Ellri

Character sheets - How do you like them being?

Aye, @Chapatrap. Long can be better, but it can also be a lot worse.

Character sheets - How do you like them being?

We too have noticed that, @Song Book. "You must mention X in your sheet." tends not to filter away the bad ones. You get good sheets without it included and bad sheets with it included. For ourselves at least, we found that it is far too better to be strict in sheet review. If it takes an extra week for someone to write a good sheet, then so be it.

Character sheets - How do you like them being?

From our limited NRP experience, sheets tend to break somewhat after the first couple of IC posts you make. Elements become obsolete, others that aren't there become necessary, etc.

GMing a large group?

Ahh... this is a topic we have experience with...

Our current project has 22 characters in the works currently, and its not even started public recruitment.

Beyond what @Jig said, you also need to be able to manage time. With a large player count, you will end up with players who are hours (or even days) ahead of the others. If you don't somehow keep track of time, people will end up tying knots on the timeline.

Also, if you've got a larger group, co-GMs are invaluable. Nobody is available all the time, all days. Sometimes RL comes in the way. Sometimes you're just tired. Sometimes you need to discuss plans with someone without having it public knowledge among the players. That is where Co-GMs come in. They can step in when you can't. They can see things from a different angle.

Co-GMs usually have strengths you do not have. Some might be better organized, others are better at dealing with people. Some might be masters are comprehending and utilizing lore, or perhaps good at laying out plots.

In our opinion and experience (there are several schools on it) a co-GM should not be kept in the dark. Its better for the secret plan of the RP to be known to all the GMs than to be solely the property of one. A GM that doesn't share plot with his (or her) co-GM(s) doesn't really want co-GMs. (s)he wants minions. Not atypically to take care of the boring, tedious parts. Not exactly fair to the individual chosen. Such burdens should be shared. That gives better dynamic and flow for the story.

Clear, easy-to-read sheets are also necessary, and don't be afraid to absorb ideas from your players on that. We've learned plenty from our players over the years.

for recruiting new players, longer RPs should also have summaries.

For the inevitable dropouts, you need a system for exiting player characters, and if death is a tool you plan to use, don't just kill all dropouts... it ruins the effect when you need it for the story.

GMing Best Practices

We've too many experiences to have a single "best" one. But one of the most satisfying ones recently was when we released the CS templates for our upcoming relaunch of Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath and immediately had twelve players (including the three GMs) ready even without an interest check. Most of these were returning players, but some were new too.

Truly satisfying this.

RPing help

Sometimes, it is also beneficial to only have one piece of dialogue per paragraph, though it it can be split in two for effect.

Our immediate impression was that the paragraph was a bit too dense, that it had nowhere near enough "air".

Help with how to write through a certain situation

It kinda depends on how harshly the players feel about others moving their characters.

a simple "they traveled through the murky wood together, neither saying much of anything due to the eerie stillness surrounding them." will cover it fairly well. Or you could do the same in several sentences.

If the players know each other well and understand the characters, then "remote control" on some level is also possible, though it might be wise to verify any points you have doubts about the correctness of in actions/words.

Speed posting and roleplay hype.

When two players have the spark to post far more quickly than the rest, they should use a collab.

And a good GM should make sure that the players don't outpace each other. For our own RPs we hold to a simple rule: RL first.

If it takes some players longer to write than others, then so be it.

Character sheets - How do you like them being?

@Vor
It's quite interesting to have such. On one of the three templates for our WIP RP relaunch, there's one point for characters to IC describe one weakness/Flaw, and in the ooc section after, they have to list the others. There's no requirement that the players be honest on the IC one.

We thought about having something similar on one of the other templates, but how many Sith would honestly speak of their Flaws to anyone else?

Originally, we had planned to have all three templates entirely in IC format, but the above point made it obvious that would not function plausibly.

Character sheets - How do you like them being?

@Lady Amalthea We too have found it practical to use CS process as screening for players.

Saves the work of cleaning up players who godmod and all that in the IC by having them eliminated before they post IC. We'd rather review a sheet a couple of extra times than have to bother moderators and the other players with purging/ignoring such players when they join.

It also annoys us how some players seem to think they can change basic functions of an existing universe... Like having a Mandalorian bounty-hunter Sith Lord with traits stolen liberally from various (ex-)canon characters or hybridizing a mammal species and a plant species or things like that.

Another time we had a player who apparently invented a new combat form, despite such not existing thousands of years later in the established canon... In a society where such knowledge wouldn't be lost.

Anyways, we're deviating from our own topic. We can often spend a week or more tweaking a template, only to throw much of it away after running it through the grinder that is an experimental sheet. how about you others?