From:	Chad Hessoun <chessoun@*******.COLUMBUS.OH.US>
Subject:	Re: GM'ing question
Date:	Wed, 12 Oct 1994 18:30:31 -0400

Jeff,
> How do you handle a team (albeit inexperienced) that insists on debating every
> choice they have to make? This includes conversations taking place with NPCs,
> encounters, etc.
[snip cut chop]
> Anyways, how do you motivate your players to remain in character and play as
>if the game were 'real time'?

Excellent suggestions from Gareth and Erik (Jameson), both of which I use.
Our group tends to over-plan, over-deliberate, and over-talk just about
any major situation. God forbid someone should risk dying or have todo
something potentially leading to bodily harm, or worse, financial ruin!
This happens with any game we play, but is especially annoying with SR. As
GM, I make sure everyone knows that karma awards [not to mention the
difficulty of life in general] ride on how well the players stay in
character and keep things moving. If the characters are in a time-critical
situation, counting works nicely. If they're in combat, they sure
don'thave time to consult with their buddies about what they're going to
do for the next three seconds [next round]. I remind of this, frequently.
Now, since they're new to all this, I'd cut them a fair amount of slack
(only if they're new to RPing in general, or action games). If an NPC is
present, every word out of their mouth counts. That's life, deal.

And if all else fails,
shoot/punch/kick/abuse/severely-inconvenience/drop-things-on/kill them.
They'll take the hint [insert evil grin and laugh here].

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- C H A D H E S S O U N -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
>>> itinerant OTISian ArchBishop formerly of Kenyon and Greater Gambier
<<<
>>>>> "There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn." --
Camus <<<<<
Hail OTIS! Find out more: ighf@******.com or hessoun@******.edu Hail Spode!