QUESTIONS:


1) How ADAPTABLE are you?
Preference gets in the way.  I have not only run sessions at the drop of a hat, I created a whole ruleset and adventure.  Myself and a few of my older gamers were driving up to my house in Maine, and they waxed rhapsodic about our old gaming sessions up there, and before you knew it, everyone in the car was pushing me to run a game once we settled in.  
But not only did I have very little, my main ruleset is very paperwork heavy, and chargen is pretty long....and I just could not see spending hours in chargen when I had spouses involved etc.
So in the car ride on the way to Maine, I created in my head the basics for my d20 OSR homage, Accis, World of Bronze and Heroes... and damned if we did not have 6 characters ready to play in 30 minutes once we started, and played that night and the whole next night.
Now, if you included running a ruleset I am not familiar with, the answer is no.  


2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?  In my house and your house.  One thing I do is I put a lot of stuff online in wikis and in dropbox.  So if I fell asleep here at my keyboard at work and woke up in the Land of Banned and PastRPGsite members, and had to run a game with Abysmal Maw and pals, or your house, I could do it as long as I had my ipad and wireless.


3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?
I woukld have.  I'm there to game.  Period.  I mean, at my sessions, we eat and drink wine, and socialize and have dinner, but we are there to game still.  I really would have considered the faux pas of inviting people over to game and not being ready of such greater magnitude that someone else saying, 'screw it, I'm going to work on gaming' that it really would not matter.


4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?
See above.  I will also add that I have stepped in twice to run games.  Neither time was I part of the original invite, both times people called me up because of some GM snafu in another game and they knew I can run a game in the drop of a hat.

Quote from: Koltar;592756Hi Guys.

QUESTIONS:


1) How ADAPTABLE are you?


2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?


3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?


4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?


- Ed C.

1) Very. I am considered the only one,of the GMs that dare to run for the people I know, that is willing to run a sandbox game while sticking (close enough) to the rules.

2) Have done so before.

3) You should always do what feels comfy to you.

4) In a similar circumstance I've taken the reins before and if it was that or everyone lose out on the fun then I'd probably do it again. However if there are videogames I like to be played probably wouldn't go for it.

Quote from: Planet Algol;593239As long as I have randomizers, paper, and pen/pencil I can do it. I may require a occasional 5 minute prep break, but any official motherfucker can pull this off.

You aren't an official motherfucker until its written on your wallet you know.

The answer would probably be it depends. If the group demands something I don't know, going in blind to the system, no. But any GM who's been more or less active for a few years should have a raft of notes and previous plot threads as well as NPCs, so even a modicum of knowledge about the system should be enough to carry the day. If the GM knows the system back to front then he or she might barely even need paper to run it.

Lets see, 6 adults allocating roughly four hours of time to leisure, thats 24 hours and with their time being worth $20 (rough guess) per hour that is like $500 of leisure/opportunity cost/potential work time wasted cause the DM was not on his game.  You (or any other player) was well within their rights to offer up another option (I think that is point 13.13.b in the Gamers Code).  

For quick ideas, pull out the Ultimate Toolbox, Tome of Adventure Design, CDD #4, or a equivalent web page.  Roll up some places, conflicts and missions, pull out a random monster chart and go with it.  Alternatively, use the quick character creation guide in the back of the 1e DMG and the other charts and rough it in quickly.  

As it is a group activity, 7 minds can fill and expand on any gaps that may exist.  Characters can be polished up later after the game or in medias res.  The magic of rpgs is in the mind as it fills in these gaps.

Roll dice, roll punches, and roll on!

Make a game of it, roll d6 to see who has to rush prep that night.  Then the average DMing skill in the group will rise, and rise fast!

QuoteQUESTIONS:


1) How ADAPTABLE are you?


2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?


3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?


4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?

i) Pretty adaptable

ii) There is another way to do it?
Seriously I can run a game at your house using a system I vaguely know with no rule books providing that there are no rules lawyers in the group.
I have run Ad libed games at cons where the PCs get to vote on the components of the game rules before they make up PCs. So Skills based system with %d, based in ancient Persia with Geni magic okay we can do that. D10 Dice pool Scifi that feels like Blake Seven...sorted.
then I make up a 4 hour adventure. Some of my best home campaigns started this way.
I have had a recurring nightmare though where it's 2 hours before a Murder Mystery weekend and I have 80 paying guests and I haven't written the characters or decided the plot yet and I try to wing it on the night.... painful.

iii) The first time he did it no the thrid time yes. I would have suggested a board game though with a role play feel, maybe Arkham Horror or Talisman or something along those lines. Blood Royale is a good game when you have gaming couples playing.

iv) See above. 3rd time this happened I would have just suggested using the impromtu design method and building a quick system and running a game for it.

I am if anything too adaptable. I devote very little time to prep and have developed a GMing style that compensates for this. It certainly has its disadvantages (I'd love to sit down and crank out a beautiful setting like Aos' Metal Earth or Benoist's megadungeon), but given my lifestyle, all too often it's this or no gaming.

Quote from: Koltar;592756QUESTIONS:


1) How ADAPTABLE are you?


2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?


3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?


4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?


- Ed C.

