GMing Forum - Best Practice/Under Test
These are things that have been agreed as ways to resolve common issues during games – those marked ‘Best Practice’ have generally been agreed through use on games to be worth doing, those marked ‘Under Test’ are suggestions from GMing Fora that need trying out still. This list will be updated after each GMing Forum in line with the minutes.
Agreed Best Practice
Sightless/Undead call
- Add ‘Sightless’ to damage calls where applicable to indicate things that ignore Displacement etc.
- Add ‘Undead’ to a damage/casting call to indicate things that Humacti, Bless etc. can counter.
Other calls to be identified and added.
IC/OOC light in OOC hours of darkness
- OOC lights are always white lights.
- IC lights are always another colour.
- Glowstick markers can be used for OOC hazards but a colour must be given by the GM during a briefing to avoid confusion.
Rec Creature
- For ‘wibbly’ things, explain details to the relevant Rec Creature users before the game starts or have a Time Freeze to explain details on first sighting.
Armour Sashes
- Brown for fur, leather, studded leather
- Grey for chain, banded, plate
- At least show the ‘top’ layer (i.e. the heaviest) – if possible, have two sashes for two layers.
Flying
- In flight: Monster holds arms out as wings. Monster is out of range of any attack by players, but also out of range to attack.
- Stooping: Moving to attack range, monster moves arms behind in a ‘stoop’ position. Must be a reasonable amount of time (akin to a weapon swing) before starting clawing etc.
- Escaping: To move out of attack range and back into flight, monster must flap arms three times (without being able to attack or defend). Freeze, Halt etc. prevent flapping, flying creature drops to floor. Gale reduces escape to one flap.
Under Test
IC darkness in OOC hours of daylight
- It is the responsibility of the player with the IC light to tell people if the light suddenly stops (due to Extinguish or running away or similar)
- It is the responsibility of all players/monsters to know where they are relative to the light source
- If not sure (i.e. mid-combat), the ‘visible range’ is roughly 6 feet, or ‘nearest person’ – equivalent to attacking the person you can just about see in the moonlight
- Blindness only applies if the Light source is actually extinguished or removed
- GM to give guidance on what distance from the light source it’s appropriate to use ‘shadowy figure’, ‘blurry shadow’ or similar in response to a Rec call.
IC walls/doors
- Use OOC markers as much as possible – barrier tape, cones, rope etc.
- Combine tape/rope and cones/posts to get something visible.
