D&D style game over Zoom
February 16, 2021 2:53 PM Subscribe
I'd like to put together a simplified D&D/RPG style adventure game for a group of about 10-15 people over Zoom. Instead of a dungeon crawl/fantasy theme, I'd like to use a space/sci-fi theme. It would be simplified in not using character sheets, maps, or the like, but mostly just story driven with maybe a little dice rolling. Can you recommend any ideas or resources, especially for someone go has never DM'd before? In particular, how do I develop a story with many different paths and options that would be fun?
Oh, also, choice fatigue is a real thing for players, especially if the players are new and unsure. If you lay them down in a new world and they don't know what they want to do because the options are limitless, don't worry about nudging them in a couple of directions or giving them something to react to.
posted by dinty_moore at 3:36 PM on February 16, 2021
posted by dinty_moore at 3:36 PM on February 16, 2021
Would you consider something like Escape the Dark Sector? It's sort of like DM-in-a-box.
posted by praemunire at 4:00 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 4:00 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
Ten to fifteen people is a LOT of people for a real-time RPG. That's a whole lot of people whose interest and motivation you need to be aware of, especially on a Zoom call. If somebody asked me to do this, I'd tell them they needed to recruit another GM or two and split the group.
That being said... One possibility is to invite a smaller group and play a rules-light RPG. There are a ton of tiny indie games you might find inspiring. What's so cool about outer space? and these miniature adventures for it should give you some ideas for where to start. (This particular game does require standard six-sided dice. If you like these specific rules and trust your players, you can roll physical dice on Zoom. You could also screen-share a website like random.org, or use a dedicated gaming site like Roll20.)
A second possibility is to treat this less like a traditional RPG and more like a collaborative story-telling exercise. Here's one way you could do that. At the beginning of the session, ask all the participants to think of a word describing a feeling and an object in their kitchen, and write these down. Tell them that they are crew members on a spaceship, and they're supporting the science officer who is about to touch down on a new planet in a tiny exploration pod. Ask the first participant for their feeling word. This describes how the science officer feels about her mission. Ask the group why she feels that way. Ask someone else for their kitchen object. This describes the inside of the exploration pod: why? Another person's kitchen object describes the first thing the science officer sees outside, and so on. (If everyone picks forks, she enters a mysterious fork forest. How does she feel about that?) Keep going until everyone has shared at least one feeling or kitchen object. At that point, you can wrap up the plot (perhaps she beams back to the spaceship in the nick of time), or you can take a quick break and keep going with a new set of words and objects.
posted by yarntheory at 4:38 PM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
That being said... One possibility is to invite a smaller group and play a rules-light RPG. There are a ton of tiny indie games you might find inspiring. What's so cool about outer space? and these miniature adventures for it should give you some ideas for where to start. (This particular game does require standard six-sided dice. If you like these specific rules and trust your players, you can roll physical dice on Zoom. You could also screen-share a website like random.org, or use a dedicated gaming site like Roll20.)
A second possibility is to treat this less like a traditional RPG and more like a collaborative story-telling exercise. Here's one way you could do that. At the beginning of the session, ask all the participants to think of a word describing a feeling and an object in their kitchen, and write these down. Tell them that they are crew members on a spaceship, and they're supporting the science officer who is about to touch down on a new planet in a tiny exploration pod. Ask the first participant for their feeling word. This describes how the science officer feels about her mission. Ask the group why she feels that way. Ask someone else for their kitchen object. This describes the inside of the exploration pod: why? Another person's kitchen object describes the first thing the science officer sees outside, and so on. (If everyone picks forks, she enters a mysterious fork forest. How does she feel about that?) Keep going until everyone has shared at least one feeling or kitchen object. At that point, you can wrap up the plot (perhaps she beams back to the spaceship in the nick of time), or you can take a quick break and keep going with a new set of words and objects.
posted by yarntheory at 4:38 PM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
I wonder if something like Grace Under Pressure could be adapted to space? The original setting is an undersea rig, but one of the keys to the adventure is the way that the players are isolated from each other and only in communication electronically. This might exploit the isolating nature of Zoom. Just a thought.
