MU Things I Love
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That stomach-in-your-throat nervousness of disclosing something important in a scene that definitely could put your PC in danger, to players that you don't know well, because you are being true to your PC and getting to do so in a scene where everyone is awesome, and so even though you are OOC fretting that you're maybe just annoying people, you push through it and they are gracious OOC and super fun ICly!
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Having something to disclose to even put you on the edge of your seat OMFG what if this goes south delicious feeling in the first place!
It's really been a long long time since I had a PC that had stuff like that that I had to ICly and OOCly wrestle with exposure because the risks are pretty high. It's nice to have that feeling of danger OOCly (since I will almost always side on the side of inclusion if it makes good IC sense) and just not knowing how people will react ICly. In a good way.
I could just hug and hug and hug both my PCs' secrets right now. I still have plenty of frustrations with the game I play sometimes, but I haven't felt this invested and involved in my PCs since RfK, which is a very big deal. So even though I'm still super nervous I am super happy too!
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@mietze said in MU Things I Love:
- That stomach-in-your-throat nervousness of disclosing something important in a scene that definitely could put your PC in danger, to players that you don't know well, because you are being true to your PC and getting to do so in a scene where everyone is awesome, and so even though you are OOC fretting that you're maybe just annoying people, you push through it and they are gracious OOC and super fun ICly!
It's my favourite thing to be the other person in the room when someone is doing this. OOCly awesome of course, but I do love being able to act IC to spike that tension a touch or two.
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Feeling like after all this time, I might be part of an actual community. With cool, fun, interesting, creative people are roughly as crazy as I am.
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That feeling of satisfaction when someone is an asshole, and you see what their behavior is going to cause, predict it, and watch it happen.
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When you do something nice for someone ICly on a whim and they express their appreciation; that warm, fuzzy feeling is amazing.
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That feeling when you wrap up a great story in the best of ways and give some alpha characters a much needed rest. Thanks for collaborating with me @krmbm
We did good. -
@bear_necessities At least now I know why you asked my name on MSB.
Any time, my friend.
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Inspiration on crafting after a long dry spell of blank stare and nothing.
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@krmbm @bear_necessities Whaaat? I totally thought you two knew each other from here after (or even before) Calaveras. Kudos on what you two are both doing now by the by! I don't play much, but what RP I do get in on is on your joint.
I'm just a surge protector doing my job, sir.
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@Lotherio Nope nope. I don't think our paths ever crossed till we were playing on Calaveras, and @thesuntsar told me that @bear_necessities didn't seem like a crazy person, so we started playing together.
And now everyone thinks we are the same person.
Very glad you're having fun. Even as I sit here going "BUT WAIT THEN WHO ARE YOU?!"
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@krmbm said in MU Things I Love:
@Lotherio Nope nope. I don't think our paths ever crossed till we were playing on Calaveras, and @thesuntsar told me that @bear_necessities didn't seem like a crazy person, so we started playing together.
And now everyone thinks we are the same person.
Very glad you're having fun. Even as I sit here going "BUT WAIT THEN WHO ARE YOU?!"
Heh, I'm Jack, I came over with the same name I used on Calaveras.
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Oh! Mystery solved.
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Tfw when a prp lasts for nine hours and you regret none of it.
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Getting to GM the beginning of a storyline for players who weren't expecting what's ahead, and watch the OOC enthusiasm and excitement as it sinks in what's just happened. I've gotten to do this several times lately (most recently last night), and the effort of hours of GM'ing feels more than worth it when you hit that moment where the players realize.
(I will admit, though, I am so fond of that moment of reveal and realization that I'm now half-considering looking for ways to do the same thing with some other storylines I mean to touch off as a GM in the near future, even though these don't have quite as natural a point for it as the ones I've recently done...)
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@Sparks That sounds awesome. I haven't had a chance to GM in ages and I've been itching to find a place to run stories for people. I'm happy for you and your players.
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To second @Sparks, when you have a reeeeally out there idea, and you spend days working it out and layering in things and really working hard to make things make sense. And you finally get to the day you have to run it, and not only are the players awesome, but they pick up on what you're trying to do and they just make it glorious.
I have really, really, started to discover that my favorite part of MU*ing is running stories for people. I was so honored to be trusted with a really important goal for a character and just watching them go through it was so gratifying.
