The Basics #3: We Can’t Expect Godmodding To Do All The Work
Alright, it’s time to discuss the major negative aspects of RPing that you’ll run into constantly, and ones you should very much avoid at all costs, especially if you’re a player. GMs, however, can make use of these all they want to keep the game flowing - it’s when the players do it that it’s problematic. Essentially, doing any of these things is the GM’s responsibility, not yours.
Kyle’s back after seeking therapy for the tragic loss of his relationship, and he’s super ticked at me for some reason, so he’s decided to do some nefarious against-the-rules behavior. Little does he know that it’s exactly the example I need for my demonstration.
In this scenario, Kyle is in combat with Elyk, his evil twin. They’re having a squabble over which one is the evil twin. What does Kyle do?
Kyle grabs Elyk’s arm and pins it behind his back, throwing him against a wall.
This is called an Autohit. What does that mean?
It’s usually only an issue when it’s Player versus Player combat, but an Autohit is when you describe an attack against another character without giving them the opportunity to respond. Autohits can also be non-aggressive, like pulling another character out of harm’s way, but most players and most GMs are fine with ‘autohits’ occurring in a non-combat scenario, such as laying a hand on a shoulder, et cetera.
To avoid Autohits, write that you are anticipating the follow-up action, like I will now demonstrate with Kyle’s unquenchable rage:
Kyle suddenly dove for Elyk’s arm, hoping he could use it to pin against his back.
In certain circumstances, the GM will allow you to autohit if the opposing player refuses to acknowledge your action - you wind up and send out a punch, the other character does nothing to prevent it, and the end result is that you punch them and describing the impact is your responsibility. That’s not the case with every GM, though, but it’s something I prefer.
Anyway, let’s look at Elyk’s turn:
Elyk almost dodged, but was just a little too slow, as Kyle managed to grab his wrist.
Elyk thought for a split second and devised a plan: Feint a more dangerous attack and gain the opportunity to kick Kyle in the stomach. With this in mind, Elyk reached for Kyle’s head, pretending to aim for his neck to choke him out.
Interesting… Elyk’s devised some strategy on the spot, but he didn’t have to spell it out, although here it helps to illustrate his intent and the devious, scheming nature of the character now that his mental plan is formed. Let’s see how Kyle responds.
Kyle ignored the hand, aiming a kick towards Elyk’s knee to spoil his plans.
…Uh, no Kyle, bad Kyle, why-didn’t-I-disown-you-the-first-time Kyle. That’s not a good! Elyk made it very clear he didn’t verbally announce his plans to you in the split second he had to create them. You’re taking advantage of information you had no way of knowing - that’s called Metagaming.
How to avoid this? It’s very easy to accidentally have your character act off of info only you are aware of. Just keep in mind you’re writing a story and your knowledge doesn’t necessarily coincide with your character’s knowledge. I may know Elyk’s love interest Elysia has a birthmark on the back of her left ankle in the shape of a crescent moon which indicates she is the legendary lunarchild destined to die and free this RP’s horrible David Bowie insert from his celestial prison, but Kyle doesn’t know that because he hasn’t had an opportunity to find out.
Alright, I’ll skip ahead a bit and show you what happens next. Kyle lost the fight because Flavius, master of the flail walked into the room and slashed both of his legs before dragging him out to mope about how they didn’t get to solve their bitter dispute. He can’t walk currently due to the pain, but a cobgoblin (a goblin made of corn) has wandered in from the neighboring field and is attempting to rush him! What should he do?
Kyle got up and bolted, being in no condition to fight a cobgoblin.
Ah Kyle, you can’t change the condition of your wounds because the situation demands it. You’re still recovering from the attack by Flavius, so it looks like you’ll need to be slightly more inventive than cowering and running for your life.
I’ve seen different terms used for this one such as ‘retconning’, i.e. changing previous info because the new info contradicts it, but I’m going to include it under the term Godmodding since it more often than not occurs with players forgetting or just ignoring previous events entirely to get out of current situations.
Well Kyle, what will you do?
Kyle immediately flopped on the ground. “Don’t look at me, I’m salad dressing!”
The cobgoblin immediately turned radish and bolted for its life. No wonder it wanted to beet it, with how horrible that pun was. Lettuce hope it was a celerysonable delivery.
Oh well. At least cobgoblins are easily fooled. Kyle would’ve gotten squashed otherwise, but would anyone carrot all if he were to turnip dead?
Please stop booing.
Two more and then I promise to release you from your pain. Bunnying is when you, as a player, take control of another character to manipulate events in your favor. This commonly occurs when traveling long distances, by including the other characters in your progress without express consent. Sometimes this is the polite thing to do when a player has gone silent, or is absent for a month, meaning your writing has to include them in the background. They may miss out on a lot of great moments, but at least they won’t be left behind. Just make sure the GM approves.
And finally, there’s Railroading. You may have only ever heard this in association with GMs mismanaging a game, but in essence it’s forcing things in a specific direction and limiting freedoms to progress to a certain point or force a specific outcome, and while it almost always occurs with GMs and poor game management, players are very capable of it as well. Several RPs on these boards have been the victim of railroading - one was an entire series of sequels with deep lore - and railroading can ruin an otherwise fun and enjoyable story and setting.
Warning signs of railroading is if the setting takes place in a massive, open area, and all the players are shoved together and made to practically ignore the rest of the world when the premise is the world itself. Also, if you’re worried you might potentially railroad players, tell them how you plan to run the game in advance of the game occurring. And if there’s railroading, don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
This is hardly a comprehensive list of what kinds of Godmodding and other cheating occurs, but it should give you a general idea of what to look out for. And since this is the end of the Basics category, the next few steps will be getting into the meat of things - combat, storytelling, characterization, etc. so ketchup on your research and prepear to be amaized by what romaines - truly a work of art…ichoke.
I said stop booing.