Difficult Players, or Aaargh!

What kinds of difficult players have you had in your games?

And more importantly, how did you deal with them?

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Use Two GM’s Screens

Want more screen real estate? Take two 4-panel GM’s screens and overlap them, offsetting them by one or two panels, and then paperclip them together. Voila! You now have a 5- or 6-panel screen, and loads of room for all your secret stuff.

I love GM’s screens, and this is how I usually set things up at my games.

Definitions of GMing, In Media Res and Recruiting non-d20 Players

This is the final roundup before the GMing Q&A Forum’s one-month trial period is over, and this week I’d like to look at definitions of GMing, starting games in media res and recruiting players for non-d20 games.

• DNAphil’s thread about writing your definition of the GM’s role isn’t new, but it’s popped back up this week. Phil’s idea was to compile your own definition of GMing using the 85+ examples from How Different RPGs Define the GM’s Role (one of TT’s most popular posts ever), and it’s an interesting exercise.

• DrNilesCrane started a thread asking if you’ve even begun a campaign in media res (Latin for “in the middle,” more or less) — once the players have their characters made up, your first words are, “Roll for initiative.” This one hasn’t gotten a lot of responses yet — why not pop in and give Mark your take on it?

• ffilz has been having trouble recruiting players for anything other than d20-based RPGs, and he needs your help. He’s gotten some good suggestions already, but there’s plenty of room for more.

If you’ve been enjoying what the GMing Q&A Forum has to offer, but haven’t created an account, now’s the time to sign up! The more GMs that get involved before the trial period ends, the better.

Meta-Questions for Your Players

Storn has posted Character Prompting Questions (direct link to 24 kb PDF), which explores what players want out of their characters. Sounds like a great shortcut to richer, more meaningful play. (Via 10 by 10 room.)

365 Character Questions for RPGs

Burning Void has a free 5.5 MB PDF called 365 Character Questions for Writers and Roleplayers (direct link to PDF) which is designed to help you create believable characters. Also included are a variety of exercises for getting your character creation juices flowing — it’s a very clever resource. (Via Tolen Mar.)

Make a To-Go Box for Your Small GMing Essentials

I use a Rook Endura Pro to store all of my small stuff: pens, pencils, enough dice for nearly any RPG (10d10, 30+d6, 3+ full polyhedral sets and more), highlighter, index cards, paper clips and counters (to flip).

I have plenty of dice to give to players who forget theirs, and the box saves me from having to scramble to get all this together at this last minute — I just grab it and go. This is easily my single favorite gaming tool.

Making Set-Piece Encounters More Fun

What sounds like more fun, option A:

As you peer over the blast wall, you see six guards armed with laser rifles.

…or option B:

As you peer over the blast wall, you see six guards armed with laser rifles — and four shadowy figures sneaking over the opposite wall.

Right, option B — because it has an extra layer of excitement baked right in.

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Use Post-Its as Bookmarks

As a timesaver, I use Post-It Notes as bookmarks when I run games — specifically, the 1.5″x2″ size in 2 or 3 different colors (although any size will work). Before a session, I mark up everything I expect to need for the night — skill descriptions, creature stats, etc. — with different colors according to category: rules, descriptions, etc. I also stagger the Post-Its, so I can see all of them when the book is closed.

This lets me go straight to the info I need, and I never have to worry about bookmarks falling out. (I try not to leave them in too long, though, as they sometimes leave behind a sticky spot.)

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