The Bogart

This person deserves their own article. I say this because this is the person you love and hate at the same time. They usually aren’t bad people; they’re usually the go-to person you invite to your games. You might be one without really realizing what you’re doing. 

So, the Bogart. I am always between loving and hating mine. He’s been my friend since I was small, he was the first guy I invited when I got real about running games, and he’s the guy I bounce game ideas off. He’s always great at character creation (he has so far made at least two cults in-game) and always eager to learn more about running the game himself. 

Now that I’ve sung his praises, here’s why he’s a jackass. Every time I run a game with him in it, I’m always worried about the other players. He’s a very eager combat, role, and strategy player. This makes him a bit of a concern because his immediate reaction is to take control of the table and the characters involved. Any communication with NPCs or planning for encounters, his word is first and final. It isn’t something deliberate, but the Bogart acts as discouragement for newer or weaker players. 

There is something to love about this guy, though. He is always eager to play, and always puts the effort in. He loves playing games, and he loves being a character. 

Now, this is kind of a hard one to deal with. The Bogarts aren’t a bad thing all the time; they can be a huge benefit to the game, especially if you need a second hand to run it. If you handle them right, you can use them as encouragement instead of discouragement to the players. Talk to them about getting the other players involved in the game. 

Now, this is kind of a hard one to deal with. The Bogarts aren’t a bad thing all the time; they can be a huge benefit to the game, especially if you need a second hand to run it. If you handle them right, you can use them as encouragement instead of discouragement to the players. Talk to them about getting the other players involved in the game. 

Here’s what you want to do with these guys: talk them into becoming the Co-Game Master. At the table, have them working with the other players, encouraging them to act, or think, or play better. Have them bring out the best in the rest of the players, get them talking in-character, or helping plan for encounters. 

If you are smart about their use, you can turn them into a great boon for your games. The Bogart is easy to love, and hate, like I said, but your life is better if you let them worm their way into your good books.  

Photo Credit: Harry Fodor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Video Credit: Jimmy Merrit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

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MICHAEL HOULE

Michael Houle is an insatiable reader, writer, gamer, and musician, and a critic of everything written, programmed, and performed. He is currently in the process of destroying his enjoyment of everything. Michael has been running tabletop games for years, starting in his freshmen year of high school to the present.

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The Bad GM

This is a tough landmine to avoid. It’s easy as hell to get infatuated with the “master” part of game mastering. The problem that most people who run these games get into is a rigid sort of storytelling. While this works when you are writing, it’s the most frustrating thing in the world to have a picky, finicky game master. There’s a fine line between running the game and dictating the table. I like to compare running a good game to building the pyramids; a pain in the ass that I should get someone else to do. More realistically, it’s like forming any sort of relationship with people.

The first thing that every group needs is at least some respect for one another. This doesn’t mean that players and game masters need to be the best of friends, but there should be an understanding. Everyone is there for fun, and it’s best to leave the issues around you at the door. Don’t go in with a chip on your shoulder, or a grudge that you need to fulfill. I had a player once who had been power gaming – hard. He was at the first level, and had messed with his character’s stats and gear that made him invulnerable. Game after game I dealt with this, focusing entire encounters around killing this character. The game, on the whole, suffered. 

The same thing can be said of game lore and me. It’s too easy to be a control freak around a world that you loved creating. I’ve created worlds that I loved, and stories that I thought were great, only to have them derailed by players. It’s easy to throw a tantrum and demand the game be played the way you want it to be played, and harder to give more leniency to the players. 

There are solutions for this, but they require one of the hardest forms of preparation: relaxing. When you get down to the brass of it all, the issue is you. The best way to mitigate this problem is to get your players more involved. If fantastical races or multiple countries are involved, ask players to come up with histories: wars, allies, and great people. 

When it comes to the actual playing, don’t be a dictator. Table talk is going to happen, and it needs to. Don’t be afraid to rein in control if the game veers wildly off topic, but don’t stifle the humour or the fun of playing games. 

Always remember that fun is the primary goal of all of this. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be liked more by that people joining you. 

Photo Credit:  Nick Benjaminsz

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Michael Houle

Michael Houle is an insatiable reader, writer, gamer, and musician, and a critic of everything written, programmed, and performed. He is currently in the process of destroying his enjoyment of everything. Michael has been running tabletop games for years, starting in his freshmen year of high school to the present.

