One of my gaming groups plays a mashed up game with three genres: Highschool, Swashbuckling, and Urban Fantasy. We call it Children of the Shroud. In the game we play high school kids in a hidden magic world. As part of our magical learning we are part of the Junior Guardians club. It’s a club for magical students at our high school in Buffalo NY. Due to reasons, we got ourselves involved in trying to stop a magic prosperity cult who are using the in-game currency of a video game called Call of Violence to try and manifest a new primal elemental of prosperity. This in-game currency can be bought with real world money. Prosperity magic is outlawed by the magic cops because it can destroy the magical veil which helps hide the magical world from the normals out there. If those normals found out about the magical world they’d get really torch and pitchforky on the magic folks. 

Our characters are…interesting. My character, Silas, had his girlfriend’s essence bound to his soul when the campaign started and has been trying to make her whole again. Ti is a medusa in a really nice middle class family of medusas. Gunny just figured out he was a wind elemental and his dad isn’t dead, but some big bad criminal, or spy, or both. On top of that we can all manifest magical weapons that let us cast stronger and stronger spells the longer we fight, and two of us are also on the academic decathlon team at school, or the Knowledge Bowl team, as our friend Ti likes to say.

It’s a mashup. So let’s talk about how you can do something similar.

Pick Genres

First, pick three genres. Need a list? You can try TV tropes or here’s a bunch of genre’s to pick from: 

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Espionage, Fairy Tale, Hard SciFi, High Fantasy, High School, Historical, Horror, Low Fantasy, Martial Arts or Wuxia (It’s Woo-Shhaaa, say it with me, Woo. Shhaaa.) Mecha, Medical, Medieval, Modern, Mystery, Politics, Post-Apocalypse, Prehistoric (who doesn’t love a big old dinosaur), Psionics, your favorite version of the punk genre, Pulp, Science Fantasy, Soft SciFi, Space Opera, Sports (we need more sports RPGs), Suburbia, Super Heroes, Sword & Sorcery, Urban Fantasy, Western, Zombies AKA Hordes of shambling dead people where the shambling dead are the least dangerous thing.

Understand Your Genres

Second, understand what your genres are about. Let’s look at the Children of the Shroud game I mentioned. I’ll be quoting the Cortex Prime rule book for their take on the first two genres:

High School: Teenagers are complicated, and so are the adults that share their worlds, especially when the drama is dialed all the way up because of exams, proms, drugs, and bullies.

Swashbuckler: Icons of this genre are pirates, musketeers, and scoundrels, but it really extends to anything where the characters engage in flashy exploits, daring escapes, over the top swordfights, and perilous relationships.

There isn’t an Urban Fantasy genre in the Cortex book but here’s my best take on it.

Urban Fantasy: often deals with a world of magic in a modern setting. Most Urban Fantasy has a mystery at the center of these stories, leaning on its roots in noir fiction, but the genre is primarily about mixing the magical with a mundane world and seeing how they interact. The PCs should also have one foot in both the magical and mundane worlds.

Fit Those Genres Together – Largest Step

Third, try and look at how the genres can fit together. This examination also lets you take a genre to a different sub genre or lets you add a sub genre. Once again, here’s how we did it with Children of the Shroud.

In our Children of the Shroud game we decided everyone would have a magical weapon of some sort that they manifested, and the weapon would generate mana as it was wielded through different forms for combat magic. That was the intersection of Swashbuckling and Urban Fantasy. It also let me push a bit of the high school magic animes I enjoy into the game.

We decided we wanted ritual magic that took longer to use but was more flexible than combat magic and could produce a variety of effects. This strictly fits the Urban Fantasy genre.

Our GM, and fellow Gnome, Phil, created something called the Shroud, which hid the magical world from the mundane world but it could be strained if magic was used too blatantly. This also meant there was a governing body over magic in the world (the Veil), who helped maintain the Shroud and investigated and prosecuted those who sought to expose the Shroud or use magic in a way that would harm it. This pushed us to a hidden magical world as part of our urban fantasy genre. 

To help make this hidden world, urban fantasy, and high school genre even more poignant and overlapped, we placed the parents of our characters as part of this magical society in some way. On top of that, Gunny’s player decided his mother doesn’t know anything about the magical world, creating some hidden world genre tension.

Next we crafted mechanics that pulled in school cliques to highlight the high school school side of play. We called them Roles. This is a feature of Cortex Prime. Our Roles trait set includes Emo, Geek, Jock, Popular, and Performer. They provided attributes, but also our social standing in different school cliques. This is predominantly a highschool thing, but the mechanics also played into the action parts of our swashbuckling since Jock and Geek were used in our dueling rules.

We also decided our high school would be mostly mundane, but there would be a special club called the Junior Guardians that was a cover for the magical teens attending the school. This club would be where they got their magical education. This hits the high school and urban fantasy genres along with that hidden world sub genre.

Lastly, we have our important relationships. We started with two in the magical world and two in the mundane world to keep up the idea of being in both worlds from Urban Fantasy. Also, because one of the genres is Swashbuckling our GM decided to also do their best to make some of those relationships dangerous in a variety of ways.

There’s actually more to it than that, I just threw a bunch of examples of what we did at you. If you break it down there’s really just three things the group needs to consider and one extra the GM should keep in mind. Time for a sub list.

Setting

Your setting should do its best to find these overlaps. As human beings we’re pretty good at finding the patterns and intersections where these different genres and their setting elements can intersect. Just ask yourself a few questions such as:

• Where are the predominant locations the game will take place?
• Who are the important NPCs and how do they fit into the setting?
• Why are people or organizations doing what they’re doing? What’s their motivation?
• Where is the tension and conflict in the setting and how can it be related to the genres being used?

That’s just off the top of my head. Add questions that work best for your group and creative style.

Situation

An addendum to the setting would be situation. What is the initial situation the characters find themselves in or what is the overall situation the game assumes the characters will be involved in? Some folks think of this as a scenario or plot but it’s a little higher level than that. It’s more of a guideline for the players so they more easily craft characters inside the campaign. It also gives starting tensions, problems, and ways for the GM to provide meaningful hooks for the PCs.

In our Children of the Shroud game we were all a part of the Junior Guardians, which meant we had Junior Guardian missions we had to take part in. On top of that we had personal goals the GM ok’ed as part of the initial situation. Silas had his girlfriend Meseme’s essence bound to his soul and was dealing with the fallout from that. Gunny had just discovered he was magical, and that his dead father wasn’t dead and was also magical.

Mechanics

Your mechanics need to find ways to fit the overlaps. Cortex Prime made this easier because we built a game using the Cortex Legos. It was a little more upfront work but made for a very fun experience.The relationships, the roles, our dueling rules, how magic affected the Shroud, and our magic ritual rules all touched on the genres we chose in some way.

