Organizing the Session

This may sound familiar to you.

''The game was supposed to begin at noon, but it's half past one now, and Joe still isn't here. This isn't really a problem though, because Fred and Angela are still making the new characters that they were supposed to have done and ready for today. Phil is ready and wondering what the hold up is, and you feel like you could shoot somebody and call it a sacrifice to the Game Master.''

More than a few gaming sessions begin like this, especially in the following cases: These can all be addressed in roughly the same way, the point is, we're all in the same boat.
 * New Players
 * New Party
 * Perrenially Lazy Members
 * New Gaming Location or Time
 * The Players are out of College and have lives that they have to game around

Basic steps to ensuring that the game goes off without a hitch. That's all that there is too it. Nothing fancier than that.
 * Pick a time that everyone agrees to honour.
 * Be certain that the game is set to begin, before noon, or (for an evening game) shortly after dinner. If a game is set to late in the day it will be hard to make progress.
 * Systemise a reminder system.
 * Systemise pre-adventure start up to be done off session (buying supplies, and even gathering info)
 * Be certain that you are always on time.
 * Have a rule for absent players, one that everyone agrees to ahead of time- AFK, GM plays, a player plays, etc...

Picking a Time

The most important step to getting everyone to show up on time is to pick a time that everyone agrees that they can meet. This means that everyone must agree that they can and will be present at the agreed upon time ready to game. This doesn't mean that the person gets off work at that time. This doesn't mean that the person should be on the way at the time. The Game Master must be clear that the time that players are agreeing to is a start time. This is the time that the game is supposed to start, the players should- ideally- be a little bit early of this time.

All of this will likely surprise and make the player backtrack a little. This is why everyone should agree with the time. Because, this is not a rough aim, but a start time. Be certain to refer to it as the Game Start Time. Try not to act like a jerk or a heavy handed control freak, just suggest that if everyone knows the start time, rather than a rough guess, it will help us be certain of when we need to get here. Being more precise in the naming of a meeting time helps other people realize what is actually being suggested. As stated previously, to many people, listing a meeting time, will mean that as long as they arrive within twenty minutes or so, everything is fine. By naming the meeting time as the Game Start Time, it forces them to realize what is actually meant by the meeting time.

Despite all of this, there will be people who will be late. This is to be expected and can be dealt with later on by making things more efficient and by having a late and absentee policy.

The Reminder System

Many people need to be reminded, even if you meet every week for your weekly gaming session, these people will need to be reminded in order to know that everything is going forward. In order to remember to do this job every week, we recommend that you set up an automatic reminder system. In this respect we recommend that you use the automatic reminder system in Google Calendar to send an email or a text message to your mobile phone, preferably three days before the game.

At this point you should send out a mass email to your team. The email should include the following things. The Recap of the last game is essential, because it reminds the players of the previous game and gets them thinking in gaming mode again before they get to the next session. having the players arrive in the zone is much better, because recapping and getting back into the mood is a serious time waster.
 * A Recap of the last game.
 * A Summary of the final situation.
 * A Summary of everyone's health and position at game's end.
 * The time and place of the next session, including the Game Start Time (this should have already been agreed upon).
 * Any responsibilities for food etc... that individual players might have (we recommend potluck).
 * Anything that players can do by email before the game starts.

The Summary of the final situation is key because if the players ended trapped in the brig of the alien space frigate they won't have as many options as if ther were hiding in the munitions storeroom. The players need to know their final situation to start planning their next move, and you as Game Master want them to have this all planned by the time they arrive to play. Again this is simply a matter of efficiency. Gaming can take a lot of tie to get going, and especially o nce the gaming group is out of school, time can be precious.

A Summary of everyone's health is also essential. Most players don't know much about their fellow player's characters, even though in game they could clearly see how the party is doing at all times. So by giving this update, everyone has a sense of how the party is doing and how current conditions should figure into the team's plans. It also gets the gaming blood flowing.

The time should be self-explanatory, although as stated above, make certain that you include both the get together time and the Game Start Time. It is important to have that Game Start Time clearly displayed.

The Pre-game responsibilities, such as food, or bringing of gaming books or similar is simply a good way of ensuring that nothing gets forgottten. We are all human, and humans have a very odd memory system, and it only works in certain ways. Give your player's memories a boost and you'll keep the game running smoothly.

