What’s The Story, Muthur?
To the point, tabletop gaming
I've been using Encounter Timer for a few months, I have thoughts
A few months back I made an Android app called 'Encounter Timer'. It was the first app I've ever made and I mainly built it for myself and a couple of GM mates, however I turned out so happy with it that I decided to make it available to my subscribers for free.
Now, Domain of Many Things had only been going a few weeks when I first released the app, so readership was very low, and I think we’re long overdue an article revisiting Encounter Timer.
By JimmiWazEre
Opinionated Tabletop Gaming Chap
A few months back I made an Android app called 'Encounter Timer'. It was the first app I've ever made and I was so chuffed with it that I decided to make it available to my subscribers for free.
You're welcome mum!
Since then, I've been using it in play at every opportunity in sessions of Mothership, GOZR, and D&D. So much that the Metal Gear Solid style "!" alert sound the app plays has become something of a meme in my games now.
Now, Domain of Many Things was very much still a baby blog when I first released the app. Readership was very low, so I think we’re long overdue an article revisiting Encounter Timer.
You can read all the details, including operational instructions here. However, if you just want the basic gist: It’s a countdown timer that starts at a random number within a range (default: 5–15 minutes). Once it hits zero, that’s your cue to roll on your encounter table.
No more remembering dungeon turns. Just tap, forget, and play.
Encounter Timer Demonstration
What I like About It
The Core functionality just works
The whole reason Encounter Timer exists is because I suck at remembering dungeon turns. Years of 5e's free-flowing narrative left me untrained in structured time tracking outside of combat.
So, having a simple countdown that automates this? Absolutely perfect.
Helpful usability features
In the real world, as a GM, you're going to want to adjust the timer in response to events at the table.
Encounter Timer has you covered there too, as you’re able to easily reduce the remaining timer by a chunk simply by tapping the countdown after the PCs have done something to draw attention to themselves.
It’s a nifty bit of useful functionality even if I say so myself.
There’s also a “High Danger” toggle which halves the countdown, letting you quickly increase encounter frequency for tense environments.
What I think it's missing
More Encounter Details, Faster
As cool as it is, unfortunately it remains a bit of a badger to have to manually do reaction, specific monster, and distance rolls. Encounter Timer could easily streamline the process further by making these further random rolls for you. The only thing I want to leave out of hardcoding into the app is the specific thing you’re encountering, so perhaps in that case Encounter Timer could use return a d6 value for me to quickly cross check against my own prewritten table.
Support for Systems with Motion Tracker style Mechanics (AlienRPG)
I also quite like the idea of using this timer in games of AlienRpg, however, in that system the PCs often have a motion tracker, which tells them the distance and direction of any threat at whatever point in the game that they decide to use it.
By rules as written, the GM is supposed to be moving their NPCs around the area on a map hidden from the PCs, so the idea of a motion tracker can easily be resolved by the GM consulting their hidden map and relaying the results back to the PCs.
But how would this work with no hidden map, relying instead upon Encounter Timer driven NPCs?
Well, here’s a fact for you: The exact, specific location of the NPCs, whilst it is not known to the PC’s, is totally unimportant. If we can accept that, then it removes the need to be running NPCs around on a hidden map for a start. But it does underline the problem we have with motion trackers, because I hate GM Conflict of Interest, and I don’t want the responsibility to have to decide the details of every encounter using GM fiat.
So, what if, when the encounter timer is running, it also presents the following information to the GM: The direction of the current location of the encounter, and the abstract distance of the location of the current encounter. For example, we might have the following information on screen prior to the alert sounding:
67 seconds (counting down - existing Encounter Timer functionality)
North West (randomly determined, stays static)
Near (Near, Medium, Far - This should update dynamically as the clock runs down past certain milestones)
As GM, what we should infer from this is that the encounter will trigger in just over a minute, the cause of the encounter is currently NW of the PCs position, and right now, it’s in the next area in that direction.
So assuming they’d whipped out their motion tracker and had all that information fed back to them - what would the players want to do with that?
