Learn the basics of running
a convention RPG event

by Richard W. Emerich
 

Preparation and organization	Playtesting	Conducting the Campaign	GM's responsibilities	Player's responsibilities
Conclusion	-	-	-	The Forum
1st Edition AD&D	-	Dragon #149	-	Dragon magazine

You've been running a fantasy roleplaying
game with your friends for a few
months and think that you're a good game
master. Your friends like your gaming style
and the contents of your adventures, and
are happy with their characters. One
suggests that you run an adventure at an
upcoming game convention. It sounds like
a challenging idea, so you schedule an
AD&D® game event. The day of the convention
comes and there you are, notes in
hand, at the convention table facing eight
unfamiliar players.

"Do you have pregenerated characters?"
one asks.

?What reference books can we use in
the game?? queries another.

?Do we get magic?? questions a third.

?Can I use a 10? pole??

?Do we get secondary skills??

?Do you allow weapon specializations??

You were not expecting so many questions!
At home, everyone knew that you
didn?t allow the use of weapon specializations,
that you allowed the players to use
only the Players Handbook, and that 10?
poles were ridiculous for underground
adventures. Such questions should make
you realize that these players need a brief
summary of your gaming style. The players
also need to roll up characters, so you
need to tell them your method for character
generation.

After the players spend about 40 minutes
rolling up their characters, you begin
play by reading the story line of the first
encounter. Halfway through your narration,
you find that you?re missing the
second page. After a few minutes of
searching through your notes, you find
the page and begin reading the end of the
encounter, but you accidentally read too
far and give away an important clue.

Your brilliant encounter is ruined, and
you become angry with yourself. Nonetheless,
you manage to recover and make up
something to take its place: an encounter
with an evil cleric and his pet wraiths! The
characters start combat. Now you must
search through the books to find damage
and hit probabilities for your improvised
challenge, make up spells and abilities for
the cleric, then roll to determine the
amount of damage in the resulting combat.
The players are all calling for your
attention, waiting to describe their next
actions to you. . . .
 
 

Running an FRPG at home can be worlds
different from conducting one at a convention.
There are many considerations
often overlooked when planning for a
convention event, as the aforementioned
example shows. The GM must often deal
with time limits and unfamiliar players
with unfamiliar playing styles. In order to
have fun, to accomplish something constructive,
and to make the game a success,
the GM and the players must cooperate,
be prepared, and be organized. Nothing
fun comes out of the chaos produced by
players all shouting at once for the GM?s
attention. Smooth, continuous play is not
accomplished by a GM whose notes and
plans are unorganized. In short, a successful
game simply does not come about
without gaming experience and careful
preparation.

If you?ve played in a good share of convention
FRPGs, you?ve probably come to
one very important conclusion: Players
enjoy themselves most in those games in
which the GM is prepared, organized, and
motivated. They also have a better time
when the other players cooperate for the
common good and when they are not
unruly and immature. There is no pleasure
generated by a game in which the
players behave chaotically, shout, and use
foul language, and where the GM expects
to run the game using a handful of scratch
paper for notes.

As a result of these observations, I have
formulated a method for preparing and
organizing a convention FRPG with one
goal in mind: making the game successful
and fun for the GM as well as for the
players.  This article presents a step-by-step
routine for running a successful FRPG
at a convention, focusing first on the responsibilities
of the GM and then on those
of the players.  A succesful game results
when the the GM does not waste valuable time
due to disorganization, when the game
itself flows smoothly and has a logical
chain of events; and when the players and
GM work together to have fun.  While
applied predominantly to AD&D game
scenarios, the method of preparation
herein is general enough to be applied to
most FRPG systems.

Preparation and organization
Preparation prior to a game is a necessity
for the GM, so that playing time is
maximized and his working time during
the game is minimized. Since the time
allotted for an event at a convention is
much shorter than the weeks and months
available for a home campaign, the GM
should plan and prepare so he does not
waste any of the precious game time.

If the GM is running a scheduled game,
he must be aware of the time period allotted
for his event. Most conventions allow
between three and five hours. The GM
must be conscious of this time limitation
when he decides which of his scenarios he
will use. Some time must be allocated at
the beginning for the players to examine
their character sheets, purchase equipment,
and select spells and abilities. A
period of 15 to 20 minutes is usually sufficient
for PC preparation. The remaining
time is then used to gather information
from the players, read the introduction,
and play the game. This may require tailoring
a good but otherwise lengthy scenario.
Yet, no matter how well the GM
plans his schedule for play, the game scenario
must be organized, must progress
logically, and should adhere to the rules of
the gaming system used.

