Kesnit
2017-02-20, 01:37 PM
I came again to a realization with my gaming group last night. (I say "again," because I realized the same thing this particular ST ran a game a few years ago.)
My gaming group are all friends outside of game.
JG: The host. Was the best man in my wedding. Went to school with VB. Is best friends with JE.
VB: The ST in question. Was the maid of honor in my wedding. Married to JE.
JE: VB's husband.
JH: Worked with my wife for several years.
KH: JE's sister.
LH: A long-time member of the group. Due to RL restrictions, she has had to back out of game temporarily.
The group (except KH, who just joined us) has been playing together for about 8 years. I played with them 8 years ago, then moved out of state for 3 years. When I came back, I picked up with them again. In that time, we've gone through several games in multiple systems. Right now, we are playing 2 games, both in the HERO system. JG runs the second game.
VB wanted to run a superheros game.
JG: A vampire based on Alucard.
JE: He can see and talk to ghosts. He is semi-possessed by the ghost of a 1920's hero with similarities to The Shadow, and uses that hero's old gear
JH: Ninja, who is suspected to be part demon
KH: The daughter of Zeus, and the only PC who does not have a secret identity
LH: Uses luck-based/curse magic, and has a cat who is also believed to be a demon.
Me: Former gang member who left the gang, and now has buffing/debuffing and healing powers.
VB has set up an interesting world, and the party has figured out how to work together. The only in-character drama is what would be expected, given the varying backgrounds and outlooks of the party. IC drama stays IC.
It hit me at our last game that VB is really bad at "the first rule of running a game" - ST plans only last until they encounter the players. My wife (who is not in this game, but was a member of the gaming group for a while) put it very well. "VB runs her games like she is writing a story. She has everything planned out. When the PCs don't do what she expects, she does not know how to react." She is also not very good at running with plot hooks provided by the players. (I gave her one at out last game - wanting to investigate if there are links between the criminal group we have been fighting and the major multi-national gangs like my PC used to be in. She wrote it down, then went on to what the next PC wants to investigate.) Although to her credit, she had given JH's ninja a plot hook at last game and the party moved on to that.
She gave JE (her husband) a major plot hook / character development previously, and all the NPCs are really into that. (The ghost he is possessed by worked out of the same field office we now work for. The True Fae who is the spirit of the office knew the ghost in life, and adored him.) VB also spends time in every game session RP-ing with KH (her sister in law) about KH's PC's latest advertising campaign/photo shoot/etc.
So far, the game is still fun (mostly). But I can see issues developing with the way she is running the game. I do not (currently) want to quit this game, as we are all friends, and I enjoy spending time with everyone. What I am looking for is some advise on how to stop my frustration before it gets to the point of me wanting to quit.
My gaming group are all friends outside of game.
JG: The host. Was the best man in my wedding. Went to school with VB. Is best friends with JE.
VB: The ST in question. Was the maid of honor in my wedding. Married to JE.
JE: VB's husband.
JH: Worked with my wife for several years.
KH: JE's sister.
LH: A long-time member of the group. Due to RL restrictions, she has had to back out of game temporarily.
The group (except KH, who just joined us) has been playing together for about 8 years. I played with them 8 years ago, then moved out of state for 3 years. When I came back, I picked up with them again. In that time, we've gone through several games in multiple systems. Right now, we are playing 2 games, both in the HERO system. JG runs the second game.
VB wanted to run a superheros game.
JG: A vampire based on Alucard.
JE: He can see and talk to ghosts. He is semi-possessed by the ghost of a 1920's hero with similarities to The Shadow, and uses that hero's old gear
JH: Ninja, who is suspected to be part demon
KH: The daughter of Zeus, and the only PC who does not have a secret identity
LH: Uses luck-based/curse magic, and has a cat who is also believed to be a demon.
Me: Former gang member who left the gang, and now has buffing/debuffing and healing powers.
VB has set up an interesting world, and the party has figured out how to work together. The only in-character drama is what would be expected, given the varying backgrounds and outlooks of the party. IC drama stays IC.
It hit me at our last game that VB is really bad at "the first rule of running a game" - ST plans only last until they encounter the players. My wife (who is not in this game, but was a member of the gaming group for a while) put it very well. "VB runs her games like she is writing a story. She has everything planned out. When the PCs don't do what she expects, she does not know how to react." She is also not very good at running with plot hooks provided by the players. (I gave her one at out last game - wanting to investigate if there are links between the criminal group we have been fighting and the major multi-national gangs like my PC used to be in. She wrote it down, then went on to what the next PC wants to investigate.) Although to her credit, she had given JH's ninja a plot hook at last game and the party moved on to that.
She gave JE (her husband) a major plot hook / character development previously, and all the NPCs are really into that. (The ghost he is possessed by worked out of the same field office we now work for. The True Fae who is the spirit of the office knew the ghost in life, and adored him.) VB also spends time in every game session RP-ing with KH (her sister in law) about KH's PC's latest advertising campaign/photo shoot/etc.
So far, the game is still fun (mostly). But I can see issues developing with the way she is running the game. I do not (currently) want to quit this game, as we are all friends, and I enjoy spending time with everyone. What I am looking for is some advise on how to stop my frustration before it gets to the point of me wanting to quit.