1) Not terribly adaptable, as you're using the term here. I'm "adaptable" as a GM when I'm running a game I've prepared, in terms of "The players are doing something I never expected, again." I can adapt to that all day and all night. But coming up with a game on the spot, not so much.

2) Now this is where I reverse course and say Yes I could. But I've spent the last several years doing convention demos for my publisher(s) so I have a stack of RPG scenarios ready to run, for various games and genres. So I could easily print off one of those, along with character sheets for same, in 20 minutes and get things rolling.

3) I think you should have made the offer and gotten a sense of what the rest of the group wanted to do.

4) I would absolutely offer to run a game, make it clear that it would be a one-shot (probably one of my convention demos) and see if the rest of the group was interested. Either they're pissed about the would-be GM not prepping his game and they want to play something, or they're aware of his "ego issues" and they'll vote the idea down. I'm prepared either way.

But I have to say, I don't really like what I'm hearing about this guy and his "issues." So he's not prepared to run a game, and he's got a problem with someone else stepping up? Not cool. Nothing personal, but I'll run something just to light a fire under his butt: it's either gonna motivate him to prep his game on time, or motivate him to step aside, both of which are improvements for the group as a whole.

Quote from: Xavier Onassiss;593886But I have to say, I don't really like what I'm hearing about this guy and his "issues." So he's not prepared to run a game, and he's got a problem with someone else stepping up? Not cool. Nothing personal, but I'll run something just to light a fire under his butt: it's either gonna motivate him to prep his game on time, or motivate him to step aside, both of which are improvements for the group as a whole.

YES on that thought.

 That individual has moved out of the 'friend' category to the 'just an aquaintance' one with me (whether he knows it or not)

Its going to get awkward because he and have friends in common and friends and aquaintances in at least two social circles that overlap.

- Ed C.

While running Rogue Trader, the PCs got a warp transit result of 'voices heard in the warp'.  The PCs decide to answer and I whipped up an adventure where the PCs rescue a pilgrim ship from hungry Tyranids.

1) How ADAPTABLE are you?

Very. Players throwing me for a loop is one of the pay offs I get from GMing. I consider GMing to be an improvisational art.

2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?

If I know the game setting well, and know who the PCs are, and have a good sense of their motivations OR have proactive players? Then absolutely. But if it's a brand new game, and the players are reactive, then I'd need to ask them a few questions about what they want.

3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?

I think I would have offered to run an impromptu session. Something more like "hey guys, we can either watch movies or something, or I have all my books here, so I can run something for you guys instead, if you want. What do you guys want to do?" and leave it to the rest of the group.

4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?

See above.

Quote1) How ADAPTABLE are you?
2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?
3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?
4) What would you have done in a similar situation?

1) About as adaptable as the average game-player; if I know the system/game, I'm game. If it's new to me, no way Jose.
2) On a good day, yes. A bad one might take 30 minutes.
3) Yes, but offer a different game. When the D&D game I played in went bust, I'd offer to run a MSH (faserip) as a light alternative. That way, the other GM doesn't feel like your trying to "steal his game/group". You can always try something new, if you feel confident on the rules (or everyone's ok with bumbling thru the adventure).
4) see above.

Give me your backstory and 5 minutes and well that's how I usually roll. Horrible isn't it? Word of advice people over 20 have jobs, commitments, significant others, and children just for a start.  So whipping stuff up on the fly is at a premium.

Quote from: Marleycat;594502Give me your backstory and 5 minutes and well that's how I usually roll. Horrible isn't it? Word of advice people over 20 have jobs, commitments, significant others, and children just for a start.  So whipping stuff up on the fly is at a premium.

It is funny, though, how those gaming lessons and skills honed at the gaming table are immeasurably useful later in life, and in turn get further honed in arena of life.

20 minutes to set up a game for 4 people is nothing compared to 15 minutes to whip up a coherent and meaningful seminar on client retention for 450 paying participants (due to...as usual...an overbooked flight and the original speaker being bumped).

Or, for that matter, it is nothing to the mom or dad who answers the phone call from stuck employees at work while running two kids around with errands and stocking the household and sports practice with the paperwork for the closing on a new house.

Learned skills and raised bars, you ain't kidding.

Quote from: Koltar;5927561) How ADAPTABLE are you?

Fairly adaptable, but lazy...

Quote2) Could you Run a Game Session at your own House with less than 20 minutes notice?

Using the Scotty Principle, I'd tell e'm, gee, I'll need at least an hour but I'll try (then get it done in 20).

Quote3) Should I have just done my first choice impulse and Run an impromptu session anyway? - Stepped on that guy's toes and such?

Yup.  There's not enough room behind a DM screen for an ego.

Quote4) What would you have done in a similiar situation?

Assuming they'd not just play a board/card game, I'd reach for the binder with a bunch of One Page Dungeons I printed out, grab one or two NPCs from the pre-gens in my DM Gamebook, do quick writeups for some monsters and some treasure (if the OPD needs more), formulate some BS story in my head and It's On.

-SJ

"The Scottie Principal" it's the story of any person with responsibilities personal mantra.

Basically make due with what you have, tell the bosses it can't be done in a reasonable time then improvise.  99.9% of the time you will shock yourself because you end up succeeding beyond all reasonable expectations.