What do YOU mean by "Good Table Etiquette"?


Pathfinder Society

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3/5

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I don't know what you're talking about. I hate people.

Scarab Sages

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Auke Teeninga wrote:
7. Don't talk about your other characters.

Don't twitter on about your current character, either, except insofar as it relates to events in-game.

By that, I mean, I don't want to hear about what his bonuses will be in ten levels time, or about the awesome combo that will kick in, once he's got this multiclass, or this feat, or this equipment, or blah, blah, blah.

I certainly don't want to hear how you'd have been able to solo this mod, if you'd been allowed to use Crafting feats to build some unfeasibly cheap and questionable item. Or if you'd been allowed to have a niche-built cohort.
No S!#!, Sherlock.
That's why they booted those options out of PFS.

2/5

Carla the Profane wrote:
Sometimes i'm amazed at how much emotion this game provokes from people :-)

We had to postpone our home-group's Rise of the Runelords campaign for three months because of an incident involving a player death and an immediately following PvP cohort death.

Liberty's Edge

Since I'm more about the roleplaying than the battling (And I'm not gonna be a DM anytime soon), I think it's cool if the GM lets other players say funny stuff as long as it's in-character, it doesn't disrupt the game (like intentionally doing something stupid just to get the party into trouble) and/or offends the other players. I enjoy the game a lot more when players are having fun more than being with "serious" role-players :P

Shadow Lodge 4/5

G-Zeus wrote:
Carla the Profane wrote:
Sometimes i'm amazed at how much emotion this game provokes from people :-)
We had to postpone our home-group's Rise of the Runelords campaign for three months because of an incident involving a player death and an immediately following PvP cohort death.

I would imagine a player death would put a serious damper on any campaign. ;)

N+1) If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, let me know and I'll do my best. I understand you have work in the morning, (heck, I probably do too) but you agreed to play this game at this time slot. Quit checking your watch like you're the White Rabbit. You're making me nervous.

4/5 5/55/55/55/5

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Talking over the box text irks me.
Also, the end of the box text is not always the time to start talking amongst yourselves if the NPC asks if you have any questions. Don't have a 10 minute convo with each other and then ask the NPC questions - He already left.

3/5

I'd have to say one of my biggest bugbears around the table is players not paying attention in combat, so when the GM asks them what their character is doing they not only have no clue what's going on, but have no clue which of the many options their tricked-out pc has, to actually use. So the next 5 minutes is spent peering at a character sheet, deciding on a particular action/spell, looking said action/spell up, adding modifiers from buffs, and then rolling the dice one at a time.

Ironically, experienced gamers are the most likely to commit this particular faux pas.. Newbies usually have simpler characters unless it's been designed by a gamer friend..

It ain't rocket science; pay attention, know what's going on, and know what you're planning on doing before the GM points at you and says "go!".

Scarab Sages 5/5

Apocryphile wrote:

It ain't rocket science; pay attention, know what's going on, and know what you're planning on doing before the GM points at you and says "go!".

I read so many times that people should know what they are going to do when it is their turn but I can't count all the times I was ready to do something and the person who went ahead of me changed the situation so much that what you had planned won't work. that is far more likely in the higher level play.

So don't blame inatention when someone has to figure out what to do on their turn - it could be their plans have been dashed to pieces by other events just before their turn.

Grand Lodge 3/5

I try to have one or two backup options for those situations, but, yeah, I've been in that situation a few times. I usually just delay for a turn if my planned action needs to be thrown out.

Liberty's Edge 5/5

Dhjika wrote:
Apocryphile wrote:

It ain't rocket science; pay attention, know what's going on, and know what you're planning on doing before the GM points at you and says "go!".

I read so many times that people should know what they are going to do when it is their turn but I can't count all the times I was ready to do something and the person who went ahead of me changed the situation so much that what you had planned won't work. that is far more likely in the higher level play.