The final option- what the players can do by email- should always be listed last. This is a great way of accomplishing two goals. First, this brings the players right into the campaign before they even get to the gaming session. Second, this allows the players to get a lot of time-consuming activities out of the way that would have wasted gaming time at the next session. Players can purchase items, bandage wounds, meditate, search their room or cell or the storeroom they're hiding in. Simple things that they would do as soon as the game starts, but that you can deal with via email. Thus, the players are already thinking in game and the game will run more efficiently when they arrive because of it. Remember to post an email saying what each player has done to any other player, whose character would have been able to see the first character's actions.

Pre-Adventure Systemization

The players have all arrived and its time to start play. The Game Master settles down and is about to begin the adventure hook...

“Can I buy some more arrows?”

“I want to invesigate that old house we saw last week.”

“Can I go to the blacksmith and get him to repair my sword.”

“I want to hit on the barmaid again. I think I'm making progress.”

“I want to go check the wanted posters to see if there are any new bad guys listed.”

By the time the party has bought arrows, discovered that the old house is the home of the original mayor of town and a historical landmark, had the fighter's sword repaired, had the bard get slapped by the barmaid, and discovered that three new bandits are now valued at seventeen gold pieces dead or alive each, two hours of gaming time is gone.

The problem is that in order for the world to seem real, these things need to be checked and investigated. These things and flavor and realism to the world. A Game Master can't leave them out, that would spoil the illusion. But a Good Game Master can deal with them before the game starts.

The Gaming Page

At this point it only makes sense to have a web page for the campaign. Web pages are easay to make, cost nothing and allow any of players to have access to information that they need. We recommend that you use either a blog page, a free private wiki (such as wikia or wetpaint.com), or a standard free website provider.

You don't need to know how to code, the page needs to do only a few things.

The Gaming Page should include relevant information: such as a map of the area, names of key NPCs or so forth on the main page. Game Masters need not go over board. This is simply a quick reference for between games.

The Game Page should also include a webpage for the party watering hole. That is, the town or station, or neighourhood, or bar, or clubhouse, or barracks or whatever that the party uses as a base of operations. This is the player's zone. This page should include a list of whatever is available in that town for purchase, or rent. This should include those things that the players can do without difficulty. This allows a range of actions to be taken by the players between adventures (as long as the end of session situation doesn't prevent it- such as being thrown in the Dark Lord's Dungeon).

The Gaming Page can also include a contact email for the Game Master, but this is only advisable if the page is private, because otherwise the Game Master is likely to get a lot of emails from people asking if they can play.

The Page can also be used to list history and rumor and back story that the Game Master wants to make available to the players. This can be an excellent dumping ground for information that the players can sift through for adventure hooks and things of that sort.

Of all of the options listed, I recommend the private wiki as being the best. This allows only those invited to use the page and allows you to slowly add new information and include summaries of previous games easily.

Summary

So by allowing the pre-game time spenders such as purchasing new gear to be done in between sessions using the Gaming Page, the Game Master can free up considerable actual gaming time, and by reminding the players via e-mail, you can get everyone into the mood quickly. A Quick note to add here. If you have players who don't check their email regularly, then drop them a phone call to let them know that the email is there and that they can do their pre-game preparations any time.

Absentee Rules

Absentee rules are essential if you want your games to run smoothly and efficiently. The most important thing to consider is that no matter what it is that you decide to do in the event of a player being absent or severely late, it must be something that the whole group agrees is fair. If you end up forcing a rule on some people who don't agree with it, then the only thing that will happen is the your gaming group will suffer for the decision.

The basic options for an absentee system are as follows: The easiest is to have another player act as a proxy. The reason for this is that the Game Master knows what's going to happen, and if the missing player has an essential skill, it can be quite awkard for the other players to try to remember what skills the missing Player's character has and if t hey are relevant unless they are staring at the character sheet trying to play the character.
 * A player designates another player as their proxy, to player their character if they can't make it. it is important that the player get to choose their proxy, otherwise the player may feel that the system is unfair. If necessary, the player may pick a back up proxy in case both the player and their proxy are away. But if more than one player is missing it is generally advisable to postpone the game.
 * The Game Master runs the player's Character as an NPC until the player arrives.
 * The Party plays without said character on a short stand alone adventure (this doesn't always work, especially if the current game is at an awkard point)

Most gaming books give some sort of warning about only advanced players trying to play more than one character, but in these cases there is rarely any major problem.

If possible, the Stand Alone Adventure is the best option. Although it is essential that experience be kept reasonable so the absent player doesn't fall behind.

All of the solutions work, just pick the one that everyone can agree upon and go from there. Obviously, the Stand Alone Adventure only works sometimes and if this is everyone's favorite, you will need to pick a back up option as well.