Next, the GM should work to organize
the game. Organization should be the
superstructure of any game: It speeds the
game along by allowing more time for the
players to play and uses less of the precious
scheduled time for GM time-outs. A
GM who organizes his game and his time
seldom needs to stop play to reference a
book or chart; all of that information is
already prepared and organized in his
notes and is easily accessed. The game
must also be organized in the sense that its
chain of events is logical. Clues must be
intelligently arranged and presented to the
players in a clear, concise manner. Encounters
must be consistent with the overall
setting and should correspond with the
characters? experience levels and the geographical
region within the game world.

Organization is essentially the elimination
of excess work in order to provide a
smooth-flowing, efficient presentation that
follows an ordered, logical chain of events.
To eliminate unnecessary bumbling as a
GM, use a three-ring, loose-leaf binder to
hold your game notes. Of all the possible
systems, this one seems to work best.
While notes can be double-spaced and
printed using a computer, handwritten or
typewritten notes also work well. The GM
should mark those sections that he is
supposed to read to the players with a
highlighting pen; this makes it easy to find
an area?s description. Highlighting has the
added benefit of preventing the accidental
reading of a section that is privileged GM
information. Drawing a box around these
sections or using a different color of print
also works well.

Since time is a premium in a convention
setting, the GM should eliminate the timeconsuming
chore the players must go
through when creating PCs. Make up
pregenerated characters that come complete
with abilities, languages, hit points,
equipment, and all bonuses. If necessary,
use your own style of character sheet that
lists only the information necessary for a
short-term convention game. For spellcasters,
include a pregenerated list of
memorized spells; for magic-users, include
a list of spells available to them in their
traveling spell books. The use of pregenerated
PCs is recommended not only because
it saves game time, but because it
gives the GM more control, as he is already
familiar with each character. As a
result, time is not wasted making a character
from another game world compatible
with the GM?s campaign.

Since the GM creates the game?s PCs, as
opposed to using the PCs a player might
bring, he is completely familiar with their
abilities and attributes. If each player can
bring his own character, the GM does not
have the intimate familiarity with the
character?s abilities, traits, likes, dislikes,
etc. The GM then must spend. valuable
time looking over the character and deciding
what is and is not acceptable for play.
Invariably, the character?s abilities are
reduced, and some of his items are eliminated
by the discriminating GM. This
discriminatory process can create some
hostility among the players, who may
dislike the pruning of their characters.
Once an atmosphere of hostility has been
established, the game is no longer fun.

An example of the problems that arise
from not using pregenerated PCs happened
during my first convention?a small
gaming event in Massachusetts. I was
running an AD&D game scenario for lowlevel
characters, and as a result of inexperience,
I failed to make up pregenerated
characters. Instead, I allowed the players
to use their own characters. When the
game started, I found myself staring at
eight characters, each taken from the
players? home game worlds?each so outlandish
that I nearly broke out laughing.
One was a 3rd-level thief with the wand of
Orcus, a rod of absorption, and several
other lesser trinkets that would have
made a dragon?s hoard look like the contents
of a child?s piggy bank. I had to cross
off most of the items listed on the character
sheet, lower the abilities randomly
from a streak of 18s to more reasonable
values, and bring the armor class back
into the positive numbers. After all, the
game was for low-level characters, not
low-level gods! Needless to say, I was the
recipient of many angry comments, and
we wasted about 30 minutes of the event?s
allotted three hours to make the characters
compatible with the campaign.

Admittedly, this is probably a worst-case
scenario, but it does illustrate the expediency
of using pregenerated characters. Yet
some would argue that using this type of
character removes some of the roleplaying
flavor from the game, since the
player is forced to run a personality unfamiliar
to him. This is not necessarily the
case. It?s just as easy to make up a new
personality as it is to run a familiar, timehonored
favorite at home. Furthermore,
it?s much more interesting and fun to
accept the challenge of making a new one.

After the pregenerated PC sheets are
made, the GM should draft a detailed list
of what each player needs to roll to successfully
hit opponents. Included on this
list are important statistics: the PCs? primary
weapons, any bonuses for high
ability scores, hit points, armor classes,
and special notations. In like manner, a
chart is made for the characters? opponents.
Combat thus uses indexed and
easily accessible numbers, as opposed to
embarking on a time-consuming searchand-
calculate mission for each encounter.

