story concluded where and how a chapter in a book or a TV episode would

This was exactly it. I stampeded some sheep, a couple of other players snuck into a fortified building (lock picking skills, yo!), picked up a doctor, rescued the mining guy and we all beat feet for the ship. Plus we got paid. It was awesome!

The GM did really seem to be enjoying herself. Especially when unexpected things happened. She rolled with it (no pun) well.

Thankfully, it seems the kerfuffle has died down. I pleaded for peace in the valley this morning and, being the injured party, that seemed to carry some weight. The perp would have made herself look pretty bad had she continued the fuss. For better or worse, it means the two ships are now parted...playing on different days. I'm sad about missing two members of that ship who were terrific folk...and, forgive my bias, older.

Some of the youngsters...and this shows my age because they are actually 20/21s, not even teens...just haven't grown into their geeky selves yet. I know what that felt like for me, so I'm not blaming them, but...as one participant says "they just aren't home-trained."

No kidding around, my DOG is better behaved by a large margin.

I have no clue what our next adventure will be, but I'm psyched for it.

Having the experience that you've had, Kalshane, is there anything the players can do to be particularly supportive of/helpful to the GM?

And, Libkitty...go for it! I understand the book is pretty spendy...and frankly, I haven't read much of it other than the attributes section when I was building my character...but the whole experience has been really fun. I like dreaming up the character (still in formation) and the interaction between the characters is a hoot.

One of your guys is extra greedy, which is fun to predict behaviorwise, and one of his limitations is that he's 'portly'...which comes up more often than you'd imagine. It cracks me up that we both have tracking skills but he has to stop and lean against a tree now and then. "Hey, remember...I'm portly!" Don't know why that tickles me so.

Is it true that the average game goes 6 to 8 hours?

I must be on the extreme other end of that average, then, as we sould tell people to arrive at 10 am (so they'd get there by noon) and go until 1 or so in the morning.

Hosting a game (i.e., being the person who provides the space and the cleanup) should exempt you from getting rations of shit from anybody...they are your guests, after all.

The Serenity RPG is gathering dust on my shelf, much like the Buffy RPG, but I don't mind as I am a collector-completist. And I had to buy it to support the franchise and the artists.

I think it's a little too limiting as an RPG, kind of forcing you into the characters as they exist in the series. Honestly, I think there already was a Firefly RPG, and it was called "Traveller." (Meaning that Traveller could be easily modified to the Firefly 'verse, and that when I first watched FF I kept saying "Hey! A TV show of Traveller!")

Glad you had fun, Beej, and yay for gaming with your sweetie!

Honestly, I think there already was a Firefly RPG, and it was called "Traveller."

Yeah, pretty much. I think I mentioned the Traveller similarity when the show first aired, too. Serenity is a free trader.

I think it's a little too limiting as an RPG, kind of forcing you into the characters as they exist in the series.

Glad you had fun, Beej, and yay for gaming with your sweetie!

It is nice playing with Fella because he has vast experience and steers me in the right direction (except when I'm disobeying an order...snerk).

I'm interested in the notion of having the characters being forced into existing molds. As a group, we made a conscious decision to avoid any of the characters in the show...even minor ones. But I know so little about creating a player, I don't have a frame of reference.

How do other rpgs encourage more creative character building?

Having the experience that you've had, Kalshane, is there anything the players can do to be particularly supportive of/helpful to the GM?

I think the big thing would be to stay with the rest of the "crew" as much as possible unless the GM is setting things up for a solo venture. I'm not talking about things where the characters have to split up in order to enact a plan, but rather one character wandering off to do his own thing. It's frustrating for the GM because he has to direct his energies in a direction away from the main plot, and it's frustrating for the other players because they're stuck sitting around while the loner monopolizes the GMs time.

That makes a lot of sense. And has caused me to be a bit chastened...when I defied the captain's order, I stayed in an area to observe a building, while the rest of the search party was hanging out in the woods.

It worked out to the good, but I'll be more mindful in future.

Thanks for the tip.

Beej, are you part of the DC area browncoats group? I heard stories of an awful kerfuffle over their recent RPG.

Something like that isn't a big deal. You're still contributing to the story as a whole and if the GM hadn't wanted to deal with what you're doing she could have easily said "You wait, but see nothing out of the ordinary" and moved on to the rest of the group. I'm referring more to people who have their characters wander off on their own to settle personal vendettas/goals or otherwise stir up trouble. The former is fine if the player lets the GM know ahead of time so he can plan for it, and if the GM thinks it will be too time-consuming, can set up a separate one-on-one session with the player, or handle it via e-mail or whatever. The latter just tends to cause meaningless headaches.

That's not to say there won't be times when the GM expects/encourages the group to split up and do their own thing. Such as when they're resting planetside after a big job or something. Basically, the problem is when a lone person wants to ignore the main story currently underway and do their own thing.

Beej, are you part of the DC area browncoats group? I heard stories of an awful kerfuffle over their recent RPG.

That would be me.

One guy bent a shelf in my fridge and left it for me to clean up (though he may not have realized it)

Someone else took food not meant for the event

But the WORST was the friend of one of the players showing up after the thing was over...looking me in the eye and saying, "Do you have any other food? I expected food." I was FLOORED. Plus? The event was over. I needed people to leave and they. just. wouldn't.

The person whose friend it was got v. defensive...when in fact I don't think anyone even realized it was her friend until she took her agita to the public forum.

At any rate, the organizer of the group sent out a general, rules while playing at Beej's house message and it was ON. Blown terrifically out of proportion.

Are you connected to the group somehow Tamara?

cereal:

You wait, but see nothing out of the ordinary" and moved on to the rest of the group

This happened a lot. And made perfect sense once the whole story came together. The process really is fascinating. And the GM did a great job.