posted by SPrintF at 5:21 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 5:21 PM on February 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
yarntheory speaks wisdom. I have been running games both in person and online (via irc, Roll20 and Discord) for over twenty years and you couldn't pay me to run a 10 person game online let alone a 15 person one. Especially rules free. Rules feel like work, but they give you a framework to hang your story off. They prevent disputes of the schoolyard "I shot you!" "Did not!" "Did too!" variety and make it clear what actions are permissible and what their repercussions are. Rules give clarity and structure. They don't need to be complicated. You can make your own up! Just be sure whatever you use, everyone knows and has an understanding of the setting.
If I was compelled to so do, I would:
-Use literally any other platform other than zoom. Discord is great because you can set it up so there are multiple channels, allowing out of character banter, rules stuff and in character stuff to be neatly separated. Discord also allows you to put rules stuff in text so people don't miss it due to tech issues/cross talk/the cat jumping in front of the camera. I love Roll20 but it can be sketchy at times with its AV codex, especially with a lot of people.
-Talk to my players about what systems they use and enjoy. I'm not a big DnD person - I mostly place White Wolf games, and am running Deadlands at the moment. Take their likes and dislikes onboard before you run.
-Pick a co-GM to help you. Get them to sort out out of character banter, rules disputes, pilot notable NPCs, take notes, that kind of thing. If you have a friend in the group who is more experienced with GMing, try and get them to help you out here.
-Establish very clear rules for in character and out of character banter. Cross talk will murder your game and bog it down if you don't get it contained in one way or another. One game I play in has a separate channel for that, and another text only requires it to be in parenthesis to differentiate it from in character banter. Make sure people know before the game, and remind them at the beginning of the session, too.
-No matter what platform you opt for, make sure players can use it beforehand. If you can find time to do a "warmup" session before your main game, do so, even one on one for each player. This means you can debug your connections, software and PC setups ahead of the game, and has a chance to play around with the software and get used to the commands. On the night of your game, if each player only causes a five minute delay due to a lack of familiarity with your platform, that's almost an hour lost at least. Give people a chance to be comfortable before you get rolling.
-Do as much prep work with your players as you can before the game. Get characters sorted out and your setting clarified ahead of time so you can dive right in. This bit is actually a whole lot of fun - back and forth discussion over IM and sending people bits of setting fiction are two of my favourite parts of GMing. It's heaps, heaps easier to do story driven RP if everyone is on the same page, as it were. Also make sure you are crystal clear with any rule sets or system you do opt to use - tell people what you're using, provide links, and tell them what stats they will need ahead of time if you're opting to work out your own rule set.
As far as game tips go:
-Given you want sci fi and space, I'd get everyone on one small starship, station or whatever and keep them there. Space is good like that - if you wander off, the hard vacuum will get you real quick. This will keep your party together and stop you needing to run in essence a half dozen small games at once. If you do want to give them the option to split lean in hard on a co-GM to help.
-I like to build sandboxes rather than plotlines. Put encounters around that don't need to be related but that you can link together easily if that's the way your players go.
- Assume anything important you build will be ignored by your players and mundane things will become important. Have an idea of the texture and theme of your game, but be flexible. If you have a mystery they must solve, be prepared to change how they find their clues. If you have fights planned, be ready to relocate them if your players never show interest or motivation to move to the original setting.
-Lastly, think about what you do and do not enjoy as a player. If you like long intimate conversations between characters, you may find this format a challenge. If you like lots of combat, be sure to allow enough enemies so everyone gets a shot. Draw from what you enjoy and it will show in your game.
posted by Jilder at 7:55 PM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
If I was compelled to so do, I would:
-Use literally any other platform other than zoom. Discord is great because you can set it up so there are multiple channels, allowing out of character banter, rules stuff and in character stuff to be neatly separated. Discord also allows you to put rules stuff in text so people don't miss it due to tech issues/cross talk/the cat jumping in front of the camera. I love Roll20 but it can be sketchy at times with its AV codex, especially with a lot of people.