To go one step further with the organization
and preparation of notes, place all
of the loose-leaf pages into plastic sheet
protectors. This prevents disaster should
the GM spill soda or mislay a slice of extracheese
pizza. These protectors also simplify
the record keeping during the game.
Damage against monsters and characters,
amounts of ammunition spent, and so
forth can be recorded directly onto the
plastic sheets using water-soluble markers
(which may also be used for marking
Battlemats). Once the game is over, the
sheets can be wiped clean and the notes
are ready for the next convention.

Preparation is never easy; it is, in fact,
quite time-consuming. Nevertheless, it is
well worth the time when, as a result of
the GM?s efforts, the players have fun and
compliment a job well done. On the other
hand, it is impossible to enjoy a convention
game when the GM runs the campaign
with a handful of notes scribbled on looseleaf
paper. The consistency and logic
needed for a meaningful game simply
cannot appear when the GM is poorly
prepared.

For example, I played a 12th-level magicuser
(part of a party of seven other characters)
at a recent convention, in an
AD&D game event where the DM expected
to run a game for experienced
players using such a handful of papers.
After spending about 20 minutes selecting
spells, equipment, and crafting personalities
for the characters, play began. Minutes
later, we had our first encounter.

While we were camped for the night, we
were attacked from four different directions.
The proverbial red dragon was
zooming in from the north, demons came
from the west and east, and some special
DM creations came from the south. Each
of the players in turn announced how his
character would react to this threat, then
we all sat back as the DM looked up what
a dragon could do, wrote it down, rolled
its hit points, and determined what it
needed to hit each character. He then
repeated this process with the demons and
then again with the special monsters. All
told, we sat for over 20 minutes waiting
for our first set of instructions to be carried
out. A total of 40 minutes out of the
three hours allotted for the event had
been used (or, more correctly, wasted),
and the characters hadn?t even fully responded
to their first encounter! It was
painfully obvious at this point that the
game was going to be slow and boring.
This situation could have been avoided
had the DM taken the time beforehand to
put a concerted effort into the organization
of his campaign.

Another item of organization that can
aid the GM in his task of preparation is the
handout. Instead of going through the
chore of explaining what will and won?t be
accepted during play, and invariably forgetting
to mention something important, a
handout with this information can be
given to all players. This way, nothing is
overlooked by the GM when he goes over
his playing style and explains what rules
he will use. The handout should be distributed
with the pregenerated PCs so the
players get the important game information
right at the start. The handout may be
used to list the main game-rule options,
what reference texts the players may use,
and any background information important
to the game. Each player should get a
handout so that he may reference it during
the game.

For easy identification of the handouts
distributed to the players, use different
colors of paper: plain white paper for the
character sheets, pink for character spell
listings (or special abilities), yellow for
maps, and green for rules briefs. The use
of colored paper is not necessary, but it is
an option the GM may wish to consider to
add some extra order to his campaign.

Playtesting
Once the GM has his convention game
organized, with notes highlighted and in
order, pregenerated characters created,
and various charts completed, he has one
more bridge to cross: The game must be
playtested. By running the game with a
familiar group of players, the GM will
discover any flaws in its logic, construction,
or wording, and be able to make the
necessary corrections. His players can
suggest modifications based on their end
of play?something that may help the GM
make his campaign more complete. Normally,
in the home-game environment, the
GM creates a campaign and runs it without
the benefit of prior exposure. There is
little chance to debug a game beforehand,
so problems almost certainly occur. Most
of the time, the GM manages to overcome
minor game inconsistencies and is able to
improvise something to cover himself. In
the convention setting, however, the GM
cannot afford to use game time to formulate
impromptu encounters to counter
unforeseen problems.

Through playtesting, the GM becomes
completely familiar with his adventure. He
can modify his encounters according to
the results of playtesting so that the game
runs smoothly during convention play. He
is also able to streamline his descriptions,
correlate the actions and abilities of NPC
opponents and monsters, and confirm the
accuracy of his combat charts. Playtesting
is possibly the most important step in the
organization and preparation process.

Conducting the campaign
Now that the GM is prepared, let?s move
forward to the day of the convention. Let?s
assume that the GM has had the foresight
to correspond with those in charge of the
convention, thereby receiving a table
assignment and a list of players in advance.
Once at the convention, he has
checked in at the command center and
gets settled at his table. What to do now?
Follow this time-tested example.

After introducing yourself to the players,
conduct a roll-off for the pregenerated
PCs. Give players a quick summary of
what is available for the game, listing each
character?s class, level of experience, hit
points, major abilities and weapons, and
magic (if applicable). Then, one by one,
offer the characters to the players. If more
than one player wishes to play a certain
character, a six-sided die may be rolled by
each of the contenders, with the character
going to the highest roller.

