What is the role of the GM in solo role-playing?
I’ve been thinking about that in the last few days and I don’t have an answer yet.
First, we need to understand what a role-playing game is, what the players do and what the Game Master (GM) does.
Let’s steal some definitions from The Angry GM [1]:
"A role-playing game is a game in which players take on the role of fictional characters in a hypothetical universe. The players attempt to make the decisions that they feel their characters would make if they were real and if their universe were real. Those decisions are based on the characters’ motivations and the game’s goals. The results of those decisions are played out and new decisions are made.
Ultimately, an RPG is about choice and consequence. The players make choices for their characters and then deal with the consequences. And goals provide benchmarks for success and failure."
So, that’s what an RPG is and what the players do.
Then the GM is the one responsible for facilitating this experience – at least in traditional games. We’re not talking about story-games where we might have a rotating GM.
In solo gaming, we use GM Emulators. But in some way, these falls short. Because no engine can replace a human Game Master. The mechanics of a GM Emulator force the solo player to steer the game into a direction he might not have chosen himself. At its core, the engine provides abstract mechanisms for what a real GM could do. It offers a framework for interpreting game events, for building the game, for NPCs and NPC reactions, etc.
Yet it fails to stand on its own, it always needs interpretation by a human.
What does “Mythic Event Meaning: Intolerance Exotic Suffering” even mean?
So, is that really a “GM Emulator” at all? I often switch hats. As a solo player, I make decisions like a player in a normal game. Then I need to put on my GM hat, use my solo engine and come up with interpretations on what the solo engine tells me. Then I switch back to player mode.
I have no conclusion here.
[1]: http://theangrygm.com/the-big-picture-everything-you-ever-need-to-know-about-game-mastering
Thoughts? What am I overlooking?
Originally shared by Sophia Brandt
Yesterday's blog post with free downloads and thoughts about the role of the GM in solo gaming.
#solorpg #dnd5e #dungeonworld #osr
http://dieheart.net/friday-grab-bag-mar24/
http://dieheart.net/friday-grab-bag-mar24/
Good argument, Sophia, I completely understand the angst solo gaming can cause. I do feel like you are leaving out of a lot of information here.
ReplyDeleteI remember someone posting a comment in one of the motivation threads on this forum saying (paraphrasing here) that solo gaming is a different creature than group gaming. People (myself included, several times over) suffer when they are trying to replicate a round-table experience with a solo gaming experience. they aren't the same thing and in difference is what makes both equally fun.
I've never seen the GM Emulator as /the/ GM, because I /am/ the GM. The GME is my assistant. My assistant helps me keep the game moving. I don't want it running every aspect of my gaming experience, because that creates a mechanics issue and you get bogged downed.
An interesting issue that I have notice people have is not trusting their own creative thinking and thinking that a GME can do every for you. I haven't truly tested the PME in its present structure, because I don't actually need to emulate player or non-player reaction. I didn't use PME when I wrote "The Order of the Sabre" actual play. I went with what sense to myself as the GM when I was telling the audience (also myself /and/ other readers) about these NPCs' personalities through quick mentions of their characteristics. They were 3D characters without any need for me to have ask the PME for anymore information about them. The Angry GM's definition is correct, but there is always ambiguity to the word "players" when it comes to solo gaming and that is one of solo gaming most interesting aspects.
The issues people have with the GME follow my feeling that people do no trust their own creative thinking. Interpreting an Event Meaning shouldn't be a chore, it should be another enjoyable experience. It could enhance your story or do nothing to it. Rolling up the Event Meaning: Intolerance Exotic Suffering (which I know is just a joke for your discussion haha) could mean sooo many things given the context of the event /focus/ you also rolled up. Oracle/Tarot card emulation is ambiguous so stimulate your creative thinking. Event Focus: Remote event and then Event Meaning: Intolerance Exotic Suffering could mean that a NPC could be somewhere in the world showing intolerance/xenophobia towards something exotic/cultural different that them. That suffering could be their own psychosis is responding to the possible culture shock or they could even be exemplifying characteristics of a tyrant or fascist with their thoughts and actions. :)
Very interesting points and many thanks for your insights.
ReplyDeleteThis stood out for me regarding my lament:
"I've never seen the GM Emulator as /the/ GM, because I /am/ the GM. The GME is my assistant. My assistant helps me keep the game moving. I don't want it running every aspect of my gaming experience, because that creates a mechanics issue and you get bogged downed."
For someone that is more interested in the "player side" (what would be a player in a traditional RPG) this is the point where solo role-playing can fall flat.
The GME assists the solo-ist in dealing with the "GM side" but she still has to be the GM in some form. The GME/solo engine is not capable of standing on its own.
And if you don't enjoy the aspect of interpreting the results of the GME and don't see it as an act of playing then the game can feel stale.
I think there needs to be some clear understanding what the GME/solo engine is.
Agreed. The only thing I can add is:
ReplyDeletethe more the solo engine is simple/abstract, the more you have to wear the hat of GM
To me, the threshold of influence of the needed force of a solo engine is just enough to spur my imagination to move the character forward in the story.
