#RPGaDAY 2017 - Day 13 - an experience that changed how I play.

Day 13 of #RPGaDay 2017. 

Describe a game experience that changed how you play.

What I really want to talk about here is the playtest of the game: carry. a game about war. but I already talked about that back on the 7th when I talked about my most impactful session.  That seems like a cop out though, so I think I need to come up with something different.

Does reading an RPG rulebook count as a game experience? Today it does.

I couldn't even tell you how long ago this happened. It wasn't recently. I was sitting there reading the Mechwarrior The Battletech RPG and I had just read something that blew my mind as a GM. It was a chapter on how to GM and it said to do something so simple but so effective. I don't have the book in front of me by here are the cliff notes:

Before you describe a scene to your players take a moment. Close your eyes. Picture the scene in your head. What do you see? What do you smell? How does it feel? Is it hot? Is it humid? Is there a taste in the air? Soak all that in, open your eyes and tell your players what you just experienced.

This changed my GM style forever.

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For those wishing to play along at home, here are the topics for this years #RPGaDay. Feel free to use these cues in your tweets, facebook posts, g+ threads, blog posts and more.

GM Advice - no time for introductions

Would love to credit the creator of this image, is it you?

Almost every RPG sessions I've seen, played, heard or watched has started the same way. No, not necessarily in a Tavern. Every game seems to start with character introductions.

The GM asks the players, in turn, to describe their characters. Player one starts telling everyone about how his character is an Elf, from Elfholm, who has 3 siblings that are all competing for daddy's attention. He describes this elf's hair, her eye colour. There's a description of what armour the elf is wearing, what weapons she wields.

Sometimes a player goes into in depth background details that take up a ton of time. Other times a player will say almost nothing at all.

Overall this process takes a ton of time, as each player gives their own description and/or background. In some groups this can take up most of a session depending on how much each player wants to share. What's shared often varies player to player. One player will read through their 5 pages of family history while the next player will only say: "I'm a human fighter with plate and a greatsword, I look like an average big tough dude." 

I am not a fan of this method of starting the game. I personally feel that an RPG game has no time for introductions.