The Importance of Organization in TRPG
Ah, pen & paper role-playing -- is there any other hobby which requires so much printed matter be immediately available to those involved?Aside from the fact that most systems (even the less popular ones) have more than one core rulesbook, there are supplements, maps, magazines, character sheets, GM control sheets, NPC character sheets, pages of notes, pages for notes, character sketches... the list goes on. And all of this stuff more often than not leads to a slow-down in gaming. And a slow-down in gaming often leads to bigger problems -- such as a disruption of the players' suspension of disbelief, players' attention wandering, a loss of impetus or "flow" in the game, and more.
And while this cannot be entirely eliminated from the game (there is always going to be some occasion where a rule simply must be looked up for clarity, to settle a dispute, or whatever), a little preparation goes a long way toward alleviating these issues.
Since RPGing involves so much clerical work, most gamers' lack of organization has always befuddled me. For all the time, money, and effort we put into this hobby, you would think more of us would actually spend at least a little time putting it in order so we can find it when we play. But, those of us who do this are the exception, not the rule.
How many GMs do you know who show up with stacks of books and yellowed, dog-eared notebooks on top of cartons of supplements? Disjointed maps for which they have to search for hours to find the pages with the keyed entries; out-dated character control sheets (if they even have any!); unlabeled statblocks for unnamed NPCs written in the margins of completely unrelated pages... we've all known GMs like this.
Some players are just as bad: Outdated character sheets they always forget or can't find; sloppy, unlabeled, disjointed notes (if they bother to take any); phone numbers and "Pick up milk!" notes all over their gaming supplies; goofy, cartoon captions and band logos in the margins of their character sheets; and so on.
All of this leads to discrepancies as to what happened the last game, how many XP the characters should have, "I know I raised that skill last game!," and all sorts of other problems. Problems which can very easily be minimized, if not completely avoided, through simple organization. And this process starts, but by no means ends, with the GM.
Players really only need their character sheet(s) to be clear, legible, and handy; all other aids -- such as character sketches and journals -- are secondary to this and can be anywhere the player chooses. In cases where the player has a supplement or specialized set of rules or conditions for his character which the GM has allowed, the GM may rule that the player needs to have that source with him and keep up with those rules (although it is strongly suggested the GM make notes on the reference if he doesn't have total access to it).
Players should not reference rules or options from books they have "seen" or "remember," and the GM is well within his rights to disallow such things, even if he is also familiar with them.
GMs are the creators of their games, in every sense of the word:
They decide which rules (optional and otherwise) are in play when, and how they are used; they design (or, at least, modify) the world and locales in which the game is set; they design and control the campaigns in which the characters are involved, as well as the individual adventures within those campaigns; they decide on encounter placement, rewards placement, culture, religion, terrain, flora and fauna -- they are the final word on everything that goes on in the game.
And this final word needs to be in writing; there is absolutely no reason any GM should keep all of this information "in his head" nor should any player (including the GM, himself) have to rely on that. And, hastily-scrawled notes in crib form ("Orcs - 12 - nr. stand of trees in for. - xbow, l sword, 12/3/+4") are no substitute for actual, written references.
While the non-GM players are on a need-to-know basis for most things, there are constants which all characters should know as a matter of their having lived in certain areas, as members of certain organizations and/or religions, from their childhood and personal life's history, their contacts, and more -- things the gaming system either does not, or simply cannot, cover.
I'm not just talking about personal or professional knowledge (though these are definitely included), I'm talking about world history, popular culture, common sense and knowledge -- above and beyond what the player himself should be aware of -- things every character in the realm should know; every character who has lived in that particular area should know; things every follower of that religion should know; et. al. And, no player -- GM or otherwise -- can remember all of these things, or even which ones each player should note at character creation, without having them recorded and easy to find.
If there is only one water deity in the entire realm, there is no reason every, single character in the realm would not know of that deity (even if by another name) -- whether or not they have ever prayed to the water deity or ever even seen an ocean! -- if for no other reason than that the deity will certainly factor into the overall mythology of one or more [pantheons of] gods the character is familiar with or to whom he does pray. Even in settings (notably modern) where the character may not be religious, he certainly has at least a passing knowledge of the major world religions and/or their major deities.
What of the characters that come from somewhere other than the primary locale of the campaign -- such as a dark and foreign land or a nearer, but secular, culture? Regardless of gaming mechanics, certainly his professional and personal knowledge will be different from the rest of the party's -- even those in his chosen profession or others who grew up in "his neck of the woods," so to speak (think of the Amish in Pennsylvania). And, how many times have three different characters had the town's only blacksmith as a contact and every, last one of them had a different name for him?