Avoid the Encounter by going in the opposite direction
If they go in a different direction then we could delay the encounter - In terms of app functionality this means we need to be able to add time to it rather than simply remove it.
Avoid the encounter by hiding
If the PCs chose to hide, as GM we can cancel the timer and skip forward in time to the point where the encounter is in the same room as them and then make our checks to see if they’re discovered or not. If not, the encounter moves on and we can reset the timer to start counting down again.
Prepare an Ambush
Similar to hiding above - except the result of failing to detect the presence of the PCs will result in the PCs getting the drop on the NPC.
Cunning Shenanigans, like venting the airlock in the room to the NW
Assuming the PCs are able to do this prior to the encounter timer ticking down far enough to change the abstract distance, then I’d simply cancel the timer and the encounter has been resolved.
Conclusion
After months of real-world use, I’m still thrilled with Encounter Timer. It works exactly as intended, and I’ve got ideas to push it even further, especially for sci-fi TTRPGs.
Have I missed anything? Got an idea you’d love to see added? Drop it in the comments.
Hey, thanks for reading - you’re good people. If you’ve enjoyed this, it’d be great if you could share it on your socials, and maybe think about subscribing to the Mailer of Many Things! Either way, catch you later.
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I don’t know what to Run Next. I’ve got options. What do you Think?
My 5e Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign looks like it’s going to be drawing to a close in the next couple of months, I’ll have a write up of my thoughts on that module as and when.
But this has got me onto thinking about what to run next.
By JimmiWazEre
Opinionated Tabletop Gaming Chap
S’up?! - My 5e Lost Mines of Phandelver campaign looks like it’s going to be drawing to a close in the next couple of months, I’ll have a write up of my thoughts on that module as and when.
But this has got me onto thinking about what to run next. Deffo not D&D 5e, I’ve quite had my fill of that system for the time being thankyou!
So, I’ve narrowed it down to two campaign choices - which do you think I should go with?
Campaign Ideas
Shadowdark - Dungeons of Drakkenheim
I came across the Dungeon Dudes’ actual play series a few years ago, and I must confess that I found myself quite getting into it. I liked the grim dark setting and the player driven story style of the adventure - it has a very ‘Mordheim’ vibe about it which tickles my pickle.
The premise is that the city of Drakkenheim has been struck by a magical meteor and now lays in ruin. The residual magic has a mutating effect on the local fauna, creating new beasts and monsters of a Lovecraftian persuasion. However, ‘Delerium’ - the name given to the magical fragments of meteor left about the place, commands a high value in the market, and so there’s no shortage of intrepid adventurers and factions lining up to go a plundering the city ruins.
To cap it off, there’s a power struggle because the royal line has apparently been severed during the incident, with differing factions wanting to install new kings, or hunt down the existing royal family somewhere in the city. Lots of political intrigue to be getting on with.
So it sounds pretty cool, and when they released a campaign book for it (Dungeons of Drakkenheim), I figured it’d be rude not to pick it up!
Sadly, it’s designed for 5e, however now that I’ve got Shadowdark (which is built off 5e, but stripped of all it’s heavy baggage) and the recently completed Shadowdark Monster Conversion kit, I’m thinking that it probably wouldn’t be too difficult to convert the adventure over. Especially since the city of Drakkenheim is sort of a megadungeon, and Shadowdark seemingly seems to be a perfect match.
Mausritter - The Estate
I think I was introduced to Mausritter by Ben Milton over at Questing Beast a few years ago, and I was immediately charmed by it. So I picked up copies of both the core rules and “The Estate” which is a hex crawl sandbox adventure, featuring a dozen or so premade adventures for the different keyed location of the hex map.
The premise is that it’s the familiar D&D trope, except that you’re a mouse, and the world is full of mafioso cats, snakes, owls, rats, and other predatorial critters which essentially puts you at the bottom of the food chain. “The Estate” is a full hex crawl adventure that literally takes place in the property and grounds of a human’s stately home, some some adventures take place in the green house, others in the drainage system or chimney.
