Via the Know Direction podcast, Owen KC Stephens, one of the leading RPG writers of the past few years, is doing a series of 100 questions on his blog about RPGs. Partly because I need to ease back into the habit of writing and partly because I’m staying at a B&B away from home for work, here are my answers to the first ten.
#1. Would you prefer a GM be entirely beholden to the game rules and die rolls, or secretly make changes if it leads to a more interesting, or more dramatic, or more fulfilling game session?
I’d prefer them to secretly make changes. It’s easy enough to do, and can help the story.
#2. Give one concrete example of when a GM fudging die rolls or rules might lead to a more interesting, or more dramatic, or more fulfilling game session?
Only one? When fighting the BBEG, I’ve added hitpoints so that the boss will go down in memorable fashion. When the spellcasters are out of magic and the rogue can’t make a flank, that lucky crit from the bard’s bow, or the death-or-glory charge from the dwarf at the back makes a session you’ll really remember.
#3. Does it make a difference to your preference if the GM is entirely open about making changes? What if the GM can hide any change so you never even suspect it?
I would prefer to live in ignorance, thinking that my rogue’s mad charge to stop someone from dying was actually as amazing as I thought it was at the time.
#4. Do you consider altering NPC attitudes or personalities from their originally planned starting points, or changing the plot of a future game session based on interesting ideas that come up in play, to be GM fudging, or just normal GM activities, or both?
I’d say normal GM activities. If you develop a particular relationship with an NPC, it should develop as naturally as a relationship between PCs. Particularly if the relationship is, ahem, strained, you a well-timed re-appearance of an adversary can really liven things up. Besides, it adds to the realism of the world you’re creating.
#5. Should a GM be able to veto the color of a PC’s eyes? Or is that none of the GM’s business?
The GM should be able to, but should never have to.
#6. Is the GM a player in an RPG session?
Yes, absolutely. They have a particular role, and are more able to shape events, but they shouldn’t be apart from the others.
#7. Should the GM roll dice in secret, roll dice in public view, or roll dice with varying secrecy as appropriate to the nature of the roll?
I’ll go for door number three. Mostly, I don’t make much fuss about rolling dice, and just throw them somewhere convenient and don’t think much about whether the PC’s can see them. In all likelihood, the one or two on that side will be able to see if they care to, and that’s about it. If the PCs are looking for that sneaky svirfneblin at the back of the room, my stealth checks are going to be hidden. The only times I make a fuss about a dice roll are when it’s a matter of life and death. If my glabrezu has crit a character that’s already halfway down and I could take the PC out, that’s happening out front. If I have to make a will save or the PCs win the day, aleam in mensam iacio. I encourage players to do the same, so that they have their moments in the limelight.
#8. Is being the GM a chore, or a privilege?
I’m not sure it’s a privilege, not least because GMs tend to be in short supply. It’s definitely not a chore; I enjoy, I think, all the different bits of GMing, from reading the adventure to preparing handouts. Most of all, I do enjoy being the ringmaster. It does feel special when you’ve done a good job and you know that you’ve done a good job; not because people tell you, but because you can see and hear it in how they’re going over the story again.
#9. How much of the success of an RPG session is determined by the quality and actions of the GM? Would you prefer an awesome RPG ruleset with an awesome adventure and awesome other players run by a mediocre GM; or a mediocre RPG ruleset with a mediocre adventure and mediocre other players under an awesome GM?
I’ve not played that many different systems, and I don’t think I’ve really played any bad ones. Ultimately, though, a good group of players will compensate for deficiencies in a ruleset, but not vice versa, so I think that, as long as the ruleset is completely borked beyond usefulness, I’d go for the players. That said, players and GMs can accidentally (or not so accidentally) bork a ruleset.
#10. What is your pet peeve about GMs, expressed in a way that makes it generic and impossible to connect to any one specific GM?
It’s not about GMs specifically, but they do it as much as other players. I hate - hate - when people shake the dice in their hands for an interminable amount of time. There’s no need for it. You can just pick the dice up and roll them out of your hand. Instead, we have this stupid rattling that distracts everyone and breaks the tension and immersion. Worst of all, they start doing it before they’ve finished talking. You can’t hear what they’re saying, and they drift off, half a dozen dice-shakes later, before they roll the damn things. I could just about forgive picking them up and giving them a couple of quick jumbles in your cupped hands, but the endless jarring is not just unnecessary, but actually detracts from my enjoyment of the game.
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