You can look around for a game that just does what you’re looking for. If you want a pulpy weird west with a dash of horror game, you can play Deadlands. But if you’re trying something where it’s not quite as obvious, or there’s not a game that fits what you’re looking for, it’s time to break out some house rules, hacks, and drifts. It’s a whole discussion on it’s own, but here’s a couple ideas for how to go about it:

• Utilize the core mechanisms of the game to build the things you believe you need to make the game fit the genre.
• Adapt mechanics and ideas from other games to the game you prefer.
• Combine the above two ideas.

What I would advise against is excluding rules for things that would be important to the genre and just leaving it up to interactions at the table. Of course, if your table is ok with GM fiat as a final arbiter for important decisions and moments in the game, then you should do that. Every table is different in what they enjoy.

Characters

Your characters should be crafted with the genres in mind, along with the above mentioned situation. Genres have character tropes that fit inside of them and story tropes which help drive character action. Here’s a solid way to come up with an interesting character for a genre mash game. Let’s do an original from Children of the Shroud:

• Start with a character archetype from one of the genres or pick two and mash them together
  • Manic Pixie Girl with sleep magic (High School / Urban Fantasy) She’s very pro Veil (Hidden World)
• Put a spin on it
  • She’s really pretty anxious about talking to people about things that matter unless it’s in her dream space. (High School / Urban Fantasy)
• Pick some kind of story arc you’d like your character to go on
  • Will she still see the Veil as the bastion of order, law, and good she believes it to be after working inside of it? (Swashbuckling / Urban Fantasy)
• Then play to the motivations of the character, the ideas of the trope, the idea of the story arc, and the spin.

The above example isn’t really an original, it’s a character named Bo who’s a much more prominent NPC in our game these days. She’s part of the Junior Guardians which is how our PCs know her, and she went to the Prom with Ti. This is just the story I would envision for her if I was playing her.

Together these steps will give a way to make a character that fits into the game you’ve mashed together.

Scenarios

Lastly, let’s talk about Scenarios. It’s actually the easiest part because you just look at the plots and tropes those kinds of genre stories have and build scenarios utilizing them as foundations. Then you can add some interesting bits from your characters, setting, and situation, utilizing your genre tropes where appropriate, and you have yourself a genre mashed scenario.

Phil did this quite expertly in our 3rd Children of the Shroud story, Smarty Pants. We started with an academic decathlon against a rival school (High School). Silas spied a student on the opposing team, Lowell Thornton, using a magical Altoid to give himself a temporary intellect boost during their one-on-one trivia battle. Thing is, Lowell isn’t magical (Urban Fantasy). On top of that, before we started the story Phil asked us about how we knew our friend Morris who died at a party at Lowell’s house this past summer, drowning in Lowell’s pool (Swashbuckling – Perilous Relationship). I told Phil my character was really tight with Morris, who was the one who introduced Silas to Meseme, my girlfriend whose soul is cohabiting my body (Highschool / Urban Fantasy). We come to find out that the Altoids were imbued with the essence of Morris, who had his soul sucked out of him in a magical ritual (Urban Fantasy). So now our characters are running down who sold the Altoids to Lowell which leads to who tried to kill Meseme in the same way (Swashbuckling / Urban Fantasy). During the entire story Silas is having emotional anger issues. His friends are doing what they can to deal with it, but tensions are high (High School). There’s a running battle in the park with one of the essence dealers, but she gets away (Swashbuckling). Hard conversations are had but eventually Silas’s friends, Ti and Gunny, help Silas commune with Meseme within his soul, which helps calm him down, and three are able to track down and bring some of the people involved with taking people’s essence to justice(High School / Urban Fantasy). This was, of course, in a huge sword fight in an abandoned asylum for the mentally ill in the city of Buffalo, NY (Swashbuckling). Yes, we have one of those here. It’s real.

Now that you have the list, here’s the most important thing to keep in mind. These items aren’t necessarily done in order. You’ll most likely need to bounce around to each of them, getting little bits of information, making choices, asking questions, and filling things out until you have a clear enough picture to proceed with whatever might be the next logical step in your genre mashup.

Session 0 or Session -1

To help this process you might want to gather your game group for this genre mash. Session 0’s are great for this, or even session -1 where you’re just hashing out the above items. There’s a lot to talk about, but here’s a starting list of things to think about when having this discussion.

Genre

• Which genres are we going to use?
• What do the genres mean to each person? 
• Where do the genres overlap?

Setting

• What do the genre overlaps mean for the setting? 
• Is the setting original or something created whole cloth? 
• Who’s building or deciding on the setting? Is it a group effort? Is the GM going to take point and get input from the rest of the group, or will you use some other methodology? 
• What’s the initial situation for the characters going to look like?

Mechanics

• What mechanics are you going to use? 
• How do they fit your genre mashup? 
• How don’t they fit your genre mashup? 
• Are you planning on hacking them to make them fit better? 

It can feel like a lot, but I find this kind of effort to be a fun creative exercise, regardless of whether you’re doing most of it alone or with your group. In my experience, if you just follow the flow of answers and questions as they come up, and refer to the above questions as you find yourself getting stuck, you’ll have a pretty easy time with this.

I will provide one more bit of advice. If you’re the GM and are doing this exercise with your group, I would suggest facilitating this part just like you run the game. Ask a question, get some answers, take some notes. Always do your best to provide and get clarifications on things that are said. Also, don’t be afraid to say no to things that don’t fit together, or ask the group how those pieces that don’t look like they fit together actually do fit together. You should do your best to control the pace and when things bog down, utilize the people in your group to get unstuck.

I just want to say thanks if you’ve read this far. Let me recap the steps I think about when putting together a genre mash game.

Recap

First, pick three genres.

Second, understand what your genres are about.

Third, try and look at how the genre’s can fit together and if you need to take a genre to a slightly different sub genre. When doing this you should think about these things:

• Setting. The people, places, important history, and current events of the game. These should all reinforce one or more of the genres.
• Situation. This is the initial set of circumstances the characters will find themselves in.
• Characters. Player characters that fit inside the genre and can be protagonists in the game.
• Mechanics. Mechanisms and procedures that make sense with and enhance the genres of the game you’re playing.
• Scenario. Build scenarios using the aforementioned elements along with the plots and story beats used in the genres you’re mashing up.

Once you’ve done that you have yourself a genre mashed game.

Now let me ask you. What kind of Genre Mashups have you put together? How did you do it? How would you enhance what I’ve presented?

During session zero, the GM is usually hopping on hot (maybe just warm) coals between the various players to answer questions about rules, character creation, setting information, styles/themes/tones for the game, and so on. However, the players will have some idle time as they wait for a question to be answered or as they ponder their character during conceptualization and creation. When I’m a player, one of the things I use this idle time for is to come up with goals for my character. I do this even when the GM doesn’t explicitly ask me for that information.

By having goals that are based on the setting, genre, concepts and general themes of the game, I get a better grasp on who my character was in the past, is right now, and where they want to go. In addition to setting goals, I also attach driving motivations for accomplishing those goals. This brings the goals home for me and makes the goals go even deeper into the character than simply stating something that they want to do.