-Talk to my players about what systems they use and enjoy. I'm not a big DnD person - I mostly place White Wolf games, and am running Deadlands at the moment. Take their likes and dislikes onboard before you run.
-Pick a co-GM to help you. Get them to sort out out of character banter, rules disputes, pilot notable NPCs, take notes, that kind of thing. If you have a friend in the group who is more experienced with GMing, try and get them to help you out here.
-Establish very clear rules for in character and out of character banter. Cross talk will murder your game and bog it down if you don't get it contained in one way or another. One game I play in has a separate channel for that, and another text only requires it to be in parenthesis to differentiate it from in character banter. Make sure people know before the game, and remind them at the beginning of the session, too.
-No matter what platform you opt for, make sure players can use it beforehand. If you can find time to do a "warmup" session before your main game, do so, even one on one for each player. This means you can debug your connections, software and PC setups ahead of the game, and has a chance to play around with the software and get used to the commands. On the night of your game, if each player only causes a five minute delay due to a lack of familiarity with your platform, that's almost an hour lost at least. Give people a chance to be comfortable before you get rolling.
-Do as much prep work with your players as you can before the game. Get characters sorted out and your setting clarified ahead of time so you can dive right in. This bit is actually a whole lot of fun - back and forth discussion over IM and sending people bits of setting fiction are two of my favourite parts of GMing. It's heaps, heaps easier to do story driven RP if everyone is on the same page, as it were. Also make sure you are crystal clear with any rule sets or system you do opt to use - tell people what you're using, provide links, and tell them what stats they will need ahead of time if you're opting to work out your own rule set.
As far as game tips go:
-Given you want sci fi and space, I'd get everyone on one small starship, station or whatever and keep them there. Space is good like that - if you wander off, the hard vacuum will get you real quick. This will keep your party together and stop you needing to run in essence a half dozen small games at once. If you do want to give them the option to split lean in hard on a co-GM to help.
-I like to build sandboxes rather than plotlines. Put encounters around that don't need to be related but that you can link together easily if that's the way your players go.
- Assume anything important you build will be ignored by your players and mundane things will become important. Have an idea of the texture and theme of your game, but be flexible. If you have a mystery they must solve, be prepared to change how they find their clues. If you have fights planned, be ready to relocate them if your players never show interest or motivation to move to the original setting.
-Lastly, think about what you do and do not enjoy as a player. If you like long intimate conversations between characters, you may find this format a challenge. If you like lots of combat, be sure to allow enough enemies so everyone gets a shot. Draw from what you enjoy and it will show in your game.
posted by Jilder at 7:55 PM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
For a rules-light, easy breezy sci-fi flavored RPG set, take a look at 'Lasers and Feelings'. The link goes to a pdf of the rules, and it's not truncated - they literally all fit on one page. Very much designed to encourage 'sure, why not? gimme a roll!' kind of playstyle.
Discord recommended 1000% over zoom - integrated side channels, chat threads, and most importantly for something like this... bots that can handle things like rolling dice!
Also, I will very very much reiterate the upthread comments that 10-15 players is quite probably WAYYYY too many, even for a one-shot event, and especially for a new DM. It will be total pandemonium (of a logistical kind, not a fun plot way) trying to coordinate who's doing what with people talking over each other, and that will lead to the less loud players just giving up and fading into the background. Try starting out with something like 3-5 players, ideally folks you feel comfortable with and can reinforce the 'hey we're all trying something new, lets give it a swirl!' vibe. Low pressure, and easy to take a pause and recalibrate without feeling like you're herding cats over a laggy video feed.
Check out some youtube vids on DM tips! Even if they say something like 'running a D&D game' vs your sci-fi flavor, the advice is pretty universal.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:33 PM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
Discord recommended 1000% over zoom - integrated side channels, chat threads, and most importantly for something like this... bots that can handle things like rolling dice!