So don't blame inatention when someone has to figure out what to do on their turn - it could be their plans have been dashed to pieces by other events just before their turn.

But if they are paying attention, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to tecalibrate.

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/5 RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8

It's super juvenile, but something that helped my home game was the "talking pen." This is like the "talking ball" for anyone who is in my same fourth grade class.

Basically, only the person with the talking ____ is allowed to talk. When they finish they pass it to the next person. This really helped when the table was getting drunk/excited. People respected that talking pen.

It just feels too demeaning to implement at a random PFS table.

4/5 Designer

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Andrew Christian wrote:
Dhjika wrote:
Apocryphile wrote:

It ain't rocket science; pay attention, know what's going on, and know what you're planning on doing before the GM points at you and says "go!".

I read so many times that people should know what they are going to do when it is their turn but I can't count all the times I was ready to do something and the person who went ahead of me changed the situation so much that what you had planned won't work. that is far more likely in the higher level play.

So don't blame inatention when someone has to figure out what to do on their turn - it could be their plans have been dashed to pieces by other events just before their turn.

But if they are paying attention, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to tecalibrate.

It depends on what the curveball was. If the unexpected happening was "A demon greater teleports directly adjacent to your caster, with a natural attack and a reach weapon at the ready, plunging your vision into darkness", when previously you were out of harm's way and could see the battlefield, it might take a little while for the caster to decide what to do.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Playing and GM styles aren't really something that should be folded into this topic.

Table etiquette should really be not much more than a small superset of the basic civil etiquette you were hopefully taught before your parents let you leave the house unsupervised.

If you don't have that as a foundation, than much of this discussion is moot.

Grand Lodge 2/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

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Mark Seifter wrote:
Andrew Christian wrote:


But if they are paying attention, it shouldn't take more than 30 seconds to tecalibrate.
It depends on what the curveball was. If the unexpected happening was "A demon greater teleports directly adjacent to your caster, with a natural attack and a reach weapon at the ready, plunging your vision into darkness", when previously you were out of harm's way and could see the battlefield, it might take a little while for the caster to decide what to do.

I dunno, it only took me about 7 seconds to decide on "sobbing in the fetal position".

Liberty's Edge 2/5

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BEHOLD! The Ten Commandments of Gaming.

5/5 *****

Walter Sheppard wrote:

It's super juvenile, but something that helped my home game was the "talking pen." This is like the "talking ball" for anyone who is in my same fourth grade class.

Basically, only the person with the talking ____ is allowed to talk. When they finish they pass it to the next person. This really helped when the table was getting drunk/excited. People respected that talking pen.

It just feels too demeaning to implement at a random PFS table.

For our home games what we found really helped was taking half an hour or so to have a proper natter about not gaming related stuff and getting it all out of the way before we moved to the table. That helped get everyone far more focused on what was happening in the game.

3/5

Dhjika wrote:

So don't blame inattention when someone has to figure out what to do on their turn - it could be their plans have been dashed to pieces by other events just before their turn.

Believe me, the example I was thinking of was exactly due to inattention. Nothing game-changing had occurred just before their go. There were no plans to dash to pieces.

But of course, if something huge has just happened then of course it may take a minute to work out what the hell to do. That's totally reasonable. It also goes without saying.

3/5

StrangePackage wrote:
BEHOLD! The Ten Commandments of Gaming.

This.


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Apocryphile wrote:
StrangePackage wrote:
BEHOLD! The Ten Commandments of Gaming.
This.

i agree but i cant stress this enough shower shower SHOWER!!! even if your don’t think you reek please shower before you can to game even if your use to the BO coming off you. other people at the table can smell you and its way more enjoyable to play when you’re not wishing your sense of smell away as you roll to dice .