When setting goals, I come up with at least three goals: short-term, medium-term, long-term. If my creative juices are flowing, I’ll come up with an extra short-term goal as well.

Short-Term Goals

These are goals that are immediate to my character. I try to set them up as goals that will not impact the overall campaign arc or change the world in any way. If they can be resolved within the first three sessions, then that’s an appropriate timeframe for the goal. I also try to formulate them in a way that could lead to larger story arcs down the road.

Here are some examples:

• Find the thief who stole my signet ring because it’s my most prized family heirloom.
• Find out why my sister ran off with the carnival and which way they went because I’m worried about her.
• Figure out where in the world this treasure map scrap that I have leads to because there might be riches there.
• Win at least one good round of gambling at the local gambling hall because I’ve been losing too much gold to <insert antagonistic NPC here>  lately.
• Get a kiss from my beloved despite her parents desires to keep us apart because I’m deeply enamored with them.

Medium-Term Goals

Sometimes the closure of a short-term goal will create a new medium-term goal, but I like to start with one of these in my pocket. This is something that can’t be done or finalized in the first few sessions. These have the potential to lead to longer goals, more serious goals, or can alter the setting in some way.

Here are some examples:

• I want to join a professional guild that supports my character’s interests because having allies and guild members is valuable in all efforts. (Or for the prestige of being called a guild member.)
• The tyrannical baron of the lands I grew up in has promised to marry my little sister to his abusive son, so I want to stop the wedding by disgracing (or killing) the baron or his son.
• I want to follow where the carnival with my little sister went in order to ensure her safety with the carnival. If the carnival is mistreating her, I want to rescue her from the carnival.
• Once I know where my treasure map leads, I want to follow where it leads to find the riches and glory hidden within.

Long-Term Goals

Long-term goals are generally campaign changers. These will also likely impact the world, major NPCs, the story being told, and the party itself. Be careful with setting long-term goals, so that they don’t create intra-party conflict or are diametrically opposed to someone else’s goal. This a good time (again during session zero) to loop some other PCs into the goal setting to see if they can add to, expand upon, or get included in the goal(s) you’re trying to come up with.

These types of goals are most likely the kind that will be resolved near the end of the campaign or near the end of a major story arc.

Here are some examples:

• The king ordered the execution of my innocent father, so I want to commit regicide to end his reign of terror over the nation.
• I want to find Xathaxaxas the Mighty Red Dragon and slaughter him to ensure he will eat no more of my father’s cattle and to gain glory and riches for myself.
• My mother mysteriously vanished into The Dark Faerie Realm when I was a child. I want to venture into the realm and find out what happened to her. My father has been beside himself for decades because of her disappearance, and I want to give him closure.

Motivations

As you can see, all of the above goals have a motivation attached to them. A goal of “kill the king” is one thing, but it’s too nebulous and non-important. However, the addition of “… because the king ordered the execution of my innocent father,” changes things drastically. You need more than just to have a goal in mind. You need to know why your character wants to accomplish something. This is also key information to assist the GM in putting pieces together and getting your goal(s) included in the campaign.

To the GM

When players come to you with goals for their characters, listen up! Pay attention! The players are actively telling you what they want to do, what style of game they want to play, and where they want to go. However, you don’t have to engage with every goal. That way lies darkness and failure. If you can, mesh and merge multiple goals into a single thread. This can be difficult, but if you get three goals about a nefarious, unnamed thief, then you have a single NPC to create to satisfy all three goals. Just make that single NPC the target of those three goals. Done!

Conclusion

I hope this article helps solidify things for you in your mind when it comes to generating interesting backstory elements, finding ways to define your character, and allowing you to delve deeper into the story arcs that are presented by the GM. Lastly, a “secret goal” that is never revealed to the party or the GM is no goal at all. If it’s kept secret the entire time, then it usually can’t impact the game in a satisfying way. Let folks in on the secret, especially the GM, and have some fun with it! (Side note: If, during session zero, the group agrees to “no intra-party secrets” then having a “secret goal” of your own will break that social contract, so don’t do that.)

As gamers we live with our characters. Some players only inhabit those fictional lives during game sessions. Others write up extensive backstories during downtimes. Others will journal as the character or write fictional stories featuring their characters. For some, a character is simply a collection of numbers on a character sheet. All of these approaches are valid and acceptable, even within the same gaming group.

Regardless of how much time and love and care and passion we pour into our particular characters, there comes a time when the character has reached a point where retiring the character is an appropriate thing to do. There are several causes that I’ll talk about in a moment that can lead to the retirement of a character. There are also a few ways to retire the character as well. Simply “stopping playing” the character can work, but there are more elegant exit strategies.

Not The Right Character

You’ve made your character, but it doesn’t gel with the themes, story elements, setting, other party members, or the approach of gaming the GM is presenting. This means you have the wrong character to play for full enjoyment of the game. If the game is a one-shot, this is less problematic, but if the game is a long-running campaign, this can be a complete bummer.

As we gnomes have talked about in various articles and Gnomecasts, having a proper session zero where the GM collaborates with (or presents to) the players to determine the various aspects of the game can alleviate or eliminate building the wrong character. Collaborating with the rest of the players is also vital here to ensure you aren’t going to step on toes when it comes to sharing the spotlight.

However, if you end up with just the wrong character for the campaign, then it might be time to shelve the character. The earlier you do this, the better off everyone will be with the game, especially the GM. If you can find an exit for your character before the GM attaches too many plot points to it, then this will cause less pain for the GM.

No Joy Anymore

Perhaps you have a character that you love (or once loved) to play, but the joy of playing the character has waned. This can come from many different angles and have quite a few different root causes. If you’ve done the proper introspection into your past love for the current character, but you’ve solidly landed in the camp of “I don’t like doing this anymore with this character,” then it’s time to move on to a fresh character.

No Challenges

Some campaigns get to the point where the characters are extraordinarily powerful. This is actually where I’m at right now as a player in the current campaign. All of us are supremely powerful and potent, and this is presenting issues to the GM for giving us proper challenges at the table. Things are improving in the game, though. I noticed in the past couple of sessions that the GM threw more difficult challenges and quests in front of us. This amping up of the challenge levels in the game has brought new joy (and good tension) to the game.

If you and/or your group of players notice that you’re not being challenged by events, encounters, situations, environments, or other interactions, then it’s time to have a chat with the GM. Be nice. Be courteous. The GM is probably doing their best, but maybe hasn’t quite realized that you’re getting bored with the challenges. Ask them to turn up the dial on the difficulties of future encounters, but make sure you don’t throw down the gauntlet of challenge. Doing that can almost ensure that the GM’s response will be to turn the difficulty up too high for your group.

No More Goals

If the campaign has played out and the Ultimate Goal Of The Story has been resolved, this might very well be a perfect time to retire the character(s) and step toward the next story. Perhaps your personal goals for your specific character have been resolved. If you don’t see any new goals, then try to assist other party members with their goals. If this list runs dry, and the GM isn’t presenting new quests, then you might be seeing signs that it’s time to retire the character.

