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GM's Little Helper - Letting Players Help You in a Session
23 Plays19 days ago
The tables turn this episode as we talk about how players can help the GM keep the game running smoothly. We dig into practical examples like tracking initiative, taking session notes, and even rolling for NPCs—small assists that can make a big difference and keep the game moving for everyone at the table.
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Transcript
Introduction & Host Intros
00:00:02
Speaker
with the coachman D20 Radio. at Your game is rolled.
00:00:17
Speaker
How will We Roll Gaming is dedicated to spreading enjoyment of great role-playing games. We hope to bring you insights into games you may not have played, tips to be a better game master and player, and share us stories of momentous events at our tables.
00:00:29
Speaker
Every game is a new story to tell. I'm Daryl. I'm Nick. And here's Robert. And this is how we roll.
Winter Storm Impact
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome back to Casual Nerdity, everybody. How are you all doing? Anyone that is listening that was hit by the winter storm that we just had, I hope that you are okay, that you made it through, and that the worst that happened to you was a case of cabin fever, like Robert started to get.
00:01:01
Speaker
Yes, i actually went out on Wednesday because I could. And because I could, I wanted to. how count How many new personalities did you develop during your cabin fever?
00:01:12
Speaker
and Just one. But I can tell you when I went to get some groceries, I can tell what people wanted because I could see the aisles that were totally cleared out. Did not get a loaf of bread.
00:01:25
Speaker
It was bread. oh yeah It's always bread. It's bread, chips. Some meats, but yeah, mostly bread. Yeah, a night or two before it hit, but we knew it was coming, I needed to go get some ground beef and something else. don't even remember what. and But not, you know, like hot items.
00:01:47
Speaker
Ah, chips. i I did need to get some tortilla chips. and you know Not hot items, though. But I had to go down the bread aisle. It was completely empty. Milk was almost empty.
00:02:01
Speaker
I did not go down the water or toilet paper aisles. Surprisingly, not many touched them. ah Again, like it's always the bread for some reason.
00:02:12
Speaker
You can always make a sandwich, so you always want bread. It's easy. yeah brett Bread doesn't need to be refrigerated, so if your power goes out, You can still eat. Yeah.
00:02:23
Speaker
Bread or maybe some butter, like butter bread. Who knows? Yeah, toast. Or peanut butter. If you say power, you got toast. you Yeah. yeah Yeah, now see, we had we we were good on bread.
00:02:38
Speaker
We were good on bread. We were we were good on milk. We just... we We needed some more ground beef and we needed tortilla chips because we planned on making nachos. And someone in the house, I'm not naming any names, but it wasn't me and it wasn't my wife.
00:02:56
Speaker
Somebody in the house ate the bag of chips that we got at the grocery. It was Numphar? Darian? Yes. Yes. It was the cats.
00:03:07
Speaker
I knew it. Yeah. I actually didn't get clued in on what was going to – that the ice was coming last weekend until like the thursday the last last Thursday where went to Kroger. I was I just need some groceries, so I'm just going to get some. I'm like, why are there so many people here? This is not normal.
00:03:28
Speaker
But then I checked my brother. i was like, oh, yeah. It's about but to be iced in. Everyone's storing up. yeah I had to take care of a family member and bring them home from the hospital on Tuesday. We had to warn them multiple times.
00:03:42
Speaker
And they called me on Saturday and said, Dick, why is everything so iced up? It's like, we told
Podcast Promotions
00:03:49
Speaker
you multiple times! yeah Yes, but you didn't tell me that day.
00:03:55
Speaker
ye but also, while we were iced in ah Saturday night, I... was just sitting up, working on the computer, happened to have Discord up. I was prepping audio files for our sister podcast, Casual Nerdity, and a message popped up from our friend Steve from Me and Steve Talk RPGs. He was like, what are you doing?
00:04:20
Speaker
ah was like, what? Nothing? He's like, ah other Steve's ah power is fritzing out because of the winter storm here where we are. So, uh, you feel like having about an hour or so of conversation?
00:04:38
Speaker
Sure. So dear listeners, if you do not already listen to them, uh, we We just recently promoted them as our D20 radio cross promotion.
00:04:51
Speaker
hello hello Or we I would have made it the cross promotion again this episode. But go listen to me and Steve talk RPGs because Steve and I talked about um characters from TV and movies that as a GM you want to try to not copy those characters, but incorporate elements of them into your NPCs to make them more fleshed out and memorable. Like Steve's example, kicking it off was Frank Burns from MASH because he's not evil, but you want to punch him in the face. Yeah.
00:05:29
Speaker
And we, we just kind of went from there. ah ah The cross promotion
Role-Playing Game Dynamics
00:05:34
Speaker
was us. So I got to cross promote us live. Nice. Nice.
00:05:40
Speaker
yeah It's always a good topic to talk about. Always yeah always got some material there. Yep. Speaking of cross-promotion. Very much, because before we dive into our topic this time around, we want to point you to one of the other great shows on the D20 Radio Network.
00:05:57
Speaker
On We Fix Games, Laura and Jerika take a look at games focusing on the storytelling aspect, but examining not only what makes them great, but what might make them better, too.
