Friday, February 19, 2016

Discussion: Between Sessoin Emails. Do You Use Them?

Does your game continue when the regularly scheduled time is over? Do you send out emails with what is going on between sessions? Do your players send you emails with how they are reacting? Are there side meetings? Conversations that actually impact in game events? If you do do them, do you warn people that they happen, and can happen? If you don't allow them, is there a reason?

I'm likely going to talk about the ramifications of doing these later on, but for today I'm just curious if you use them.

Personally, I do. I try to limit how much they are used, but whenever there is a time skip in my game there is always the possibility for something minor - but significant - to happen and so I send out an email with what is going to happen over the break, and what NPCs are doing what (provided it is information the PCs would get.) My players, in turn, respond with what they're doing, or trying to do.

In the end it means the game gets more done between sessions, letting us focus on juicy session RP when we have our regularly scheduled sessions. But it's not for everyone.

So, do you do them? Do you not? Why?

2 comments:

  1. I do, but again I try to limit it because it has the potential to make people feel overwhelmed by the amount of information, or commitment they are expected to make to game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think a big factor is the frequency of the game. If a game is weekly, then a lot of emails between sessions makes that a very active game - and it might be best if your players don't have jobs. :-p However, if a game is monthly, emails between sessions can help maintain the players' mental pilot light.

    My campaign is every other week. I like there to be campaign "stuff" going on inbetween sessions, but it's rarely actual roleplaying in nature.

    I might go over the players' gear spreadsheet and ask them to make a case for how the 12-pound cogitating medical device fits on their belt. I might publish a new NPC profile to our campaign website, which the players get notified about via email. After just about every session, I'll change the picture and caption on our campaign website's splash page so it represents something about what the players are doing or just did.

    The idea is to keep their pilot light on. Keep the campaign simmering on their brain just a little bit (and mine, of course). I find that it serves as effective foreplay for the next session.

    ReplyDelete