Single Character Retirement

If any of the above reasons (or other reasons) are pushing you toward retiring your character, have an open and honest conversation with the GM and the rest of the players on how you want to handle it. Perhaps you want to ride off into the sunset and become a legend of the local areas. Your character can also stay in the region and become a patron of new adventurers. Don’t forget about the heroic death option, but make sure you’re playing a system or telling stories in the proper manner to make your character’s death epic and truly worthy of stories to be told for the ages. It’s also possible that the character can retire to a mundane, safe, and somewhat boring profession. Barkeeps and innkeepers tend to be popular tropes for retired characters, and these work quite well.

You can also have your character become an NPC for the GM to run. I highly recommend avoiding making the former party member into a nemesis for the remaining group. This type of betrayal rarely makes sense in the story, and can lead to hard feelings at the player level. I’ve seen this happen a handful of times throughout my decades of gaming, and it only turned out well once.

Whole Group Retirement

If everyone is on board with the same feelings of moving away from the current group of characters, then maybe it’s time to retire the entire party. Of course, you’ll want to include your GM in this conversation. If you give the GM enough heads up, they might be able to adjust their plans for the game to conclude the current story arc(s) in a satisfying manner. If the entire group retires, then each character has the same options I outlined above for retirement.

Doesn’t Kill The Campaign

Having a single character retire doesn’t need to trigger the death of a campaign. There are still other characters in the party that can carry on the story. Of course, if the entire group retires, this is another matter. To ensure the story continues in a smooth and streamlined manner, make sure you don’t ambush your group with a sudden character retirement. If you’re having feelings that you need a fresh character in the campaign, then those feelings have most likely been building for a while. It’s no surprise to you, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to everyone else.

Bringing In A Replacement

Once you’ve successfully retired a character, you’ll want a new one to come into the storyline and campaign. I strongly recommend that the new character come in at a power level equivalent to the remaining characters. Don’t punish a player with a “first level character” because they are starting over. This is punishing the player because they’ve made a decision that will enable them to have more fun.

Conversing about what kind of character to bring in while the campaign is mid-stream is even more vital than talking about character builds during session zero. There are storylines in flight. There are character arcs flowing. There are enemies, friends, allies, factions, and so much more attached to the group that weren’t there at the start of session zero. The new character will change and adjust things. That’s unavoidable. However, the new character should not be a majorly disruptive force in the course of the game.

You Look Like A Trustworthy Fellow

When introducing the new character to the group, it’s best done on neutral or friendly grounds. Finding a warrior roaming a random dungeon and then immediately inviting them into the group is fairly strange and weird. Yes, you can make this work, and it might be necessary. If the old character was “retired by heroic death” in the depths of a dungeon, then you don’t want the player to sit idle at the table while the party makes their way back to a friendly location to meet their new party member. A good approach here is to have the party discover the new character already in action and battling a known enemy. This can set up the fact that the new character is nominally on the same side as the party. A solid trope is to also have the new character be a prisoner of the Bad Guys in need of rescue (just make sure the new character’s gear is stash somewhere nearby).

If situations allow, though, I do recommend having the new character be a known factor in the world that is aligned with the party. This can be via familial relations, faction ties, friend-of-a-friend, strong rumors, legends and lore, or some other flavor of alliance. This can establish that the new character is friendly, supportive, and reliable to the rest of the party.

Metagaming usually gets a bad rap. When people say “metagaming,” visions of know it all players who have read the Monster Manual cover to cover and memorized the stats, abilities, and weaknesses of every monster dance through our heads. Who wants to play with that person? Where is the fun in having your sense of discovery short circuited by a badly timed “Well, actually” as you try to make your move in combat? The answer is, it’s not fun — for everyone else, at least. 

You can certainly use out of character knowledge to game the game, as it were, and it frequently springs from lack of trust at the table. If you can’t trust your GM to want your characters to live, then it’s very logical to find every advantage you can. If you CAN trust your GM, and you are not in an adversarial game/GM player relationship, then metagaming becomes less of a problem and more of a potential perk. When you don’t have to spend your energy protecting your character (and by extension, yourself/your emotions), knowing something about the plot can give you the option to lean in on it and push harder. 

I could make the rest of this article about improv and how it translates to the gaming table; how you can listen, build off each other, add details and escalate, and make each other look good, but if you want more specifics on improv at the table I’d rather recommend Karen Twelves’ Improv for Gamers 2nd Edition. Instead, let’s focus more specifically on collaborative storytelling and metagame knowledge.

Okay, but how?

First, when your GM asks you what you want to see in a game, that’s your opportunity to get a story arc you’re interested in. Don’t pass it up. Recently, fellow gnome Phil Vecchione asked me what I was interested in for my next spy mission in our weekly game, and I told him I wanted to pull off a Leenik Geelo (although not in so many words). Leenik Geelo is known for the standard plan of getting captured to get into a situation and then escaping to get out. On the Campaign Podcast (Star Wars), it’s a bit that comes up again and again for laughs, but in a more serious game it’s also the kind of thing Black Widow would do. The story that came out of this request was a mission to track down and extract a missing undercover agent — most quickly accomplished by simply setting myself up for them to take me to the same place and save me the effort of trying to track them down. (Note for GMs: you can ask your players directly what they’d like to see! It’s okay to get ideas and then run with them; if necessary, have a quick chat about expectations for the division of in and out of game knowledge, and then just try it. It helps if you need a creative boost, and guarantees you’re giving the players something they want to play — no mind reading or guessing here.)

Second, when your GM tells you this is the story you asked for, get a giant smirk on your face and lean in. Now is the time. I don’t know what the opposition is doing (either of the organizations), I don’t know exactly where they are, and I have no idea how I’m getting out – but I know how I am getting in. Now it’s my job, in character, to make sure that’s the most logical choice in this situation. Did I plan some back ups to get me out? Of course I did; there are ropes laid on the cliff side and my overwatch is monitoring, but that’s just mission prep. 

Third, it’s okay to let your character be wrong or fail even when you, the player, know that that will be the result. Heck, sometimes it’s a lot more interesting. If your twin superhero sibling is evil and everyone at the table knows it, that doesn’t mean your character doesn’t love them and believe the world of them even as they’re telling you otherwise while falling with no parachute from a plane (ask me how I know). It’s easier to believe they’re still good than to let them break your heart! And it’s a really compelling and dramatic moment when you have to accept the reality that they’ve joined the Evil League of Evil. 

Fourth, this kind of forecasting/vague planning to have joint direction is not limited to GM/player dynamics. It’s perfectly reasonable to have a quick side conversation with another player about how your character relationship is going and the direction you might want to move it in. Once, mid campaign, my in character fiance’s player looked at me and said, “I think this is going to put a strain on our relationship and we don’t end up together. Are you okay with that?” And we spent the rest of the campaign slowly eroding what had started as a syrupy sweet relationship to the point that we called off the engagement at the end (after a heartfelt conversation about how I didn’t feel safe with him – to be fair, he had developed mandibles and a taste for human flesh). 

