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Game Master Guide

If you are interested in running a game here at Dreamlyrics or are already running a game and have some questions about the procedures involved, this is the place to look.

Contents

1. Message Games
  • Preparing for a new game
  • Setting up your forum
  • Recruiting players
  • Managing your forum
2. Conference Gaming- At the moment, we are not set up for Conference Gaming, but we are in the process of creating facilities for this purpose. Please watch the Notice Board for announcements.

1. Message Games

Message games are run on our bulletin board. The board is divided into six gaming sections (this does not include the other non game specific sections.) These sections are divided up by genre and are as follows:
  • In the Mists of Enchantment - for fantasy based games (AD&D, Warhammer etc)
  • Through the Looking Glass - for alternate reality games (Castle Faulkenstein, RIFTS etc)
  • Beyond the Stars - for science fiction, space and futuristic games (Star Trek, Star Wars, B-5, Shadow Run etc)
  • Down Nightmare Alley - for horror games (WoD, Cthulhu etc)
  • This Day and Ages Gone - for soap opera and historic games
  • Behind Closed Doors - for games with adult content {adult access required - see Access to Behind Closed Doors[/i] in the NTB forum.}

The games are played by posting moves to the bulletin board. The Game Master posts messages containing scene descriptions, non-player character actions and results of player character actions. Players post messages containing their character's actions and so on.

A) Before beginning a game it is a good idea to look through the forum and the current games running to what is already available, how games are played out in messages and what sort of games seem to be popular with the members. If you have an idea for a game and just want to see if there is interest in your idea, post a message in [i]PLR: Player Recruitment with a subject such as "Potential Shadowrun Game" or "Interest in a Ravenloft Game?"

Read through the responses to help you decide if there is enough potential interest before you go on to the next step.

B) Once you've determined that you want to commit to running a game you need to have a forum opened in which to run your game. Each message game has its own forum. Within that forum the GM is the moderator and has the ability to edit, delete and move messages. The GLR: Games List and New Game Requests[/i] , is where you go to request us to create your forum.

We are happy to allocate a forum before you have actually started playing the game so you have a place to set things out, chat to prospective players and all the hundred and one things a GM has to do for a new game. Please bear in mind though that we expect you to actually start a game, so if you ask for a forum and get one, and then nothing happens there for a while, we might just take it away.

As a GM, you will be expected to moderate your forum appropriately and conforms to all the forum rules. Especially, this means if you are running in a non-adult section that you will have ensure the game is suitable for under 18s.

There are links and sticky messages in the GLR forum with information to help you get ready to request your forum. Take a look at them. To set up a new forum, we need you to do the fill in the following form for us because we're basically lazy, and besides, you know the answers and we don't. Detailed comments about what information we need are shown in angled brackets {}. This information should be posted in the [i] GLR: Games List and New Game Requests .
  1. GM's name: {The registered user name of the GM, or up to 4 co-GMs} required
  2. Game code: {A three letter game code (alright, you can use numbers too if you really want, and in some circumstances we have used 4 characters, but lets try for 3) that will be used to identify the game. It also serves as a nickname because it's easier to type than the whole name of the game.} required
  3. Game Name: {Well, the full name of the game of course. For instance TFA stands for Tales From the Asylum. It's easy once you get the hang of it.} required
  4. Genre: {Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy, Teletubbies - whatever it happens to be.} required
  5. Game System: {This can be a published game like Ars Magica, GURPS, D&D, Traveler. It can also be Home Rules, systemless or pretty much anything else that tells the prospective players how the game will be played.}required
  6. Recruiting: {this is just a simple yes or no} required
  7. Topic Creation: {Who can create topics? Just the GM or any of the players? Defaults to GM only if you don't tell us otherwise.}
  8. Section: {The name of the section you want to run it in. Have a look at the list of forums and see what is available. Note that Behind Closed Doors is for R- and X- rated games of all genres and only members who are at least 18 or over can get access.} required (but your GameMaster Liason can help you choose if you are unsure)
  9. Blurb : {A one sentence description of your game to grab the attention of passers by. Long sentences are allowed, but people emulating Julius Caesar's writing style may get edited. This is what gets shown under the game name in the main forum list.} required
  10. Description : {A long description of your game which will be included in the long games list. A paragraph or three is fine. No essays please.}
  11. Banner : {This is optional, and we would suggest you leave it out to begin with. But as the game progesses, you might wish to include hot links to web pages with game maps on and similar things. The banner is text, but can include UBB codes. Whatever it is, it should be short and snappy because it will appear at the top of every page associated with your forum. The management reserves the right to refuse banners that are two large, tasteless or just plain boring, or anything else depending on our whim.}
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When you've completed this incredibly onerous task, simply post the answers , with a subject line of your game code followed by a colon followed by the words 'New game Request'.

