Role Playing Tips - By Johnn Four
HOW TO USE E-MAIL AS A SUPER CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT GM TOOL
1. Send Descriptions, Rumours & Tales
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Describe things the characters were not witness to. This
includes rumours and anecdotes as well as game session notes
that some players may have missed.
For example, if the players meet Sir Howard in the gaming
session, you might add a rumour, that they hear later about
him, in an e-mail.
[Johnn: here are other topics for descriptions, rumours &
tales, that you can send by e-mail, from Issue #7 - Campaign
Newsletters http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue7.html :
- game world facts
- NPC profiles
- legends and lore (story hooks)
- rumours, gossip and things of note
- monster lore
- magic item lore]
2. Describe Character Research Efforts
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Players often end gaming sessions interested in researching
new spells, identifying items of treasure, or seeking other
kinds of information. You can, at your leisure (as opposed
to during valuable game time) devise a well thought-out and
well described response.
Some HTML-capable mail even allows stationery or exotic
fonts to be used. Consider, a player finds a sheet of vellum
with archaic script on it during an adventure. He tucks it
away safely and later, when he's safely away from harm, he
asks, "What is it?" By e-mail you describe, or even
provide, the document.
Perhaps its meaning or use is still unclear. The player
replies that he'd like to visit a nearby sage. In a second
e-mail you describe the encounter with the sage, briefly
formulate the question, and provide the reply.
One advantage of doing this by e-mail is that other players,
whose fun is not had visiting sages, don't fall asleep at
the gaming table.
A second advantage is that the player who sought out the
information controls it himself. This allows him to be the
authority he should be. If everyone is present when a text
on a magical item is described, everyone now knows this,
even if only the wizard actually read the document.
If information is provided by e-mail, only the player
himself knows what was said, and he can share (or not share)
as he chooses. The player of a wizard or priest (or any
learned character) who returns at the next game session
telling his comrades, "I have investigated that sheet of
vellum I found, and this is what it means ..." will more
likely be treated like a knowledgeable figure in the game.
[Johnn: wow, there were several excellent tips just in that
point alone. GMs: do you have sneaky players in your group?
If so, feel free to use the Bcc: (blind carbon copy) field
in your player e-mail replies to secretly send successful
efforts to the spying PC. Watch the play unfold at the table
now as player secrets are surprisingly divulged by others!
Another trick: send the research e-mail to the player but
also put in a dummy e-mail address in the CC: (carbon copy)
field. The dummy e-mail will harmlessly bounce back to you,
but it will drive the player nuts trying to figure out the
identity of the other person "in-the-know".
Also, we have a Reader's Tip this week about not forgetting
the quiet players in your group. However, these one-on-one
type of e-mails can really help keep your quiet players
interested and feel important in the game.
I game mastered a very quiet player in high school, but he
was always happy to sit back and mostly watch during
sessions because we would often cover things in phone
conversations afterwards. If only I had e-mail then!]
3. Start A Discussion About the Campaign & Sessions
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Sometimes further e-mail discussion of information from
recent gaming activity allows the players to give you
advance warning about what they want to do next time. This
allows you to prepare with a greater degree of certainty.
4. Send Important PC Paperwork To You Before the Session
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Detailed materials such as spell lists, character
backgrounds, new spell descriptions and other routine RPG
paperwork can be exchanged before game sessions (so some
review or discussion can precede the all too precious gaming
time) and in a format that is reviewable.
Also, no more "oops I lost my spell list". The player can
just reprint the document. This alone has allowed me to
really personalize spell lists. And spell components can be
looked up and recorded away from the game session where time
is, again, in short supply.
5. E-mail a Campaign Log
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E-mail can be a record of events. Frequent use of e-mail
can allow players to go back and recall what was going on,
even if summaries and calenders are not being used. The
more e-mail you use, the more this is so.
[Johnn: according to recent player feedback from my
Rolemaster campaign, the Campaign Logs I e-mail out to them
are useful, helpful and always well-received.
Logs can also help clear up possibly disastrous mistakes.
For example, in my Rolemaster campaign I had incorrectly
credited an attack on an NPC to the wrong PC. Think of my
future embarrassment when I would have taken vengeance out on
the wrong character!]
6. Help Players Make Decisions Away From the Gaming Table
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Here's a trick I once pulled using e-mail. A character who
had a leadership role in a part of my campaign world was
looking for a new commander of his military. I prepared two
letters apiece for four candidates. The first letter was
glowingly positive, the second one was biased in the
opposite direction. Reading these letters, going over them,
and deciding on which man to select was best handled away
from the gaming table.
[Johnn: that's a great trick for another reason too. Think
about the anguish caused to the player who had to puzzle
over and decide against conflicting information. Excellent
idea Kenneth!]
7. Deliver Additional NPC Information Without Causing
Unimportant Sidetracks
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E-mail is also a handy way to deliver additional NPC
information to your players. For example, a pre-game e-mail
sent out a couple of days earlier in which a henchman gets
into a bar fight might demonstrate what pushes this NPC's
buttons without having the PC's either bail out the henchman
or discover the hard way he is sensitive about this or that.
Once, before an expert NPC gave the information sought by
PC's, I sent out an e-mail in which the sage got into a
controversial debate with the local high priest.
Especially long speeches, conversations where the PC's don't
take part, or anything that would take up more time at the
gaming table than it might be worth, are all good candidates
for an e-mail in between game sessions.
8. Hand Out Experience Points Privately
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I also recommend handing out experience points through e-
mail, since you have a moment to calculate the points after
the adventure, and no one has a good idea of what everyone
else got.
Tips written by
Kenneth Gauck
c558382@earthlink.net
===========
Thanks Kenneth for the excellent topic idea, tips and
examples.
Making your game efficient, such as by using e-mail
strategically, is very important to me because life creates
a lot of time pressures on you as GMs, and your roleplaying
hobby often suffers for it.
I have a couple more campaign e-mail tips but not enough for
a whole issue. If you have some ideas about using e-mail to
help your game away from the table please send it on in and
I'll make a second issue out of them for everyone to benefit
from. Thanks.
Have more fun at every game!
Johnn Four