If you’ve ever listened to an actual play RPG podcast, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard the results of metagaming, even if it wasn’t left in the recording. When She’s A Super Geek was releasing, we would run into time limits or other situations, stop the game, and have a quick chat about where we thought the story should go, then play into that. Not every AP will do that, but since it’s meant to be consumed as audio content I know that mine was not the only one. What I learned from those experiences is that having a known, shared endpoint does nothing to interfere with my enjoyment of telling the story at all. It gave all of us the opportunity to play towards that known ending. It’s a technique I’m so glad I learned, because it’s something that comes up in varying forms in my home games too – probably a little less choreographed, but the style of conversation and the meta moment to get buy in from all the players is something I love.  

In the end, communication always makes for a better game, whether it’s in character or out of character knowledge. TTRPGs are a medium based entirely on communication, so it’s no surprise that when the conversation is flowing the game feels easy. Meta knowledge can give you the direction to lean in and push the story in good ways, collaboratively. 

When was the last time you used metagame knowledge to make your game better or help out your GM?

B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, Part Two

I’m not going to summarize the history and purpose of the venerable module know as “The Keep on the Borderlands” again. You can check out my previous article on this topic for that information. Instead, I’m going to dive into the section entitled “Tips to the Players” on page 25 (out of 26) of the module.

Tips to the Players

First off, this is a horrible place to put player tips. It’s after the adventure. A player that’s picked up this module and wants to play it without spoilers probably stopped reading the text somewhere around page 2 where it explicitly tells the players to stop reading. There is no mention of reference of this section in the introductory text, so there’s no way for a player to find this section prior to playing.

My guess is that TSR needed some “filler text” to get rid of some whitespace at the end of the book. Someone put together these brief tips and dropped them into the whitespace. I could be wrong. I could be right. I don’t know. Regardless of the cause of placing player tips at the back, it’s not a good area to drop this kind of advice.

The section is broken into an introductory paragraph followed by five brief paragraphs of actual advice, so let’s dive into them!

Organized and Cooperative

The advice given in this paragraph is spot on and still applies to this day. The “organized” section of this piece of advice basically boils down to “know your character and be ready to respond.” The DM can’t know everything about every ability of every character. They have enough to worry about on their side of the screen. This means you, as the player, need to know your character well enough to be able to quickly answer questions like, “Does anyone have [insert ability here]?” If you need to glance at your sheet to determine your answer, that’s fine, but know where on the character sheet that information can be found.

The cooperative part of this section leverages the phrase “… a variety of alignments and classes.” This is a fairly narrow perspective of the differences between characters (and people in general). This shows how focused that game was on alignment and class choice back then. I’m glad we’ve moved on to incorporate more subtle aspects of characters in modern gaming, but that’s probably a different post. The point of this paragraph is that the players need to have their characters work together in a tight-knit team despite any differences the characters may have. If cooperation is not part of the party’s game play, then this will, “… cause delays, attract monsters, and often result in the deaths of some or all of the members.” This closing statement is still valid and very true for modern D&D.

DM Rulings

This paragraph is worded a bit too harshly for my tastes. It basically implies that players can be whiny and disruptive if they disagree with the DM. The advice is solid, but I don’t like the wording used. Let’s update it a bit, shall we? Here goes.

The DM is the final arbiter of rules and rules conflicts, but the DM should welcome your reasonable input and ideas while considering the final ruling. If a player disagrees with the ruling, then disruptive and abusive behavior should be avoided. The player should accept the final ruling and move on. If the final ruling is egregious, unsafe, or harmful, the player always has the option of quietly stepping away from the game or not returning to the game with the DM at the next session. Being disruptive at the table over a rules disagreement drains the fun for everyone, even those not involved in the disagreement.

Planning

This paragraph is equipment-focused, which is fine, but it’s the final sentence that really stands out to me. The closing of the paragraph says, “Plans should be considered for encountering monsters and casting spells.” I wish there were more advice in this vein, so I’m going to expand that statement.

The PCs should decide a watch order while resting and a marching order while moving across open land and through dungeons. This will assist the DM in running a smooth adventure, especially when encounters occur. The players should also be aware of all abilities of all characters, but they don’t have to have everything memorized. Just know that the wizard has low hit points, but can cast powerful spells. Know that the cleric can heal and that the fighter has the best armor class in the group. These key points can help keep everyone as safe as possible when encounters happen.

Knowing which spells are available to the party at a given time is also key. The spell casters should also know when it’s appropriate to use certain spells. Fireballing two goblins that are surrounded by the rest of the party probably isn’t the wisest choice, but casting Magic Missile at the goblins would most likely work out well. Clerics should also know when to apply their limited healing. Casting powerful healing spells on someone that is only down a few hit points would be a waste, but that same spell could get the almost-dead fighter back into the fray in a moment’s notice.

Caution

I love this paragraph and it still stands true today without modification, with one exception. The exception is that dangers can also come from within the party by way of lying and trickery. That might still be true with some groups, but not in groups I like to play with. The party is a team literally fighting for survival. Lying, trickery, backstabbing, and duplicity from within the party will guarantee failure, and possibly character death. Avoid that at all costs.

The remainder of the paragraph, though, is strong and well stated. Basically, it says that caution is necessary. Don’t charge forward with preparation or be ready to meet doom. It also says that too much caution is as dangerous as too little. Bold and quick action is sometimes necessary before all is lost.

Thinking

This is a good closing paragraph. It tells the players to think through problems and that their minds, wits, and imaginations will carry them further through the game than luck or brute force. The last sentence says, “The challenge of thinking is a great deal of the fun of the game.”

I couldn’t agree more with that last statement.

Take your moment to shine, but pass it on!

Continuing a series discussing how to be a better player, this article is the belated third one on the subject. Most gaming advice out there is pointed at game masters, and while players can gain a fair amount of insight from those articles, it’s always a byproduct. The intention with this series is to offer advice on the skills players can cultivate to be an asset to any game table, both in their actions and in their understanding of the game table.

Now, just to state it up front, I am not a perfect player. Many of my articles have talked about my own foibles as a player. Let’s just state it, I have no chill, and if I’m irritated it always comes out. Still, I am always trying to improve so my favorite GMs keep inviting me back to their table. At the very least, I can talk about the things myself and other GMs look for in the players that join our games.

Help Share the Spotlight Around the Table

A very foundational and common piece of advice consistently given to GMs is to keep the spotlight moving around the table. GMs are expected to make sure everyone gets a moment to shine. If someone has been a little quiet for too long, find a way to pull their character center stage and give them an opportunity to be awesome. This is a crucial skill for GMs to hone, but the task is helped immensely when we have players who understand why we do it and can help move the focus of the game to their fellow players. Gaming is ultimately a cooperative experience and working to help facilitate sharing the spotlight can be one of the most rewarding experiences in roleplaying games.

