All you GMs out there don't do what this guy does

Inspired by James .J's threads about bad player habits and by an actual campaign I joined. I present to you "GM sucker punch". Forgive any poor spelling I'm doing this on my phone. GM: I feel like GMing a pathfinder adventure path. I shall post on the LFG. Me: Woot finally game on the right day and time for me to play. Huzzah! Other players: looks like fun let's plan out the party! (A week of character creation and planning passes by) Me: Can't wait to play my druid. I have been practicing his voice. I want to sound like hobgoblin. Other players: We finally got our Awsome characters built. This going to be awesome. GM: You guys have spent a lot of time preparing. I think this the best time to inform you that I only do text only games. No exceptions! Me: ... But you never indicated this game was text only. Other players: What! That should have been on the campaign description. Why does it have to be text only. Text is really slow. GM: I find people's voices grating when they try to act. Me: type is no better! People can't spell, I should no I'm one them! GM: Your should not have joined a text only game then. A lesson for the future. Me: Urge to commit second degree murder rising. Moral of the story: GM's when recruiting people on skype the LFG please include major details about how the game will be run. This includes stating if the game is text only, if your time listed is a place holder, If the game will include major homebrewed changes, and any other aspect that might drastically effect the playing experience. A lot of great GMs already do this, its not hard. Hell even I do it when I GM and I suck at GMing. Doing so will save everyone a lot of time.

This is why I always have a template with a whole array of questions that I go through when - actually, before - I apply to a game. This includes stuff like what voice communication software will be used, how much of an average session is spent with combat/social situations/puzzles and whatnot, if pvp is allowed and so on and so forth. Of course this is not an excuse for the GM not stating his text-only rule in the ad or the campaign itself, just note that short 2 sentence-ads are a bit of a red flag anyway and if something is important to you, always ask. Good luck finding the right group&gm for you. :)

He did not have a 2 sentence ad, he had a long detailed description talking about what books he permitted. that of course makes it only more annoying.

I do like mouse I wrote a whole damn page of this is gonna be X and Y and I stick to it. Join in appropriately. If down the road a player says, you never said, i give em the link, turns out i said it three times and stuff like Always Never, no and Yes are bolded.

Mouse said: This is why I always have a template with a whole array of questions that I go through when - actually, before - I apply to a game. This includes stuff like what voice communication software will be used, how much of an average session is spent with combat/social situations/puzzles and whatnot, if pvp is allowed and so on and so forth. Of course this is not an excuse for the GM not stating his text-only rule in the ad or the campaign itself, just note that short 2 sentence-ads are a bit of a red flag anyway and if something is important to you, always ask. Good luck finding the right group&gm for you. :) Can you post the complete list/template here in case any other GMs might need to check if theirs needs improving?

Here you go. I likely forgot one thing or another and of course not everything is important to everyone (Skype f.e. is just bad quality to me compared to things like Mumble or Teamspeak :) ) - especially the part about being a female player - but its relatively comprehensive. Of course I edit and change things in this template if the answers are already provided in the ad in question... anything else would just be rude. Also, not all of this even should be in an ad in my opinion - hell, not all of those are in my own ads, but at least most of them are in the houserules stuff that is available in the listing... Basically these are points that I will discuss with the GM at some point or another... and more if more comes up :) - Do you use voice or text for roleplaying? - Which software do you use for voice communication? I would prefer to not use Skype and have a Teamspeak server we can use for the group. - Do you use and/or require webcams? - Are the sessions going to be recorded/uploaded/streamed? - What day&time are the sessions going to be and what timezone are you in? When will we play the first time? - How long do you plan the sessions to be? - How much of that time is filled by combat? Half a session? a quarter session every 3 sessions? - What system do you plan to use? - Do you plan to use modules or completely homebrew? If the former, what modules? If the later, any major changes to the system & standard setting I should know about? - How many players is your maximum? - Do we create characters together? What level do characters start at, ((character creation questions depending on the system)) and so on? - Do you allow PVP? How much of it (pranks->stealing->hitting->killing)? - What kind of general disposition do you want in the group and how do you want the heroes to act, i.e. is killing of a defenseless bandit considered a good action or should he be delivered to the authorities if possible? Are they out for their own gain or because someone needs step up, after all? - Should we all know each other already, do we rp the meeting, do we rp as strangers who happen to have to work together and slowly form bonds? - What kind of characters are already in the group? Anything you are specifically looking for? - Do you split the group if they are not in the same scene so the characters actually have to tell each other what was going on or do we all stay together at all times? Do you utilise whispers? - Would the group have a problem working with a female player (f.e. constant sex jokes, character is immediately categorized and called a bitch if they dare have a different opinion, trying to constantly get into the female player characters' pants for no in-game reason... yes, all of this has happened before and quite often)? If it helps you to gauge the general group behaviour, how do they react to NPCs that are women? - In your opinion as a GM: Should a group always stay together or split up if they want to do different things for a while? Should people try and work together with you and follow your hooks or is your game more sandbox and everyone should have their own goals? How would you describe your GMing style when it comes to combat, social interactions, locations, skills like perception, sense motive and the likes? Do you prefer players to use more of an actor (only do what your character would do), author (find reasons why your character would do this thing) or director (player always aims to get best outcome regardless of character motivations) stance? - What do you want&/need/expect from your players? What makes you happy? :) edited to say: By the way, no, this template is not foolproof. I still end up in plenty of combat-heavy, railroady campaigns (neither of which I personally enjoy) with a diplomatic character that is the only one who wants to bluff her way in. :) The difference is that THAT is then the fault of the GM who thinks differently of his group than it really is (agan, in my opinion) and not mine since I didn't ask any questions or something.