Now. If i could just get better at guesstimating timing. What I thought would take about 4 hours, ended up taking nearly 12. And kudos to them for sticking with it that long! It was probably the most fun I've had in months. It was all of the warm and fuzzies.
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@AeriaNyx said in MU Things I Love:
To second @Sparks, when you have a reeeeally out there idea, and you spend days working it out and layering in things and really working hard to make things make sense. And you finally get to the day you have to run it, and not only are the players awesome, but they pick up on what you're trying to do and they just make it glorious.
Yeah. The moment when the story becomes clear, where the fog lifts and the road is visible ahead, and players realize "Oh!" and you can see them fall into sync with the plotline... it's the best part of GM'ing.
I love having a story unfold, player-side; discovering something ICly I didn't even know OOCly, especially when it involves my character directly or peripherally, is a joy. It's one reason I do love tabletop games; in the groups I've played in, the GM will often write secrets and plot twists tied into the backstory of various characters, which means you can sometimes end up seeing your own character's backstory—or character themself!—in a new light, after some twist or revelation the GM unveils.
But I love giving other people those same kind of moments even more, when I can. It's why I run a D&D campaign at work for co-workers. It's why I GM on MU*s.
When you see the players really engaging with the plot you've laid out in front of them, it's one of the best dopamine hits in the world.
@AeriaNyx said in MU Things I Love:
Now. If i could just get better at guesstimating timing. What I thought would take about 4 hours, ended up taking nearly 12. And kudos to them for sticking with it that long! It was probably the most fun I've had in months. It was all of the warm and fuzzies.
I'll note that keeping a plot to a specific length is an acquired skill, and has less to do with guesstimating timing and more to do with adjusting your GM'ing style on the fly.
If I've set aside 3 hours for a plot and the players are deeply into it and posing rapidly, I can drill down into details more. Let's say the overall plot is to get into this ancient vault, pass into the tunnels of that vault, and locate some ancient artifact (which will doubtless do something Unexpected when claimed). And let's say the NPC who has served as their guide and escorted them to the entrance of this vault needs them to perform a ritual to unlock it, before they can continue on.
If folks are zipping along in their poses, the explanation of the ritual can be drawn out over multiple pose rounds (allowing for the PCs to react as the steps are described "You need our tears, our sweat, and our blood for this? The blood kind of alarms me..."), and the ritual itself can be multiple pose rounds (to show the effects growing, and build to the moment when the ancient vault's door begins to move).
But if the PCs are being very thoughtful about their poses—or there's just a lot of PCs present—I start to compress; the ritual instructions might be described in one pose round instead, allowing one pose round for reactions, and then the ritual itself will probably also be one pose round (with, admittedly, one heck of a long and dramatic emit to describe the ritual). That way, we can keep moving on the meat of the plot—following the tunnels into the ancient vault, in search of an artifact with mysterious effects!—rather than being hung up trying to open the vault for an hour and a half, and have people have to bail on a plot before reaching the heart of it.
So it's less about guessing "how long will this take", and more about how you can tweak your own GM style/pace to try to fit the plotline as closely as you can to the estimated time.
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A comment in another thread about how hard it is to find people who want to ST things for other players reminded me...
I'm really not good at figuring out people's handles on MSB, but Alexander, Carver, Penny, Dahlia, and August at GH volunteered to be storytellers, and I can't say enough nice things about them.
They run scenes, pick up RP jobs, execute longer plots, and brainstorm "cool things to do." I feel like we've gotten very lucky with the number of proactive players who are keen to tell stories for other people.
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@krmbm said in MU Things I Love:
A comment in another thread about how hard it is to find people who want to ST things for other players reminded me...
I'm really not good at figuring out people's handles on MSB, but Alexander, Carver, Penny, Dahlia, and August at GH volunteered to be storytellers, and I can't say enough nice things about them.
They run scenes, pick up RP jobs, execute longer plots, and brainstorm "cool things to do." I feel like we've gotten very lucky with the number of proactive players who are keen to tell stories for other people.
Our STs are AMAZZZINNNNNGGG!!!! It makes me really happy
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When people do things for your character that are completely unexpected and are kind enough you cry IRL because it's just so nice.