Remember it’s an Ensemble Show

Our characters may be the star of the movies we’re creating inside our head, but when you’re at the table playing the game it is important to remember that the game is much more like an ensemble show rather than a solo star vehicle. The other characters are NOT your supporting cast. They’re equally billed stars of the show and they deserve an equal share of the spotlight. It’s the difference between Matt Damon in Ocean’s Eleven and Matt Damon in The Martian. You may be able to have fun with your character in either situation, but the rest of the players at the table will have more fun if you remember that it’s a big ensemble show.

I know this sounds like common sense to folks who have been playing for a long time or immediately get the whole ensemble cast nature of an RPG game, but there are plenty of new and old players who need this to be stated plainly. It doesn’t matter how good you are at roleplaying, how great you are at voices, how awesome your character comes across. If you are bad at being part of an ensemble cast with everyone getting awesome moments for their characters with and without the group, you are not as much fun as you think to have at the table for the GM or the other players.

Plays Well with Others

Speaking of other players wanting you at the table, it really helps if you are fun and engaging to play with. In addition to knowing when to step back and let other people have their moment in the spotlight, it also means finding ways to have your actions and reactions involve the other characters. Learn the tropes of the game in a way that enhances your fun and the fun of everyone else at the table.

What does this mean practically? Interact with your fellow players’ characters. Roleplay getting to know them, asking questions about their favorite food, or where they grew up, or just things that can let you better understand that character and establish a relationship between their character and yours. Make sure your actions involve other characters. Don’t be the lone wolf that goes off and does things on their own. Pull the other characters into your harebrained schemes.

Essentially, involve them in your story and support them in their stories.

Be an Enthusiastic Audience

Another key aspect of sharing the spotlight is being just as excited about their stories as you are about your own character’s. A piece of advice that came out of the Powered by the Apocalypse style of game is for the GMs to be a fan of the characters. This goes just as much for the other players at the table. If you’ve taken the time to get to know their characters, you know when a big moment is happening for them. While a big moment happening for someone else may sideline your character for a moment, if you remember that we’re here for everyone’s stories, it can be equally fun to see the cool moments for the other characters at the table.

All of this said, a GM is the ultimate ringmaster of the game, making sure everyone gets to do cool stuff and have awesome moments, but their job can be so much easier when the players are on board with making sure everyone gets a chance to shine.

So what are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have some good examples of helping move the spotlight around the table as a player?

Is there a player in your group who always shows up late to the table, no matter how hard they try? Do you have a PC that struggles to keep up with the dice rolls during a fast combat round? Do you have someone in your party who forgets important details and often needs a reminder?  Is there someone who attempts — but fails — to keep track with accounting or bookkeeping in the game? Do you have a player who  accidentally pressed the delete button on the online character sheet before saving?

If you have experienced one or several of these as a DM or a fellow gamer, you may be running a game for — or playing with — someone who struggles with neurodiversity. In this article, I will discuss neurodivergence and neurotypical brains, and then will provide some helpful tips for both neurodivergent and neurotypical players in RPG.

Neurodivergent and Neurotypical Brains

The Cleveland Clinic provides a useful definition: “The term ‘neurodivergent’ describes people whose brain differences affect how their brain works.”   Examples of neurodivergence include but are not limited to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), Autism, Down Syndrome, and Dyslexia.  Neurotypical people do not have these differences.

I am well versed in neurodivergence. I write about this topic as one of those people who struggle to navigate a neurotypical world.  Diagnosed later in life at age 38, it was a relief to discover that ADHD is not a gigantic character flaw but rather a cluster of symptoms of a medical diagnosis that needs to be managed. I still struggle with executive functioning. Like with all other things I either must do or like to do, executive functioning affects how I show up to the RPG table and participate.

Tips for Neurodivergent Players

As a neurodivergent player, I believe that there are two elements I need to bring to the game: accountability and communication. Under these elements are some tips that may help new or seasoned players have successful gaming sessions.

Accountability

• Although we struggle with neurodivergent brains, we still need to abide by the rules (within reason) of the game and of the group.
• As an example, if struggling to arrive on time to a session (this is a condition called time blindness), find out when is the best time to leave home or log on to a Zoom session and set an alarm. It is generally better to be early so the rest of the group isn’t kept waiting.  If you’re playing a one-shot game at a con, timeliness is imperative. If you’re late, your spot may be given to someone else.
• It’s okay to ask for clarification in a session, even if others do not need to. (I usually need assistance if there are multiple steps involved.)
• It may take longer to fill out the character sheet, and if you need more time, you can ask to meet with the DM or another player in advance. There’s no shame in asking for help.
• Having said that, if the DM or other players are disrespectful, exclusive, or insensitive, it’s a good idea to have a discussion or find a more inclusive group.

 Communication

• Depending on how well you know the other gamers at the table and how severe your symptoms are, it may be a wise idea to communicate with the DM and/or the group. If they do not know, they will not be able to accommodate you.
• I am open about ADHD and communicate with the DM and other players, not to expect special treatment, but to let others know that executive functioning is slower, my responses may be slightly delayed, and I get overwhelmed easily. This may provide some understanding with others.
• Be mindful of symptoms pertaining to communication. If you tend to interrupt or blurt while someone is talking, find a way to pause until the person is finished. (Sometimes I count to myself) If you make a misstep, apologize.

Tips for Neurotypical Players

Although I am unable to write from a neurotypical perspective, I can communicate what can be helpful for a neurodivergent player. I write this with both DMs and players in mind:

• If you’re one of the lucky ones who have a neurotypical brain, that’s awesome! Please try to be patient with gamers who are a couple paces slower, who ask you to repeat something, or forget a detail. We are also painfully aware of these differences and still attempt to dig our self-esteem out of the mud, so please be kind.
• If you see another player struggling to keep up with the mechanics of the game, please help.
• If the DM is running a game for a large party, offer assistance and encouragement. Even a simple “good job”  or “way to go” means a lot.
• If you have PCs with sensory issues, consider dimming the lights. Keep music to a background level. If possible, have comfortable chairs for the group, especially if the session is lengthy.
• Sometimes, neurodivergent players move more often or use stim tactics (I draw while I’m listening). If they are not disrupting gameplay, consider allowing them.
• If you are teaching something new to a player, handouts are helpful.

What are your experiences? Are there any helpful tips you would like to share?

As a freelance copywriter, and someone who simply enjoys wordcraft, I’ve come up with a few tips to help you get your ideas flowing again.

What is Writer’s Block?

Hey, so quick background for those who haven’t suffered with this condition; what is writer’s block, anyway? In short, it’s when you sit down to write and… nothing. The ideas just don’t come. And even if they do, you can’t seem to get them down on paper (or screen).

And, it’s kind of an interesting dilemma. So, interesting in fact, that there’s quite a body of research out there that tries to explain writer’s block.

RELATED: TIPS FOR WRITING BACK STORIES FOR CAMPAIGNS

Here’s a bit of what I found!

