Whatever the adventure in progress, there are several different phases to the play. These phases help the players know just what is happening in the game, gives them the opportunity to do something about it, and learn the consequences of their choices. This section goes over the different phases of game play, and also discusses how to begin and end a session.
When a gaming session starts, and everyone is ready to begin, the GM must first provide the
setting for the session’s activities. If the GM is launching a new adventure or campaign, they should begin by “setting the stage”. Let the character know where they are and what they are doing, as part of the introduction to the adventure. There are several good ways to do this. One is through the use of the “Captain’s Log”, which the GM can hand to any leader the group has to read to the group. Such logs should include the date, the time the adventure starts, and any pertinent information. Another way to set the stage is by having the characters located at the point of their last adventure, where they receive the orders for their next assignment. Both of these methods are good for setting the stage. For non-military groups, an adventure should have some sort of appropriate introduction, such as the characters at their home base/bar/urban setting, where some event happens which launches the adventure. Sometimes, the GM can get away with dumping the characters right in the middle of the action (this gets the characters a taste of combat before they even know what they are doing!). Whatever way the GM chooses to do it, however, they should always let the players know the game-date and game-time the adventure starts on, and where the characters are when the adventure begins.
Should the gaming session be a continuation of a previous gaming session, the GM should start the session by recapping what happened in the last adventure. This is significantly easier than setting the stage from scratch. All the GM has to do is remind the players what took place in the last session. Only the critical events are truly necessary to remember; results of general encounters, die rolls, and so forth are not that crucial. If the session is part of an ongoing campaign, it may be necessary to recap from previous sessions as well, though one player can be appointed as the group’s
scribe to keep track of any important information the group learns. As with setting the stage, however, it is important to relay the current game-date and game-time, along with the current position of the characters.
Should the group appoint a scribe, it is likely that that player will also act as the group’s
cartographer. A GM should be willing to help out a cartographer (map maker) by repeating descriptions and filling in a many details in regards to completing the map as possible. The only exception is when the GM wants the characters to be lost. In this case, the GM should not help the cartographer, though it should be apparent that this is because of the way events are supposed to happen in the game, such as when the character group is attempting to solve a maze.
As the game gets going, it is important to pace events appropriately. The pace of the events in the game is determined by how much time the GM spends on a given activity or character action. Different players enjoy different paces, and it is important to try and keep the majority of the group happy. But above all, keep the game moving. Mundane tasks can be skipped over unless the players want to use that time for player interaction. The best way to determine the pace necessary for the game is to know how long the gaming session will last. Three to four hours is usually enough time for a decent length session, and knowing how much time is available will help the GM to pace it so that a good stopping point can be reached about the time the session will end. Other things a GM should consider related to pacing are taking a minimal amount of time to reference rules, asking questions of the players to see if they feel the pace is right and whether or not to skip ahead a little bit, and taking a few short breaks to freshen up or prepare for an encounter.
With the stage set for the adventure at hand, the game can proceed into the main phases of the game. In any part of an adventure, there are four main phases of the game:
Initiative, Declaration, Action, and Reaction. Initiative is the descriptions of the action and/or surroundings the PCs find themselves in. Declaration is what happens when the players inform the GM of what their characters will do. Action is the process through which the characters perform their declared actions. Reaction is the process of determining the consequences of those actions. Each main phase of the game repeats in a cycle until the gaming session concludes.
The first main phase is
Initiative. This should not be confused with the Initiative roll, which is used for determining combat order (
see Chapter 9.1). Rather, this is the phase in which the GM describes the current situation to the characters. GMs should be as descriptive as possible when it comes to describing the action. After all, it is through the GM’s descriptions that the players know what is happening and can give some thought as to what to do next. If the descriptions are inadequate, the players may becoming rapidly lost or fail to catch some important point in the game. A GM should always be willing to repeat a description or to add more details to it. At the very least, by doing so the players will realize how important the description is to the storyline. At no point is being descriptive more important than in combat. A GM should try to avoid statements such as “You’ve been hit and take 12 damage”, unless that best describes the situation or they feel the need to quicken the pace. A statement such as “the mass driver shot burns a small hole through your plate armor, causing you to take 12 damage”, or “the laser beam reflects off your plate armor, leaving only a small char mark on the armor”, is much more descriptive and much, much better for the action overall.