00:06:10
Speaker
And in their most recent episode, as we record this one, they descend into the grotesque, unsettling world of Little Nightmares, talking about how the game uses distorted bodies, exaggerated proportions, and relentless hunger to create a uniquely uncomfortable kind of horror. So check out We Fix Games at Glitterfoxmedia.com and wherever you get your podcasts.
00:06:39
Speaker
I'll admit that will be a nice topic because ah I did like Little Nightmares 1 and 2. actually never leave a fan of 3. I think they went a little too far with the out of there. 1 and 2 is still like ah probably some. I didn't play 3, but 1 and 2 probably some of the best just because of the art style. The art style is like top notch.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yeah, and the crew really knew what they were creating. And they were passionate about it. don't know. So yeah, definitely give them a listen. Yeah.
00:07:14
Speaker
Now, as for us, what are we talking about tonight, gentlemen? Well, we as all we all are GMs, and we try to make our so stories and campaigns be the best possible, but no man is an island. We always need help from time time to time.
00:07:32
Speaker
Everyone needs some help from their friends. Exactly, and as we've always talked about, role-playing games or a group effort, not a single effort. So we're going to talk about bringing the players into the creation.
00:07:46
Speaker
Into helping you out while you're in a session. So what what would you do if I sang out of tune? Well, you'd say it's a day that ends in Y. But would you stand up and walk out on me?
00:07:58
Speaker
No. Well, mostly because that's my house most of the time. and And it's also really cold now. Yes, this is true.
00:08:08
Speaker
This is true. But as a GM, sometimes you you... Well, not sometimes. You're always balancing a lot of plates while juggling, while riding a bicycle.
00:08:22
Speaker
Going through a ring of fire. Yes. And you don't want to fall into that burning ring of fire because it goes down, down, down, and the flames get higher.
00:08:33
Speaker
You've been higher, higher, higher. And it burns, burns, burns. So much. that ri ring of fire. fire so sometimes we need someone with a fire extinguisher near us.
00:08:45
Speaker
Yes. But there's ways that you can recruit your players to help you out during the session. to take some of the, ah for want of a better term, administrative tasks off of your plate so that you can focus on running the game.
00:09:06
Speaker
A fair way of saying that there is a, as a DM or gm you are there is a certain burden of weight that you have to carry.
00:09:18
Speaker
And sometimes your players can help alleviate that, whether they know it or not. Yes. Right. And sometimes there's there's no there's no choice but for them to know it.
00:09:31
Speaker
Like one of the things that we all do this, all three of us do this, is having somebody help with initiative. Yes, very much so. We always have the one person who takes down all the results, puts them in that list so we can go and figure out who's next.
00:09:52
Speaker
And that's likely the most reasonable task into the help alleviate with a DM. like Usually like the dm behind the DM screen, there's a lot of bad guys with a lot of powers, a lot of things that they have to take keep track of.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yes, and this is more for those groups that don't use some type of technology with their systems. like We don't use Roll20 or any of those things that can track initiative for you.
00:10:21
Speaker
So we have to do it by hand. yeahp because we're we're playing in person. we We could, I suppose, adopt technology like that um playing in person, but i don't really see if we're playing in person, I prefer manually handling initiative.
00:10:41
Speaker
essential i i I am perfectly fine of integrating like a lot of technology into my games, but I am If I had to call myself what I am, I am a pen and paper DM as much as I can.
00:10:59
Speaker
Same. Same in some cases. Especially if the campaign feels like it's more appropriate to have pen and paper. Like I've said on a few of them. But in this case, it's also just a way of freeing up the DM for a little bit more.
00:11:18
Speaker
Planning time while... giving something for the players to do, sort of just mark down, be it on like a big whiteboard or smaller, like cards and stuff like that.
00:11:30
Speaker
I also wish the visuals. It's always fun when ah they defeat an enemy that someone can go over and just erase his name. Erase the name, mark through it, pull whatever it is off of the board.
00:11:46
Speaker
ah we We all know that I, We kind of mentioned this, I think, back in our are GM Toys episode. But I've started for for initiative in all of the Star Wars games, and it it would work for a lot of the other games, too. Oh, it works for every game, basically. is I got those little dry erase magnetic labels.
00:12:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm. and Mark one and just sort of rip it off. Yeah, you can show just yep just write write the ah the initiative score on there if it is a but is it seems truly a system that uses...
00:12:28
Speaker
If it's a system that uses a specific initiative order, like each specific character goes in a specific spot, you put their name on there. The package that I got happens to have multiple colors, so I assign different colors to different character types. you know PCs are blue. ah Allied NPCs are green. that kind of thing. And just, it it lets you very easily sort out the initiative while taking down the initiative results and still shuffle them where they need to go. And you can have a player do that and
00:13:07
Speaker
makes it nice and simple and convenient. But again, it ah I would say like one of the surprising moments of one of my D&D moments was like we had a large group of enemies, but we had the player that actually took down the enemy, ran up to the board and just wiped it off. and it's like and it adds a little bit extra of like oomph to the moment.
00:13:33
Speaker
Or I'm sure so Some people have seen the video where it's like if you don't have a lot of actual GM tools, maybe make your enemy characters like pieces of candy cookies. So when the player defeats it, they get get to pick it up and eat it.