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World Building

I’m a huge fan of games of every kind, but there has always been a special place in my heart for board games. Whether it is fond memories of coming to blows over Monopoly (I was 17) or never having once lost a game of Clue, board games are one of my favourite means of entertainment. This early enjoyment led, much to my parents' joy, to a love of more advanced tabletop games. They didn’t need to worry about teen pregnancy or drugs with me. I was addicted to games that rivalled meth in prices.  Also I had a lot of spare time to make up stories and worlds.

And a lot of them sucked. Horribly. Some of the worst creative moments in my life. 

Now why was that? Why did all of these worlds suck? Well, there are a few things that everyone needs to know if they want to do their own home-brew worlds, or even while creating characters. 

The first problem was lack of depth. This was both in regard to the world and the characters. It’s one thing to have basic topography or a life story; the problem becomes that many people writing these things don’t properly understand the scale of what they start. Everything, and everyone, has a history and a personality, and it serves well to remember that, even if they are small things; your character chews their long hair when they’re nervous, or has a morbid sense of humor, the city is always quiet and serene on Wednesdays as it is a holy day. It’s the little details that create the most depth, and things that aren’t often thought of, but will always be remembered.

This leads well into the second problem: Over-complication.               Quite often people build too much history, or too much of what’s going on. This is a huge problem, even if written down. Now, you’re demanding that everyone in the game needs to learn a whole alternate history where Russia won the Second World War and became the most relevant superpower, hundreds of different battles, and characters. Largely, the history of the world should be clearly defined, but if you find yourself writing a textbook on the entire history of group A, you’ve gone too far. Part of the fun, remember, is letting the world live, and having the characters affect it. 

There is also the problem that you should address with your particular group about realism versus the world logic.  The world needs to make sense, either to our own reality, or the reality that exists in the world. If magics and gods take a more active and direct roll in this world, keep that in mind. If science and tech are the change makers, keep it in mind. You can see where I’m going with this. 

The most important thing is to keep in mind that nothing in any world is clean. History gets muddled, stories go to legend to myth, and people change. Keep these things in mind, as well as what your players think, and get to building.

Photo Credit: Donna Kirby

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Michael Houle

Michael Houle is an insatiable reader, writer, gamer, and musician, and a critic of everything written, programmed, and performed. He is currently in the process of destroying his enjoyment of everything. Michael has been running tabletop games for years, starting in his freshmen year of high school to the present.

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Problem Players

The biggest issue I’ve found when trying to deal with people is, how do you deal with the assholes? This, of course, carries over to tabletop gaming. Anyone who has ever run a game has encountered one of these people, in their many forms. Such as:

The Rules Lawyer: This is the person who, in real life, probably thought saying “no tag-backs” meant a damn thing. This is the sort of person who needs to check every single word someone plays in Scrabble just because they aren’t sure if “cats” is playable. 

The only way to beat this player is to play their game better than them. Learn the rules, and learn how to play them. It frustrates the hell out of these people, turning their own rules against them. It’s by no means fun, nor glorious, and I’m fairly certain that the after-school specials I watched growing up would be disappointed. But, it’s necessary for your own peace of mind in later games. 

The Power Gamer: This person creates some of the worse atmosphere in any game. Be it something as simple as Monopoly, to more complex games, like Shadowrun, they spend the pregame and the game itself looking for ways, never outside the rules, to play the game way too hard.

Beating this player is similar to beating the Rules Lawyer, but more severe. If you’re running the game, the best strategy is to raise the difficulty around the one character; make them work hard if they want to play hard. If you’re a player, or the game isn’t adjudicated by a single person, don’t let the desire to outplay go to your head; take the fangs out of losing, and the joy of winning dies too. 

The Joker: This one is a thin line to walk. Everyone can appreciate a good sense of humor, but it’s pretty easy to slip through to the annoying end. This is the guy who can’t make a statement without needing it to be a joke. 

The best way to treat this person is to not react, not negatively or positively. It’s the trick that parents always tell you with bullies; don’t let them see you react in anyway. They’ll get the message.

There are tonnes more kinds of players who are are the problem, but it would take way to long to list them all here. François

Most of these options are last-resort choices. Obviously, the first choice you want it make is to talk to them, in private.  

Photo Credit: François Phillipp

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Michael Houle

Michael Houle is an insatiable reader, writer, gamer, and musician, and a critic of everything written, programmed, and performed. He is currently in the process of destroying his enjoyment of everything. Michael has been running tabletop games for years, starting in his freshmen year of high school to the present.

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