This is what will happen next:
  • It is our intention to set up new forums within 24 hours of the request (keeping in mind the global time scale.) [Linked Image]
  • Once the forum is set up, we will reply to the request with a confirming message and will close the topic. This will be an indication to me that it is done.
  • I will leave the closed topic on the board for at least 1 week (7 days) to make sure that the new GM has time to see the confirmation. After a week, we will delete completed, confirmed requests.

Your forum will be open and ready for gaming in. The games are kept in alphabetical order, by title, in the requested section.

C) Your next step will be to recruit players for your game. After all, what's a game without players?

As mentioned above, we have a forum just for recruitment: PLR: Player Recruitment . You will want to have a teaser (more than one if needs be). A teaser is basically an advertisement. It's primary purpose is to entice players into joining your game. The teaser should be posted in the PLR forum with a subject that begins with the game code followed by a colon and then a brief mention of recruitment. For example "CTS: Recruiting", "CTS: Character Openings" or "CTS: Ranger character needs new player."

Your teaser is very important as it is usually the first impression your players get about you and your game. This is especially true if this is the first game you've run here. There are several key points you want to keep in mind when you are composing your teaser.
  • Spell check! There are few things that will turn off potential players as much as bad spelling.
  • Make your teaser compelling. Don't just write up a list of facts, but do something creative. A couple of the most popular styles are a paragraph or two of a non-player character's perspective of events to date, or something along the lines of news cast where events, situations are described and questions (potential plot lines) are posed to reader. Check out current recruitment posts for examples.
  • Remember that players will use your teaser to not only find out what your game is about but also to get a feel for your writing style and your gaming style and the tone or feel for the game itself.
  • If your list of character requirements is small you can include them in your teaser to minimize the amount of message hoping potential players have to do. For example: if you are looking for 2nd level AD&D characters of any race or class. If however, you have a more lengthy list (and this is most common) create a Character Generation post within your game's forum and point interested players to it.
  • Give the interested players instruction on their next move. Should they create a complete character and send it to you? Do you just want to receive "applications" whereupon you will request characters only from those you are interested in? Do you want them to post interest in your game forum or to reply be email?

And remember all that extra information that you supplied when you requested your forum, some of that is used to maintain the ‘Game List” messages in [i]GLR: Games List and New Game Requests[/i] . Keep an eye on your entry there. If the status of your game changes so that you are recruiting (or now not recruiting), for example, post a note for us and we will make sure that the information is updated.

D) Now that you've got your forum and your players, you're ready to start gaming. How you manage and organize your game is a matter of personal preference. However, following is a list of guidelines that will help you manage your forum and keep this organized and easy for you and your players to operate in.
  • In forums that are not in the Behind Closed Doors section, words considered obscene must have all but the first letter * out. Example: "What?! That's a bunch of s***!" Remember that this is an unrestricted area so any visitor can read these messages.
  • In these same forums scenes depicting graphic violence or content of an adult nature are also prohibited. If you feel that such scenes are integral to your game, please consider running it it Behind Closed Doors
  • Keep in mind that the longer a thread (topic) is, the more pages there are. Help your players and yourselves by monitoring your topics. If they get too long, close that topic and start a new one. This will mean less pages to go through when you and your players are reading new messages.
  • Older, closed topics should be eventually deleted to keep your section neat and less confusing. Be sure to SAVE the pages before you delete!! You can do this by using the File, Save options in your browser. It should offer you the option of saving as HTML or plain text.
  • Only the Game Master is able to post new topics to forums. A number of Game Masters have created out-of-character topics where players can chat and post questions.

If you have any questions regarding these procedures or any other matter regarding GMing a game please feel free to ask me, your GM Liaison, either by email miked@msn.com or by posting a message in the [i] GLR: Games List and New Game Requests[/i] forum

Last edited by MikeD; Thu 29/09/11 05:22 UTC.
MikeD