What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

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Shannon Mac
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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by Shannon Mac » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:54 pm

WHAT THE KEEPER OWES: general respect and courtesies; a scenario in which the players can interact; hearing the players out when they want their moment in the sun; ability to teach the rules to new players; being timely per below; letting the players know what they are getting into per tone, story setting, danger level and so forth; fairness in mechanics and the narrative flow which incorporate the characters properly (same goes for being an impartial judge); making each session as fun as possible; knowledge of the mechanics (within reason, of course); knowing when NOT to be a judge and letting the players go with it;

WHAT THE KEEPER DOES NOT OWE: playing their parent; spoonfeeding them clues when it's obvious they're not trying; changing the mood/genre for the players when it was already set up; placating pains in the ###; total brilliance in every run; entertain them 24/7 (players are at least half of the overall gaming experience per session);

WHAT THE PLAYERS OWE THE KEEPER: bringing their "A" game or at least letting the Keeper know they are unable to do it; general respect and courtesies; appropriate tone for the genre/setting (trying to default to comedy during a chilling horror scene rarely works out) and being timely on attendance or at least letting us know if you are delayed or cannot make it; matching the tone of the game and the group and knowing how to let others shine in the sun (rather than steal everything); also making each session fun; communication of their comfort levels (like if you're running a sexual horror game), a character that is going to be an interesting character in the setting (or along its way to becoming so),

NOTE: parts of this was influenced by the podcasts.
My gaming blog with pretty pictures: http://www.storytellersjem.blogspot.com/

Cthuhugh
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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by Cthuhugh » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:43 am

This is so spot on mate,I'll take it as my mission statement going forward.I'll probably not live up to it all the time however I'll try.

Shannon Mac wrote:WHAT THE KEEPER OWES: general respect and courtesies; a scenario in which the players can interact; hearing the players out when they want their moment in the sun; ability to teach the rules to new players; being timely per below; letting the players know what they are getting into per tone, story setting, danger level and so forth; fairness in mechanics and the narrative flow which incorporate the characters properly (same goes for being an impartial judge); making each session as fun as possible; knowledge of the mechanics (within reason, of course); knowing when NOT to be a judge and letting the players go with it;

WHAT THE KEEPER DOES NOT OWE: playing their parent; spoonfeeding them clues when it's obvious they're not trying; changing the mood/genre for the players when it was already set up; placating pains in the ###; total brilliance in every run; entertain them 24/7 (players are at least half of the overall gaming experience per session);

WHAT THE PLAYERS OWE THE KEEPER: bringing their "A" game or at least letting the Keeper know they are unable to do it; general respect and courtesies; appropriate tone for the genre/setting (trying to default to comedy during a chilling horror scene rarely works out) and being timely on attendance or at least letting us know if you are delayed or cannot make it; matching the tone of the game and the group and knowing how to let others shine in the sun (rather than steal everything); also making each session fun; communication of their comfort levels (like if you're running a sexual horror game), a character that is going to be an interesting character in the setting (or along its way to becoming so),

NOTE: parts of this was influenced by the podcasts.
Steve Highfield in the Call of Cthulhu "No Man's Land" scenario. Fenton Beanland in the Call of Cthulhu "The Inheritor " scenario.

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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by Shannon Mac » Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:45 am

Thanks for the kind words.
My gaming blog with pretty pictures: http://www.storytellersjem.blogspot.com/

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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by monkey prime » Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:35 pm

Just for my 10 cents:

I think Keepers have to provide as best an experience as they can by preparing their material, support new players, tell a story with their players not as an adversary, take the time to learn what their players want and to be willing to laugh when their plans go off track (occasionally!!!)

Players then have a responsibility to try to tell the story by showing interest, trying and not just phoning it in, not going out of their way to break something just because they can and at least bringing some snacks and not just leaving it to the Keeper as they're hosting (I think of it as offerings of appeasement)

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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by Riq » Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:05 am

As a keeper I owe it to my pcs to drive them all (at least temporarily) insane before being subject to disassembly at the hands / paws / tentacles / claws of some unnamable horror from beyond space, time and comprehension.

In 'game terms' only...

Unless my younger sibling is playing in which case anything is permitted.

***

Jokes aside, I think Shannon Mac has summarised it nicely, but here's a couple of bits I like to throw in too...

1. I like my investigators to come away having experienced (in game playing discussion form) something horrific, amazing and interesting... with a level of immersion that comes close to that feeling you got as a small kid playing any game with really good toy props, a bunch of like minded friends and zero inhibitions on how silly you looked.

2. I want them to feel like they have gone through a meat grinder of a challenge, but made it through - or at the very least accomplished enough to have something to brag about despite negative San and / or hit points - eg solving a fiendishly tricky puzzle that really progresessed their game.

3. Ultimately I owe my players something that justifies the time they've given up, *and* reflects whatever effort they've put in to playing. I try to achieve this by: surprising them with what I hope is a dynamic and engaging story, realistic props, enough freedom to go explore with conversely enough guidance to keep them on the right path, and a fluid fun game.

4. My players owe me a basic level of courtesy, the level you afford to any petty minded, vindictive, god-complexed Napoleon wannabe who happens to hold the power of life and death over their cherished characters. I expect my players to engage in the game as much as they can, not to be obnoxious to other players (and not to deliberately sabotage other characters without a game related good reason - no trolling).

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Re: What do Keepers owe their players and vice versa?

Post by SamS » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:25 am

Everyone has given really good answers. I agree with everyone on this.
I know that we joke and kid around about it, but I don't want to kill off my PCs. I want my players to succeed in the game. (As long as they don't do something really stupid or bone headed.) But I tell my players that we are all here to tell a story, we all have a stake in the game.

What I owe the players is a story that they can become totally immersed into the world that is created.

What they owe me is to become immersed into their character and play their part in the story.
Sam Stamps
Keeper of my own little reality.

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