Question of the Day

That reminds me of babysitting when I was 12 or 13 (mid-80s). A couple hired me every Saturday night to watch their son while they managed their restaurant/bar until closing. So after he went to bed, I'd be watching whatever was on cable TV.

One night I watched When a Stranger Calls and Halloween back to back. That was a bit intense especially in a stranger's house.
Eep

I watched all kinds of things I shouldn't have in the 70s and early 80s, but three of the most memorable things were...

1) Some kind of cheesy-but-scary-to-a-kid-aliens-attack-a-village movie I saw when I was *very* small (I've never known the name of it, though some research points me to Island of Terror from 1966)

2) The third short in the 1975 made-for-TV 'thriller' movie Trilogy of Terror -- I just watched it for the first time since 1975 and it is STILL terrifying.

3) Alien -- the face-hugger and the chest-bursting of course, but I remember being really affected when Ash has his head beaten off and he continues to dance around. Yikes...

Oh yah that reminds me of one more I saw WAY too young: The Thing. Holy hell that scene when the guy is about to use the paddles on the other guy …

One of my very favorite movies. :)

(Along with Alien!)

I watched the Thing for the first time maybe five years ago, and literally jumped out of my chair at that scene. Phenomenal. This is why practical effects work, people!

I saw the Shining when I was about 7, and when it finished I went down to the basement where my father was working to talk about it. He jumped out at me from behind a door with an axe. Ahhh, parenting.

Honourable mention to one of the Robocop sequels I saw around the same age: there's a scene where the psychopathic drug dealer villain is torturing some corporate stooge by strapping him to a medical gurney and cutting his chest open with a scalpel. I can still hear the sound of the blade cutting through canvas and flesh when I close my eyes.

Question for those who ran modules in pbp format - how long does it takes to complete one, on average? Specifically thinking about introductory modules/stories often included in the corebooks, designed to give people the taste of a particular system.

I haven't run modules as such, but I've run a few Paizo adventure paths and one part of those is equivalent to a module. And my experience is 1,5 year per part. Though those are rather meaty with 3-4 level ups.

I once ran a short Warhammer 4th edition module a few years back and that took 3,5 months (and that could probably have gone faster as I don't think it had a daily post rate). But a short introductory adventure would probably be at least a 2-3 months time investment.

From my experience with one-shots here on Gamersplane both as the GM and as a player they tend to take 3 to 4 months including character creation. That's with a posting rate of about 4 posts per week (though I think in each case it slowed down as the game went on)
If it's a game where the players need a lot of info to get started, it depends a lot on the reply speed of the GM.

Oh boy does it depend. Couple / few / six months is not uncommon depending on pace and posting rate... but I've run a 20 page DCC module for over a year before!

At least a year and a half. The maximum is infinity.
So the average would have to be at least:
(1.5+∞)÷2

I've been trying to get more player input in my at-the-table games and have had some good experiences with it. I'm trying to ask each player at least 1 question about their character during a session. This can be something related to their background like "What happened to your lost brother?", inserting a new 'truth' like "Tell me about the hero of your village. What was their name and what are they famous for?" or something super trivial like "What's your favorite fruit and why?".

It's made story creation a lot more fun for me cause I can tap into these questions/answers to populate the world. An apple salesman I had planned to have in my story now becomes a grapefruit salesman to get your attention. Or the players can find a reference to the old hero of the village somewhere, leading them to an interesting situation or a clue.

In PbP it's been harder to implement as I haven't figured out when to ask those questions. I don't want them to slow down the game, and there's also not really a clear moment when it's a good time to ask them.

So my question(s) of the day is:
Do you ask your players questions after the game has started?
And do you implement it in PbP?

I'm always asking questions of my players to help round out their characters and the world. Even in a well-developed setting (such as the Forgotten Realms), there is room for player input. By allowing the players to add to the world, it involves them in the game and helps build the realism of the setting.

I've had GM's that ask questions as the gameplay progresses. If a character meets an old friend, names their weapon, visits their place of worship, etc., that's a great time to take a quick dip into their backstory

Savage Worlds has a feature for just this purpose. Whenever the characters have some downtime or a few quiet moments, the GM can call for an Interlude. Each player draws a card, and the suit tells you what kind of story you relate to everyone. They tell the story from their character's perspective, and each player gets a reward (a Benny). The categories are downtime, backstory, or trek.

Did you ever had inspiration/interest dry up completely for a game you were playing in/running? How have you dealt with it?

If I'm running the game and run short of inspiration, I usually give it a week or so for me to work through it, but if I still can't reconcile, I let the players know and sadly cancel the game. If interest dries up, I'll ask the remaining players their opinions and then either recruit new blood or cancel. I am proud to say that while I have lost games in the past due to lack of interest, I have never ghosted my players or another GM.

Yep. Often I would try to stick it out hoping for conditions to improve. This doesn't usually work. More recently I've attempted to communicate my issue or interests/wants. It can help some, but usually there's something that just doesnt work. Pace has been a big killer for me lately. It's hard for me to be excited when a game barely moves.

I wish someone asked me a question about my characters in game at least once with genuine interest. I get a feeling that when I reveal something people start to treat reading like a chore. In fact, at least four different people in the games I've played said openly they don't read what I write. That included both GMs and players.
I switched the genre.

Hard to call something like that a game even, when the ST/GM won't read playing messages.. Wild.

I personally do try to keep up with players in my games by asking them what direction they want to take the character and what topic, themes and elements they want to explore, but I also could probably do a better job of it. What definitely helps is some feedback - if you (and I mean generic "you", not you in particular S.F.) have any thoughts or desires about your character or the game - do express them to your STs/GMs! We're here to facilitate a fun and interest for everyone, after all.

On a side note, this is an interesting question - as a player, do you read other players posts and material intended for them, like their solo threads or lengthy responses from NPCs addressed to them specifically?

It depends on the amount of time I have. Usually I don't have enough to keep up with solo adventures of other characters on top of my own active thread(s). So I tend not to read those.
Sometimes I try, when I find myself with spare time. But if it's a growing thread, I'm likely unable to keep up.

Posts where my character is in the scene I will definitely read as well as all of the 'main thread'.