00:13:48
Speaker
Yep. true Either way, that those are small ways of like getting your players involved. in like it's It's the most unintrusive because it's technically not a mechanic.
00:14:03
Speaker
It's basically them just easing your part of your regular... it It's them helping not with the mechanics, but the bookkeeping. Speaking of bookkeeping, one of the other great ways a player can help that have have helped in mine, and sometimes when I mention yours, is that hopefully you have one person in your group that's always the note taker.
00:14:27
Speaker
Yes. And Robert, in the campaigns that you're a player in, bless you for being the note taker. You're welcome. It's for myself just as well.
00:14:39
Speaker
Blessed are the note takers. Yes, because especially with our group, that has a... I am, as someone who has bad handwriting, having someone who is a note taker kind of necessity.
00:14:54
Speaker
Yeah, especially with our group that doesn't do the same campaign every week. It's always a new campaign every week. So it's usually sometimes we won't play another session for maybe a month or a couple months and we just be like, what were we doing again? Yeah.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah, i I don't remember what we were doing. What were we doing? And it's like, well, I wrote down this. And usually I'm pretty good with that. But also, like, once we get into several rotations, it's like, honestly, our most recent one was when we finally got back to Hope the Situation of Warriors.
00:15:27
Speaker
had to basically give a... I had a good excuse to, like, re it for us to all reiterate what's going on because we had a new player. But also, like, yeah, it has been several months. We need to talk about where we are. Yeah, because even with the notes made, I was like, who are these people again?
00:15:49
Speaker
yeah I was like, i I don't remember any of this. Yeah, but then when Nick started explaining, he's like, oh, the my brain juices get worse. Like, oh, yeah, that's what that meant. And then we were here doing this. That's why I put this note in.
00:16:03
Speaker
Because immediately, I'll admit, my notes exist. but ah if Only you can read them. When I can read them. And even then it's like, okay, that makes sense. So that's the word, that's keyword to that word. and like it's a It's like a weird avalanche of like, okay, that makes sense.
00:16:26
Speaker
Well, it's also not helpful that most of our group has either diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD. Yeah, no taking or even something as simple as this tracking experience for those people that weren't here last time. It's like, OK, how much experience did we get?
00:16:45
Speaker
Or the, of course, the very known person that's like, oh, yeah, I didn't spend my XP yet. How much did we get last time? That always helps, but it's also like always at least keep track of that. is like its just but It makes for planning planning your builds and stuff better.
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah, but definitely if you can you can find a note taker, better if you can find a natural note taker who likes doing it, you are going to love them. Yes, indeed.
00:17:14
Speaker
But those are that's still also not technically mechanically based help. That's helping the group and sort of just making sure that everyone knows what's going on. because even But that does help the DM as well because sometimes the DM makes some mistakes.
00:17:32
Speaker
yeah Are we supposed to reveal that fact? You think nobody doesn't know that? Right? Right. But yeah, so those are some good mechanical ways.
00:17:46
Speaker
but But also definitely in a role-playing group with an l LE, like our group is, it's always good to have those players who really get into their characters and can improv.
00:17:58
Speaker
Especially if, as Daryl shared in one time with that short about what type of DM you are, if the one that's like, okay, just got like a paragraph of what I want having to do today.
00:18:11
Speaker
And the rest is just going to fill itself in. a Spoiler alert, that's how I run Walking Dead. And it's still my favorite. Oh, it's still good. It's really good.
00:18:23
Speaker
It's very good. Well, I mean, I've said it I don't know how many times on the show. You guys all, as the players, make it easy to do that.
00:18:37
Speaker
You can't always do that. True, very much. With a campaign. But definitely in a group that knows each other well, if you can create that sense of just easy storytelling and just filling in blanks, as GM, you're going to love it. Because I remember it was this the session when Nick's second character, because first one had already died, was in the fence yard working on stuff.
00:19:04
Speaker
I and two other players just decided, you know what, there's these guards just sitting around We're just going to play them like jerks. Just talking about these guys like they're nothing. And that leads into the next thing that I was going to say. You can have your players do to help. If you don't have anything specific that a group of NPCs have to do and yeah especially if you have a split party, recruit some of the players to play some of the NPCs in the scene. Like when you were playing those guards.
00:19:38
Speaker
yeah Yeah, the guards, they were just like bantering with each other while these basically slaves are working at the fence in this dangerous environment. They're just like, oh, so what'd you do on Thursday? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. <unk>s Or basically just... How many think you're going to die today?
00:19:53
Speaker
For lack of a fair term, your classic mook or stormtrooper dialogue. Yeah, but a good example is like in and the Jedi...
00:20:06
Speaker
in the Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor games. like you I think it was a really good idea by the developers to have the Stormtroopers just have lines to each other and even to the player. It made them feel more alive than just standing droids, basically. And then that and that goes that goes back even to the original ah and New Hope where Obi-Wan's like, and they're talking about like the new T-16s.
00:20:29
Speaker
if the The other thing, the next step from that too is, again, if you don't have anything specific that particular NPCs need to do, you can have the players roll for the NPCs.