Also, I will very very much reiterate the upthread comments that 10-15 players is quite probably WAYYYY too many, even for a one-shot event, and especially for a new DM. It will be total pandemonium (of a logistical kind, not a fun plot way) trying to coordinate who's doing what with people talking over each other, and that will lead to the less loud players just giving up and fading into the background. Try starting out with something like 3-5 players, ideally folks you feel comfortable with and can reinforce the 'hey we're all trying something new, lets give it a swirl!' vibe. Low pressure, and easy to take a pause and recalibrate without feeling like you're herding cats over a laggy video feed.
Check out some youtube vids on DM tips! Even if they say something like 'running a D&D game' vs your sci-fi flavor, the advice is pretty universal.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:33 PM on February 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
10-15 people in a single game is going to be tricky since it might be hard to keep everyone involved (and not just the 5 most talkative people monopolising the time).
Goblin Quest is a lot of fun and might scale? Give everyone a single goblin instead of 5. Goblin Quest is pure storytelling/improv with d6 dice rolls to see if what you're attempting* works or not. It doesn't have a DM in the traditional sense (ie someone who decides what happens), although as the person who knows the rules you'll be running/facilitating the game in terms of keeping track of whose go it is and explaining how the game mechanics work.
Caveat: it's fantasy-based not scifi.
*you are all useless goblins trying to do something like "steal a wizard's hat" or "make friends with a pig"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:26 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Goblin Quest is a lot of fun and might scale? Give everyone a single goblin instead of 5. Goblin Quest is pure storytelling/improv with d6 dice rolls to see if what you're attempting* works or not. It doesn't have a DM in the traditional sense (ie someone who decides what happens), although as the person who knows the rules you'll be running/facilitating the game in terms of keeping track of whose go it is and explaining how the game mechanics work.
Caveat: it's fantasy-based not scifi.
*you are all useless goblins trying to do something like "steal a wizard's hat" or "make friends with a pig"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:26 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
To build off of what Jilder said about "sandbox"-style DMing: this being your first time DMing, don't be afraid to put things a little bit "on rails" at first; I doubt the players will mind being led by the nose. To me, "sandbox" means that the players can go anywhere and do anything, but my job as DM is to create problems for them to change, escape, or accept. In my situation (I have 20+ years of DMing experience and my players are all experienced too), I quite often don't bother to think up potential solutions to those problems; in a sandbox universe, if the PCs fail to come up with a solution, they can flee for another realm, and that failure (serious or not) builds some story.
But I have previously made the mistake of putting inexperienced players in a too-sandboxy game, which risked ruining their experiences because it gave them the same paralysis I think I'd experience if I ever tried to play EVE Online. (I.e., what dintymoore said about choice fatigue.)
And on that topic: you didn't indicate whether your players were experienced—with this style of game or with Zoom.
The less experienced they are with RPGs, the more important I think it will be to have semi-solid rules to point to. That "Lasers & Feelings" PDF looks great: a happy medium between "having rules" and not having character sheets etc.
If they're experienced with Zoom already but not with Discord?…I mean, you could do this over Zoom. But it's not as if Discord has a steep learning curve. (Roll20 does have a steep learning curve, it's way overfeatured for what you're describing, and I don't trust their data security.)
I agree with everyone else that 10-15 is a titanic number. I was once a player in a face-to-face 8-player "campaign" and our (very experienced) DM lost control in the very first session—which was also the last. Zoom (as you may know) has a tendency to suppress casual conversation, which could just make things awkward for everybody—if I did a Zoom RPG, I'd shoot for three or four players, mayyyybe five.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:03 AM on February 17, 2021
But I have previously made the mistake of putting inexperienced players in a too-sandboxy game, which risked ruining their experiences because it gave them the same paralysis I think I'd experience if I ever tried to play EVE Online. (I.e., what dintymoore said about choice fatigue.)
And on that topic: you didn't indicate whether your players were experienced—with this style of game or with Zoom.
