Wow, some great discussion in this thread. I'm not certain I have a lot to add to what's already here, but let me put in my "two cents" on some things.
First, a little bit about our group. Fyrchick covered most of this in an earlier post, so I'll just recap the highlights. We're not technically a PbP. Instead, we use two chat rooms for our sessions and play in real time.
- The first chat room (Undertown) is used for all in-character actions and discussions, and because it allows me to get transcripts of the game sessions. But it doesn't have a dice bot, so ...
- The other room (here on the forum) is for out-of-character discussion and dice rolling. I manually copy and paste the dice rolls between chat windows so they're part of the "official" record.
I put all the transcripts and other materials on a website (MediaFire) where the players can get them. Game sessions are scheduled, twice per week, and typically last between 2 and 4 hours.
Alright, onto some thoughts. First, I agree that a GM is important to a game, and that if the GM loses interest, then the game is going to have difficulty continuing. DFRPG is one of the best systems I've seen in that it encourages -- nay demands -- participation by the players in every aspect of the game, including city generation. That's a tremendous strength, and relieves the GM of some of the weight of responsibility associated with other gaming systems. However, the GM is still solely responsible for directing how the adventures are shaped within that setting. So if you're thinking of being a GM, take a moment to consider whether you're willing to put in the work required. As a side note, let me add that experience, while certainly helpful, is not a requirement for this job. Willingness, enthusiasm, and creativity (or insanity) are, in my opinion, much more important.
That said, another key ingredient in the mix is, of course, the players. I have been blessed with a group of truly amazing folks for which to GM. They have great ideas for their characters and the setting. They also make the time to be available for the game, which seems to be another commonly cited reason for games falling apart (players don’t show up).
To add a new point to the discussion, the players I currently have in my group "mesh" with my particular preference in play style, which I feel is very important. It also speaks to the current debate in this thread over game mechanics. Games such as DFRPG have two basic elements: the "roleplay" part (which I define as character interactions) and the "mechanics" part (which I define as dice rolling and rules interpretation). A successful game, in my opinion, needs to have both aspects, but the balance between them is critical, and varies with the group. Action-oriented groups are going to get bored playing too many roleplaying scenes. Roleplaying fans will get frustrated if they don’t get enough chance to explore their character. In my own games, I tend to favor roleplay, and try to use it to set up mechanics-oriented scenes. For example, having one or two characters spend a scene or two discovering the location of a nest of Ghouls (roleplay), before letting them battle the Ghouls in their lair (mechanical).
A couple notes on roleplay versus mechanical. First, roleplay for roleplay’s sake is, in my opinion, a waste regardless of the group’s preference. A roleplay scene should have a definite purpose in the plot line, or it should be left out. Second, I’m still working on getting the right balance between roleplay and mechanics as well.
The last element I wanted to comment on was the setting. I can’t emphasize this enough. Put the work in to make your setting. It doesn’t have to be absolutely finished to the last detail when you start using it (San Francisco still isn’t completely done as I write this, and my group has been playing for almost a year). But it should be a solid skeleton at least, with some meat on the bones that the GM can use to generate plot lines and scenes. And players, for heaven’s sake, be involved in the creative process. As the DFRPG manuals state, this is where you can help the GM by providing him with ideas (locations, NPCs) that will make your character more interesting and fun to play. And don’t worry that by setting this all down ahead of time, you’ll lose the spontaneity of game play. As Clausewitz said, “no campaign plan survives first contact with the enemy.” Once you start playing, things will happen that no one could have predicted, and it’ll just make the game even better.
Mij
