<chunkynotes version="1.0" title="GameMastering">
      <summary>Notes on being a GM</summary>

      <intro></intro>

<chunk title="Play to their Strengths (and Prey on their Weaknesses)">

<blockquote><b>A high attribute or skill is not an advantage unless
      a character gets an opportunity to use it.<br/>
      A low attribute or skill is not a disadvantage unless a character
      is placed in a situation where it would be useful.</b></blockquote>

<p>This is an important and underappreciated aspect of stats-based
roleplaying. Players should be put into situations that test their
advantages and expose their disadvantages. In any given situation
consider how the characters can use their abilities to come out on
top.</p>

<p>Consider how members of the group can use their abilites to assist
other members or provide a breakthrough for the whole team. For example,
when the combat master's gun jams in the heated firefight, the tech wiz
might be able to fix it. When the team is stuck in a dead end alley with
enemies in pursuit, the rogue can pick the lock on a nearby door to
provide the team with an excape route.</p>

<p>On the other hand, there are time when characters should be put into
situations which expose their weakesses. However, do not let them get
stuck, lest the adventure get bogged down. It is better to provide
the character with a <i>complication</i> or a <i>missed opportunity</i>.</p>

<p>A character without any mechanical skill who is driving to a meeting
may suffer a breakdown, which they are unable to fix. They may need to
find alternative transport quickly. Alternatively if they miss the
meeting they might lose a job, useful information, or a new contact. If
they stood up an underworld kingpin, they may have a problem....</p>
</chunk>
<chunk title="Keeping Character Records">

<p>There are two extremes when handling character sheets and other info:</p>

<ol>
<li>The GM keeps all sheets and records, and describes things for the players.
This generally results in the GM being drowned in papers.</li>
<li>Characters keep their own character sheets and keeps track of damage and
everything associated with their character. The GM has to keep asking them
what their stats are (and keep reminding them to apply wound penalties etc).
The GM also has to deal with players who left their character sheets at home
(oops).</li>
</ol>

<p>An effective compromise is to let the character keep track of all their
character data, but for the GM to keep a partial copy - enough to monitor
damage and make a few skill rolls in secret.</p>

<p>At the end of each session the GM should get a complete copy
of the PC's stats for safekeeping; for those still using pen and paper
excusively, this provides an excellent opportunity to rewrite a new sheet
without all the corrections and crossing out.</p>
</chunk>
<chunk title="Revealing test results">

<p><b>Describe</b> the game world, not the die result. "You see Bob running
away from 3 guards; they are about 20 meters away from him" vs.  "You got a 7,
    Bob is running away from 3 guards, 18 meters behind him". It's usually
    better to use the PC's point of view rather than describing what "is"
    happenning (consider "You see" in the example).</p>

<p>Feel free to introduce irrelevant information, especially on poor rolls.
   Don't be afraid to be too obvious. <br/>"It's made of metal." <br/>"What type of metal?"
      <br/>"A <i>shiny</i> metal.".</p>

<p>Never descibe something (or someone) important in more detail than other
things unless the characters know it's more important, or it/he/she is really
standing out from the crowd.</p>
</chunk>
<chunk title="When one PC knows something the others don't">

<p>For example, the PCs are negotiating with a weapons dealer. One of the PCs
(with his cybernetically enhanced x-ray vision) suddenly spots that the dealer
is an undercover cop. They can't tell the other characters without tipping him
off as well.</p>

<p>This is always awkward. It helps if you are playing with experienced
<b>role</b>players.</p>

<p>In many cases it's easier (and better) not to bother, and just tell
the whole team. For example, you may wish to make perception tests for
the whole group (adding a group bonus to the roll) and simply tell the
group. Where time and noise is not critical it is likely one character
will tell the others.</p>

<p>But in cases like the cheesy example above, the drama hinges upon one
character knowing something the others dont. The only really effective way to
handle this is to pass them a handwritten note, although the other players
will still know that something is up. If you will be doing this a lot,
pass around a lot of blank or misleading ones too.</p>
</chunk>
<chunk title="Splitting up the group">

   <p>For example, hostage situations, complex plans, etc.</p>

   <p>This is always a real pain in the arse. In all cases, if the different parts of the group are not in
      contact with each other, enforce that on the characters. Don't
      let them act on knowledge the characters don't have. That said,
      if it's a modern to high tech setting, its probably easiest to
      let them communicate with mobile phones or earpiece radios or
      whatever (assuming the bad guys don't jam their
      transmissions...).</p>

   <p>Flawed solutions:</p>

   <ol> <li>Do both simultaneously (the best if the subgroups have
         radios or similar and are in constant communication). If one
         group goes into combat (or similar time-dependent activity)
         it's best to resolve that before switching back. The constant
         switching back and forth can otherwise drive everyone nuts.</li>

      <li>Work with one group for a short, episodic period of in game
         time (say, an hour) and then switch to the other. This is the
         most likely to lead to characters acting on things when they
         shouldn't, but can be the easiest to organise.</li>

      <li>Do two seperate game sessions with just the subgroups.
         Difficult to arrange but can work well - especially as the
         players know they can't rely on the missing PCs...</li>
   </ol>

</chunk>
</chunkynotes>
