Table of Contents || Stop Reading Source
Chapter 1: Getting Started
[ | For New Players | For New Game Masters | Cheat Sheet (addendum) | ]
A Word to Game Masters
There are a lot of little rules to roleplaying, rules which the GM must remember. If having
to know the system isn't bad enough (as it is very GM-dependent), you need to also
know how to handle players. Fortunately, this book is here to help. Still, it will require a lot of time and
commitment from the GM to be successful. Of course, as with any roleplaying, it is the
quality of the GM that will largely determine the fun to be had with the game.
Here are a few things you should definitely keep in mind when playing this
game:
1. Non-Playable Characters are important to make a world come alive. Any citizen of a town or important background characters
must be played by you; they will guide and interact with your players. NPCs that are too powerful and influential will belittle your player characters.
Players will feel useless and bored if you introduce too many influential NPCs into your campaign.
2. You are the GM. The players are looking to you for guidance in your campaign.
It's your job to maintain order amongst your players. The Chaos Fantasy System is specifically designed so that
the GM has perfect freedom (and hence incredible responsibility) to mold the rules as he sees fit.
You have a lot of power so use it wisely and with a strong hand. Don't fold to players if you believe yourself correct,
but be open to fairness above all. The players should come first before the plot.
3. Momentum is the key. Try to avoid too many out-of-character distractions.
Don't feel bad about cracking the whip to get everyone's attention. However, please refrain from
pathetic plot contrivances to snap a player's character back to the storyline. The
point of roleplaying is that a player is allowed to do what he wishes. If he wants to run off and
have nothing to do with the plot, he can hardly blame you for feeling bad later when he's left out of
what's going on. Don't give in; they aren't your friends right now, they're your players.
4. Keep your players focused. One way to do this is to make
sure that you carefully craft your scenes. Pay attention to detail, but don't go overboard. Using only one
sentence to describe a room is probably a good way to lose player interest. However, using an essay is
ALSO a good way to lose player interest. If the players' eyes drift when you speak then you're becoming boring.
5. Play your NPCs. Different accents, intonations, or perhaps character
quirks are good two dimensional mannerisms which can distinguish one NPC from the last. However, don't
forget to also have a layer of humanity beneath them as well. You're here to roleplay a living, breathing world.
6. Don't make someone feel useless. It's one thing to have players which
contribute nothing because they can't think of anything; this isn't the
issue. When a player comes up with a good idea that oversimplifies the
situation (makes it too easy in your mind), don't come up with some
stupid explanation of why it doesn't work. Consider this: the player
has put effort into making this character; if he doesn't get to use his
character in at least some half-appropriate manner, he's going to feel
cheated. Try to make your decisions fair and try to design a story which
accomodates some or all of each player character. No player wants to feel useless; reward the ones who try.
7. Make sure that you give everyone
enough time to play out their actions. This obviously gets more and more difficult as the number of
players increase. Because of this, try to keep the number of players below six. Also, don't forget
about the abilities of player characters. Take
advantage of burdens or anything else you can find to make the character's life more challenging.
8. Make the players care. If the players don't care about the plot or the
NPCs, there is little point in playing. You can try to involve the player's character background in
the plot or in a related sub-plot. If a player
doesn't feel like he really needs to be there (falling into uselessness),
he'll probably stop paying attention to what's going on.
9. Be enthusiastic. If you don't want to be there, neither will your
players. The more excited and less uninhibited your behaviour, the better
time your players will have. Don't be afraid to play out embarrassing
scenes. If an NPC sings then that's what they do. So do it. Don't shy
away from difficult characters and don't feel shame. YOU are the GM. Challenge the players
with your behaviour; the more into the game you are, the more impressed and involved they'll get.
Speak loudly and clearly to command their respect and attention.
10. Be experienced. This is a difficult system to learn, so study it
carefully. It'll take awhile to get good at GMing; it's not something that happens overnight. Also, read
your world book from cover to cover. The world may be a bit strange, but you can do it. If you don't
believe in yourself, how can your players believe in your ability to GM?
You are the Game Master. Play the part given to you.
You will require a few sheets of scrap paper and a pencil. Make sure that all your players have pencils and a character sheet.
|