The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I get the feeling that most of my readers are somewhat experienced gamers, or at least the ones making comments are.  However, I suspect that there’s a few newbie gamers out there just looking for guidance on how best to approach this game.  So, here’s the Tomcat’s suggestions on how best to make a positive impression on your new group.

The Good

1. Be on time.  Seriously.  If you’re going to be late, call the DM.  Stuff happens, and no one sweats that, just be courteous and you’ll be fine.
2. Have your crap.  If you’re always having to borrow dice and a pencil, it’ll get old real quick.  Dice are cheap, so splurge some!
3. Do your part when it comes to the munchies.  If there’s a rotation, make the most of your turn and bring some good stuff.  If everyone kicks in for pizza or something, make sure you pay your share.
4. Help with clean up.  You’re never to experienced for this one.  Unless the DM says to not worry about it, worry about it.
5. Stay in the game.  Save witty banter about your weekend for after the game or for breaks.  No one wants to find out about the beach while you’re hiding from a dragon.

These suggestions are, for the most part, universal.  Now, if your group isn’t a super in character group, the last one may not be to big of a deal for them.  However, I can’t picture a group being upset with a player doing all of these things.

However, there’s always a flipside.  To this I offer:

The Bad

1. Metagaming.  For any who don’t know, that’s using player knowledge in character.  For example, if you know that the NPC (who used to be the DM’s PC) had a weakness for chocolate, but your character has no way of knowing that, but buys the NPC chocolate anyways just to make a good impression.
2. Power gaming.  Everyone wants their characters to be great.  However, just raw power doesn’t make them great, it just makes them annoying to many other players.
3. Cheating.  Fudging dice rolls or saying you’ve got feats that you don’t have.  It doesn’t matter what form it takes, it’s still cheating, and will earn you a quick exit from any group and make it more difficult to find another group down the road.

However, there’s things that you should look out for as well.  If you find yourself in a group like this, you may want to find yourself another group to play with.  Of course, if you’re enjoying yourself, then continue on and ignore this section.

The Ugly

1. The DM has a girlfriend who always gets uber-cool stuff while you get shafted.  Trust me here.  This one isn’t likely to go away so long as the girlfriend is still around.  However, just because the DM has a girlfriend in the game, doesn’t mean this will be the case.  Many DMs can handle the difference.
2. The DM has a super cool NPC who bails you out of every jam.  If this is the case, then one of two things are generally happening.  Either he’s setting the encounters as to tough, or he’s just trying to showcase his NPC.  Neither is the sign of a good game master in my opinion.
3. The group can’t keep members.  Now, if this is a group of military people, then it can be understandable.  People move away, and that’s fine.  However, if people are just leaving the group all the time, there might be a reason.  Check it out.
4. The group expects you to buy the pizza because you’re the new guy.  Sorry, but that’s just a red flag in my book.  To many times, that’s the way until someone new joins.  Make certain that this is part of a rotation though, and you should be fine.

So, I hope this helps out any new players we have around here.  Just keep in mind that if you’re having fun, and the group is having fun, then it’s all good, regardless of what any blogger on the net says