Apocryphile wrote:

I'd have to say one of my biggest bugbears around the table is players not paying attention in combat, so when the GM asks them what their character is doing they not only have no clue what's going on, but have no clue which of the many options their tricked-out pc has, to actually use. So the next 5 minutes is spent peering at a character sheet, deciding on a particular action/spell, looking said action/spell up, adding modifiers from buffs, and then rolling the dice one at a time.

Ironically, experienced gamers are the most likely to commit this particular faux pas.. Newbies usually have simpler characters unless it's been designed by a gamer friend..

It ain't rocket science; pay attention, know what's going on, and know what you're planning on doing before the GM points at you and says "go!".

i had this issue too and the best fix for it at my table and all my friends adopted this as well. i use a egg timer or a timer on my phone and i let the players know during combat you have one minute to say and do what your character is doing or we move past your turn. i just say you were too stunned to know what to do and your character just stood there for his turn this round.

Scarab Sages

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Mark Seifter wrote:
It depends on what the curveball was. If the unexpected happening was "A demon greater teleports directly adjacent to your caster, with a natural attack and a reach weapon at the ready, plunging your vision into darkness", when previously you were out of harm's way and could see the battlefield, it might take a little while for the caster to decide what to do.

If the opposition manages to throw a curveball at you, that takes your PC by surprise, then shouldn't the honourable, in-character thing to do be to act hastily (and possibly ineffectively or counter-productively) just like someone who was taken by surprise?

Why would the PC gain a free time stop?

Count me as hating all kinds of player to player timeout debates.

This isn't 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'; the action doesn't come to a crashing halt, so you can ask the audience, or 'phone a friend'.

Silver Crusade 5/5

Chris Mortika wrote:

4. We're all friends, and every meet-up is a reunion. Nevertheless, don't take over the table with tangents and out-of-character tales of previous sessions.

a million times this

4/5

Riuk wrote:
Apocryphile wrote:
StrangePackage wrote:
BEHOLD! The Ten Commandments of Gaming.
This.
i agree but i cant stress this enough shower shower SHOWER!!! even if your don’t think you reek please shower before you can to game even if your use to the BO coming off you. other people at the table can smell you and its way more enjoyable to play when you’re not wishing your sense of smell away as you roll to dice .

As one of those formentioned sometimes smelly people, I carry deodorant everywhere with me. It is surprising how many others don't. It may not always work, but I try.

I would also add, bring a table snack, if everybody is bringing one thing to the table, you can cut down on breaks and shock horror actually start early occasionally.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Riuk wrote:
Apocryphile wrote:
StrangePackage wrote:
BEHOLD! The Ten Commandments of Gaming.
This.
i agree but i cant stress this enough shower shower SHOWER!!! even if your don’t think you reek please shower before you can to game even if your use to the BO coming off you. other people at the table can smell you and its way more enjoyable to play when you’re not wishing your sense of smell away as you roll to dice .

And again, I'd say that if you don't have this as part of your normal day routine, then you have a problem. It's not like people purposely skip showers when they know they're going gaming... or do they?

3/5

Re: phones at tables.

I love having my phone at the table, it has all the rules on it and takes up a tiny amount of space. The tables I play at just aren't big enough for 7 or 8 people's books, characters, dice, miniatures, etc... to fit comfortably. The more you can slim down your footprint the better.

That said, don't be playing other games at the table, that's incredibly rude.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

This might merit being a thread in and of itself, but does anyone have any advice for dealing with an obnoxious fellow player? I played a game today with one such player, and it was infuriating. The guy talked non-stop the entire time, dominated every encounter, argued with the other players (including children who were at the table) and interrupted constantly (including the GM).

Things kind of broke down early on when he assumed my character and someone else's was going to automatically go along with one of his plans, and while we were doing this he wanted to run around and do some annoying, mischievous gnomey rping. I had to tell him not to play my character for me, which is fine but the way I said it was way more angry and hostile than I wanted it to be. The whole game after that ended up being pretty tense between us. This did not improve his behavior, and I ended up leaving the table feeling like kind of a jerk over losing my temper.

