Jun 27, 2021 7:48 pm
Since I started this project, I've received a lot of requests. Not all of them are suitable for just me to opine on. That is, many could be topics for an interview segment on their own. If you're interested in participating in a ten minute discussion on any of these topics (or a better one you have in mind), please contact me. This applies whether you're a former guest or someone new to the series.
If you have suggested a question and don't see it here, this is likely a failure on my part to keep adequate notes. Please send it to me again.
Requested Topics
Favourite PCs: Do you have a favourite character in your pbp games, both from a player and GM perspective?
Engagement: Methods a GM can use to foster more engagement between the PCs in a game.
Splitting the Party: To split or not split the party, that is the question.
GP Dice Roller: Tips for the GP dice roller.
Genres and settings in PBP: Horror, mystery, political intrigue, dungeon crawls, hex crawls, whodunnit, comedy, epics, heists, …. There are many genres and settings in RPG. Do you have any opinions on what shines and what flops in PbP?
When and Who Should Roll: With all your experience, you must have seen lots of approaches to dice rolls. Players roll in case it’s needed; DM rolls if player doesn’t; DM calls for roll and waits; Players do/don’t roll enemy saves; DM does/doesn’t roll for everyone’s initiative. What are the pros and cons of the different approaches, and do you have a favourite?
Battlemaps: I would ask what you use for your battlemaps, but after playing in the Dragon campaign I know the answer is: MS Paint and the artistic talent of a four-year-old who doesn't like drawing battlemaps.
Narrative friendly systems: I have a player who has an incredibly narrative style of play. Is there a system that you could recommend that would be best suited to her literary approach - something which is much more role play than roll play?
"What tools do you find useful?" could be a good general purpose question. I know I get asked that as a DM.
Rating Systems: The pro's and con's for a rating system for users. It would identify stable players, but alienate new users
Admirable DM Moves: Things DMs did that made you admire their way of thinking.
Guest Players: Would you use someone as a guest in a game you run to run an NPC for you? (the inspiration for this was a guest appearance I saw at a dnd actual play series I watch)
PBP disbelief: "what? no grid maps and tokens?" "how you do rolls? this can't be working" "it's a shame people end up doing this, hope you get to play at least one game irl" "and what, you have to WAIT for someone to respond?"
Railroading and derailing: How can derailing can be good, and if bad derailing happens, how do you handle it?" Also: hard framing. Like the good version of railroading
Player Agency: and PC agency
Learnings New Systems: Qralloq, you have said that one of your favorite things on gamers plane is experimenting with new game systems. How do you go about learning new systems efficiently and effectively?
Outside GP: We all probably want GP to grow, and I don't want to poach players from other sites, but can we learn from THEM too? Is it possible to reach out to competitor sites and improve both?
Other Topics that Could Be Revisted
Safety Tools I briefly covered X-Cards, Lines and Veils, and the Social Contract.
Replacing Ghosting Players
Reviving a Flagging Game
Incompatible Players
Crafting Game Arcs episodic rather than serial / campaign play, starting with the end in mind,
PBP-favourable Systems: which systems that are particularly well-suited to PbP play.
If you have suggested a question and don't see it here, this is likely a failure on my part to keep adequate notes. Please send it to me again.
Requested Topics
Favourite PCs: Do you have a favourite character in your pbp games, both from a player and GM perspective?
Engagement: Methods a GM can use to foster more engagement between the PCs in a game.
Splitting the Party: To split or not split the party, that is the question.
GP Dice Roller: Tips for the GP dice roller.
Genres and settings in PBP: Horror, mystery, political intrigue, dungeon crawls, hex crawls, whodunnit, comedy, epics, heists, …. There are many genres and settings in RPG. Do you have any opinions on what shines and what flops in PbP?
When and Who Should Roll: With all your experience, you must have seen lots of approaches to dice rolls. Players roll in case it’s needed; DM rolls if player doesn’t; DM calls for roll and waits; Players do/don’t roll enemy saves; DM does/doesn’t roll for everyone’s initiative. What are the pros and cons of the different approaches, and do you have a favourite?
Battlemaps: I would ask what you use for your battlemaps, but after playing in the Dragon campaign I know the answer is: MS Paint and the artistic talent of a four-year-old who doesn't like drawing battlemaps.
Narrative friendly systems: I have a player who has an incredibly narrative style of play. Is there a system that you could recommend that would be best suited to her literary approach - something which is much more role play than roll play?
"What tools do you find useful?" could be a good general purpose question. I know I get asked that as a DM.
Rating Systems: The pro's and con's for a rating system for users. It would identify stable players, but alienate new users
Admirable DM Moves: Things DMs did that made you admire their way of thinking.
Guest Players: Would you use someone as a guest in a game you run to run an NPC for you? (the inspiration for this was a guest appearance I saw at a dnd actual play series I watch)
PBP disbelief: "what? no grid maps and tokens?" "how you do rolls? this can't be working" "it's a shame people end up doing this, hope you get to play at least one game irl" "and what, you have to WAIT for someone to respond?"
Railroading and derailing: How can derailing can be good, and if bad derailing happens, how do you handle it?" Also: hard framing. Like the good version of railroading
Player Agency: and PC agency
Learnings New Systems: Qralloq, you have said that one of your favorite things on gamers plane is experimenting with new game systems. How do you go about learning new systems efficiently and effectively?
Outside GP: We all probably want GP to grow, and I don't want to poach players from other sites, but can we learn from THEM too? Is it possible to reach out to competitor sites and improve both?
Other Topics that Could Be Revisted
Safety Tools I briefly covered X-Cards, Lines and Veils, and the Social Contract.
Replacing Ghosting Players
Reviving a Flagging Game
Incompatible Players
Crafting Game Arcs episodic rather than serial / campaign play, starting with the end in mind,
PBP-favourable Systems: which systems that are particularly well-suited to PbP play.