Once the characters are in the players?
hands, distribute any handouts for the
game. Also, make it known how you handle
PCs? actions. The most organized manner
is to start at one side of the table and
work to the other, asking each player what
his character?s actions are for that round.
Once the GM complies with all of the
characters? actions, the situations are then
described for each in order by the GM.
This suppresses the chaos that can develop
during the game, as each player
attempts to speak louder than his fellow
players in order to be heard.

Allow each character to perform one of
three major actions. Most actions fall into
one of three categories:

1. The character moves his full movement
allowance.

2. The character moves up to one-half
his movement allowance and begins another
action which, depending upon the
length of preparation, occurs at the end of
the round.

3. The character performs an action not
involving movement, such as combat,
spell-casting, shooting, etc.

A character who moves only up to half
his movement can attempt to perform
another action by the end of the round.
The GM must decide how long the action
is and if it fits within the time remaining
to the character for that round. If it
doesn?t, the action is finished in the beginning
of the next round.

The GM must also consider the timing
and completion of the actions for those
characters who are not moving. The character
whose weapon-firing, spell-casting,
or other ability takes the shortest period
of time (including bonuses to this effect)
performs his action first. The order of
actions follows with the other characters
in similar fashion.

Even with these three categories, handling
eight PCs? and their opponents?
actions simultaneously can be challenging,
to say the least. Yet the trials of keeping
track of the actions can be eased through
organization. For simplicity, use a chart
that lists the important information for
keeping game time and keeping track of
each PC?s actions. Each character should
have a column devoted to him for notations
about his actions. The chart should
also have spaces to mark down elapsed
game time.

Does this mean the GM should write
down each character?s actions word for
word? Certainly not. While the chart is a
helpful organizational tool, the GM
shouldn?t be a slave to it, nor should it
detract from the game time. To this end,
the GM should develop a shorthand code
for making his notations (such as ?HTH-LS?
for hand-to-hand combat with long sword
this round, or ?½M-Lblt? for moving half
movement then starting to cast a lightning
bolt spell). The GM should be able to keep
track of hit points, spell durations, fatigue,
ammunition spent, treasure taken, and
other game factors involving PCs in a
minimum amount of time.

The positions of the characters, their
opponents, and the environment around
them also need to be considered if the
players are to formulate their characters?
actions. These positions can be difficult to
visualize when the characters are dots on
a piece of graph paper, and when the
room they are in, while supposedly 40?
square, is but a half-inch block crowded
with tiny representations of furnishings
and characters. To better visualize characters
? positions and furnishings, use Sleuth?s
(now Shamus?s) Battlemat, 25mm lead
figures, and cardboard props. The borders
of the characters? environment, areas of
explosions, and other important features
can be marked directly on the Battlemat
using water-soluble markers. Once the
encounter is over, the markings are erased
with a damp towel and the mat is ready
for the next encounter.

If a Battlemat surface is not available,
one can substitute a roll of plain white
wrapping paper (from a deli or butcher?s
shop), a marker, and a ruler. Draw the
area on the large paper using whatever
scale is appropriate (such as 1" = 5' indoors
and 1" = 5 yards outdoors). If lead
figures are unavailable, 1? -square pieces
of cardboard can be used. In this case, put
the name of the character on the square
and indicate which side is the character?s
front for positioning reference.

GM's responsibilities
The GM?s first responsibility is to be a
neutral moderator. He is not the evil force
behind the scenes seeking to destroy the
PCs with extreme prejudice. Instead, he
must fairly and judiciously determine the
outcome of the situations and events that
occur in the game. He must maintain the
continuity of the scenario as originally
planned and playtested. He must not improvise
more powerful or more daunting
events if the PCs solve his prize riddles or
overcome his most carefully laid plans. His
preparation during the creation of the
campaign should be focused on appropriate
intellectual and physical challenges for
the PCs, based upon their levels of experience
and the resources available to them.

As a result, the GM should not have to
improvise during play to challenge the
players. His campaign should be designed
with the PCs? abilities and limitations in
mind so that the game encounters are
challenging but not insurmountable. If the
PCs cleverly solve what is presented to
them, the GM must not feel that he is at
fault for not doing his best to thwart
them. After all, different people handle
situations differently. The GM?s role is not
to be a foil for the PCs; his job is to determine
their successes or failures based on
how they handle the events.

