Wise Turtle Publishing

Hello hello,

I'm really excited about OVA; it'll be my first RPG, and I hope that I'll be able to get my friends into it as well. Some of them are serious anime otakus, so they said that they'll consider giving it a shot if I'm the GM.

A few GM-related and general OVA-related questions:

1. Is it a better idea to use an original or crossover setting, or an official one (e.g. from an anime or video game)? Furthermore, if an existing game world is used, should it be one that all of the players are already familiar with?

2. How difficult would it be to run an OVA game over a group Skype IM chat? Are there any other programs and/or online tools that would be helpful for an OVA game?

3. What are some common difficulties and/or arguments that a GM could run into with the players?

Icas wrote:Hello hello,

I'm really excited about OVA; it'll be my first RPG, and I hope that I'll be able to get my friends into it as well. Some of them are serious anime otakus, so they said that they'll consider giving it a shot if I'm the GM.

Congratulations on choosing to be the GM. Now you are on the barrel!

Icas wrote:1. Is it a better idea to use an original or crossover setting, or an official one (e.g. from an anime or video game)? Furthermore, if an existing game world is used, should it be one that all of the players are already familiar with?

Yes, if everyone knows how the game world works, then it'll be easier to create scenes where everyone will have a chance to do something cool; you know what you can do when you are home.

Icas wrote:2. How difficult would it be to run an OVA game over a group Skype IM chat? Are there any other programs and/or online tools that would be helpful for an OVA game?

http://roll20.net/ and http://rolz.org/group are good choices to play without talking. But if you really need Skype, then use both to know how much dice were rolled and to haste the game.

Icas wrote:3. What are some common difficulties and/or arguments that a GM could run into with the players?

People trying to "break" the game by creating characters too strong or with powers that destroy the adventure, like teleporting to the final room of some dungeon to get the Ice Crystal, teleporting back to the King and delivering the item to him right after he tells what you guys have to do and how the place is.

Players who are striving to spoil everyone else fun must be dealt pronto.

2 suggestions I would have is to make sure you can adapt to what your players do. I have flustered GMs by doing things the didn't expect and it slowed the game down as they figured out how to work with the situation. That doesn't mean let them do anything and everything but sometimes its fun to see where the party takes the game.

Also: Don't be a Tyrant. Overbearing GMs ruin the atmosphere of the game.

Your players will ALWAYS find a way to surprise you. I like to have really loose story trees and locations, with more thought out events and confrontations. That way if they don't go to the warehouse I thought they would there is always my backup ideas like the park or mall garage.

OH! And be careful with your vital NPCs. I managed to kill one and the GM had to figure out a new way to continue the story.

>This article's advice< may save you a few headaches. Basically, as GM you can't control the PCs, and you can't assume what the PCs do when they appear on the scene. You do control the NPCs, so know your NPC motives, means, and plans of action (so you'll know how the NPCs react even when the unexpected happens; no contingency flowchart required). Much of a session's "story" is often born of the collaborative chaos among GM and players, not pre-scripted scenes.

Lots of great answers here, but thought I'd lend my voice to the mix:

1) There's really no wrong answer here. Both options are solid, and what is a great method for one group will completely bore another. If you're trying to introduce people brand new to role-playing, using an existing anime or manga as the basis for your campaign does provide a convenient entry point and basis for understanding. When you say a given anime character is represented by the rules in this way, people understand what you mean because they have the original show for context.

On the other hand, old die-hard role-players may have more fun with the freedom provided by a new world with entirely new characters. The thing to do, really, is talk with your players and figure out what everyone wants from the game.

2) OVA's a lightweight game, so it's perfect for playing online. Your only real hurdle is dice rolling. If you trust all your players, simply rolling dice yourself and typing the results is reasonable. If you'd prefer something more "in the open," you can try a site like http://catchyourhare.com/diceroller/ that allows you to create passworded rooms for rolling dice in. There's also this Skype dice-rolling plug-in, but it's Windows-only, and I've not tried it personally. http://sourceforge.net/projects/dicerollerv20fo/

Finally, if you were willing to change venues, if you hosted your game on IRC (basically, a sort of internet chat room), there's a robust scripting language you can use to handle dice-rolls.

3) There's countless GM advice guides (as linked here already and in OVA, too), and much of these articles of wisdom can disagree with each other. But if you're asking me, I think the most important advice is to talk openly. Never resort to "me versus them" mentality, or punishing players in games for sleights or poor behavior. If something goes wrong, or a player is behaving in a way that is detrimental to everyone's enjoyment, talk to them outside of the game. Odds are they weren't even aware and will work with you to address whatever issue you're having. If players seem bored, talk with them and see what they'd like to see happen. If YOU are bored, do the same thing!

Also, try to be prepared, but not SO prepared that you want to railroad players to certain actions to make sure your planned events come to pass. And don't be a stickler for rules when it will come to slowing down the game or grinding it to a halt. It's better to make a quick ruling that might not be correct than it is to spend 5 minutes referencing the rulebook. OVA is not the sort of game where following rules to the letter is intrinsically important to how it plays out.

Hope that helps!
Clay