Declaration is the second phase, in which the players inform the GM of what they intend for their characters to do. The GM should listen carefully to what the players say and make sure they understand what the player intends for the character to do. An important thing to establish at this point (particularly during exploration of a site) is the
marching order, which basically says who is leading, who is in the middle, and who is in the rear); knowing this can be important for determining who sees things first and who might be the first victim of an ambush. Neither the GM nor the player should be afraid to ask questions of the other. It’s better that a little bit of time is wasted communicating for the sake of perfect clarity than for a player to get angry because the GM misinterpreted what they wanted the character to do. Above all, it is important for the GM to remember that the player is in charge of running the character, not the GM. The GM cannot force upon the character emotions or cause them to perform actions they don’t want to perform. The only time the GM can do this is if the game dictates it, such as when a character is under compulsion. Even then, the GM’s effects must be limited. Besides, there are still NPCs for the GM to control.
Action and
Reaction are the two final main phases, in which the characters perform their actions and determine the consequences of their actions. This can either involve some manner of dice Check or conversation with the GM. If a Check is involved, the GM should calculate the DC to the best of their ability. Ideally, a GM should know what factors are involved in calculating a DC. If not, however, they can simply use the favorable conditions rule (add or subtract 10 to a d% roll) to guess at what it should be. Above all, however, the players should not know the precise value they have to beat in order to succeed. Let it be a mystery. If possible, the GM can even keep the result a secret until a critical time (such as a ladder rung breaking after a failed
Three-Dimensional Maneuvers Check, after the characters are close to the top of the ladder). If the Check requires an opposed roll, the GM should roll with the die behind the screen, so that secrecy is maintained. If the characters are victorious, they’ll gain such things as money, XP, prestige, or skill ranks. How distribution of these materials is handled is up to the GM.
Eventually, time for the session will run out. At that point, the GM should find a good stopping point for the adventure. Should the adventure be close to the end, the GM can discuss extending the session out with the players, explaining how close the end is. A GM should remember to leave enough time for the
denouement of their story, and for presentation of rewards (should that be how they are running the adventure). If not, then a dramatic point can be selected, such as the characters finally hopping a ride off world, or checking into a hotel for the night. Or, in some cases, the GM might use a
cliffhanger. Something incredibly important is about to happen, such as what happens when the characters step through a doorway, or when the big bad guy finally makes an appearance, when the GM says “that’s it until next week.” Cliffhangers can be very effective at ending the session, and leave the players anticipating the next session. However, cliffhangers can also frustrate players, and they can lose their effectiveness if the GM over-uses them, so they should be used with caution.
One thing to avoid at the end of an adventure is the
anti-climax. Basically, an anti-climax is what happens when the characters get to the all important, defining moment of the story, and it turns out to be less important or less exciting than everything that has proceeded it. This should be avoided for several reasons. First, it’s bad storytelling. Second, it will disappoint your players and they won’t enjoy the game as much. Third, it’s very hard to build any excitement about future adventures with an anti-climatic ending. GMs should know when they are heading for such an ending, and should know when is the right time to cut the story off.
If the adventure isn’t finished yet, a little bookkeeping is needed right at the end of the session. The GM should first note the game-date and game-time, and the position of the characters, so that they may pick up the game next time. Notes such as what encounters have already taken place can also be recorded for the GM’s records, so that characters don’t wind up having to go through the same mis-adventures again. The GM should be willing to share with the players what their characters have earned through the session’s activities, even if they aren’t yet ready to award the characters. This gives the players something to look forward to when the adventure is over, and lets them start thinking about how to apply their character’s newfound abilities, should they earn any.
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