At the 2021 Origins Game Fair, I experienced one of the best convention one-shot RPG sessions I’d ever played in—as well as the worst—back to back. This gave me a unique opportunity to compare and contrast what went well in the first session and what went awry in the second, especially in light of my experience as a tabletop RPG professional responsible for developing one-shots as well as demoing RPGs for convention play. Over the last ten years, I’ve run open and VIP tables at large flagship conventions like GenCon and Origins, regional cons such as AcadeCon and Con of the North, and local mini-cons on college campuses and at my own home. Over the years, I’ve also made my fair share of mistakes that I hope you can learn from.
Although there are many aspects to consider when planning and running an RPG one-shot at a convention, focusing on three elements of the session can give you a solid foundation and yield the best payoff per hour of prep spent. These three essential ingredients are: 1) exciting and accessible pre-generated character sheets, 2) a scenario that is optimized for one-off play, and 3) excellent player management at the table. In this third and final part, we’ll take a look at the hardest part of running a great one-shot: handling the players themselves.
Why Player Management is So Important
Conventions and one-shots offer a unique opportunity for a group of like-minded players to get together and play that game/scenario they all want to play, even though they aren’t part of an established group. In theory, everyone has the same goal: play something new or different and have a fun time. But having folks who don’t know each other and have different expectations can prove a challenge, even if the goals are theoretically aligned. How different players have fun, and what different players consider fun, can be specifically un-fun for the other folks at the table. As the game master, it’s your job to set the stage for everyone to enjoy themselves, and to keep the space safe.
Even if you’ve done a fantastic job of creating pre-gens, linking them into the scenario, and tailoring the scenario to the one-shot format, a bad player (or GM) can ruin the entire experience. As the GM, you’ve become the de facto leader for the next four hours, so responsibility rests primarily with you to moderate the table. The players also have an obligation to make the game safe and fun, but because so much of the “power” rests in the hands of the GM, they’ll be looking to you to enforce the convention’s code of conduct and manage any problematic behavior at the table. If the GM abdicates that responsibility, folks might understandably quit the game early rather than sit through a painfully tedious or poorly managed scenario, or worse, subject themselves to a player’s offensive or abusive behavior. Truly disastrous sessions can turn players off of conventions, games, and the hobby itself, so the stakes aren’t insignificant.
Laying the Groundwork
Some aspects of player management can be considered ahead of time as part of your overall preparation for the convention one-shot.
Safety Tools
First things first: read over and understand your convention’s code of conduct and anti-harassment policy so that you can uphold it at your table. You can check out an example here. It’ll cover things like physical safety, but also emotional safety from abuse or harassment. In addition, I highly recommend utilizing the TTRPG Safety Toolkit, a resource co-curated by Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk. It’s a compilation of safety tools that have been designed by members of the tabletop roleplaying games community for use by players and GMs at the table. These tools can help you figure out what topics or themes to avoid—or include—before play begins, and they’ll provide you with a formalized process for pausing or modifying the game in progress. By teaching your players how they can use these tools, you can help empower all participants to keep the game’s content comfortable for everyone and avoid accidental harm.
This is not to say that your scenarios have to be sanitized of controversial content or need to be kid-friendly. It’s totally reasonable (and encouraged) for you to disclose the tone and content of the game up front so folks can opt out ahead of time if it’s not their cup of tea. If your scenario delves into the horrific and disturbing, add a line to your game’s description such as “This horror scenario includes mature content such as extreme violence, self-harm, and memory loss.” Many conventions appeal to gamers of all ages, so make use of the age rating field when submitting events, and consider scheduling your game in a late-night slot if the convention doesn’t already have a policy for when mature-rated events can run.
Although it’s not an obvious safety tool, providing table tents with room for character names and pronouns, as well as player names and pronouns, goes a long way to avoiding instances where someone accidentally misgenders someone else. This is especially helpful when folks are playing a character of a different gender from their own presentation, or when someone prefers pronouns that aren’t as common as he, she, or they.
Fun for All
Roleplaying gamers all come with their own unique preferences and aversions, but you can prepare your game to cater to most of the players most of the time, and include targeted content that will appeal to different folks at different times.
Every player probably has one element of RPGs that is their favorite, whether it’s the roleplaying, tactical combat, problem-solving, or even just the chance to socialize and crack jokes. This is where I’ll point you to Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering, which has an excellent primer on player types on pages 3–6, and the game master section of the system you’re running probably also addresses different player motivations or play styles. In Laws’ model, different kinds of players include: power gamers, butt-kickers, tacticians, specialists, method actors, storytellers, and casual gamers[1]. Each type has their own preferred style of play, so by including a mix of action scenes, social encounters, puzzles and traps, and exploration, you’ll have your bases covered. As a shortcut, you can use the pre-gens you’ve created as a guide to the types of challenges to introduce. If you have a stealthy character, include an opportunity to infiltrate, and if you’re including a skill-monkey, give them some items to craft, repair, or disable. The face character should have some compelling NPCs to talk to, and the wizard or gunslinger should have some prime targets to unload their firepower on. And so on.
