Wednesday 25 January 2012

Player Responsibilities

I phoned it in tonight at my weekly game session. It was still fun for me, and the players still had fun too, I think - but I was low on energy. I was like the other bunny in the Duracell adverts. The one whose energy slowly drains away as he collapses, with a pathetic blank expression on his furry rabbit face.

It got me thinking about responsibilities. I've written about my DMing philosophy before, such as it is, and one of the things I emphasised was that one of the most important responsibilities of the DM is setting the tone. The energy flows from you, to a large extent. And if you feel flat, it's likely the game will feel a bit flat too. I think that's what happened tonight.

But that got me thinking: what are the responsibilities of players when they come to the table?

There's the obvious stuff:
  • Don't hog the limelight.
  • Don't try to browbeat or fast-talk the GM into changing every single piddling little decision.
  • Don't cheat.
  • Don't drink a lot if nobody else at the table is.

But this really mostly boils down to "don't be a dickhead", and it sounds more like a set of rules or guidelines than responsibilities. So I guess I'd start off with:
  • Take agency. Be an actor and not a reactor. You're the engine of the game, not the GM, and he's not your own personal dancing monkey.
  • Try to buy into what the game is about. It's fine not to take everything 100% seriously, but try to judge the mood and help build it.
  • Take everything that happens in the game with good grace, unless it's conspicuously a case of the GM being unfair or stupid.

Not particularly pithy or interesting, but it'll do for starters. 

7 comments:

  1. Giving tips to people before they play is nice in theory but in my experience it's like giving driving tips to people before buying them 9 Jager bombs.

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  2. "Don't drink a lot if nobody else at the table is."

    Thank you.

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  3. Yeah, what Zak said. Really it only one thing, that shouldn't have to be said. "Do whatever is fun for you." With caveat if they think being a dickhead fun, kick them out of the game.

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  4. "Don't drink a lot if nobody else at the table is."

    Thankfully, this isn't listed under GM responsibilities.

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  5. Re-reading this today I'm wondering/paranoid as to just how much of the player responsibilities specifics are down to shortcomings in our group... ;)

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  6. That's a good start. I would add a couple:

    * The players are a team. They should work to not only support each others' efforts, but work to increase each others' fun.

    * The players are here to play a game. It would be a good idea to know the rules of the game, at least as far as your character is concerned.

    * Pay attention.

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  7. Yeah, knowing the rules of the game is a biggie.

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