Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 RedSiegfried Dec 19, 2013 20:51:05	Someone invites you to play in the game he's DMing, or the game he's playing in.  It happens all the time. Of course, you wonder what the group is going to be like before you play and you wonder if you'll be a good fit.  You're curious about what kind of game is being played and whether it's your bag or not, what the other players are like, and what the DM is going to be like.   Let's say that you were able to "interview" the players or DM with a list of questions before deciding whether you want to "hire" them to play D&D with you.  Of course, most of us will ask a few questions when we're invited to a new game, but we may not necessarily think of the things that are most important to us until after we play with that group and learn what we like or don't like about it.      So if you could think it through in advance, what pregame "interview" questions would you ask a player?  What questions would you ask a DM?  What kind of responses would make you want to "hire" these folks as fellow D&D players or what kind of responses would make you say "No thanks," and not "hire" them?  I'm thinking mainly in terms of game/edition-neutral questions about playstyle, tone, personality and organization, but questions specifically about the game itself and its rules can be important too.   I'd be interested in reading the responses and perhaps coming up with a list of a few important questions that would be good for gamers to think about and ask about before they play with a new group of people.    What say you?
#2 Krusk Dec 20, 2013 14:30:21	"What is your system of choice and why". Why being the most important part. I'd like to see their level of system mastery, and this will generally get any RPG player/DM talking for a long time.    During that conversation I will be able to tell their level of rules knowledge, their prefered playstyle, their level of "Just handwave the rules", their tolerance of other playstyles, and most probably what they look for in a game.    For me I want someone who is aware of their level of rules knowledge. Mine is typically high. If yours is as well thats fine. If yours isn't and you are aware of it thats fine. If yours isn't but you think it is, we will have a problem. I don't actually care about playstyle, but I do want to ensure its not players vs DM.  I want minimal handwaving of the rules, unless its something we specifically discuss it ahead of time and all agree its a crappy rule. I want someone tolerant of other playstyles.  Edition wise - If they are the DM I'd like them to say 1 of 2 things. 1 - They aren't super rules familiar and are asking us to work with them. 2 - I prefer X edition. Here is what it does well, and here is what it doesn't do good.
(Reply to #2) RedSiegfried	Krusk wrote:
#4 Krusk Dec 21, 2013 7:10:49	That is a great follow up.    I personally don't care if you address them, unless they are major so I don't really delve too deep on what your personal house rules arewhen determining if this will be a good group for me (I will do this during session 0/1). so long as you acknowledge "We are doing rifts, its got crazy power disparity between classes. Be aware, don't be a glitterboy, and anything else we will just deal with". I find if a systems does something poorly, you can always just not include that element in your games. 3.5 diplomacy rules is a great example. "3.5 can't handle diplomacy, so don't optimize it".
#5 baldhermit Dec 21, 2013 7:53:20	Something that so far I have never been able to get info on beforehand, but will turn me away from a game is whether the DM is strict / loose with starting time, duration, etc.   For the start-up game, not everyone has their stuff together, someone got stuck in traffic... in all we start an hour late, no problem. But if time and time again I am good to go 15 minutes before the set starting time (phone is on silent, wife out with friends, dogs been fed and walked) and even the DM isn't ready till well after we were supposed to start, I will leave that group.     Now that is my personal pet peeve, but it falls in the broader concept of :"are these people I would hang out with socially if it were not for this game?", which is a line of questioning I have not yet seen mentioned in this thread.
#6 Matyr Dec 21, 2013 9:34:28	baldhermit wrote:
#7 iserith Dec 21, 2013 10:15:31	Question for players and GMs: "Do you use improvisation, specifically 'Yes, and...,' or do you just say 'No' or 'Yes, but...' to things whenever you feel like it? (4e DMG, pg. 28-29)" How the player or GM answers that generally reveals a lot to me, enough to determine whether playing with them is worth my time.   I also agree that the question on why they chose the particular system they're playing is important. I want to know if they're any good at choosing the right tool for the right gaming experience. In my view, nothing makes for a worse game than when someone tries to play a certain edition with the assumptions and approaches of another edition. Trying to play 4e like The Sims is just a train wreck waiting to happpen.
#8 DaBeerds Dec 21, 2013 12:54:43	What is the level of character optimization?  Are all PCs fully optimized?  Are encounters balanced around the PCs being fully optimized?   I do not care what the answer is.  What I do care about is knowing ahead of time whether a sub-optimal character has a chance to be successful or not.  I made this mistake once; I entered a 3.5e game with all the characters around me being almost obsessively optimized and my character was decidedly not optimized.  I did not leave the group, but I did abandon that character for a far more optimized one (there was no way to "fix" the existing character).   To what degree does the group "role-play"?   Again, I do not care what the answer would be except to know what I am getting into ahead of time.   I remember a D&D Next playtest group.  I joined it randomly and there were eight total players that showed (yes I know too many players).  Two of the players got so far into character that their "social interactions" got in the way of playing the game.  And because they and the DM were friends, the DM did nothing to curtail them.  The group was supposed to be play testing; seeing if game mechanics worked.  But instead we ended up spending three hours talking in character.  I was invited to another play test with that DM, I politely refused.