It’s built off the rules lite “Into the Odd” system, and aside from the low power level of the player characters, it’s main distinguishing features are that it is classless - your abilities are dictated by your current inventory. Also, you do not roll to hit, all hits are automatically successful, both ways, and it it’s just a question of how much damage.
It’s one of those games that’s been sat on my shelf for a while, having only played it the once with my Wife in a duette, so it’s definitely due it’s time in the sun.
I like it’s inventory system so much that I named it one of my favourite TTRPG mechanics, and built my own D&D house rule off the back of it!
Conclusion
Which gets your vote? Reach out in the comments below and let me know!
Hey, thanks for reading - you’re good people. If you’ve enjoyed reading this, it’d be great if you could share it on your socials, and maybe think about subscribing to the Mailer of Many Things! Either way, catch you later.
The Rusted Colossus 03: | How To Prepare Room Descriptions in 4 Steps
Now then. I was on Reddit the other day, poisoning my mind, as you do. I came across a really good question;
How do you parse dense descriptions?
The poster was asking in the context of a GM prepping for a game - having read a short story’s worth of prose for a room description, then wanting to transform this veritable word salad into short notes that can be quickly and effectively used at the table.
By JimmiWazEre
Opinionated Tabletop Gaming Chap
Now then. I was on Reddit the other day, poisoning my mind, as you do. I came across a really good question;
The poster was asking in the context of a GM prepping for a game - having read a short story’s worth of prose for a room description, then wanting to transform this veritable word salad into short notes that can be quickly and effectively used at the table.
I have a really good answer for this, and I can’t take credit for it either. I think I absorbed this on a Youtube binge one time, but I’ll be squirrelled if I can remember where. Sorry, mysterious Youtube person. (Edit. Found it: It was Deficient Master, and then I think he was only referencing this earlier work by fellow blogger Anne at DIY & Dragons)
As I prep room descriptions for my GOZR module The Rusted Colossus, here’s the method I’m using:
Step 1) The Room Title is an Important Reference Point
Room’s should have a short and descriptive title which reflects both their function [graveyard] and vibe [spooky]. You definitely need to pass this title on to your players too, because it enables them to internally reference similarly functioned rooms to quickly build up a picture of what the room looks like and what might be in there.
Let me give you an example, and I want you to decide which you think is the more efficient description:
“You’re outside, and it’s dark and foggy. The ground is covered in grass with occasional trees dotted about. There’s a dirt path weaving it’s way through the area, frequently splitting off into tributaries. Along this path, some 57 gravestones are spaced with rough regularity, 22 on the East side, and 35 on the West side of the central path. An owl can be heard occasionally hooting ominously.”
or
“You arrive at a ‘Spooky Graveyard’”
The answer is the second example. Players know what a spooky graveyard looks like, just ask them to imagine one. It doesn’t matter if one player’s graveyard is different to another’s, we’ll give them some details soon to make sure that everyone’s on the same page for the important stuff.
With the first example, I guarantee that the players have long since stopped concentrating by time you mention ‘gravestones’, which is the only really solid clue that they’re in a graveyard.
Step 2) Engage non-visual senses
OK, so this is almost clichéd advice by this point, but it’s no less accurate.
As fully functioning humans, two things are true. Firstly, when we’re experiencing the real world, we get a boat-load of sensory information sent straight to our brains beyond mere visuals. Secondly, when we’re describing things, we take all that stuff for granted and don’t think to mention our non-visual experiences. Consequently our descriptions fall flat as they fail to be evocative.
So what does fixing this look like? In your notes, you might have:
“Spare bedroom / home office.” [our room title]
“Still air, warm, sweaty man smell.” [our sensory information]
Which you’ll be able to quickly convert at the table to:
“You enter a ‘Home office, converted from a spare bedroom’. The air is still here, and it’s maybe a degree or two above a comfortable temperature. There’s a slight stale aroma of man in the air.”
Players should be imagining things like a computer, a messy desk with a chair, maybe a bookshelf too. They might even place a wardrobe or bed in there, depending on how complete they’re imagining the conversion to be. You don’t need to highlight these elements to them, The non visual stimuli should be anchoring them, triggering memories of when they’ve been in warm, sweaty, man rooms.
