Help: Akward Session Opening
dreamingjohnny:
Hello, first time poster, IŽll try to be brief with my bakground here so that I can get to the problem at hand.
I've been GMing on and of for most of the last 13 years, (I'll be 25 next month) racking up a lot of experience but also a lot of bad habits that I'm often unaware of. IŽve usually played freeform with a very small group of players (2 or 3), I can safely say that the quality of our sessions was very low and stagnant as we all had to different visions of play to be able to move forward in our gaming.
However a few years back there was a turning point for me, I found new players and a better environment to play in that has helped me back to what I really loved about this hobby.
Right now I'm adamant on kicking some of my old bad habits and I was hoping that this was the place to ask for advice (if not I apologize).
The thing is that a lot, if not all, of my sessions starts of badly.
I usually begin by asking the players to give a short summary of what happened last time, then I start by describing the scene (the one thing that I do well, I think) before expecting the players to take over, thing is, usually they donŽt. Instead there is a long akward silence, people are looking in their notes, and then usually someone starts by asking a question or starts describing what they are doing but in a pretty mechanical way, without any feeling or immersion.
But it seems impossible to build up any immersion or mood from the start, instead the sessions gets a bad start when people just look around as if everyone is waiting for someone else to start.
I would really like to change this, so how should I start a session? How do you do it? What sort of things should one include and what should one avoid? Is this common, is it unrealistic of me to expect a session to take of immediately, is it maybe part of the medium that sessions takes a while to "warm up"?
Christoph Boeckle:
Hello Johnny (assuming that is your real name)
Welcome to the Forge!
Could you please give us a more precise description of one such an awkward moment? What was the given game (as discussed in your group before starting play) about, anyway? Who were the characters and what was their purpose in this game? What did you really describe, as a GM? Just the scenery or a tension-filled situation? Did you place the player-characters in this freshly set scene or did you leave it to the players to tie them in?
Did the awkwardness persist for the whole session, or did it suddenly dissipate? If it was just a "warm-up awkwardness", at what point did it take off? If it persisted, what did the rest of the session look like and how long did you persist?
I suggest that we keep the discussion of "immersion" and "mood" for later, these two specific terms usually attract a shit-load of arguing that distracts from the initial poster's actual problem to be discussed, because it means something different for just about anyone. But the awkwardness you describe as having experienced in your play? You can nail that one down by describing some more, and it'll be your special brand of awkwardness that we can have a good look at. Once that's clear to all readers, maybe someone can figure out some techniques that you'll find useful (I don't believe in general advice that fits all play, except stuff like "respect one another", we need to know what could fit your particular play goals).
Callan S.:
Hi,
Actually in addition to Christoph's great questions I'd suggest giving an example of your actual play where you and the group (or if necessary, just you) felt immersed and there was a mood. Can be a few sentence or a longer account, eithers fine. I think such an account gives a really great definition of 'immersion', even if a definition that only fits the particular group in question.
contracycle:
Echo the above, plus, if the rest is a game is ok, perhaps discuss how the transition happens to the point where things take off.
I have to say usually I have seen the GM starting the ball rolling. Getting the players to give feedback is worthwhile but perhaps right at the start is not the place. What precisely is the purpose of this exercise?
Some people have had success with treating it like a TV series, with the GM giving a "last week on ..." type narration at the start of a session. You can have a look at my recent character intro's thread for another take on getting the players kick-started.
In addition, there is a recognised problem with asking general questions of a group. You could also point to a player, and demand "what did you do last session" or something like that. Identifying a specific person to take an action makes it much more likely to get done.
stefoid:
Start with a cliffhanger situation.
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