relationship remains, the bond goes beyond that common activity.
Now decide which day of the week would best suit you to game, and settle the game as being that day, always, no matter what. Some players will drop out. But those who are your friends you'll still see anyway, those who were "just players" - acquaintances - will drift off, but that'll be no big deal.
I find that if you're running and hosting the game, and you settle on one day as the day to game and that's that, you get overall better attendance. Whereas if you move the session for one guy, most of the time that guy doesn't show up anyway, or if he does then someone else can't make it. If you have say 5 players and shift the game around you end up with 3 on the night; if you stick to one day then people complain but in the end you get 4 players show up.
Another thing to think of with their being friends or acquaintances is to decide what you're really there for. Do you want to hang with friends, or do you want to game? Because you could be doing anything with friends, one-on-one or as a group. It doesn't matter that I find someone's GMing crap if we never game together and only meet for lunch or go to movies.
If you want to game, then just settle on the day you want to play, the game you want to run, and don't worry if some players leave, you can always find more.
If you just want to hang with friends, then you'll have to compromise on the system/setting or find something else to do on that evening, watch movies or play Magic cards or something.
If you say you want to do both, well I say that in trying to set them equal priorities leads to at least one of friends or gaming suffering.
You are running Glorantha with HeroQuest? Ouch. Glorantha, like any decades old canon heavy setting, is tough to run at cons. You either go heavy on canon and alienate the noobs, or you go light on canon and anger the uberfans. Going moderate pisses off both!
Between now and your next con, spend some time reading the GM Advice sections in your various RPGs, blogs and forums. Even the best GMs benefit from a brush up on the basics and quite often can learn something new.
Also, consider running something other than Glorantha HeroQuest just to see if the system and setting were the issue.
Hi Darran,
I played in one of your HeroQuest/Firefly games at Dragonmeet many years ago and had no complaints, FWIW. It was a good, fun game.
Do the "rumours" have specific content you can act on, or are they just trash talking? It might be worth taking the former on board. I know you're big on HQ, but maybe a change of system would refocus your approach? Also, do you play much? If not, it's probably worth spending a bit of time on the other side of the screen to remind yourself what that's all about.
Good luck, anyway!
Ned
I've played Gloranthan HQ at British cons, no idea if you were running or not though Darran.
The thing I found was what Spinachcat talks about, the game I played in (which had some really good moments btw) had all this hardcore Gloranthan stuff in it much of which didn't really speak to me. Obviously I signed up for a Gloranthan game, so that's in large part my fault, but my Glorantha was a lot lower powered and low key than the game I played, reflecting perhaps that I'm from an RQ2 background rather than Heroquest perhaps.
As Spinachcat says, Glorantha light guys like me get alienated by too much canon, Gloranthaphiles by too little. It's a tricky setting in some ways for a con. And Heroquest while it definitely has its fans isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Are there any concrete criticisms? If so, it may be worth thinking about whether they're right. If not, try another system, try another setting, and above all try playing for a while and not GMing. Ned's advice is good.
Oh, does your home group meet the same day each week? Kyle's right, if the game day moves then attendance will fall.
Quote from: Balbinus;298989I've played Gloranthan HQ at British cons, no idea if you were running or not though Darran.
The thing I found was what Spinachcat talks about, the game I played in (which had some really good moments btw) had all this hardcore Gloranthan stuff in it much of which didn't really speak to me. Obviously I signed up for a Gloranthan game, so that's in large part my fault, but my Glorantha was a lot lower powered and low key than the game I played, reflecting perhaps that I'm from an RQ2 background rather than Heroquest perhaps.
I do try to avoid the hardcore Gloranthan stuff.
I would like to think that my games are newbie friendly in respect to the Glorantha setting. I try to deal with one Gloranthan theme per scenario and give out relevant information [like that people of the Lunar Empire like to wear red or example].
I normally GM games at conventions. Over the last five years I must have ran games for over 400 different people at conventions in the UK and Europe using HeroQuest as the system. The settings have been Glorantha,
Firefly/Serenity,
Dad's Army, and
Supernatural.
Of course I don't get to play in many games so I guess that is something I may have to rectify. My intention is to play in more games at Furnace later this year. A change is as good as a rest as they say and it would allow me to experience games from the other side of the table.
Quote from: Balbinus;298990Oh, does your home group meet the same day each week? Kyle's right, if the game day moves then attendance will fall.
The trouble is I work some very weird shifts, I manage an entertainment venue so getting a regular time to play is hard.
I guess that could be one of the issues?
Quote from: Darran;298993The trouble is I work some very weird shifts, I manage an entertainment venue so getting a regular time to play is hard.
I guess that could be one of the issues?
Almost certainly. It would be an issue for me.
I don't know about convention games. However I do have a very patchy GMing record with as many highs as lows.
When I get lost, when my games aren't working and I am not even what I am trying to do anymore I find it sometimes helps going back to basics.
What does that mean in practice? In my case it's going back to about simpler, more traditional games with less grand ambitions and less personal, quirky touches.
I don't know if this helps, but it has worked for me a couple of times.
Quote from: Darran;298921I am just not sure what else to do?
The game flows from the GM and the players. The most important steps for me to start a campaign is to first gather a few ideas on what I'd like to run, and then submit them to the prospective players. Then, we discuss about what they want out of the game. Then, I might change my mind on the game, system, setting altogether, if that makes the whole thing successful.
I think the key question to ask yourself is what you want to do to get a game going. Is it necessary for you to run say HeroQuest? What if you ran D&D instead? What do your players want, and how far is it at odds with what you really want from the game?
Listen. Learn. Adapt. Then, you get a successful game going.