GM Pointers: Live-Text Games

The Shattered Coasts server sees a fair share of games. Some are via voice, some are slow-form play-by-post, and then there are the dreaded "Live-Text" games.

The other night, a small dungeon ran from about 4 PM to 11 PM PST. Over the course of 7 grueling hours (admittedly I only glanced at it occasionally), the players investigated a town, made their way to a dungeon, dealt with a strange curse and some interesting enemies, and eventually made it out alive with some lute loot.

Afterwards, the GM swore off live-text games, understandably so. The adventure shouldn't take half the time it did.

I spy one key problem.

Every interaction in a live-text game takes a minute or two, rather than a few seconds. Players have to type out responses (when they're paying attention), then other players have to read those responses, and so on.

In a voice game, folks (hopefully) listen at the same time someone else speaks, and a silence of more than a few seconds is rare. Things simply happen quicker.

So, how can we pick up the pace in live-text?

Minimize Back-and-Forth

Both the GM and the players should put as much detail into their posts as possible, but it starts with the GM.

The GM should open with a line like this: "I'm going to assume that you investigate things carefully as you come to them, unless you tell me otherwise." And then, whenever the players enter an area the GM may give them a relatively high level of detail so they're not waiting for players to ask questions when the answer would be readily available.

Bad example: "Through the door is a banquet hall."

Good example: "Stepping through the door, you enter a room with 2 large tables, both set with silverware and lit candles. A roasted animal (you think a lion) sits on each table, surrounded by lightly charred vegetables and bowls of gravy. There is 1 door on the far side of the room, and a window to your right looking over the gardens where you killed the gnome."

Players should be instructed by the GM to "Tell me what you want to achieve on your turn, and how you attempt it." Rather than vaguely poking at things, players should act with purpose.

A good way to do this is to list a few potential options: If X then Y, otherwise Z.

Bad example: "Does the food smell good?"

Good example: "If the food smells good, I'll take a nibble of it, and carve off a few rations if that doesn't end badly. If it smells awful, I'll just steal the silverware."

Distractions

The other note worth mentioning is outside distractions. Everyone, the GM included, should be expected to minimize distractions during a live-text game. This is not a good time to be playing WoW, going on a date, or teaching a bear not to bite you when you put your head in its mouth. Put on some music, find an activity that doesn't need a lot of focus, and pay attention to the game.

Default Actions

One more common helper during text games is "default actions". While this normally comes up more in Play-by-Post, it can be useful if a player goes suddenly unresponsive for whatever reasons.

"Default Actions" are what the character does in common situations if the player is not available.

Bad Example: The only bad example of a default action is something that takes more than 10 seconds to read, or doesn't exist at all.

Good Example:
Combat: Stick to the back, fire crossbow (+2, d8+2) at spell-casters or ranged enemies.
Dungeon Crawling: Check rooms for magic (3-in-6 chance), inform party.
In-Town: Restock crossbow bolts, ask around about the one-eyed flutist.

I hope all this helps, and happy gaming!