The less experienced they are with RPGs, the more important I think it will be to have semi-solid rules to point to. That "Lasers & Feelings" PDF looks great: a happy medium between "having rules" and not having character sheets etc.
If they're experienced with Zoom already but not with Discord?…I mean, you could do this over Zoom. But it's not as if Discord has a steep learning curve. (Roll20 does have a steep learning curve, it's way overfeatured for what you're describing, and I don't trust their data security.)
I agree with everyone else that 10-15 is a titanic number. I was once a player in a face-to-face 8-player "campaign" and our (very experienced) DM lost control in the very first session—which was also the last. Zoom (as you may know) has a tendency to suppress casual conversation, which could just make things awkward for everybody—if I did a Zoom RPG, I'd shoot for three or four players, mayyyybe five.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:03 AM on February 17, 2021
Have you tried a "story-telling" game? Something like "The Shadow World"?
If your audience is younger, maybe you can just let them make up stories with something like Rory's Story Cubes and everyone else can rate it, or go round-robin and try to expand upon the story. The person who has the turn can arrange the stuff in the order s/he wants, and start the story. But where it goes depends on who's next! Story Cubes is also available as a smartphone app so you can roll it on screen. They have expansion packs that fits certain genres (including scifi, IIRC). There are variations you can do with this, of course. bajillions of them.
I agree that 10-15 people is probably a bit too many for your first attempt. Most of the people would be bored with nothing to do. I personally would recommend six. But that's just a number I pulled out of the air.
posted by kschang at 4:34 AM on February 17, 2021
If your audience is younger, maybe you can just let them make up stories with something like Rory's Story Cubes and everyone else can rate it, or go round-robin and try to expand upon the story. The person who has the turn can arrange the stuff in the order s/he wants, and start the story. But where it goes depends on who's next! Story Cubes is also available as a smartphone app so you can roll it on screen. They have expansion packs that fits certain genres (including scifi, IIRC). There are variations you can do with this, of course. bajillions of them.
I agree that 10-15 people is probably a bit too many for your first attempt. Most of the people would be bored with nothing to do. I personally would recommend six. But that's just a number I pulled out of the air.
posted by kschang at 4:34 AM on February 17, 2021
Ditto lasers & feelings as a good rules light system and that 10-15 is waaay too many people especially for someone doing things for the first time (really it's too many for most anyone). Crosstalk becomes a bigger issue than it would be with a smaller group and even if it's not everyone should have a chance to do something which means waiting around for everyone else to do something which leads to people inevitably checking out and getting on their phone and losing track of what's going on etc. etc.
posted by juv3nal at 4:36 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 4:36 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've been in one ten player game with an extremely experienced GM and they found it challenging. I would never, ever consider trying to GM a group that large. 4-6 players generally works well, and I'd go the lower end of numbers for your first go.
I'm part of a game group that does game over Zoom, with shared information in Google docs, so I'm much less against using it than other people in the thread. I do think that you need something as well as Zoom for having text-based information and sometimes images for people to refer to. But it is down to what you're looking for from a game - there's a comment upthread about crosstalk murdering a game, but I find that the crosstalk, sharing ideas out of character, pointing out fun stuff that the characters themselves would miss and so on, is part of the joy of gaming. So what you and your group are expecting from games may make a difference to the choice of platform.
posted by Vortisaur at 7:11 AM on February 17, 2021
I'm part of a game group that does game over Zoom, with shared information in Google docs, so I'm much less against using it than other people in the thread. I do think that you need something as well as Zoom for having text-based information and sometimes images for people to refer to. But it is down to what you're looking for from a game - there's a comment upthread about crosstalk murdering a game, but I find that the crosstalk, sharing ideas out of character, pointing out fun stuff that the characters themselves would miss and so on, is part of the joy of gaming. So what you and your group are expecting from games may make a difference to the choice of platform.
posted by Vortisaur at 7:11 AM on February 17, 2021
Ten or more people is a lot, but if everyone is up for a collaborative style game and committed to group fun it can work. I would probably say if you are getting together mostly for the gaming experience, splitting it up into smaller sessions is good. But if you are all friends & family getting together on Zoom anyway because you like each other, the game could make it more fun and add some variety.