In general, the GM should maintain his
original game plan. Admittedly, there are
times when game play grinds to a halt for
a relatively long period of time. In
convention-tournament play, 10 or 15
minutes of inaction is more detrimental
than it is for an ongoing home campaign,
because convention play is restricted by a
time limit. If the PCs find themselves stuck
in one area, unable to overcome what has
been planned for them, the GM faces a
crucial question:, How does he get the
game moving again?

This brings us to the second role of the
GM: that of the guide. In this role, the GM
must subtly help the players progress in
the direction outlined in his notes. In so
doing, the GM walks a fine line between
leading the players through his game and
forcing them to discover every clue on
their own. To keep his balance between
these two extremes, the GM should relate
the players? information in a slightly
cloudy manner, thus allowing players to
make the ultimate decisions concerning
their characters? fates. Still, the GM should
not intentionally conceal information from
the players so that they have nothing with
which to work.

During an AD&D game adventure I ran
at a convention, the PCs came up against
an impasse in play. To me, the answer to
the problem was quite simple (then again,
I had created the scenario and had the
benefit of knowing the answer). At first, I
considered simply giving them a portion of
the answer so they could easily solve the
entire problem. But since the encounter
was one of the four major points in the
adventure, I was reluctant to divulge any
more information than had already been
given. I had planned the clue according to
the PCs? levels of experience and with the
idea that the game was listed ?for expert
gamers only? in the convention guide
book. But as the minutes passed, I realized
they needed help. How would I come up
with a simple, innocuous observation for
the players? benefits without giving away
the answer?

To this end, I used one of the accompanying
NPCs as my suggestion fulcrum.
Instead of using the NPC as a loudspeaker
to make an announcement, I was able to
have him point out some tangent to the
situation at hand. The PCs picked up on it,
mulled it around, and eventually came up
with the answer to the problem based on
their own discussion. This served the
purpose well, since the players had essentially
solved the problem with minimal GM
input. They were able to solve it on their
own because I had maintained the role of
neutral moderator and guide.

It is important to understand the difference
between information the GM gives
out as a guide and information the characters
must accumulate in the game. The
game may call for several facts to be initially
hidden from the characters. This is
entirely acceptable, and is the whole reason
the PCs go adventuring: They seek to
uncover the yet-to-be-discovered for fame,
fortune, and glory. But as a guide for the
players, the GM should not intentionally
obscure facts if the PCs? inquiries are
legitimate.

Consider an instance in which an elven
4th-level magic-user/5th-level thief separated
from the rest of his group late in the
game (finding the company was not listening
to his ideas) and headed away from
where he thought the treasure lay. Soon
after leaving, he found a secret door that
led into a narrow corridor and to another
door. After using a dispel magic spell on
the trapped door, the elf found himself
within a storage room where most of the
treasure was located! The elf intended to
take his choice of magic and treasure, then
leave the place without further regard for
the others, since they had little regard for
him.

This appeared to be an acceptable action
for the character, since he was role-played
as an independent, curious, motivated,
slightly egocentric elf who liked magic,
challenges, and getting his own way. The
elf was played this way for the better part
of four hours?sufficient time for the GM
to recognize the character?s traits. Furthermore,
the rest of the players were
unorganized in their attempts to find the
treasure, constantly bickering among
themselves and ignoring each other?s
suggestions. So, both player and elf decided
enough was enough.

The elf was set to leave when the GM
explained that he was unable to find the
door. This seemed quite strange, since the
elf had hammered a spike between the
frame and hinges of the door when he
entered, and had marked the wall near it
with a wax crayon. Using his physical
abilities first, then his wand of secret door
and trap detection, the elf searched for
the exit. But there was no door, no sign of
the spike, and no sign of the marking.

While the elf expended his available
resources to find a way out, the GM gave
the others some blatant clues to the treasure,
which they found. The elf saw a
secret door open and the party enter.
There was plenty of treasure, so every
character got his share and the game
ended. Needless to say, the player was
upset about the whole game.

Shortly thereafter, he caught up with the
GM and started to discuss the scenario,
asking why the elf couldn?t escape from
the treasure room.

?Oh, I made it so he couldn?t get out,? the
GM replied.

?How so?? the player asked.

?I didn?t want him to leave. If he had left,
the game would have ended and the others
wouldn?t have found any treasure.?

This case is an example of a GM who is
no longer a guide or nonpartisan modera-
tor; rather, he is a participant in the FRPG.
By arbitrarily deciding what the characters
can and cannot do, the GM removes
the role-playing substance as well as any
purpose for player participation. This is a
case where the GM has obscured the facts
for his own purposes?in this case, by
preventing the elf from escaping simply
because he didn?t approve of the PC?s
intentions.

