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Reply: RPGGeek News:: Re: The 2025 New Player Initiative - Call to GMs!
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:51:31
Maybe you can playtest my funnel!Will we be finished by then? If so, OK!! In not, OK if you only send me the parts we've already finished. 😉 Thanks Felix - you made my decision easy. But also - you'll guarantee the players are mentioned as playtesters, right?
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:51:31
by Bahasa
Againsto wrote:
Bahasa wrote:
I'll run some DCC, but haven't decided on the adventure.
Maybe you can playtest my funnel!
GeekList Item: Item for GeekList "15 December 2025: How did your RPG session(s) go this week?"
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:50:46
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:50:46
by gatekeeper86
An item RPG Item: Keys from the Golden Vault has been added to the geeklist 15 December 2025: How did your RPG session(s) go this week?
New comment on GeekList 15 December 2025: How did your RPG session(s) go this week?
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:49:41
This time, one player's wife had to rush to the hospital with his older daughter to get stitches two hours before the game, leaving him at home with his younger daughter. We'll look into doing some kind of cleansing ritual that will hopefully enable us to finish up the campaign in 2026.
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:49:41
by gatekeeper86
I had another D&D session scheduled for Friday, but that table is just cursed. It's my Lost Mine of Phandelver game that's very dear to my heart because we're playing in person at the table. Because it is our game for socializing, we only want to play when all five of us are available - we either play boardgames instead or cancel when the group isn't complete. We are aiming for monthly games and we have managed to play TWICE in 2025.This time, one player's wife had to rush to the hospital with his older daughter to get stitches two hours before the game, leaving him at home with his younger daughter. We'll look into doing some kind of cleansing ritual that will hopefully enable us to finish up the campaign in 2026.
New comment on Item for GeekList "A Geeklist of Those Who Died in 2025"
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:39:35
They were bought by Tabletop Tycoon and promptly shut down.
Goodbye Victory Point Games...Long Live Victory Point Games?
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:39:35
by leroy43
Related Item: Alan Emrich
Phil Fleischmann wrote:
I don't know what the current status of Victory Point Games is…
They were bought by Tabletop Tycoon and promptly shut down.
Goodbye Victory Point Games...Long Live Victory Point Games?
Reply: RPGGeek News:: Re: The 2025 New Player Initiative - Call to GMs!
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:32:58
As Andy said, the main thing we have right now are character templates and previously run games, as well as threads that explain how the diceroller works etc. Several of us have also written tips on how to play for the newbies at the start of our OOC game threads, which I know other GMs have sometimes copied. I'm always happy for people to borrow anything I wrote up.
You'll likely find your own preferred way of doing things, but there are some general practices. For example, thumbing posts to show you've read them, how to handle absences (often the GM botting your character, ideally having written up some default go-to approaches/actions for your character they can use or them just fading into the background for a bit and getting skipped over, the latter is less common here), post formatting (like posting a character's speech in bold and color) etc. And non-site specific: specify expecting game length and posting speed, possibly include how to handle people not posting (and be prepared to nudge a bunch), try to avoid anything that requires a bunch of back-and-forth to resolve stuff.
For the NPI specifically, pick a SHORT scenario, they pretty much always take longer than you'd think. Ideally something that is 2-3 hours at a real life table is great, I'd recommend 4 hours tops. Provide pregens, unless chargen is a few random rolls or a few quick multiple choices like a PbtA playbook (and even then consider pregens). Basically, get the game started asap and try to keep it moving once it starts. Once people get hooked, a game can survive some lulls, but if it doesn't flow well out of the gate is when you lose people. And expect some people to drop out even if you did the most perfect job ever, as the NPI will attract people who've never played PbF games here and may have never tried any PbF/PbP or even any TTRPG at all and decide it's not for them. These days Discord PbP is common which often runs at a way higher frequency than these forum games do, so some lose interest. Be clear about expections. Let people know it's okay to drop it if they aren't feeling it, but to please communicate that to you. As long as everyone communicates with one another it saves a good deal of common troubles. Still, some games don't finish and that's part of it. It sucks when it happens, but it does happen.
We've been working on a single place for PbF gaming that is not NPI specific where we can link all resources and listing people willing to mentor new GMs etc. I originally volunteered for it (I also host this NPI as of 2024), then someone else sent me a geekmail saying they'd do it instead but I haven't heard back in a bit so I should check on that as they may want me to help/take back over.
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:32:58
by YourLoveOnly
I'll likely do another Mausritter table and I haven't decided what else.robertwmartin wrote:
Is there a guide or support system for GMs who have never run a PbF game?
As Andy said, the main thing we have right now are character templates and previously run games, as well as threads that explain how the diceroller works etc. Several of us have also written tips on how to play for the newbies at the start of our OOC game threads, which I know other GMs have sometimes copied. I'm always happy for people to borrow anything I wrote up.
You'll likely find your own preferred way of doing things, but there are some general practices. For example, thumbing posts to show you've read them, how to handle absences (often the GM botting your character, ideally having written up some default go-to approaches/actions for your character they can use or them just fading into the background for a bit and getting skipped over, the latter is less common here), post formatting (like posting a character's speech in bold and color) etc. And non-site specific: specify expecting game length and posting speed, possibly include how to handle people not posting (and be prepared to nudge a bunch), try to avoid anything that requires a bunch of back-and-forth to resolve stuff.
For the NPI specifically, pick a SHORT scenario, they pretty much always take longer than you'd think. Ideally something that is 2-3 hours at a real life table is great, I'd recommend 4 hours tops. Provide pregens, unless chargen is a few random rolls or a few quick multiple choices like a PbtA playbook (and even then consider pregens). Basically, get the game started asap and try to keep it moving once it starts. Once people get hooked, a game can survive some lulls, but if it doesn't flow well out of the gate is when you lose people. And expect some people to drop out even if you did the most perfect job ever, as the NPI will attract people who've never played PbF games here and may have never tried any PbF/PbP or even any TTRPG at all and decide it's not for them. These days Discord PbP is common which often runs at a way higher frequency than these forum games do, so some lose interest. Be clear about expections. Let people know it's okay to drop it if they aren't feeling it, but to please communicate that to you. As long as everyone communicates with one another it saves a good deal of common troubles. Still, some games don't finish and that's part of it. It sucks when it happens, but it does happen.
We've been working on a single place for PbF gaming that is not NPI specific where we can link all resources and listing people willing to mentor new GMs etc. I originally volunteered for it (I also host this NPI as of 2024), then someone else sent me a geekmail saying they'd do it instead but I haven't heard back in a bit so I should check on that as they may want me to help/take back over.
Reply: News:: Re: Halfway Through the 2025 Support Drive
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:17:27
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:17:27
by lostphd
I'm guessing the final total will be 18,511.
GeekList Item: Item for GeekList "15 December 2025: How did your RPG session(s) go this week?"
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:16:48
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:16:48
by Farydia
An item RPG Item: Nephews in Peril! (KS Edition) has been added to the geeklist 15 December 2025: How did your RPG session(s) go this week?
Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #10: Passage to the Manse of Erudite Wonderment – Print + PDF
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:12:52
Posted: Sun, 21 Dec 20:12:52
A new weblink has been added for rpg item DCC Dying Earth #10: Passage to the Manse of Erudite Wonderment:
Dungeon Crawl Classics Dying Earth #10: Passage to the Manse of Erudite Wonderment – Print + PDF
