Questions tagged [social-contract]
For questions about the "social contract"; in relation to RPGs, this refers to an informal agreement among players about the framework for gameplay, primarily covering social factors such as what to do when a player can't attend a session, how to vet potential new players, what sorts of behavior are unacceptable at the game table, and so on.
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What is a social contract?
The concept of "social contract" comes up in discussions of group dynamics and RPG theory. We even have a tag for social-contract. But there is no good, easily-found definition online anywhere. Our ...
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What policies should be made at the start of a campaign, to define the desired game experience and avoid bad feelings later?
My group and I work on the assumption that a game system's default assumptions are its manifesto, and that by choosing a system we are choosing to let its assumptions stand except where we institute ...
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How do I handle a player who plays his character far differently than the character was originally presented?
I'm not asking how to make every character be played as I would play them. I'm asking how to handle a situation in which the character that the player presents to me as a GM (with complete back-story, ...
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How do I handle a PC - NPC?
In my online game, it's often hard for me to handle NPCs with the loads of characters we have so sometimes I ask or a player volunteers to play some of them. The issue is though, that one player (let'...
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Is my DM a killjoy, or am I just a whining player?
I've been playing D&D 4E with a group of colleagues from work for about a year or so now. Whilst some of us were seasoned role players, and others had never played before at all - none of us had ...
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Bringing a pre-made character to the table or not; pros and cons?
Sometimes a player will have a pre-made character and bring it along to the first gaming session. Other times they will make the character at the table. Sometimes you get a mixed bag. As both a player ...
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Are there any major faux pas one should avoid in an established group when new to RPGs? [closed]
Are there any major faux pas one should avoid when joining an existing RP game? In my last game I lied about a die roll result for what seemed like good reasons, but I still feel bad about it.
I'm ...
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When and how should I get the players to cut back on their out of character chatter?
I like that my players have all become such good friends. But they're all louder than me. We end up just chatting and hanging out more than gaming because I can't get them to stop having out of ...
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What about character death should be included in a social contract?
For a D&D (4e, primarily) game what about player-character death should be included in a group's social contract? What are some options for best reaching consensus about the possibility of death ...
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How can I encourage a style of play where enhancing others' fun is the most important goal?
Let's assume that we can break play styles into two categories: "selfish play," where you want to have fun, and "less-selfish play," where you want to have fun but you want everyone else at the table ...
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Can rules changes fix interpersonal problems at the table?
Can rules tweaks help deal with some of the common interpersonal problems at the gaming table?
For example:
Someone is not really interested in the game, and reads and ignores play until they ...
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Specific items in a group social contract?
Some gaming groups actually do a formal social contract, wherein they explicitly set some of the expectations and rules for the gaming group. What items should a group considering doing a social ...
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Where's my share of the loot?
How do you handle loot disputes as a DM? Say we are doing a random loot drop from a felled enemy, and there happens to be one thing that two players really want. Do you make an initiative roll to see ...
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Player Agenda - how to keep people happy at the table
There have been many attempts to classify player types and what they seek to get from play sessions - for instance, this WotC marketing survey and this article on the RPGNET wiki on Creative Agenda.
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