According to some research in the psych field, writer’s block is often caused by psychological conditions such as stress, anxiety, or depression. When you’re feeling stressed or anxious, your mind is focused on other things and it can be tough to concentrate on writing. There’s also the bit about fear of failure, or the need to find perfection in everything you. All of these “fear-based” or “anxiety-like” states of mind can hinder your creative freedom.

(Side note: There’s some interesting evidence of a link between creative types and vulnerability to anxiety)

Depression can also lead to writer’s block because it causes a lack of motivation or interest in activities that used to bring you pleasure. When you’re feeling down, it’s hard to find the energy to write.

While I’m sure there are many other reasons why we have trouble getting words down on a blank page, it comes down to this in my opinion.

We’re afraid of our ideas being judged. Who judges your ideas? Well, you and those who will experience, hear, or–in this case–adventure within your stories, concepts and frankly, the world you’ve created.

For a simple illustration: Ever watch a young child scribble with a crayon? Yes? Notice how they show off their creation to every adult in the room. Looking at the colorful scribble, a child sees fantastical worlds, e.g., flying elephants, dragons, maybe even just a drawing of mommy or daddy. And, yet as an adult, we see an uninterpretable mess…a blank page with something that almost, but not quite resembles whatever that child describes. But, ultimately it’s a kid’s illustration and they have no sense of what is “good or bad”. A child is free.

Without getting into the whole human maturity process, there is a switch that happens in all of us when we realize that there are standards. Yes, standards. And, we irrationally place some of them on ourselves where they do not belong. This is particularly true for the times when we want to (need to) engage with the process of writing creatively.

While I’m not in the position to solve this problem, as it’s a problem as old as the World; I can share a insights I’ve learned along the way in my various professions, and from the depths of my day-to-day thoughts.

Writer’s Block in a Dungeon Master: A Unique Beast

Sure, writer’s block can affect anyone who has to come up with ideas–but I think it’s a special kind of curse for DMs.

Think about it, as a DM you not only have to come up with original content, but you also have to be able to improvise on the fly. If your players decide to go left when you planned for them to go right, you have to be able to come up with something interesting for them to do.

And if you’re experiencing writer’s block, that can be a tall order.

So, what can you do about it?

Well, first of all, it’s important to understand that everyone experiences writer’s block from time to time. Even the most seasoned DMs can find themselves struggling to come up with new ideas. The key is not to let it stop you from writing.

Here are a few tips that might help you get your ideas flowing again:

1. Talk to other DMs: One of the best ways to get over writer’s block is to talk to other DMs. Ask them how they come up with new ideas, what resources they use, and what techniques work best for them. Not only will you get some great tips, but you’ll also feel less alone in your struggle.
2. Take a break: Sometimes the best way to get over writer’s block is to take a break. Get up and walk around, take a nap, or just step away from your work for a little while. You might find that when you come back, you have a fresh perspective and some new ideas.
3. Brainstorm: When all else fails, sit down and brainstorm with yourself or another person. Write down whatever comes to mind, no matter how crazy it sounds. You never know, one of those crazy ideas might just be the spark you need to get your creativity flowing again.
4. Use prompts: If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas on your own, try using prompts. There are tons of prompt lists online, or you can come up with your own. Prompts can help you get started, and once you start writing, the ideas will start to flow.
5. Just write: Sometimes the best way to overcome writer’s block is to just start writing. Don’t worry about whether or not what you’re writing is any good, just get the words down on the page. Once you start writing, the ideas will start to come.
6. Steal (I mean borrow): I’m not saying you should plagiarize, but it’s okay to borrow ideas from other sources. If you’re having trouble coming up with something original, try looking at other stories, movies, or games for inspiration. Just make sure you put your own spin on it so it’s not an exact copy.
7. Take a walk: Sometimes getting some fresh air can help clear your head and give you some new ideas. Go for a walk, sit in the park, or just step outside for a few minutes. You might find that the fresh air does wonders for your creativity.
8. Doodle: If you’re having trouble getting words down on the paper, try doodling instead. Draw a picture, write down a list of ideas, or just get your hands moving. You never know what might come from it.
9. Get organized: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the ideas in your head, try getting them down in an organized way. Write down a list of ideas, make a mind map, or just get everything down in one place. Once you have everything organized, you might find it easier to start writing.
10. Go analog: If you’re having trouble with digital writing, try going analog. Get a notebook and write down your ideas the old-fashioned way. You might find that the physical act of writing helps to get your ideas flowing. You can even use a typewriter like I do. You can find vintage typewriters on eBay or in antique shops. Flip on that fancy desk lamp and get to it!

Conclusion

Writer’s block can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to stop you from writing. I hope you found this article helpful!

Use these tips to get your ideas flowing again, and don’t forget to take breaks when you need them. Do you have any tips for overcoming writer’s block? Share them in the comments below.

Happy writing, gaming, and all the fun things!

RPG gamers will likely have come across a concept called the “social contract” at some point in their gaming career. Newer gamers may have not seen the topic discussed directly, but they engage with it every time they play. For those people that don’t know: the social contract is the agreement between members of a gaming group that underlies a game (system, setting, safety tools, etc.) Despite a general awareness of the concept, I very rarely see a discussion about the topic that tries to deeply understand its meaning and how to apply such an understanding. I want to deep-dive into this topic here, and I also want to make an argument as to why you should be talking about this at your table more often.

Implicit and Explicit Contracts

I wish to define two terms that I will reference throughout this article: “Implicit Contracts” and “Explicit Contracts”.

Implicit contracts are those social contracts that are established without speaking. An implicit contract relies heavily upon cultural norms, established dynamics, atmosphere, location, and past experiences. By contrast, an explicit contract does not rely upon such things and is instead established through clear discussion and affirmative consent by all parties.

Between the two, implicit contracts are vastly more common. Everyone comes to the table and simply vibes out the group and the game, perhaps only discussing game dynamics openly when a problem arises or grievances must be aired. The proliferation of safety tools and the rising popularity of Powered by the Apocalypse games have injected some elements of explicit contracts into the gaming sphere, but they are still the minority. Powered by the Apocalypse games often force meta-game discussions that can prompt a gaming table to examine their social contract in specific ways. Safety tools introduce the element of affirmative consent to the table. These are positive developments, but I believe diving even deeper can make every game better.

Expanding the Social Contract

So what does the social contract mean beyond what has already been discussed? The first thing that I want you to do is to consider this question: what is a role-playing game? At its deepest level, what are we doing when we sit down at a gaming table? We are engaging in a social activity, and anything that happens in that activity is entirely the construct of the people at the table. Nothing is set in stone except for the limitations of the human body, and I know of no RPG’s that push anyone to their physical limits. Because RPG’s are imaginative in nature, there are essentially no limits.

No limits can mean a lot of things, not all of which are good. There is as much room for pain as there is pleasure, and as much room for toxicity as there is for pure joy. The goal of a gaming group should be to invite the good and avoid the bad, but how is that done? The simplest answer would be to talk it out, all of it. So how do we start that conversation?