If a player then asks if there’s a radiator on the wall under the window, you say “yes”, because it makes sense that there could be. You’re encouraging them to build the room in their mind’s eye.
Step 3) Tiers of room element information
OK, this bit covers the important elements of the room that the adventure dictates worthy of highlighting, because they might contain clues, loot, traps, or environmental storytelling.
Make a list of room elements, each bullet should contain up to 3 tiers of information.
Free and brief information, given as the PCs enter the room e.g. “There’s a bookshelf containing old leatherbound tomes”
Detailed information that’s given as a result of the PC interaction with the element e.g. “A book catches your eye, The Necronomicon”
Gated information that’s locked behind a roll or some knowledge of some kind e.g. “You’re able to understand the swirling text for long enough to learn the ‘Speak With Dead’ spell“
In your notes, that should look like this:
Bookshelf of leather tomes > Necronomicon > ‘Speak With Dead’ spell
Closed Laptop > Username ‘Jenny’, enter Password > “PASSWORD” - Email from Jenny’s dad telling her to meet outside the brewery at 10pm
Step 4) Ancillary Guff
Other than a map if required, any other space on the page, usually at the sides or bottom, should be dedicated to ancillary information related to the elements identified in Step 3.
For instance, if there was a key within a box in the room, in the sidebar we might note what the key unlocks, to save the need to flip back and forth through pages of notes to find out.
Alternatively, if there was an important NPC in the room, we might list a few things that they know in the sidebar.
Other good uses for the sidebar might be random tables, stat blocks, small monologues etc
Hang on. Wasn’t This Meant To Be a Rusted Colossus Dev Diary?!
Yeah I know, it is. You see I’m practicing what I preach - I’m bringing all this together in how I’m going to present The Rusted Colossus’s room descriptions to you.
Here’s a WIP example for one of the first ‘rooms’:
Desert Camp Beneath the Colossus
Cool in the shade, load groaning metal of Colossus, stench of Mron guano, presence of military enforcers makes the situation feel tense
Captain Vorkkol’s guarded tent > Angry muttering inside > Vorkkol venting about missing SPOOKS
Patrolling Enforcers > 2 per group > 2 groups circling Colossus in opposing directions every 5 minutes
plasteel lockbox in shelter of open air gazebo > locked > weird weapon inside
The corroding Colossus appears climbable > covered in Mron guano > Circling Mron will attack exposed gooz
Special Protocol Operatives for Obsolete Kinetic Systems (SPOOKS) were due to arrive 2 days ago to relieve Vorkkol. They’re dead.
Enforcers that witness PCs either meddling with the plasteel lockbox or approaching the colossus without permission will attempt to stop them.
Conclusion
Other than an image, which will either be a map of the room or an illustration of it, I reckon this way of presenting information to GM’s gives them enough to work with without swamping them with small essay’s to digest. It means that they can run rooms straight form the book at the table. Wot do you think?
Hey, thanks for reading - you’re good people. If you’ve enjoyed reading this, it’d be great if you could share it on your socials, and maybe think about subscribing to the Mailer of Many Things for monthly updates from DMT straight to your inbox! Either way, catch you later.
I Took the Temperature of r/RPG on Reddit - I Found a Fever!
Hey there, I’ve been dabbling on Reddit quite a bit lately, mainly as a vehicle for syndicating my blog posts (since organic Google searching is literally the pits), and I’ve noticed that they’re quite the opinionated bunch.
By JimmiWazEre
Opinionated Tabletop Gaming Person
Hey there, I’ve been dabbling on Reddit quite a bit lately, mainly as a vehicle for syndicating my blog posts (since organic Google searching is literally the pits), and I’ve noticed that they’re quite the opinionated bunch.
So I figured that it might be fun and informative to go to r/RPG, the largest TTRPG community and ask them for their ‘hot takes’, so that I could write an article about the ones that stood out to me.