00:20:46
Speaker
if It's especially unusual for like... Go ahead. In games where you have like a... or you have a regular adversary or like NBC that has like not a great deal of stats, you could just let them roll for it. Cause sometimes that could. Yeah.
00:21:04
Speaker
Sometimes it they roll well and then it's bad for the other players, but it also yeah could potentially create a elevate that NBC from like no name. Number one to like, guess what? You have a name now.
00:21:21
Speaker
Yep. It, it can elevate, that random stormtrooper into... Davin Felf. oh Look, sir, droids.
00:21:34
Speaker
But yeah, you if you've got especially if you have a way to conveniently get the stats to the player like I know we keep going back to Star Wars as a go to.
00:21:45
Speaker
But it has like stack cards. Yeah, I was about to say you and I both have the ah the full set of the adversary cards. And then I got some of them. Not all of them, but some.
00:21:58
Speaker
But ah same thing with Alien. there's a ah There's easy ways to pass off some stats to some NPCs that are there. and the was The one that's most coveted is always the cat.
00:22:12
Speaker
Well, and with with Alien, especially, you can have, that that takes us to the next level of that. And Nick, this is how you and i both experienced Alien the first time that we played it when our friend Brev ran it for us at Gamer Nation Con.
00:22:33
Speaker
Brev was the GM. Brev never touched a die. Brev had, the given the way the system works with Alien, where the adversary's actions are determined by a role of a single D6,
00:22:51
Speaker
whenever an alien or another adversary was going to act brev would point at one of us and say nick roll me a d6 yep and it is effective and honestly certain cinematic ones work better for others but i do kind of like to make some maps so i think it's a little you don't know what you're gonna get Yeah, for people in cinematics, it's not fun being the person that's known to roll high those types of attacks.
00:23:26
Speaker
Yeah, we never never give let Robert roll crit. Or just even attacks, because I'll get like a six, and in Aliens, that's usually instant death if it hits, and I'm just like, yeah I don't want to roll this. I'm sorry.
00:23:41
Speaker
But it does that does in in a group, that does add to a unique form of tense. It's just like... If I slide a dice over, it was like, Robert, roll for the antagonist.
00:23:53
Speaker
Everyone else in the group is now, even though their characters ah can't add a stress die, they're all adding their internal stress die. Yes. Yeah. No, but that's a good way to, like I say, especially if you have a split group, but it doesn't even necessarily have to apply to a split group. That's a good way to keep player involvement when it's not that player's turn.
00:24:22
Speaker
Exactly. It's as simple it' I'm like, oh, I have to roll this thing, but now everyone's looking at me because it's attack on someone. Yeah. Well, that and and, you know, like I just said, you know most of our group has diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD, so it's very easy for us to you squirrel when it's not our turn.
00:24:45
Speaker
yes yeah Again, also, i I'm perfectly fine if you do see a squirrel and if you do alert me so that we can get it a house. yeah Yes, Nick, we know your relations with squirrels.
00:24:59
Speaker
It's a good way to keep keep everybody, keep more people, I guess I should say, engaged when it's not their turn by assigning tasks to them, assigning NPC tasks and things like that to them.
00:25:16
Speaker
Yeah. Or even in some cases where it's not really a role, just having them add some life into the scene can also work, which is where we really do a lot of Walking Dead. We don't actually roll for any characters. We just play them out next to other NPCs.
00:25:29
Speaker
other player characters just give breathe more life into the story. yeah And again, honestly, that is something that's honestly pretty unique, but that I would say that it's most likely in a group that knows each other more often.
00:25:45
Speaker
They would allow characters, the players, to sort of add flavor to a scene that is not this has not been flavored for like and there There will be times where I let players at the table in Walking Dead riff as NPCs, but then I'll think, of okay, here's a story beat that's coming back.
00:26:12
Speaker
Let me take this NPC back from you. Mm-hmm. and that's perfectly fine. Again, that's getting into sort of what we're probably would be the next section of players creating elements that are not their characters, but parts of the world.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yes, which the big example i can think of is Walking Dead. Again, where Dante's character, through his own interpretation of his character's drive and actions,
00:26:46
Speaker
And did you a pretty big plot point that you've decided ah that you're going to use? Yep. and And that time bomb is ticking underneath the table.
00:26:57
Speaker
But it was basically a a character that had interacted heavily with the context of the world coming to a reasonable within your story to make it work.
00:27:13
Speaker
But entirely not, and again, to our knowledge. And I'm pretty sure you've even said like you did not intend for this to be like a plot point.
00:27:25
Speaker
I did not, but I will gladly take it. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And that's what I did as a GM. We always say you should always do. If you have some plot thought out, but then the players through their own actions introduce something, you're just like, oh, that's really good. Let me just...
00:27:43
Speaker
oh i It's kind of the idea. is like Or even the better is like, I wanted to go this way, but that's such a much better direction. Oh yeah, for sure. that i I will gladly, if if the gameplay brings me a story element that I hadn't thought of that makes me say, yes, excellent.
00:28:08
Speaker
I will gladly be David Letterman throwing the cards through the window behind me.