To successfully operate as a GM, one
must also be a good storyteller. The GM?s
storytelling skills ultimately decide
whether or not he holds the players? attentions.
Once the players? attentions are
held, the GM?s storytelling skills are largely
responsible for generating player excitement
and enjoyment. Since the game
actions are fantastical (not tangible), comprehensible
descriptions are needed to
motivate the players.

It is mainly up to the GM to make the
game interesting; to do so, he must call
upon the players? imaginations to visualize
the events by using carefully planned
words and gestures. Because the FRPGs?
events exist within the minds of the participants,
communication that constantly
fuels the imagination is required. Without
continued fueling, interest wanes and
boredom sets in. With a vivid imagination
and aggressive role-playing, interest in the
game is maintained and the participants
enjoy themselves. To this end, the GM
should actively role-play his NPCs, using
such theatrical vehicles as different voices,
varied personalities, or even a portable
stereo to play background sound effects.

For those GMs who are not very articulate,
or who do not have a large vocabulary
or wide vocal range, the use of
background sounds can be used to aid the
storytelling process. Sound-effects records
are available at most audio stores, and the
sound effects can be transferred to tape in
any order the GM sees fit. He can then
play this tape at important times to augment
the fantasy scenario.

It is essential, however, that the GM does
not abuse these options for his storytelling,
lest he confuse the players or waste
too much game time with his media blitz.
Simple, straightforward uses of these ideas
enliven the fantasy atmosphere; excessive
uses have the opposite effect. Playtesting
the game with the desired storytelling aids
is the best way to determine if they are
acceptable additions.

Players' responsibilities
So far, the emphasis of this article has
been on GM organization before and during
the convention game. Yet, as neutral
moderator, guide, and storyteller, the GM
should not be expected to do everything to
maintain the integrity of the game. The
GM and the players must have means of
interacting at all times, thereby making
both parties responsible for the success of
the game. While the GM is responsible for
preparing, organizing, and running the
game, the players are responsible for the
actions and behavior of their characters
and themselves.

For a game to be an interesting and fun
experience for all involved, some rules of
common sense, decency, and etiquette
must be observed. The GM should include
a short version of these rules in one of his
handouts or review them with the players
before starting the game. Briefly, the major
rules for player etiquette are:

1. No foul language. There is never a
need for rude or abusive remarks, crude
language, or socially unacceptable conversations
or gestures. Also, there should be
no shouting.

2. No play destructive to the group’s fun.
Players should not ruin the game for others
by causing problems. They should not
behave in an immature fashion. No one
enjoys unruly or obnoxious players, or
players who have their characters run on
chaotic rampages regardless of the consequences.

3. No interruptions. A player should
allow a fellow gamer to finish what he?s
saying before speaking. He should never
yell over another person?s conversation,
nor interrupt the GM as he tries to describe
the game situation.

The GM is ultimately responsible for
keeping game play in order. He should
handle the players in a firm yet polite and
friendly manner and strive to reduce the
chaos that can occur. He should not ridicule
or criticize the PCs? actions. Rather,
he should handle the encounters judiciously.
Both he and the players should
maintain an atmosphere of cooperation.

In addition to adhering to the rules for
player etiquette, the players should be
responsible for their characters. They
should be well acquainted with their characters
? bonuses, abilities, equipment functions,
and attributes. If the characters cast
spells or have mental abilities, the players
must have at least a general idea of what
each spell or ability does, what its range,
duration, and damage are, and how long
the ability takes to activate. They should
have computed their to-hit values, weapon
bonuses, and classifications (unless the GM
has already done sol. Thus, when it comes
time to calculate results of combat or
action, the GM is not the only one to shoulder
the responsibility.

Players must always be aware of their
characters? special abilities relative to
those of the party. For example, AD&D
game fighters should fight and magic-users
should cast spells, not vice versa. Clerics
should support the party with their healing
magic, and fight when the odds require
it. Surprisingly, many players forget
the importance of keeping their characters
? actions within the limits of their
characters? classifications and neglect to
properly support their adventuring group.

One such example of this neglect occurred
in a high-level AD&D game in
which I participated. The party had an
11th-level magic-user, a 12th-level ranger,
and a few other character classes. That
night, while the others slept, the ranger
and wizard, who were on patrol, were
attacked by two fire giants. Hardly a challenge
for the two powerful characters,
this seemingly simple one-sided encounter
turned into a fiasco because the players
didn?t keep their actions logically framed
within their characters? classes.