I'd say the most important thing you'll be doing as GM is making sure everyone gets a chance to be involved and do meaningful stuff. Rather than "running encounters" or traditional D&D stuff. Go around the "room" and call people in; I'd encourage people who want to interject stuff or banter to type it in chat while the person getting the limelight is talking.
As people have said, there are a lot of systems these days around the improv/collaborative techniques and you can plunder them for inspiration. Character sheets with zero or one stats (like in Lasers and Feelings) are good. Maybe ask players to come with three adjective and/or three pieces of gear (so Spock might be "logical, calm, aloof" and have "a tricorder, a Vulcan neck pinch, and a raised eyebrow expressing contempt for his crewmates' overly emotional decisions.")
One other trick I've seen is have players invent a "montage." Player 1 describes a problem, probably straight out of our modern mythology like the warp couplers depolarizing or tribbles taking over the ship. Player 2 describes how their character solves that problem in some heroic (or comic) way, invents a new problem, and hands it off to Player 3, and so on around the (virtual) table. No dice rolls, everyone gets involved, you mostly add flavor and emphasize success. (I'd also have some prompts for each new problem to make improv easier on the players, like "something happens as your ship enters the nebula . . . ")
The last bit is keep the plot simple. I'd do something like a short mission briefing, players describe their characters, a montage travel scene, and then the actual challenge (also simple, like taking down the shield generator on Endor or something). Only the last challenge would involve rolling dice.
posted by mark k at 9:48 AM on February 17, 2021
I'd say the most important thing you'll be doing as GM is making sure everyone gets a chance to be involved and do meaningful stuff. Rather than "running encounters" or traditional D&D stuff. Go around the "room" and call people in; I'd encourage people who want to interject stuff or banter to type it in chat while the person getting the limelight is talking.
As people have said, there are a lot of systems these days around the improv/collaborative techniques and you can plunder them for inspiration. Character sheets with zero or one stats (like in Lasers and Feelings) are good. Maybe ask players to come with three adjective and/or three pieces of gear (so Spock might be "logical, calm, aloof" and have "a tricorder, a Vulcan neck pinch, and a raised eyebrow expressing contempt for his crewmates' overly emotional decisions.")
One other trick I've seen is have players invent a "montage." Player 1 describes a problem, probably straight out of our modern mythology like the warp couplers depolarizing or tribbles taking over the ship. Player 2 describes how their character solves that problem in some heroic (or comic) way, invents a new problem, and hands it off to Player 3, and so on around the (virtual) table. No dice rolls, everyone gets involved, you mostly add flavor and emphasize success. (I'd also have some prompts for each new problem to make improv easier on the players, like "something happens as your ship enters the nebula . . . ")
The last bit is keep the plot simple. I'd do something like a short mission briefing, players describe their characters, a montage travel scene, and then the actual challenge (also simple, like taking down the shield generator on Endor or something). Only the last challenge would involve rolling dice.
posted by mark k at 9:48 AM on February 17, 2021
Here's yet another vote for
a) capping the group size at 5 or 6. I have run games with 3 to 7 players and it's incredible how much a game bogs down at 7 versus 5 players. At 15 I guarantee that 2 people will spend the entire game saying nothing.
b) play Lasers & Feelings
There are games like Stars Without Number, but even the free version of that has a lot of pages (compared to 1 for L&F) or Burn Bryte, which is specifically made for online play via Roll20, but again, still a lot of setup/investment. If this is a group of never-played-before people, L&F is about as much as a person can absorb the first time playing.
posted by GuyZero at 11:08 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
a) capping the group size at 5 or 6. I have run games with 3 to 7 players and it's incredible how much a game bogs down at 7 versus 5 players. At 15 I guarantee that 2 people will spend the entire game saying nothing.
b) play Lasers & Feelings
There are games like Stars Without Number, but even the free version of that has a lot of pages (compared to 1 for L&F) or Burn Bryte, which is specifically made for online play via Roll20, but again, still a lot of setup/investment. If this is a group of never-played-before people, L&F is about as much as a person can absorb the first time playing.
posted by GuyZero at 11:08 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
And on this question:
how do I develop a story with many different paths and options that would be fun?