The challenge with convention games is that you have no advanced warning as to the types of players at your table, and you likely won’t learn their play styles until midway through the session (or later!). Your best bet is to consider the type of gamer that your game’s system is likely to attract (based on the game mechanics and the kinds of character classes/careers/archetypes available), and then devise your scenario to appeal to each of those different types at different points. If you want to attract a particular type of player, say storytellers and method actors, you can use your advertising or game description to highlight that (e.g., “This scenario emphases storytelling and roleplaying, and is light on combat.”). If you want to warn away more casual or butt-kicking players, it doesn’t hurt to provide a warning (e.g., “This deadly dungeon will test your luck and skill as a player!”).
Doing it Live
With a robust set of safety tools, and having considered your likely player types when designing your scenario, you’ve done all the prep ahead of time that you can. The real work comes during the session itself, when you’re actually playing. Here are some ways you can successfully manage your table once the action starts.
First Impressions and Setting Expectations
The one-shot starts as soon as players start sitting down at your table, even if the game itself won’t begin for another ten or fifteen minutes. Greet your players with a friendly face and confirm they’re here for the right game. Making a pleasant first impression seems like it should go without saying, but I’ve been shocked by the number of GMs who are standoffish or rude to their players when they arrive. Even if you didn’t get enough sleep the night before because of a snoring roommate, or if something went awry and you had to spend an extra hour or two in the registration line, that’s no excuse for not treating your players with basic courtesy and respect. If you are having a rough day, communicate that ahead of time and ask for a little extra patience on the part of the players. Most folks are understanding and compassionate when things don’t go as planned, but it helps for them to know that from the outset.
I’ve also been surprised by the number of folks who sit down at the wrong table and don’t realize it until the game has already started. (This actually happened to me at a Pathfinder Society event—one of the mustering sergeants actually directed me to the wrong table, so I ended up playing a 2-hour demo instead of the 4-hour module I’d signed up for. Bummer!) If a player is not at the table they’re supposed to be, try to point them to the right one. If they do want to stay and you have enough open seats to accommodate them, ensure that they understand the system, the setting, and the basic premise of the scenario, and that they’re enthusiastically on board for all of it.
Once your players have had a chance to put down their bags and take out their dice, direct them to the pre-gens in front of them. Try to cover the key selling points for each PC and why folks might want to play them. Ask the players whether they have questions about the pre-gens, their capabilities, backgrounds, and rules. Explain anything that’s new or unclear, such as novel species or setting-specific powers. Cover the safety tools available and demonstrate how to use them during play. This is also your chance to confirm the kind of game this is, e.g. whether there’s any level of competitiveness or secrecy between players, and to reiterate whether the game has any mature or potentially disturbing themes.
This is also a chance to check everyone’s familiarity with the ruleset and game world. If you can identify who’s learning the game or the setting—or who might be an expert—you can make sure to help teach them during play and set the expectation that experienced players be extra patient and helpful with the newbies. If the expert players seem kind and understanding, you might also be able to offload some of the teaching by asking something like, “Jane, since it sounds like you’re a longtime player of this game, would you be willing to help explain things to John in case I’m busy looking something up for the scenario? No worries if not, I’ll be able to handle it either way.” By giving the player a chance to decline, you’ll avoid overburdening one of your players who might be looking for a break from having to help others, whether that’s in the context of GMing, teaching, parenting, or working.
Bring It!
As the session begins, get yourself hyped for the game, the players, and their characters. A lot of folks will mirror the GM’s demeanor, so if you come to the game exhausted and not looking forward to playing, that will be immediately apparent to the players through your tone and body language. They’re more likely to seek distractions (such as in a rulebook or on a phone), and they’ll be less engaged in the scenario. By contrast, if you are full of energy and excitement, your enthusiasm will be infectious, and the players will also get pumped to play. A smile will go a long way at a convention, so set a positive tone early on, and hopefully your players will reciprocate.
Rotate the Spotlight
Remember what we said about different player types? Soon after you kick the game off, you’ll start to see evidence of the players’ different styles. Some of this boils down to communication styles: there’s the loud and gregarious one, the quiet and contemplative one, the sarcastic spitfire one, the even-keeled one who’s channeling their inner scout leader… the list goes on. Some of this comes from their experience with the system or gaming in general: there’s the tentative player who is still figuring out the rules, the expert player who can tell everyone their characters’ special abilities, and the forever GM who will run the game for you if you aren’t careful. They all bring different strengths to the table, but also different challenges.