00:28:15
Speaker
But I think that this actually happened to me for our Whisperbase campaign. when Since it's been some time, ah Xander came to me with his spy character that we with allegiances that are unknown to everyone, which then became the conspiracy thing that ever... But all of that sort of created some unique storytelling.
00:28:45
Speaker
Yeah, then we all decided, I want a secret too. And it's like, you get a secret, you get a secret, everybody gets a secret. but Except you, they're conspiracy theorists. was never the intention for that, but what it did create was so much more intrigue, much more fun character interactions that I couldn't deny that.
00:29:09
Speaker
It's like, okay, that's... Something like that or something as simple as like, okay, i want I envisioned you guys finding the MacGuffin in the guy's car, but then you deciphered the clues to think that it was actually at the guy's is wife's burial plot.
00:29:26
Speaker
That's such a much better idea. Yeah, it's over there. You're correct. You did find it. Yep. the The important part was that you found it and, oh, you gave me a much more creative place to find it.
00:29:39
Speaker
It's like, yep. It's like the story the story still happened how I kind of wanted it to be. But sometimes the players are like, oh, that's more interesting.
00:29:52
Speaker
Still gets me there, but play that one out. Yeah, in a literary sense, I always call when we play a session that I've kind of envisioned in the background with the skeleton, the rough draft.
00:30:06
Speaker
And through the editings of actually playing it, if I feel like, okay, that's a better idea, I will put that in there. It's like, oh, this is a good plot point. I can save this for later. Then we get the final draft as we play. And sometimes you'll be surprised by like, oh they zigged when I thought they would zag.
00:30:25
Speaker
They're still going to get there. It's like, that's interesting that it was our choice. Secrets of the Ashen Crown. hey Forget that. I'm saving i say with that for last.
00:30:41
Speaker
Well, it's a little teaser. But what what else can can players do to ease your GM burden during a game session?
Enhancing Game Immersion
00:30:52
Speaker
I mean, if if you're using any kind of visual aid, you know, like a ah map and tokens or minis, you can have someone take care of making those movements for you.
00:31:03
Speaker
yeah Or even sometimes players will bring their own minis, save you the save the trouble of finding one for them. Yep. Which i need I need to get more of my minis printed out and painted.
00:31:16
Speaker
not that Not that we use them terribly much anymore, but yeah they're they're fun. Yeah, they're fun They're really fun. sometimes And sometimes they are necessary. Sometimes the theater of the mind can only do so much.
00:31:32
Speaker
Exactly. or else If nothing else, they're good for keeping track of where everyone, PC and NPC alike, is in relation to one another.
00:31:43
Speaker
Same thing with part of note-taking. If you're in a large campaign map, ah making note of where you are on like town location or how far you are from the location.
00:31:56
Speaker
Yes. Ooh, so... Along with, this kind of goes hand in hand with note taking, but it's not necessarily the note taker doing it, but someone keeping track of... The treasurer!
00:32:12
Speaker
Well, that i was I wasn't going to say the money, I was going to say the travelogue. Where have we been? Yeah, like where have we been, where are we planning to go what's the best way to get there?
00:32:24
Speaker
right what what What objectives are we trying to meet along the way? like like know yeah You've got the note taker who's keeping track of the story that's being told, but you have somebody also keeping track of the actual locations that you've been to so that you can... And what ah what objectives, like the smaller ones? Yes, or just same as just where you're going and the and the GM's just like, okay, you're going there.
00:32:58
Speaker
and the setting, it's like this, so maybe i can do XYZ plot points in here while you're going through it. And if they know like what objectives are like, oh, we're going this way, so we might hit that point.
00:33:11
Speaker
Yes. And then another one is if you're doing a campaign that has like props, have the players interact with the props. Like, oh. In our Delta Green campaign, we got that cork board.
00:33:25
Speaker
And we use it, yarn and all. Yarn. yar ah Yarn. oh Yarn. um Props. Things printed out.
00:33:37
Speaker
Or when we actually, like investigators, talk to people, we have those flashcards that we will literally write how you how the witness answered us. Like, okay, they said this. And put them on the board. connect to You guys can connect, like...
00:33:52
Speaker
I got that whole thing. It was like, right, how much are they going to use it? they're like I was actually amazed how much you guys use it. I was actually very impressed. I loved it. That first case, I loved it because it was like, okay, we just rep there.
00:34:05
Speaker
yeah Yep. net Since then, we've been dealing more with one-off side quests, so it hasn't been as involved. But coming up here, at some point, we'll be testing that back off. yeah yeah yes once we get back to to uh to the main the main campaign i have a whole bunch of stuff ready yeah and it's always nice even at those little monster the weak ones like i try to put props in mind just as far as images and still helped yeah definitely get you in that mindset of like you're an investigator you're
00:34:45
Speaker
Yes. so definitely me Speaking of Delta Green, I need to get my Delta Green Monster of the Week done. Robert, when would when did yours take place again?
00:34:59
Speaker
The first case happened in, I believe, 95. 95. Nick did his own one in 95. or did you Did you advance the year before you did your one-shot, Nick?
00:35:10
Speaker
No, I didn't. Okay, then 95, so did 96. You're 97.