Reddit did not disappoint.
Before I start sharing these takes, I want to make it very clear that they’re not my own words, or any in many cases, not even my shared opinions. I will be offering a commentary against each one so you can see what I actually think, but since this is The Internet, just bear all this in mind before you get the pitchforks out if you read something inflammatory!
Trigger warning - May Contain Spicy Opinions!
Seriously, this post is literally analysing the hot takes of people on Reddit. If you don’t want to be exposed to that, please head over to my homepage and read a different article. Last warning!
OK, you ready for some fun? Just so you know, this isn’t a dogpile, or doxing exercise so I’ll not be showing the author’s screen names or linking to the original post. I will however be [beep]ing out any naughty words, but otherwise I’ll be reposting their comments as is, typos and all. Alrighty, without further ado - enjoy!
Hot Take 1) Indie Games Should be Released with Adventures
If a game doesn't have any modules, be that created by the author/s or by the community, then it doesn't matter whether or not it contains "everything you need to run the game“ because I won't know how it is intended to be run and I don't have spare table time to [beep] around trying to work it out.
Modules are the first thing I check for, even if I don't intend to use them, because if there aren't any that's a red flag. If the author can't (or can't be bothered to) write an example adventure for their game then I'm not going to waste time trying to work out how I should run it, I'll just find something else.
Gosh, internet people are so angry! I think there’s two points here to unpack. Firstly - the value of an ecosystem of adventures for your indie game system. The poster is quite right to point out that having included or at least available adventures communicates the games tone and sets out a very literal example of how the game author expects their game to be played. When this is missing, it does indeed create a barrier to entry.
Indie developers take note.
Second point though, I know it’s a hot take, but the language of this post comes across so badly as to almost undermine the good point being made. Indie game makers are often working solo for months or years on passion projects to create things that they heartbreakingly and realistically expect to be ignored by the community at large. This displays an incredible and admirable dedication to their craft and fans. To suggest that either they’re lazy, or have some kind of a servile obligation to create your vision, rather than their own is fairly problematic to say the least.
I’m going to go on and assume that this poster is actually a really nice guy, and maybe he’s just having a really crappy day. You should do the same.
Hot Take 2) Modern D&D Play Style Expectations Are Bad
character backstory should be short
balance is overrated, unbalanced gameplay or abilities inspire cool moments in a story
stats are unnecessary, a sword+1 is boring. The items should always be something cool like a sword that extends into a whip
D&D (and a lot alike) is just a tactical board game in a roleplay costume
I recognise a lot of typical OSR sentiment here.
Short backstories encourage ‘playing to find out’ and unconstrained improvised roleplay at the table, conversely, long back stories tend to create a GM Conflict of Interest - that desire to ensure that the character who has this lovingly crafted novel about how he is the chosen one, isn’t killed in the first encounters with goblins because of their poor tactical choices!
Magic items that don’t simply provide a stat boost is a similar ideal - they prompt creative improvised gameplay.
Ooh that’s naughty! “D&D is just a tactical boardgame in a roleplay costume”! I mean, I kinda, sorta, almost agree. Let’s say I can see where the poster is coming from. 5e’s ruleset is predominantly concerned with tactical combat and the intricacies of how abilities work, with enough detail to supposedly maintain consistency and balance. The other pillars; social and exploration, do not get much more than a cursory nod in comparison.
Hot Take 3) 5e is a Better Computer Game than TTRPG
5e is not a good TTRPG. It is, however, a wonderful computer game.
Baldur's Gate proves this decisively.
I’m showing my own ‘Rulings over Rules’ philosophy here but this one get’s my total agreement. Baldurs Gate 3 remains one of my favourite computer games, and despite being modded for the conversion (no more so than any GM’s standard house rules though) 5e just has too much focus on resolving conflict by players picking ready made special abilities from a menu (aka character sheet), just like you would with a video game.
Hot Take 4) RNG is Still RNG No Matter How You Achieve It
The specific "dice system" a TTRPG uses is meaningless.
