Thanks.

Glad you and your fella are doing well, and had fun with the Serenity RPG.

I'm tempted to buy it, but I'm afraid it will be yet another game that I would love to play but would have no idea how to run and would thus end up collecting dust on my shelf once I finished reading it.

You are inspiring, Beej. I've been looking at the RPG longingly, but am a complete novice, with only a few bad D&D experiences with my cousins (and I blame them), lo these many years ago.

I think I might even have folks I could drag in with Serenifly.

edited because commas are our friends.

Commas, they're good folk.

The GM for our particular game has had rpg experience, but not in a while. She was basically pulling it out of her hat...and did a great job.

She made up a scenario...had a list of options and then asked us to make choices and roll the di based on our answers. It seemed complex in that she had an entire map of the community drawn out (that she only showed us in bits with a rough drawn pen sketch as we moved through the options) but, beyond that, the ideas we brought to the table helped to shape the story.

Which was, that we landed on a planet to do some trade and were asked by a mining guild rep visiting the planet to help locate her assistant who had been kidnapped by a farming community (or was it the freaks in the hills? We chose farm and it worked out).

One option she offered was really clever. (All of them were clever, but this one was utilitarian too) We do not have a player assigned as a doctor, so she created an npc (?), non playing character that we had the option of collecting, if we chose to, at some point in the game. It worked a treat and really added to the suspense/creativity of the crew.

I'm mystified by all the mathiness of the GM's job, but I'm psyched about helping her to create interesting scenarios. And impressed by the way she incorporates each character's backstory (as limited as they are at the mo). Really cool stuff.

So it sounds like everyone being a newbie might not be a good thing? I have a friend who played a fair amount of D&D back in the day. Do you think that would be enough experience for a group?

For RPGs in general, I recommend the person running the game have a fair bit of experience at least playing them, if not running them. It really is a tough job, and familiarity with both the rules and how RPGs work is practically essential.

That said, a group of people with no RPG experience at all can still sit down and have fun, but it's generally going to be very bumpy at first as everyone tries to figure out what they're doing and an inexperienced GM is going to make a lot of mistakes until they get the hang of things. But sometimes mistakes can be fun too.

I'm in the mistakes can be fun camp. But, if someone has D&D experience, I'm thinking they can build the game just fine. Even the Serenity RPG book reminds me of a D&D manual. (not that I have much experience with them...)

And, as they say, you can't get experience without making mistakes, so it might be a good idea for everyone to start fresh together.

The added bonus would be that you won't run into the RPGer elitism/smugness that has led to some relatively ugly interchanges within one part of our group.

Beware of one thing that has been a real thorn for me...and Kalshane, perhaps you can shed some light on this.

As the person who offers my home (cooks, cleans up after, etc.), I set a limit of 4 hours for a game session. It takes up my whole day as it is...

Is it true that the average game goes 6 to 8 hours? A couple (only two) of the people in our group...not my ship, but still part of the group...have given me a major ration for being ignorant of the ways of the RPGer (which also seem to include having no regard for a person's space as RPG's are "generally played in basements and bachelor pads"). t /cranky bitch

It honestly depends on the group. My group generally averages about 6 hours per session, but the first hour tends to be goofing around and socializing before the game actually begins.

It also depends on the game you're playing. Something like D&D where there's often a lot of combat and other dice-rolling that consume time, going 8 hours isn't suprising. (We've gotten too old to do it more than once in a blue moon now, but 10 years ago my group would sometimes start in the late afternoon and play until sunrise. Of course, this was before we all had real jobs and other "grown-up" things to deal with.) On the flipside, games that are more story-based tend to have shorter sessions because you can accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time when you're not rolling dice, consulting charts and recording and erasing things on your character sheet. When we play more story-oriented games, the session tends to be only 4 to 5 hours.

So, no, 4 hours doesn't seem wrong to me, though anything less than that would seem too short. Especially if folks have to drive a considerable distance to attend. But I think if you're playing for at least twice as long as the total time the furthest traveller has to spend on the road, it's perfectly acceptable.

And sadly, a lot of gamers are lacking in social graces and tend towards unneccessary drama. Doesn't make it right though, and you're perfectly justified in being cranky. I'm sorry if you have to deal with it. But if you're cooking for them (most groups just do snack food and maybe pitch in for pizza) I'm boggling that even their grubby gamer brains aren't able to recognize that they should be more appreciative.

Sigh. Thanks much for the affirmation. I thought maybe I was just a cranky old lady.

Our game was rich with story and we seriously had all the time we needed for a good resolution...which also left room for picking up the story the next time.

The only consulting of sheets we did was because none of us knows our characters very well yet! I actually still need a name...

And that is an excellent formula for time. I'll remember it. One of the reasons I offered to host is that I live two blocks from a Metro station, have easy parking and am a snap to get to, compared to most of the 'burb based players. Nobody travels more than a half hour to get to me.

And yeah, since some of the players are just out of short pants, I figured a nice homecooked wouldn't go amiss, but not everyone seems to value that particular commodity. Oh well.

t /whinging

I really have to wash that kerfuffle right outta my hair. (it just happened last night and this morning) Talking about it here helped!

Thanks for the suggestions, Beej. It looks like the RPG might have to come off the wishlist and into the shopping cart sometime soon. Hey, good thing my birthday is coming up! Perhaps that will be my present to me.

Our game was rich with story and we seriously had all the time we needed for a good resolution...which also left room for picking up the story the next time.

Sounds like 4 hours was just right, then. If the GM had to find a clumsy stopping point because of the time limit, I could see the problem, but if the story concluded where and how a chapter in a book or a TV episode would, then it's fine.

Though I have had players (and even been such a player) who wanted the GM to continue the game session beyond his planned stopping point and were disappointed when he didn't. When I'm GMing I take it as a compliment, and when I'm a player I just get over my disappointment because I know there are times when the GM just can't do anymore that day, either because of social engagements or because he's spent. Running a game that's going well can be as big of a high as when you're writing and the words are just flying on to the page, and can be just as exhausting when you're done.

And that is an excellent formula for time. I'll remember it. One of the reasons I offered to host is that I live two blocks from a Metro station, have easy parking and am a snap to get to, compared to most of the 'burb based players. Nobody travels more than a half hour to get to me.

Yeah, if they're griping about having to travel half an hour to get to a "only" 4 hour game session, ask them how far they travel to watch a 2 hour movie? I'm willing to bet it's about the same.

And yeah, since some of the players are just out of short pants, I figured a nice homecooked wouldn't go amiss, but not everyone seems to value that particular commodity. Oh well.

Well, if you've got teenagers in the group, I send you all the patience~ma in the world. As a former teenage gamer, I know full-well how obnoxious they can be.