Rules as a Contract

Start at the beginning. What are the most common ways to invite someone to a game? You either propose a game genre or a game system, e.g., “I want to do a western game” or “I want to run a Call of Cthulhu game”. Once an agreement is reached, a contract is signed, but perhaps you should revisit that agreement in depth before the game begins. I think most of you understand what that conversation would look like when discussing genre: Asking people about style preferences, discussing tropes to avoid or include, and discussing any potential triggers or hazards that are common to the genre. The next question then is, how do you discuss a rule system in depth?

Understand that game systems are sets of rules, a collective whole. By agreeing to play a game, we agree to all of the rules within that game. Each individual rule is an agreement among the entire group as to how the game world works and how the world will be represented at the table. Hit points are not hit points. When a monster deals damage to a character and that character loses HP, they are not being subjected to some universal law of gaming. The group has agreed, by signing on to a DnD game, that in a situation whereby a creature successfully attacks a character, the logical effects of that attack will be represented by a loss of hit points. If the group wanted to change how that situation would be represented they could do so, thereby amending the social contract. This activity is usually called “homebrewing”, and is quite common among the more involved fans of the hobby.

In fact, there really is no need for a rulebook at all. The game group could design their entire game system at the table, but such a process would take far too long for most adults. So instead of designing a game system by committee, a pre-written game system is chosen. To put it another way, the group is outsourcing part of their social contract to a game company.

This is why I encourage everyone to openly discuss the game system at every opportunity: ask the GM and/or the players what rules they like or don’t like, bring up concerns as soon as they arise, read the book thoroughly, and redesign the game system however you wish. Why risk someone becoming bitter or dissatisfied with a system mechanic when a simple direct conversation can solve that issue before it appears at the table? Continuing these conversations will also allow group members to voice their opinions if they ever change their minds.

Addressing GM Dominance

How many times have words like “…in my world, orcs aren’t evil” been uttered at a table or in a game forum? Many game systems directly empower the GM to make such proclamations without input from their players, and most players simply accept that reality. This is, however, an illusion.

The GM has the authority of an executive; the authority of the GM is entirely based upon the implicit allowance of their players. If a GM continues to alienate their players, the end result will be the players exiting the game. Perhaps whoever feels dissatisfied can bring up their pain points, but if nothing changes they will either have to suffer through or leave. Conversely, a GM who feels dissatisfied because of the demands of the players will also have to decide to either leave or suffer through.

Because many game systems place ultimate authority with the GM, players are thus told to accept the word of the GM as law. The true reality is, however: the GM is not enacting a ruling, they are proposing one. It is the right of the players to bring up concerns or argue their minds if they wish, and they should. Ultimately, the GM cannot force players to play a game to which they don’t agree, but the players cannot make their GM run a game they don’t like either. The group must agree. Making that agreement more explicit will ensure that everyone gets their thoughts heard and possibly avoid conflicts in the future.

Safety Tools

Anyone who spends time on gaming forums will likely hear stories about horrible gaming tables that traumatize and exploit unwitting players. To address this disturbingly common occurrence, the community has accepted safety tools to feel out the triggers of participants and offer them a way out of a negative experience. These aren’t foolproof, unfortunately. Social situations are complex, and it may feel awkward to use a safety tool if it is perceived to interrupt an otherwise smooth gaming experience. This is why I encourage everyone to not just include safety tools (you definitely should) but to openly discuss what the safety tools mean and have people propose how they would want the safety tool to function. In this way, such tools can be both more effective and feel more acceptable for everyone to use. Make this conversation explicit, perhaps even awkwardly explicit. Implicit understandings are prone to misunderstanding; it is vital that everyone fully understand and accept safety tools so we can all have better games.

Talking is Always Better

Not everyone has something to say all the time. Most players don’t have as many thoughts about game systems as GM’s, and most people are quite comfortable with safety tools when around their friends, but talking about it can’t hurt. The worst that could happen by talking explicitly about more things is temporary awkwardness. The worst that could happen by remaining silent and relying on an implicit agreement is much worse. RPGs are an entirely social engagement, the game lives in the space between the minds of the people at the table, and everything about it is defined by the social contract. Humans aren’t psychic (yet), your thoughts are yours alone until you voice them. To understand each other, we must use our words. Games don’t exist on their own, they are defined by and they rest upon the agreement of the people at the table.  That agreement can be amended, rescinded, or added to at any time, you just have speak up.

Shhh…!

I have a secret.

But I’m going to tell you about it anyway.

I hate intra-party secrets.

Despise them.

I think a secret being held back from the rest of the party by a fellow PC should cause that PC to burn in the 18th pit of fire on the 147th layer of the Abyss while being stabbed with somewhat-dull pitchforks wielded by vrocks.

Phew. There. I said it. Secrets from fellow PCs suck. Big time.

So, how do we deal with them?

The GM Must Know Now

As soon as the campaign starts… Strike that… Before the campaign starts (as in, during session zero), the game master must know all character secrets. It is imperative to the story being told that the GM tailor hints and guidance on the plot line based on important character details. There are no more important character details than the secrets those characters are keeping. The secrets the players want to keep private from the other players are fine, but make sure the GM is in the know.

The Players Must Know Soon

While the GM has to know what’s what from the start, the players can come in on secrets a little later. Just a little later, though. The full nature of the secret needs to be revealed to the PCs before it affects the plot. This will prevent confusion and resentment on the part of your fellow players. Holding things too close the vest is okay for a while, but if you find yourself saying, “Oh. Yeah. By the way, the reason for XYZ is [insert secret here],” then you’ve waited too long to reveal your secret.

Of course, this will require some coordination with your GM. If they feel it’s time to trigger a secret for twisting or continuing the plot, then they need to loop you in on the decision. If they don’t, then they’re blindsiding you as much as the rest of the party. This is where you can drop ideas or hints to the GM during session zero (or early in the campaign) on when you want your secret to come forth to impact the plot.

Never Revealing Your Secret

A secret that is never revealed, doesn’t impact the plot. Or, if it does, it’ll impact the plot in a manner that is completely confusing to the rest of the group. They won’t know why the captain of the city watch has shown up to arrest the group for “harboring a fugitive” when the fugitive is one of their fellow players. At worst, this leads to a fight where the party injures/maims/kills some of the city watch. This will make them true fugitives from the law and on the run from the city and possibly the nation.

If the secret doesn’t come out ever, then it doesn’t impact the story being told by the group. This means the GM has not “invoked” the secret. This means the player has not played up their character’s secret. All-in-all, the secret should have never existed in the first place because it had zero impact. Any important detail drawn from a character’s backstory (secret or otherwise) should be part of the collaborative storytelling going on at the table or it’s a non-factor.

Conclusion

You can have a character secret that they don’t want the common populace of the world to know about, but the party should know. They are your lifelines. They have, at some point in the campaign, literally saved your character’s life. You have, most likely, literally saved their characters’ lives as well. These are deep stakes and should not be ignored.

In other words, keeping your character’s secrets from your fellow players is a poor choice that can either betray their trust in you or have zero impact to the game at all.