00:35:15
Speaker
Okay. So it's not time to party like it's 1999, Justin. we have not gotten even close to the end of the century. We we are still like a good case. We did case one, two one shots, and that's only been one year. we're Our group has been stuck in 96 for...
00:35:34
Speaker
A good year now. 97 it is. Then you'll take 98. And then for me, then it'll be time to party like it's 1999. And then you did request. 2000 party over at a time.
00:35:49
Speaker
Yeah. And you did request to get 2000 as well. So I'm giving that to you too. no Well, more I wanted 99 to 2000.
00:35:59
Speaker
Because. oh then yeah. you You have it, of course. Because when when I say 99 to 2000, specifically December 31st, 1999. All right. That's no right that's yours anyway. We're alternating. Specifically,
00:36:17
Speaker
y two k Eve. Yep. of I am just holding on to material that is not going to be useful for a good couple months. Hey, it's going to work. But it's worth it. It's going to be worth it.
00:36:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you can't have you can't have an actual written adventure that they published that has a 20-year jump and not do anything with those 20 years. Oh, yeah. I'd be like, i was like, if I did that, that'd just be were robbing your characters of, like, development.
00:36:52
Speaker
Like, hey, you haven't seen you in 20 years. How you doing? Yeah. So I know what 97 is then. Okay. yeah ninety yeah But I'll admit that I am sort of sitting on that being like, oh, I'm so excited. Because there's some good stuff coming out.
00:37:10
Speaker
Nick, you're so excited. You just can't hide it. Are you about to lose control? I don't want to. Yeah.
00:37:23
Speaker
I don't know what started this running gag of song lyrics this episode, but... We're just saying the right things. Yeah. Yeah, I will not be putting clips in because I don't want to have to resolve 8 million copyright yeah but hits on YouTube.
00:37:41
Speaker
They can't go on to us if we're doing it ourselves, so... Not yet. So... Yeah, if you have props, definitely... Love to watch your players actually use them. Same with maps, especially if a campaign calls for a map.
00:37:55
Speaker
Again, that's a mix of player and... Again, that's sort of the sort of the ultimate be-all of it. It's like... Just says the very nature of role-playing games, it a mix of you and the players.
00:38:12
Speaker
How much you put into it and how much they interact with it is equal in measure. and Now, this this isn't so much a player helping take a burden off of the GM, but if you do have props involved,
00:38:30
Speaker
You can also kind of not metagame it, but apply hard and fast rules. Like if if there is a prop of a a tape recording and you have the prop of that tape recorder and the party splits, whatever player has that prop, that's the character that has it.
00:38:55
Speaker
Yes, very much so. And so if the other half of the party says like, oh, wait, what does the tape say? i don't know. You don't have it.
00:39:08
Speaker
We don't have it. The other guys have it. Same thing if if they're like, okay, someone's, there there's a riddle and someone writes it down.
00:39:20
Speaker
Party splits. they meet a place where like, Oh, do you have the riddles? Like, well, the the other guy wrote it down at the other, that, that creates a lot more immersion.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yes. Or is we've talked a lot about using props and stuff, but it can be something as simple as just helping narrate the story. Like definitely we've all done as a GM is like, okay, how do you finish him?
00:39:48
Speaker
I'm just giving that player agency. Like, okay, How do you do this action? How do you end this person? How do you fight this off? What are you thinking right now? Honestly, I... That's probably one of my favorites. It a ah just reminds me back of the classic like ah Mortal Kombat. Like, finish him! It's like, alright, you got the coup de grace. You got the big... You got a 20 a critical hit on its like on the bad guys. like Well, then, make it look cool.
00:40:20
Speaker
Yep. Nick, what what it what did you say that that was? Finish it! Winning her up? Yeah. Find the clip from last episode. You went and used it without giving me warning. Yeah, come on, man. Something else, too, that you can do. And this is more long-term. This isn't necessarily during a given session.
00:40:44
Speaker
And haven't done it specifically yet, but it it would be an awesome thing to do. And I know that Nick has done it in past campaigns.
00:40:55
Speaker
And that is go to your players one-on-one. Or you ye can say it as a group, but it's individual assign assignments, if you will. It's like, hey, everybody...
00:41:08
Speaker
Just give me like a a quick, you know put it on a note card, send it to me in a Discord message, whatever. Give me a storyline that you would want to see in the campaign.
00:41:23
Speaker
Not necessarily for your character, but just something that you think would be fun for the group to encounter. Actually, it has been a while since I've done that that. Those are fun. Yeah, and I should do that in some of mine.
00:41:39
Speaker
It helps. you never know You never know what the... Especially when you when you specifically decouple it. with like Not what you want to see as a play as your player character.
00:41:52
Speaker
What you want to see is like something fun. It could be anything. and An enemy to fight. a An item to to obtain. Or something interesting like I want my character to lose their arm. Somehow.
00:42:10
Speaker
yeah Hello, Betsy.
00:42:14
Speaker
Or as Nick would say, I want my character to die. sort Or also as Nick would say, i want to be a snake. Yes. yes ah so But a ah a setting to be in, ah a scenario, a type of unusual adventure. Like they could, you never know what would be like, okay, this is like they're off the cuff, like what they as a person would like to see.