ReplyDeleteIf there isn't enough push from an engine, then the engine is insufficient, causing me to exit the player's imagination realm - aka becoming a GM for a period of time.
How much push is needed depends on my creative mood, familiarity with the setting, and player/GM burnout.
It may be similar to writers block and stifled creativity in writing stories.
I do not think I am following either of you? Is your concern that you cannot simply start a solo session (one-shot or extended campaign) with Mythic and just cruise through without stopping to put on the GM hat?
ReplyDeleteExcluding the GME (which is something you don't actually need to even play Mythic), don't you have to put on the GM hat when fighting a monster or speaking to a NPC?
Perhaps not as extreme as you put it but yes.
ReplyDeleteI find that I struggle too much with the GM hat - being too much in GM mode, having to make too many decisions in GM mode, having too much knowledge of the plot.
This diminishes my enjoyment of character immersion.
Being the GM/interpreting the solo engine is not a bad thing per se.
But I think one must be aware of the line between playing the character and creating the game by using the solo engine/GME.
Some things need to be left vague or open to a later change. For example, the adventure generator tells me that the antagonist is a "Magic Artifact: Alien Orb". This can serve as a first inspiration but it's more like a rumor. Maybe this will prove wrong during the adventure. As a player, I can still have the element of surprise.
For me, I need to find the balance between having a solo engine that pushes the game into an unforeseen direction - and still being fun and easy to play without getting bogged down too much into interpretation of cryptic results.
My answer is the same as it is for social rpgs - my primary objective is to maximise meaningful player choices.
ReplyDeleteSophia Brandt, I understand about getting bogged down by interpreting cryptic results. I ended up making a spreadsheet in Excel that generates 10 Mythic event meaning Action/Subject pairs at a time. I just refresh it until something leaps out and sparks an idea. In the rare event that two entries seem equally inspiring, I always choose the one that makes things harder on my PCs -- not because I'm worried about 'cheating', but because I find it more fun that way.
ReplyDeleteI also made my Rumours tables to keep the suspense as a player even when the GM part of my brain has rolled up a plot on the adventure generator. The PC can be told they must stop the machinations of the Alien Orb, but when they finally get to its lair, they may be in for a surprise.
Just wanted to drop another link to GM's Apprentice, which I find to be excellent at generating [potentially surprising] random content of all kinds - mechanical as well as semantic - and generating many dimensions of content at once, at that! (Each card has dozens of useful prompts/sensory snippets/names/catalysts/attitudes/die results/icons/runes/posessions...)
ReplyDeleteUseful - like GME - in play, in prep, in solo or multiplayer.
It won't do away with the obstacles you address, but if random content is needed to surprise, delight and provoke, Bob's your uncle.
drivethrucards.com - The GameMaster's Apprentice: Base Deck
A few thoughts: I think that the nomenclature of GM Emulator is not accurate but has been perpetuated because the bulk of the community originated from the same point (Mythic GME). I don't agree that they are meant to "replace" a human game master any more than I think solo role-playing is meant to "replace" group play.
ReplyDeleteEmulators are just tools to spark a GM's creativity/improvisation/interpretation (that includes the solo player's GM role) There can only be disappointment if there are expectations beyond that.
Emulators aren't even necessary for solo play however useful they might be for some people. Yes/no oracles and random prompts can be pulled from several places or created from scratch (without carrying the label of "emulator" and the unrealistic expectations attached).
I feel like those tools help pull me out of the GM hat because their randomness guarantees I can't predict what is going to happen so there is no disappointment of knowing any "plot" points ahead of time. That's probably why I lean more toward props in a sandbox rather than pre-written adventure paths (but even those can get remixed in an alternate universe kind of way).
Right, the real role of GME is in maintaining those lists of people/places/plots/etc and generating random events that tie one or more of them to the current happenings in your game. This allows for some level of surprise while hopefully leading to a more cohesive world and a narrative sure to tie an ever growing cast of characters into the fold and interrelate them.
ReplyDeleteOr that's how I see/use it, in the rare times I actually do get to break it out.
I also wonder: how do things change when using a pre-made module / adventure? This is something I have never tried solo, but when GMing, it makes a huge difference if you are improvising or using a written adventure. I guess this would also make a difference in terms of how much you have to wear your GM hat when playing solo.
ReplyDeleteevandro novel That is the big question to me. For random or exploration sessions, this great. But what if you are trying to play a set adventure--one you or someone else wrote? How do you maintain surprise? Or is this one of those cases where you just have to manage expectations?
ReplyDeleteKen Wai Lau aka The Lone Crusader recommends, "rewrite the adventure using the Mythic Game Master Emulator."
ReplyDeletethelonecrusader.com - How to Rewrite An Adventure Using The Mythic Game Master Emulator - The Lone Crusader
D Jones-Dixon Thanks! That helps a lot. I still think, though, that the player has to manage expectations. If you want to craft your own adventure with exquisite detail, by definition you won't be surprised when it shows up--villains, plot points, anything. You have to be willing to give up some control and let Mythic (or any GME) randomize things. Still thinking about it... but I have to say, I'm having a ball doing it!
ReplyDelete