Plan some high-level background (the players work for the galactic empire, the enemies are the Klingons, etc). Plan some encounters that have a problem to solve (fight a Klingon, solve a puzzle, explore a planet, communicate with a tribble, etc). Be prepared to improvise. Use the old DM's trick that you can put players in a room with 10 doors but that you only need to actually plan one room to lie beyond - encounters can be moved, reshaped and reused so that whatever the players do you have somewhere for them to go.
posted by GuyZero at 11:12 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
how do I develop a story with many different paths and options that would be fun?
Plan some high-level background (the players work for the galactic empire, the enemies are the Klingons, etc). Plan some encounters that have a problem to solve (fight a Klingon, solve a puzzle, explore a planet, communicate with a tribble, etc). Be prepared to improvise. Use the old DM's trick that you can put players in a room with 10 doors but that you only need to actually plan one room to lie beyond - encounters can be moved, reshaped and reused so that whatever the players do you have somewhere for them to go.
posted by GuyZero at 11:12 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
I second Lasers & Feelings. I second making sure you're using a platform where people can text chat while other people are talking (Discord is great for this, and currently supports video calls of up to 25 people, though the limit is usually 10).
What I would do is split the 10-15 people up into 3 crews of 3 different starships. Pre-create a scenario where the 3 ships are going to be in some kind of stand-off conflict that has to be negotiated, meanwhile there's a brewing disaster on each ship. Most of their time will be spent in a video channel or breakout room with just their own crew, while sending messages to the other ships, with the GM checking in with each group, resolving current actions, outlining further challenges, etc.
If you can recruit someone who's run a game before, that would be helpful. Otherwise, try to run a few sessions of Lasers & Feelings with test groups before the big event.
I think this is doable IF and ONLY IF you break up into 2 or 3 crews. 10-15 people is indeed too many for one table, but given the scenario you've outlined I would totally do this.
posted by rikschell at 11:48 AM on February 17, 2021
What I would do is split the 10-15 people up into 3 crews of 3 different starships. Pre-create a scenario where the 3 ships are going to be in some kind of stand-off conflict that has to be negotiated, meanwhile there's a brewing disaster on each ship. Most of their time will be spent in a video channel or breakout room with just their own crew, while sending messages to the other ships, with the GM checking in with each group, resolving current actions, outlining further challenges, etc.
If you can recruit someone who's run a game before, that would be helpful. Otherwise, try to run a few sessions of Lasers & Feelings with test groups before the big event.
I think this is doable IF and ONLY IF you break up into 2 or 3 crews. 10-15 people is indeed too many for one table, but given the scenario you've outlined I would totally do this.
posted by rikschell at 11:48 AM on February 17, 2021
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What you'd want to focus on is having some rules that tell you and your players just enough about what they can do (and what they cannot do) without confusing them, and one great way to get buy in is have them all come up with one thing about the setting. Maybe someone decides something about a nearby planet, someone else figures out something about the ship, ect. Remember and incorporate the details.
Have a basic plot - it can be super basic, like they need to get these space cows over to this planet, or whatever. Come up with three ways that they can accomplish this goal - if you can't come up with three ways to accomplish the goal, then the players probably don't have enough choice - and if you do come up with some ways that they can do it, you're less likely to be thrown off guard when the players come up with something that you haven't thought of.
The key to having a good role play experience -for most players, at least - is to have the feeling that they are able to at least try to do the things they want to do, even if they might fail. A lot of DMing is just rolling with what the players give you and try to make it sound like it's what you intended all along.
posted by dinty_moore at 3:34 PM on February 16, 2021 [2 favorites]