00:42:44
Speaker
Then it gives the DM like, okay, let me let me pull back and see like, where can I put that? How can I contextualize that? that's That's a fun way of like, all right.
00:42:58
Speaker
And then be like, OK, this is what the player wants. How can I make that work with the group? And then that's just a fun way of like recontextualizing how you make a session.
00:43:10
Speaker
Yes, or even not even writing it down. Sometimes it can be just involuntary observation just what the players are liking in the session as it's going. you have an idea of what you can do for a future session.
Adapting to Player Preferences
00:43:22
Speaker
Like when I was still doing my ashes of an empire campaign and the prologue on Malastery had this Imperial named warden Karnor, who was basically this xenophobic over the top racist, bad guy who was in the beginning. I rolled a dice just for chance, had him survive. And then throughout that prologue, they really liked Karnor. So I kept bringing him back, gave making him over the top.
00:43:49
Speaker
And they just loved it so much than when they killed him, they were almost sad to have him go. yeah like sometimestime i get in there Sometimes you make a bad guy that's so fun. Or you're going back to actually to yours. i was only there because you hosted it where I was.
00:44:10
Speaker
But the Gamorrean did you have? Yeah, Grecor. Grecor is like... yeah I think i even only i figure only rolled one dice for him, but I was just there because you housed it at my place. Yeah, he basically became the Star Wars version of a D&D pet goblin. so but But it's like they all fell in love with the character. gary is like Because you never know when it's like, oh!
00:44:40
Speaker
I've struck something here. You never know when you strike when you strike that... strike that moment with what the characters want and what like to see and thinking about that tactic now that we ran the Star Trek adventures quick start and it looks like there's going to be a campaign um with lens flare no because it's not the Abrams verse you can't write that card you can write that on the card Nick
00:45:15
Speaker
i will I won't do it in session zero because i think it would I think it would work better after getting a few sessions of any campaign under your belt. Once the players are getting a feel for their characters and things like that.
00:45:33
Speaker
But I think I will a few sessions in. hand out some cards and say write down some kind of story beat or story element that you would like to see in the campaign I know exactly what i'm going to write down lens flare will not happen the only lens flare you will get is the camera that gets shoved in your face yes you have no idea what I'm going to write down
00:46:05
Speaker
I want my character to die by a lens flare. I want my character to die by a lens flaring snake. And somehow return.
00:46:18
Speaker
Okay, now you're making Star Wars in there. yeah Well, I mean, that's what J.J. Abrams did. He made a Star Wars-ified Star Trek movie. And there was a snake in that.
00:46:36
Speaker
Yeah, a weird one that didn't need to be in there. It was a nice snake no snake. So what what else what else can players do two to help their GM out?
00:46:50
Speaker
Easy one. Let them know they're going to make it or not. the section that that Robert, you're expecting people to actually say what they're going to appear at a location when when we expect people to appear at a location, even though we plot that out like roughly about weeks ahead. What are you saying?
00:47:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's just my thing. i like When I say I'm coming, I like to actually come to the game. Yeah. Unfortunately, we do not live in such a perfect world.
00:47:28
Speaker
Robert, what are we talking about? We're talking about RPGs. What is the arch enemy of RPGs? Scheduling, but we can fight harder.
00:47:43
Speaker
We don't have to give it so much ground.
00:47:48
Speaker
See, Betsy already did it. She already let me know. See, it's possible. This is true. All done is proven that she will not be appearing for in a period of time, but she cannot determine when she will appear.
00:48:05
Speaker
You literally said she's not coming. Yeah, because it's going to She's going to have work all day. what it What else? What else? What else? I know that there was something else that I had in mind, and now it has totally escaped me. Something simple, like we've talked about before.
00:48:22
Speaker
If some players know the campaigns, maybe they can bring some books. Just have multiple copies. Yeah. Yeah, and we we know that that that is my sickness.
00:48:36
Speaker
Once we start playing a system, I try to buy the core book at least and bring a copy of the core book with me. Hey, did that that's not that's not a problem. That's more of a... That that helps. that That is a feature, not a bug.
00:48:53
Speaker
As long as it's not eating into your budget, it's good. as i Again, I... um It's more my problem. I like to buy the books that we have. But it's like, also, it I only buy usually one.
00:49:09
Speaker
Unless it's the My Little Pony RPG. Well, I got lucky on a deal on that one. Then you bought 27 of them. Four.
00:49:21
Speaker
Just four. seven Four times six. No, just is the other... The special edition one was much more expensive. Uh-huh.
00:49:32
Speaker
Yeah, then that's just a simple one. Some people bring their own dice, which helps if you're limited in dice. Or or special dice that not many people have, like Legend of Five Rings dice. Yeah.
00:49:47
Speaker
Yeah, but that reminds me, for tomorrow, I need to find where my bag of Five Rings dice are. i'll I'll bring my three bags of it, so we'll have some dice.
00:49:59
Speaker
i have i have one copy, and I have my own one of my own books. I'm just very excited to get. I still need to find the one for my specific like characters like stuff.