The ranger, instead of going into handto-
hand combat with the giants (by using
his magical bastard sword, his three
strikes per two rounds, and his ranger
bonuses which gave him a total of + 16 hp
damage per hit), decided to step aside to
cast his entangle spell. This left the wizard
(in the beginning stages of casting a long
spell) exposed. The giants threw rocks,
hitting both characters and ruining both
of their spells. The rest of the party, sleeping
soundly around the fire about 100?
away, were now waking.

The player running the ranger still
refused to engage the giants in hand-tohand
combat. Instead, he decided to cast
his faerie fire spell for his next action,
despite the red-faced prompting by the
player of the wizard. The wizard saw that
he would get no support from the ranger
and quickly decided to race back toward
camp. But the giants threw rocks again,
hitting both characters. Needless to say,
the wizard was killed.

After three rounds, during which he had
all his spells interrupted by rocks hitting
him, the ranger finally engaged in melee.
By then, however, his late arrival had
caused the others in his group to take
severe damage. This could have been
avoided if the ranger had seized the initiative
and had gone into melee at the outset.
The ranger was the most important asset
in the encounter due to the extra damage
bonus against giant-class creatures?a
power unique to the class of ranger. Yet,
whether due to his unfamiliarity with the
ranger class, inexperience in the game
system, or his own bumbling, the player
made the party pay dearly.

This should demonstrate to the players
the necessity of fitting their characters?
actions within the frames of their classes.
It is the player?s responsibility not only to
role-play his character, but to make intelligent
decisions that protect his party and
himself.

It is also the responsibility of the players
to cooperate for the group?s benefit. Everyone
detests a player who throws a
wrench into the game works by trying to
have his character perform immature,
rude, or destructive actions while the rest
of the players are attempting to accom-
lish the game objectives. Furthermore,
those who criticize or are abusive to the
other players in order to be destructive
are found similarly distasteful. These bad
apples spoil the fun for the rest, and the
GM should deal with them quickly and
firmly.

In a convention setting, especially in an
event where the players need to win in
order to qualify for the next round or
where prizes are at stake, these immature
players completely ruin the group?s
chances for success. The GM must remind
these malcontents that others have paid
money to participate and are there to
accomplish something, not to put up with
ridiculous antics. If, after this warning, the
players do not cooperate, the GM has the
right to eject them from the game and
should do so without regret.

The last consideration, but by no means
the least important for the game, is roleplaying.
Role-playing is the meat and potatoes
of the fun in the game, whereby a
player exaggerates and acts out his desires,
thoughts, and plans through the
vehicle of a fantasy character. While
FRPGs are fantasy role-playing games,
game sessions are usually dominated not
by those who role-play their characters
well, but by those players who have good
common sense and powerful personal
presences. While the latter is important
for gaming, the GM should strive to encourage
more role-playing in the game by
giving more experience points to a character
who is role-played well.

What fun is it to repeatedly play a character
who mirrors your own intelligence
and abilities? There is a world of personalities
for the players to try on for size;
players should not limit themselves to one
that is but a reflection of their own capabilities.
Try something new! Explore the
world of the old, the young, the brave, the
cowardly, the sly, the strong, or the weak.
Don?t play a character who is equal in
stature to a god, but give him some common
idiosyncrasies and phobias that make
him unique.

Conclusion
By now, the GM should have sufficient
information and a complete outline that
will enable him to organize an FRPG event
for a convention. The outline presented in
this article is flexible enough for most
game systems. With the suggested points
given in this article, the GM and the players
should have little problem with the
preparation and organization required to
run an enjoyable game. The only thing left
to work out is how much fun your players
will have!
 

THE FORUM
Having gone through the mill that Richard W.
Emerich wrote about in "Getting It Right the
First Time," in DRAGON issue #149, I can sympathize
with the problems he addresses, and in
general I like his solutions. I do have some
solutions he overlooked.

1. If the event you are running is described in
the con?s program, give the sorts of characters
that are unacceptable, if room permits. A simple
sentence like: ?3rd level or less, no magic items!?
puts the ball in the court of the player with the
?3rd-level thief with the wand of Orcus, a rod of
absorption, and several other lesser trinkets.?

2. Part of the fun of going to a con is to see
how a favored character does in someone else?s
game world. Pregenerated characters lack the
familiarity a player has with his own characters.
If possible, plan your adventure to account for
characters too grossly out-of-step with your
regular campaign. In the above example of the
relic-carrying thief, randomly roll up the malevolent
effects that his artifact has in your universe.
He might learn why ?living in interesting
times? is considered a curse in some cultures.

