Gaming is all about Communicating

In dOrange, we're nearing the end of my third homebrew tabletop roleplaying campaign and it's gotten me to thinking about what sorts of things I've learned throughout the process. Looking back over the course of two years, I've definitely level-busted as a game master (and to a lesser degree as a player, since I've had less opportunity for that).

Certainly, there's a lot of things I've learned that I could riff on, but if I had to pick only a single concept, it would be this:

It's a bit of a simplification, but I do believe that a game's success depends hugely on how good or bad communication is between players and the game master (as well as the quality of communication amongst players).

A big part of this is communicating the expectations of everyone who participates in the game (whether player or GM). If one player wanted a game with lots of crunchy, complicated combats but they end up with a game of political intrigue and conversation, it's up to that player to be honest with the rest of the group about their unsatisfied expectations. Otherwise, how else are the rest of the players and the game master supposed to know? (Ruling out things like telepathy, as per the spell.)

Communication also dovetails nicely into one of my game mastering pet peeves: honestly communicating the ability to commit to any particular campaign. Unless a player says otherwise, I believe most good game masters will assume everyone is as committed to a campaign as they are. They probably will spend a great deal of time and creative effort trying to find ways to excite and engage each player (at least insofar as they understand each player's expectations). Therefore, they are at least a little put out when it turns out that all this work for a player is for naught because either:

• the player ignores the efforts of the GM on their behalf, or
• doesn't show up at all (with little or no advance notice to the GM).

After experiencing this a few times with any given player, a GM is likely throw up his (or her) hands and stop putting as much time or effort into anything involving that player. Of course, this can be more or less averted if the player is clear up front about how much or how little they can commit. (Real life events certainly should leave room for compromise, but more communication is always better.)

I've waxed on long enough for now, but this is certainly a topic worth revisiting. With all the gaming seriousness done, how about a little gaming silliness? A D&D Fan Film finalist awaits!