00:50:11
Speaker
well no You know I'm bringing all the books tomorrow. so I know you are. I know no you got the deer clan, so I'll bring that book with all your you went to that school even though you're not that plan so hey clan. I tried finding it. finally get la Maybe there's a new... Maybe they printed it out recently. I'll check again.
00:50:33
Speaker
yeah see. I still haven't remembered what it was. was that i i i think we might need to start bullying Nick.
00:50:45
Speaker
Oh. Yeah, let's let's thats let's bully Nick.
00:50:52
Speaker
Yes, Nick. So I know because how it was so icy and you're such a welcoming host that you actually went out and shoveled the ice, didn't you? Actually, I worked harder. nots I worked smarter, not harder.
00:51:09
Speaker
I'm not smart. Nick bending down with a hairdryer to melt the ice is not the same as shoveling it. No, he can I went out some water and I pointed it down the stairs. It actually worked.
00:51:22
Speaker
down the stairs, so when it freezes overnight, we're gonna have more ice. Yeah, because it's gonna be 17 tonight, Nick. Yeah. It's gonna be a hard freeze. No, I did that at the beginning, and then I got a shovel, and I knocked it all off.
00:51:38
Speaker
You knocked off water, which just spreads it around more. Nick, Nick, Nick. What are we gonna do with you? And see, that's not even math, Nick. That's just science.
00:51:53
Speaker
And you said you like science. I'm not good at it. Water from a liquid when it gets cold becomes a solid.
00:52:05
Speaker
And when that happens, we get into physics when people walk on a slippery surface. what what What you need to do, Nick, is tomorrow before we get out, get over there, pull out Spaceballs the Flamethrower, and clear off the steps.
00:52:22
Speaker
mean, come on. Kids love those. Kids love that. Yeah. Yeah. Just don't burn the house down. but Yes, we need it. You have to go upstairs to run the game, Robert. Obviously, I know that. Oh, nick Nick's going to lock us in the game room upstairs. Then he's going to set the house on fire with the flamethrower.
00:52:47
Speaker
And kill us all. What did I gain from that? That's premeditation there. right And also, what would I gain from that? Well, we know you don't know what know how to work your house's heater, so...
00:53:03
Speaker
figured it out later this week. I figured it out. Are are we are we going to have to like bring one of those 50-gallon drums up to the game room tomorrow so that we can start a bin fire to keep warm?
00:53:19
Speaker
No, it's going to be perfectly fine and warm. Mm-hmm. Okay, we have it recorded. Yes, and I'll verify when I get there earlier tomorrow. Yeah, when when you get there, message us all in Discord. I might already be on the road, but message us all so we know how to dress.
00:53:39
Speaker
You got it. Do we need layers? Do we need to to start the bin fire? Actually, maybe I may not be the best judgment there, because... It won't be downstairs. It's a fire pretty warm-blooded, so we can survive more cold than you guys. It won't be downstairs. Betsy's not going to be there anyway, so... it It won't be downstairs. I know how you guys seem to think it's freezing cold downstairs. I don't think it's freezing cold downstairs. That's why I'm different, so... Yeah, I think we've hit our quota. Nick's going to murder us tomorrow.
00:54:13
Speaker
He's not the GM. I am. Yeah. No, he's going to murder us with fire. He's literally going to kill us with fire. Yeah, but see, that involves work and a little bit of math. So also effort.
00:54:28
Speaker
This is true. This is true. But hey, i think we can push out a little bit of effort
Community Engagement & Wrap-up
00:54:35
Speaker
tonight. So let's wrap it up. yeah Yep. Yep.
00:54:39
Speaker
All right. So we've bullied Nick. We've, we've done the bully Nick segment. So we're now at the segment where I say to check out our website at how we roll gaming.com. And on our website, you'll find information about our current campaigns, our podcast archive and links to our merch store and all of our social media. And on that merch store,
00:55:03
Speaker
on February 1st, so it will already have started by the time ah it'll already have been released by the time you listen to this. ah We will be dropping our Nat1 Crying is a Free Action t-shirt.
00:55:20
Speaker
Yep, and then you can also directly support the show through Patreon. Just go to patreon.com slash howwerollgaming and you'll see our different membership tiers starting at just $2 a month with special recognition on our Discord server, and Higher Tiers giving you on-air credit and discounts on our merch store so you can get the t-shirt.
00:55:38
Speaker
Finally, if you have any questions you'd like us to answer, talks you'd like us to cover, or even submit your own RPG Glory story, use an email at podcast at howwerollgaming.com.
00:55:50
Speaker
All right, so thank you everyone for listening. And as we record this, another bout of winter weather is going to be hitting the the US. So stay warm, stay toasty. It's a good opportunity to play some RPGs. And keep that water running. Keep the water running.
00:56:12
Speaker
Drip your faucets. It's actually very important. Very Very. And until next time, when you join us again, as always, I'm Daryl.
00:56:25
Speaker
I'm Nick. And I'm Robert. And this is How We Roll.
00:56:33
Speaker
This episode of the How We Roll Gaming podcast is copyright 2026, How We Roll Gaming, LLC. All games and associated intellectual properties are copyrighted their respective owners, and How We Roll Gaming makes no claim of ownership by discussing them here.