Pulp Gamer Out of Character
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The Pulp Gamer Crew
 
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Show's Description
Listen to table-top gaming and community news in a morning show format.
Archived Post
PGOC 055: Table Tips |
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We are all back together in the studio again and dive into something we have wanted to talk about for a long time. This is a collection of tips you can implement to run a smoother roleplaying game. We also respond to some feedback that continues with the Are Games Art discussion, started by Johnathan. In other news, Wizards will be closing down Gleemax. We touch on the Southern Arizona Gamer's Association's new projects, the coordinated campaigns. One is for World of Darkness, the other is going to either be using Dungeons & Dragons 4.0 rules, or Pathfinder. One of the project participants, Berin, wrote a good introduction on his blog after we finished recording where you can learn more. Other games discussed in todays show include Horus, Settlers of the Stone Age, Race for the Galaxy, Loot, and War of the Ring. Next up, Gen Con. If you are going to be there, be sure to take note of our scheduled events. We also want to wish Curt and the Wandering Geek podcast luck at this year's ENnie awards. |
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Posted August 06, 2008
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Comments
Wow... I'm shocked to hear Jer speak so highly of 4.0. I've actually been shying away from it due to all the crotchety old timer gamer hate (I consider myself a crotchety old timer myself)...
I may have to give it a shot based solely on Jer's comments.
-Galen
I like to use 3x5 cards too. But I use them more for quick reference character sheets. I ask for initiative and keep the cards myself (putting them in the right order). I flip from front to back, etc... The quick reference character info is helpful for when I want to check something without letting the player in on the secret (such as a spot check to see that vampire skulking in the distance).
-Galen
Back when I was running Shadowrun, 4th Edition, the players never used their Edge. Edge in Shadowrun is a point pool that each character has to make some changes to dice rolls, sort of like hero points or action points in other role-playing games. You spend an Edge point and you get to reroll some dice. However, nobody used this ability at the table. See, the Shadowrun character sheet has so many attributes and skills that Edge was just another number in that sea of statistics. When we started using poker chips to mark how many Edge points a character had, suddenly the players started spending them -- having a visual representation of what their character had helped the players to remember that they had that ability.
Now in every game where there are action points, hero points, bennies, or whatever they're called in that system, I always use some sort of token to remind the players that they have them.