As the GM, it’s your job to help moderate the player who talks too much, encourage the player who hasn’t had a turn to speak up and get involved, direct the digression-prone player back to the action at hand, and try to give everyone an equal chance to shine. Ask questions to help bring a character back into the limelight if they’ve been waiting in the wings for something to do, and if needed, adjust elements of the scenario to give the sidelined characters a reason to get back on the field, so to speak. Maybe an element of their backstory could come into play, or you could introduce a challenge perfectly suited to their specific skillset. Having built the pre-gens yourself (or at least studied them ahead of time), you should have a good idea of what they’re all capable of and what makes them unique.
Dealing with Problematic Player Behavior
Run enough games, and you’re bound to encounter a player who says something or does something that’s outside the realm of acceptability (whether due to the code of conduct/harassment policy, the safety tools, or social courtesy in general). When this happens, be gentle but firm in pointing out the behavior, explaining why it’s an issue and the impact it’s having, and asking the player whether they’ll agree to stop. Most players do mean well, and mistakes happen, so it’s good to give people some grace and keep your reaction proportional to the offense. That said, if it’s a flagrant and severe violation, you don’t need to issue a warning first before asking someone to leave.
Here’s an example of how to correct an unwanted behavior at the table: “Hey Jen, you might not realize it, but the accent you’ve chosen for your character is strongly reminiscent of negative stereotypes and portrayals of that culture from older media, and many folks consider it offensive. Can we agree to refrain from using that accent at the table?” Center the feedback around the specific behavior that needs changing, and if needed, describe how the behavior is negatively affecting you or the other players. If the player doesn’t agree to stop or modify their behavior, or they repeatedly slip without self-correcting, it’s time to ask them to leave and find a different game.
The critical thing here is to address the issue out-of-character, directly but calmly, like adults. I’ve seen passive-aggressive GMs try to punish out-of-game behavior through in-game consequences, which only exacerbates the issue, causing the player to act out further. And of course, a player can’t correct the problematic behavior if they don’t realize they’re doing it, so communication is key.
If something is borderline, like one player’s character is flirting with another and you’re not sure if that could be an unwelcome advance, pause play and check in with the recipient of the behavior. Something along the lines of “hey Jack, is it fun for you if Jill’s character makes those kinds of remarks? We didn’t cover romance between PCs at the start of the game, so I wanted to check in to see if that should be added to the lines or veils.” Listen for enthusiastic consent, and if none is forthcoming, help reiterate boundaries and safety tools. If a player character is flirting with an NPC, as the GM it’s up to you to voice your discomfort, if any. Again, use the safety tools you have at your disposal. “I forgot to add this to our safety tools at the outset, but I’m going to X-card flirting and romancing NPCs, and I’ll add it to our lines now.” Neither you nor your players need to justify your feelings or reasons for using the safety tools.
Critical Hits and Fails
Although it’s not always made explicit in a code of conduct, ensuring that all participants treat each other with respect is a crucial part of player management. I’ve played with GMs who have literally rolled their eyes at a player while they thought the player wasn’t looking, but they made no attempt to hide that from the rest of the table. I’ve also played with gamers who were dismissive of other players’ contributions, using a mocking or sarcastic tone to describe the player’s actions, or by using put-downs like “that’s stupid” or “what a dumb idea.” Call out the behavior right away, saying something like, “Those kinds of comments are disrespectful. Can we all agree to refrain from putting down other players’ suggestions and ideas?”
Do keep an eye on people’s body language throughout the game—sometimes folks truly are uncomfortable voicing an issue they’re having, but they’ll subconsciously convey their discomfort or try to communicate it nonverbally. Do check in with them with a quick, “hey, is everyone still having fun? Let me know if there’s something we could change to make this a better experience,” and encourage them to speak up to help you provide everyone with a good time.
Conclusion and Supplemental Reading
By setting a good example for your table in terms of being communicative, courteous, and enthusiastic, you can help guide your players toward doing the same. Considering your player types in advance and making sure that you’re including safety tools will go a long way to ensuring everyone enjoys their time playing. You can read more about people management in Chapter 14 of Your Best Game Ever from Monte Cook Games, as well as Chapter 11 of Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Campaign Management, available from Engine Publishing. You can also check out Consent in Gaming from Monte Cook Games for helpful tips when including mature content and themes in your games.
And that’s it for the essential ingredients of great convention one-shots! Thanks for reading, and check out some of my other articles for game masters here. You might be especially interested in this one on How to Become a Better Game Master According to Science, which talks about how you can put these tips into practice. And sign up for my newsletter to be notified of future articles and resources to help you run the best games you can.
If you missed the first two parts of this series, check out my article on crafting exciting and accessible pre-gens here, otherwise read more about optimizing scenarios for one-off play here.
Image Credit: Diacritica, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
[1] Of course, this comes with the caveat that many players defy categorization or are a mix of types. I’m sure that, in the 20 years since the book was first written, different kinds of games have introduced new and different types of motivations for gamers (what about the performative gamer who wants to create a podcast or live streamed actual play?), but that’s a topic for another day.