My time playing war games and board games has opened my eyes to the fact that every RNG based mechanic can run on pure D6s just fine.
I don’t quite agree with this one. From a mathematical perspective, different dice have different odds of getting any given number, which means that the bigger the dice, the more granular you outcomes can be. Some games thrive on that granularity.
Additionally, for some reason I can’t quite explain, rolling dice is fun! So different ways to roll dice means different and varied ways to have that fun.
Hot Take 5) GM Experience is Nothing like the Player Experience
HOT: balance should be 'by player', not by character
DAMN HOT:Backstory is your first five levels
NUCLEAR:The GM and the players aren't playing the same game
Some more OSR sensibilities here again I suspect. I’ve written quite extensively about game balance before, though I’m not sure what this poster means by “by player, not by character”, unless he means that he balances his players at the table by their skill at playing TTRPGs?
Backstories, yeah this is similar to the one on Hot Take number 2 - play to find out.
“The GM and the players aren’t playing the same game” - Now this IS interesting. I think this is fairly on point to be honest, The experiences of being a GM versus being a player are pretty irreconcilable. Other than potentially sharing the same room and sitting at the same table, each group is wholly focused on different things. I suppose a good analogy might be the experiences of orchestral violinists as opposed to conductors.
Conclusion
I found that quite an interesting foray into the psyche of r/RPG, and I am quite surprised that D&D 5e gets so little love in such a large community! I’d like to thank everybody that responded to my call out for hot takes, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! Special thanks to peb on itch.io for sharing his character portraits on cc 4.0!
Hey, thanks for reading - you’re good people. If you’ve enjoyed reading this, it’d be great if you could share it on your socials, and maybe think about subscribing to the Mailer of Many Things for monthly updates from DMT straight to your inbox! Either way, catch you later.
Play Like a Legend: 6 Behaviours That Make You the MVP at the Table
There are two desirable groups of qualities when it comes to discussing the characteristics of TTRPG players. Initially, there’s the basic factors that are all “must-haves” as far as I am concerned, unless you want to find yourself persona non grata within a session or two
By JimmiWazEre
Opinionated Tabletop Gaming Person
Players. Playing TTRPGs at the GMs property. But you can’t be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the sheet if you know what I mean - earn your keep.
Oh wait - that’s aspiring Regulators, not Players. My bad. You wanted advice to become a better player.
Hey, I got you covered there too.
The absolute basics
There are two desirable groups of qualities when it comes to discussing the characteristics of TTRPG players. Initially, there’s the basic factors that are all “must-haves” as far as I am concerned, unless you want to find yourself persona non grata within a session or two:
Be enthusiastic (bring your own dice, have learnt, or be actively learning how your character works, and how the basic game engine works)
Be kind
Be compliant
Listen (give everyone your attention)
Respect everyone’s time (be ready, don’t distract attention away from the game)
Nothing ground breaking here right? You can do this, and it’s the minimum behavioral standard that I’d expect players to keep if they wanted to sit at my table. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t forgive the occasional lapse from time to time, or that we shouldn’t give new players some grace to find their feet. Human’s gonna human afterall.
However, what if you wanted to up the ante? What if you wanted to help your GM to deliver the best games, and become a great player - not just an acceptable one?
Well then, you’d need to look at that second group of qualities I mentioned:
6 Ways to be a Great Player
Group dynamics are weird, most people in a TTRPG group will passively delegate all authority and responsibility to the GM, and take it from me - that’s a hell of a lot to own on top of everything else.
Being a great player is all about taking an active responsibility to make the game better for everyone, and not just sitting back and leaving the GM to worry about it.
Hey, I’m not saying that you must embody all of these behaviors to be a great player either, play to your strengths and do what you can do, and even if you only tick off a couple - your table will notice and be grateful for it.
Collaborate with the GM in your pursuit of an in-game Agenda
Have a side quest that motivates you. Make one up and run it by your GM - it should be something achievable within the scope of the game. If the game is a prehistoric wilderness hex crawl, and your side-quest is to climb the greasy pole of city politics then that’s not really compatible - try ‘hunting and killing a T-Rex’ instead.
