Mastodawn

Ed Chivers Sep 21, 2024

@cynical13 I try to use character names too, for the same reason.

@edchivers the only downside for us is that we have someone playing a character named Gwen and a different friend is named Gwen. It has caused a smidge of confusion here and there.

Shae Erisson Sep 21, 2024

@cynical13 We use player names during the session, though they tend to stick so well I sometimes get called by the name(s) of my memorable previous characters.

@shapr I get that.

Jamesdalf Sep 21, 2024

@cynical13 during the game its almost exclusively character names. And it's assumed that most thing spoken are spoken in character

@Jamesdalf That does help keep down table chatter. I'm usually nice enough to make sure if an answer sounds jokey.

jendefer Sep 21, 2024

@cynical13 We mostly use character names, but we address players by name sometimes. Things like, "Player, what is going through PC's head right now?" or "Player, if you have any ideas on what this NPC might do, please share." We talk about our own characters in a mix of 1st and 3rd person ("I do this/PC does this").

@jendefer Very reasonable. I do the same sometimes.

@cynical13 I tend to play story-games that regularly shift between players/GM describing things in-world from the characters' perspectives and then hopping up into the meta ("the fiction") to discuss out-of-character choices and/or share info with players about things happening off-camera, and then back. As GM, I try to address the *characters* when we're in-world and the *players* when we're in the meta. Helps everyone remember which perspective we're in at a given time.

@MikeFerdinando I'm not overly familiar with that kind of game. Can you give me some examples? I'm curious to learn more.

@cynical13 Sure. For example, in *Apocalypse World* and other "Powered by the Apocalypse" (PbtA) games, sometimes the rules present the *player* with a pick-list of options to choose from that determine how elements of the scene play out. The player needs to step out of character, and pick an option that they (the player) are most interested in seeing happen in the game. Often that means the player discusses that OOC with the other players and GM.

@cynical13 There's the "Devil's Bargain" mechanic from Trophy. In exchange for an extra die in their dice pool, the player can elect to let the GM and other players offer a new narrative element of their devise into the story. Other players make various offers and the player can chooses one to get the extra die. (Or reject all offers and not take the die.) There's usually an OOC discussion about these offers before the players makes the choice. Then, we return to in-character play.

@cynical13 But, honestly, it's not all that different from a D&D game where a player counts squares on the battlemat to pick a precise movement pattern to avoid an attack opportunity or to precisely pick a spell origination point.

Wizard player: If the fireball goes off *here* it'll catch three more monsters but also Radgar the Rogue.

Rogue player: Go for it! Radgar has Improved Evasion and a +12 Dex save. If I make the save, it's no damage and it's only half damage if I fail.

@MikeFerdinando I never really considered it in those terms. Even when I run Masks (a PBTA) game, I still try and keep the focus on the characters, even though the mechanic is player-centric.

@cynical13 PbtA games vary considerably on this aspect. In "Girl Underground," for example, there's a character that's shared by all players (in addition to the PCs), so there has to be OOC discussion about what that character does. And "The Between" has formal phases of play, one of which is "The Unscene." That phase is aimed at the players, who describe events that are happening elsewhere in the city, in places/times away from where the characters are.

@cynical13 There's also a GM technique I've picked up called "Paint the Scene," where the GM asks the players a leading question about the scene and ask them to tell us about it. That's not necessarily from the characters' perspectives either: I'll ask players for their input even if their character isn't in the scene at all. An example of a leading question: "You've taken a wrong turn trying to find the warehouse. How can you tell you're now in a rich section of town?"

Jeff Sep 23, 2024

@MikeFerdinando Very cool. I may have to pull in some of those techniques in some of my games!

@cynical13 The important thing when you turn to the players for word-building like this: Use their answers and build on them. It's very much the "writers room" approach to gaming. I acknowledge that it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's the way I prefer to play, on either side of the GM screen.

Jeff Sep 23, 2024

@MikeFerdinando I'm very open to player input. I'm not dictating a story to them, I'm working with them to make them the focus of a story. I'm a part of the team too, I'm just set design, production, and director.

@cynical13 If you'd like to see some of these techniques in action, I'd recommend checking out "The Between" actual play series on the Ain't Slayed Nobody podcast. The GM is Jason Cordova, author of the game.
https://www.aintslayednobody.com/

Ain't Slayed Nobody | Call of Cthulhu Podcast

Ain't Slayed Nobody is an actual play Call of Cthulhu RPG podcast for horror, game, and comedy geeks! Subscribe to the series via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find out what H.P. Lovecraft cosmic horrors will unfold as our investigators brave the Wild West in a Down Darker Trails set

Ain't Slayed Nobody - Call of Cthulhu Podcast

Jeff Sep 23, 2024

@MikeFerdinando I'll have to look into that, thanks!