Lucky
The GM needn't have every, little detail determined down to the nth-degree when play begins, but the larger points should be covered long before the first die is rolled. And they should not only be written down, but readily available to all players.
Once play begins, the phrase, "Would my character know that?" should be as rare as a one-legged, red-eyed, fire-breathing Unicorn named Lucky. Because, once the character's personal, social, cultural, religious, and background knowledge is determined, pretty much everything else (especially professional knowledge) can be inferred or determined by the skills and abilities the character possesses and/or the values of these stats.
A lot of this knowledge is built-in to most game systems through the use of professional abilities. In class-/profession-based systems, all Rangers/Hunters will have some means of identifying common animals; in skills-based systems, all members of this profession will have this specific skill, whatever its name (Animal Lore, Fauna, Zoology, etc.). But, unless it has been established early-on that this knowledge includes Unicorns, he might not know what poor Lucky is, should their paths cross. Without a base of common knowledge, this could be a much less dramatic encounter or even a game-stopping matter of contention.
Is Lucky the only unicorn in the realm? If so, he would be known far and wide through popular songs and fables, the works of explorers -- a matter of handed-down history -- and thus, all the characters in the party would immediately comprehend how unique an encounter it is to meet Lucky.
While rare, it could be that the characters happen to live in an area quite famous for unicorn sightings, so -- again -- the Hunter in the party would not be the only one who could identify the beast, but the Samurai might have no idea as to the significance of the encounter. Or, perhaps unicorns are so rare that only bards and high-level Hunters would have ever even heard of them, in which case the Hunter might have to stop the rest of the party from trying to kill poor Lucky.
Most of this information should be compiled into two folders -- the Players' Guide and the Campaign Guide -- but these important aids are involved and take some time to set up, so they will be covered in detail in later articles. Not to mention that these two play aids, once created, are largely static; they are compiled before play begins and rarely change much after that.
Another guide, the History, should also be created prior to play but will be amended as the game goes on.
Control Sheets, on the other hand, are just as important as the larger booklets and are usually put together right before, or at the start, of each session. They change frequently and drastically, so they are usually disposable.
Control Sheets
Control Sheets compile oft-needed information onto one sheet for ease of reference. The most important are Character Control Sheets and Encounter Control Sheets.Character Control Sheets collect the major characters' most important stats and information for the GM to reference, both in and out of game, at a glance: characters' names, core stats, race, class/profession, any important notes (such as in-party rivalries, sworn enemies, and other important stuff), and so on. This is handy for several reasons, but the main one is that the GM does not have to interrupt game play to ask a player this information.
A few other reasons include allowing the GM to make (or ask the player to make) "secret" tests the player needn't know the significance of -- such as rolling to see if he notices something when he is not actively looking for it. In this manner, the player does not necessarily realize that his character has missed something. This helps keep out-of-game information out of the game and to heighten tension.
Encounter Control Sheets collect the statblocks and important information of planned Encounters and foes the party is expected to encounter in the adventure. If the GM knows that a hunting party of 12 orcs from the tribe in the nearby forest is likely to be encountered, he needs to have them statted-up before play begins.
On the Encounter Control Sheet, the GM should list their total HP, weapons, mood, tactics and special attacks, treasure carried, and so on. This way, he doesn't have to lug out the entire roster of monster manuals and supplements just to double-check this little fact or that stat's value. All of that should be done prior to game time and referenced on the Control Sheet for ease-of-use. And if, for any reason, he does need to look something up, the pages should be referenced on the Control Sheet, cutting the time that takes in half.
Any important plot points or information the party will come across in the adventure can be listed here, too. If finding out some juicy bit of court gossip is part of the story, make sure to list that on the Encounter Control Sheet so you don't forget to drop it in when needed; if a door in their path can only be overcome by characters with STR of 16 or greater, note it!
We all know that adventures can't be plotted out point-by-point in sequence, due to their dynamic nature, but this method allows you to keep the key points for each session in front of you in no specific order so that they are fresh in your mind.
These Control Sheets, along with certain others, allow the GM to keep important information at-hand without having to stop the game to look them up or ask the players. It also helps keep him focused on the game -- what is supposed to happen, what could happen, and what has to happen; who is involved and why they are important; and so on.
After the session, these sheets can prove indispensable in recalling specific events and sequencing that occurred. This is especially helpful when parties become separated or specific knowledge is given to only some of the characters during the game. It is also useful for adding events to the History folder.