I had a character, a cleric from the feasting domain in a Saltmarsh game who aspired to own a restaurant. Specifically a floating converted pirate ship restaurant. This meant that I had two things I was always keeping in mind - the need to buy or commandeer a vessel, and the need to collect artisan recipes from across the world.
The idea here is that you’ll never have those moments where you don’t know what to do, because you’ve got this motivation underpinning everything and it keeps the game moving without solely relying upon the GM to spoon feed the games direction.
Create constructive Drama with Other Willing Player’s Characters
Starting off with a big caveat: Check in with the other player to see how this is going down - the last thing you want to be doing is simply being an annoying contrarian. Read the room, dude.
But yeah, what I like to see at my table is when players start bouncing off each other with friendly conflicts and rivalries, it gives me a moments respite as GM, and allows me to sit back and watch and take inspiration. It also gives your characters depth, and can provide new directions to explore.
It brings the game to life and stop it from becoming this place that only exists through the framing of the GM’s words.
Invite and Coax Engagement From your Peers
Did you know that quiet and nervous people exist? Who knew? More, that they can be great players too. Other great players recognise the value of their input and are self aware enough to make space for them at the table. It’s all too easy to be the loudest person at the table, but if that comes at the expense of drowning others out, or intimidating them then it’s not great player behavior.
Moreso than simply making space for other people to talk, or not talking over them - a great player actively seeks out others opinions, or gently engages their characters in the moment. It takes two to tango afterall.
These quiet players will not be so forever, and they will find their own comfort level eventually - I guarantee that this is not ‘silence’ either, it just takes a bit of support and a safe space.
Suggest the Descriptive Elements that You Would Like to See in the Environment
As players, you’re often sat there thinking about all the cool things you’d like to do in this situation if only XYZ. The problem is that the GM is not a mind reader and doesn’t know that you’re hoping for XYZ. So, as a player, you should not be afraid to ask in good faith - “Is there XYZ here?”.
Honestly, don’t be scared. I’m not going to tell you off (if you GM does tell you off for this, your GM is bad). I love it when my players do this, and it’d have to be a pretty unreasonable request for me to respond with “no”.
When players do this right, it adds richness to the game world, and it’s also helping me to improve my descriptions too.
Adlib your Own Fluff Directly At the Table
Psst, did you know that when you call in at the tavern and speak to the barmaid about her life story, that the GM is just making all this stuff up?! Here’s the kicker, you should too!
This is my favourite thing - as a player - make stuff up. Don’t sit there afraid that you can’t contribute to an in-game conversation because you don’t know what the official cannon is for a particular topic. Just reach inside, find something plausible and throw it out there with confidence.
One of two things should happen. First, ideally, everyone rolls with it and hey you just made the game richer - awesome. Or secondly, the GM steps in with a “no, but” to modify your fact, if they need to make sure that it’s not too off-piste.
This latter isn’t scary or shaming or anything bad, and you shouldn’t be worried about it. A great GM will not hold it against you, and will in fact appreciate that you kept the game flowing, albeit with a minor intervention on their part.
Be an Active Listener
Passive listening is just about shutting your pie hole and letting others talk whilst paying attention to what is being said. This is a pretty basic skill in social situations.
Great players are active listeners, this has three components:
> Make encouraging and affirmative sounds and gestures in response to information being shared with you, to indicate your presence.
> Ask questions about this information, to check your understanding.
> Take notes to ensure that you can remember this important information next time.
The objective here is that as an active listener, you will know what is going on, and you can help shepherd your fellow players through any confusing moments that arise.
Being an active listener is also a massive moral boost to your GM, because nothing kills a GM’s motivation to run an event based campaign like the feeling that they’re the only one putting any effort in!
Conclusion
Are you just starting out as a player? Which of these could you do with working on the most? Experience players, do you have anything that you’d add to my list? Did you listen to the entire of Regulate whilst reading this article? Let me know in the comments below.
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When Golem Productions reached out to invite me to showcase their adventure, I was happy to answer the call.