3. Battlemats are fine. I own a couple, though
I haven?t used them much lately. A convention
adventure is a one-shot game, anyway. Make up
the maps beforehand, photocopy them if necessary,
and put them on the gaming table as
needed. This saves time during play and reduces
the chance of your making errors, such
as drawing a secret door on the map of the
room the characters have just entered.

4. Control sheets are very useful tools. Depending
on the game used, the data recorded
will vary, but in general each line on the sheet
should have room for the character?s name and
class (if any) and all often-used information
about the character. For the AD&D game, a
sheet might include the character?s stats, nonweapon
proficiencies, hit points, armor class,
saving throws, and THAC0s for the primary and
secondary attacks made by the character. If the
player tries to pull a fast one, you have his stats
there to catch the attempt.

5. Get several packs of index cards, of sufficient
colors, sizes, and types for each player to
have his own distinct type of card. Hand out
enough index cards to each player to cover his
note-writing needs for the game. Passing notes
can consume a lot of time but is a valued tool. A
lot of players cannot distinguish what they
know from what their characters know! The
simple act of keeping certain things secret
makes a lot of PC actions possible.

At a noisy convention, it might be a good idea
to require each player to pass his actions to you
on a note and let you describe what happens.
Remember that players tend to describe events
in present or even past tense. The player who
wants to kill some captured orcs will say (or
write) ?I finish off all the orcs.? The GM should
remember that this is an attempted act, not an
accomplished act. You should tell any party
members who can witness this that ?[character?s
name] draws his weapon and stalks toward the
captured orcs,? not that ?[character?s name]
walks toward you, having just slain all the
captured orcs.? If any other PCs want to do
something about his actions, they can.

A word of caution about notes: You are not
obligated to stop what you are doing in order to
read each and every note passed to you. Politely
accept the note, then continue, and read the
note when it is convenient.

6. Every player I?ve ever met is guilty of this,
and I'm no different. We tend to have a "cookie
cutter" approach to character generation,
particularly if the game is a point-based game,
such as Hero Games? CHAMPIONS? or Steve
Jackson Games? GURPS® system.

Things that worked for one character tend to
be repeated in other characters. If you design
your pregenerated characters, they tend to
have a lot of similarity, and a player who doesn?t
like one character might hate the rest for the
same reason. Worse, if you also designed the
adventure, the pregenerated PCs may be too
well tailored for it.

If every character ?happens? to have just the
right skill or item needed for this or that part of
the adventure, the game starts to stink of predictability,
and the players feel like puppets
being jerked around by the GM. Having to
improvise (and succeed) is one of the most
enjoyable aspects of the game.

Suggestion: Have your regular players design
several pregenerated PCs for your convention
event. You?ll get characters you can be familiar
with, and the players get a broader choice of
PCs. Your players know your DM?s parameters
fairly well, so the PCs they design shouldn?t
conflict greatly with the way you run the game.

7. If you design the adventure, get someone
else to run at least one of the playtest games for
you. This is one of the fastest ways in existence
to find mistakes.

8. Here I disagree with Emerich utterly. Do
not have players roll for pregenerated PCs
unless no other method is left. The player who
likes to play thieves or assassins but gets stuck
with playing a paladin isn?t going to be very
happy. If you will not allow a character into the
game, let the player get a character that is as
compatible with his own as you will permit.

9. When allowing already existing PCs into the
game, make sure any and all unusual equipment,
powers, and whatever are brought to
your attention before you accept the character.
A good rule to establish is: ?I do not have time to
run this adventure and thoroughly read all 11+
handwritten pages of information in this folder,
let alone everyone else?s material as well. I
assume everything after page two is standard
and by the book, and that all relevant nonstandard
material is on page one or page two. If
there is anything nonstandard on the back
pages, it is your responsibility to point this out
to me before I accept the character?otherwise,
you lost it, you forgot how to use it, or it doesn?t
work here.?

10. Again, I disagree with Emerich. The ?bad
apples? he recommends be ejected from convention
games also paid to play there. GMs who
toss players out had better have a superb reason,
if for no other reason that the remaining
players might be more troubled by your actions
than the offending player?s actions. A more
circumspect solution would be to give the
offending player a clue that leads that character
into a death trap, such as letting him find a
secret door that leads to a room with five (count
?em, five) mirrors of opposition. You are still
getting rid of an obnoxious player, but in a way
that at least pays lip service to the goal ?to be a
neutral moderator.? Done with wit and style, the
offending player may not realize he was set up.

S. D. Anderson
Whittier CA
(Dragon #153)