The Contracts of Gaming

Every game table is different, but every game table has sets of rules, written and unwritten, which keep things together.  There are rules of the game and rules of the group and without both of these, things fall into chaos. Somewhere in the middle, the GM and hosts reside to help guide the group to closure on how to deal with these things.  These contracts of gaming have been a topic as of late over at GnomeStew and on RolePlayDNA.

In the two gaming groups I GM for -- my gaming groups, as I think of them -- gaming takes place at a public open space in a game store.  In this setting, as GM, I feel as if it is up to me to fulfill both the roles of host and GM.  As a host, I need to keep the environment suitable for the audience of a game store.  As a GM that allows gamers of all ages, I feel a similar need to keep things appropriate   Somewhere in there too, there is a little bit of Dad I let show that drives me to keep things appropriate for my daughters who play too.

Gaming rules fall under several categories:  rules as written, rules as interpreted (for example, rules clarified in forums by official game writer folks), third party rules, house rules, and GM rulings.  The rules are the rules, and should be chosen so that the group has convenient access to them.  They form a contract between the players and the GM of how game play will occur.  For a player, this means, if I do A, I can expect B, which is the basis of playing a game.  GM rulings are the outlier where the GM steps in to either make a call on an undefined situation or steps in to change something to keep the game "fun".  These, really, should be the only two situations where the GM steps outside of the game rules contract.  I believe in a strong rules contract.

The social contract is the written or unwritten rules at the game table that govern the interactions outside of the game rules.  Needless to say, these rules span a great deal of what really happens.  This covers everything from near game stuff like rolling dice and gaming etiquette to nongame stuff like attendance, bringing snacks, and topics of conversation.

So how do I handle these in my games?  It's different than most groups.  In the group, I am the only GM.  Also, in the group, most (but not all) of the players are teenagers a couple of decades younger than me.  Given that, let me share...

For most gaming tables, rule 0 is "The GM is always right.  When the GM is not right, refer to rule 0."  For me, this kind of tyrannical rule misses the real first rule of gaming.  For me, rule 0 is this: "Everyone should try to have fun and make sure that everyone else is having fun."  After all, no fun = no game in my book.  I throw out a packets at the beginning of a new game and to all new players that join.  Here are some of the non-game rules I include:

• Please be prepared.
• Please pay attention.
• Don't cheat.
• The reality clause which states "What you say is what you do."
• Item of speaking which limits talking to the GM and the holder of the item.
• Be honest about your commitment and let the GM know if you can't attend.
• Keep conversations age appropriate and polite.
• GM is the final word, which doesn't make him all knowing.  Know and help enforce the rules.  Some rules may be tabled to be looked at after the game.
• Dice rolls that land flat on the table count.  Off the table and not flat are rerolled.
• Do not roll until everyone knows what you are rolling and why.
• No phones, laptops, music players at the table except to access game material.
• No page flipping at the table.
• No pizza boxes on the table.
• Karma points -- a mechanic that allows players to do things 'pushing or outside' the game rules as a reward for good roleplaying, bringing snacks, being prepared, and generally being a good gaming group member.

Where possible, when I give a rule, I give the consequences for breaking the rule.  I probably need to do a better job of adding some of the evolved consequences to my starter packets.  Here are some examples:

• The penalty for deliberate cheating is permanent expulsion of the player from all my gaming groups.
• The penalty for not paying attention is that you may get skipped.
• The penalty for not having your character sheet up to date is having to play only what is on your character sheet.

Some rules have evolved out of distractions.  There are points in the game where I have put a ban on talking about character creation during gameplay because it is such a terrible distraction.  Really that is just a specific example of the "be prepared" and "pay attention" rules.

Policing of rules sometimes has to be done by me, but very often is done by the group.  Metagaming is usually quickly called out when it pops up.  Other players usually tell the new guy when to put his video game away.  No one even has to mention when to reroll.

My starter packets also give some general stuff, like what to bring, what to expect.

What is obviously missing from my packet is the explanation of details of the social contract.  For example, the conversation is supposed to be kept polite and age appropriate.  What does that mean?  How does that effect the protrayal of sex, slavery, violence, torture inside the game?  How does that effect the joking and topics at the table, like race, religion, politics?

One rule I have made that I never wrote down, but that I have referred to before in situations:

• Keep your drama away from my gaming table.  (There is that word 'my' again.  I guess I take ownership.)

The real test of rules is whether or not they work.  I have two gaming groups that have been going for about a year and about 6 months, respectively.  There have been problems.

• One player clashed with the group and agreed to leave.  I think this was more a personality clash than anything to do with rules.
• One episode where gaming etiquette was broken by one player trying to controller other people's characters.
• A few players that have left, though most of these seem to have been for external reasons (room noise during Friday Night Magic, work schedules, etc)
• One player that left for reasons unexplained until after he left.
• A few warnings on breaking the gaming and social contracts.

In conclusion, rules are those things that you are always working on, both within a group and as a GM.  Every group is different.  So long as you are having fun, its all good enough.