“Success is not at all times about greatness. It is about consistency. Constant laborious work results in success. Greatness will come.”—Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”)
Name It Persistently!
Watching the NBA finals a couple of years in the past, I typically heard the plea of gamers and coaches—and spectators—that referees name the sport persistently. Whether or not they name it tight or free, name numerous fouls inside or exterior, so long as the refs are constant the gamers can regulate their play accordingly.
Desirous about some adventures I’ve skilled through the years, I noticed that RPGers additionally need consistency of GMs rulings. That is each within the “meta” mode, what characters do apart from adventures, and the journey mode.
Time
One in all inconsistency that bugs me is when a GM ordinarily provides gamers numerous time to think about what to do, however then at a hectic level goes into real-time and rushes everybody (introducing video-game-like time stress). To me this can be a low-cost GM trick; I determine I’m taking part in a recreation probably not adventuring. (In real-world adventures, it’s real-time.).
Believability vs. Boring
One other consideration: the important thing to believability in video games is consistency. In board video games it is simpler to take care of a baseline consistency on how the sport world works, however RPGs take much more work. Some GMs care about believability, some don’t.
Alternatively, consistency within the sorts of issues the gamers truly do, the sorts of challenges they meet (even storytelling is a problem), is normally not fascinating. It doesn’t matter what it’s, doing the identical factor time and again and over can turns into tedious, whether or not it’s saving the world, or slaughtering orcs, or taking part in politics, and so on.
Pacing Your self
Dramatic displays of any form require good pacing to remain “contemporary.” A one-word description of fine pacing may be “variability.” “Pacing” is an unlucky alternative of phrases, as a result of it implies regular, measured endeavor (“strolling with gradual common strides”), which is not fascinating.
Good pacing is about greater than three-act construction, although following a construction of that kind, and even the Hero’s Journey, essentially varies the pacing of the occasion.
Constant GM Types
Of the 2 extremes of GM fashion, “GM as arbiter” makes consistency simpler, besides that it topics GMs to “guidelines lawyering.” In different phrases, if the GM simply interprets the principles (which have to be fairly detailed for this to work) and doesn’t make up new guidelines, then consistency is less complicated to attain (assuming the sport itself is constant!). Detailed recreation guidelines truly assist the GM be constant, however additionally they require extra GM time, consideration, and typically extra planning than if the sport guidelines are much less detailed.
“GM as god,” however, can simply result in inconsistency. If the gamers are extra invested in a storyline through which occasions occur to them (and so they play alongside), they could discover these inconsistencies much less jarring so long as the tip consequence is an effective story.
RPGs Are Not Linear Leisure
With regards to consistency, RPGs are greater than easy leisure, they’re video games too. Distinction the perspective with mass-market leisure like tv reveals and flicks. Consistency is usually missing in these mediums, in cartoons particularly, and in TV writing generally. Writers assume nothing of “dishonest,” of placing issues into this system that couldn’t presumably be proper in mild of later “reveals.” However most viewers do not care sufficient to harm the present, in the event that they discover in any respect. The identical sort of factor occurs in lots of genres of movie, particularly blockbuster adventures. Most of us find yourself recognizing large plot holes however agree to just accept them and transfer on with a purpose to benefit from the movie.
Video games are made of various stuff, and avid gamers anticipate consistency as a result of they don’t seem to be simply passively watching, they’re taking part.
Your Flip: Is consistency an essential a part of your group’s play fashion?