Anyways, do any of you experienced role-players have advice for dealing with a rude player in a graceful or diplomatic manner? I know I'll run into him or another player like him at some point again, and I would like to handle it in the future without losing my temper.

3/5

Get your GM involved in that Badblood (btw, your name is really ironic to the situation described). The GM should be controlling those types of situations. If they don't then at a break you need to take the player aside and tell them your concerns and/or gm aside. If they refuse to listen and the GM isn't addressing the matter than I would tackle it directly in game.

Make an "out of character statement" along these lines: "Time in PFS scenarios is limited. Every player has ideas as how best to proceed. I feel that this game functions better if every player has an opportunity to express their viewpoints and contribute to the overall strategy of the mission. In light of these points, lets try not to monopolize the available time and lets try to function as a team. Im sure there are alternative ways of addressing our current mission that Ive not considered but my PFS team members may have a solution."

If this doesn't work then simply avoid the player in question. I have a couple people tell me that they will not signup for a table if player X is there. As a GM, I try to address these issues in game. However, there are some players that just don't get it. For those players, I elevate my concerns to VC/VL's. They will address my concerns with them and if it continues they may be asked not to come back (note: this is an extreme solution and should only be the very last resort)

Scarab Sages

Good Table Etiquette means...

Adventurers? Take your feats off the table if they're overly powerful.

Monsters? Don't talk to the party while Swallowing Whole.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

Thanks Duncan for the reply, I was thinking that it might have been best to try to suck it up until break and then address the issue with the GM. I would have really liked to address it civilly during the game, but I don't think there was any way to do that because he pretty much didn't allow anyone besides the GM to complete a sentence. I remember have to repeatedly shout over him things like "I have inspire competence," or "I have a grappling hook in my backpack" because he wouldn't shut up long enough to anyone else to talk.

Anyways, I really love PFS, and I think most players get that the "society" part of the name means that you can't behave like a complete sociopath during play...But then there's always going to be some bad apples I guess.

Scarab Sages

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As someone who plays a gnome in PFS (not the one who Blackblood had a run-in with), I understand how mischief can be tempting, but I also realise that it is usually not as hilarious to players who are not involved, so temper that instinct accordingly.

I also know that a game has a time limit, and success criteria, that must be met for all the PCs to advance, so I won't do anything to deliberately delay or compromise the completion of the mission.
In fact, the PC is a bit OCD about completing missions (no failures in 20 missions), and saves all his aggression and inventive punishments for the opposition we were supposed to defeat as part of completing the mission.

If you ever find yourself trying to carry out some prank on the Venture Officer at the briefing, or allies of the Society, then you need to rethink your career, since you won't get picked for future missions (ie your PC becomes unplayable).

Silver Crusade 4/5

Snorter wrote:
If you ever find yourself trying to carry out some prank on the Venture Officer at the briefing, or allies of the Society, then you need to rethink your career, since you won't get picked for future missions (ie your PC becomes unplayable).

"Hey! I resemble that remark! Just because I've tied Ambrus Valsin's shoelaces together once or twice doesn't mean I'm a bad Pathfinder. It just means I have a sense of humor."

"Most of my teammates thought it was funny. And I always help finish our missions, especially when it comes to talking to folks about stuff. I'm really good at that."

Gnome prankster bard. First feat: Skill Focus: Perform (Comedy). Nuff said.

Scarab Sages 5/5

Snorter wrote:

As someone who plays a gnome in PFS (not the one who Blackblood had a run-in with), I understand how mischief can be tempting, but I also realise that it is usually not as hilarious to players who are not involved, so temper that instinct accordingly.

We have a local player whose bluff and disguise is so good with illusions that he pretends to be a venture captain on mission, and no one can ever roll a perception or sense motive high enough to find him false, that could get very old indeed, if he ever decided to start issuing orders.

Scarab Sages 5/5

Dhjika wrote:
Snorter wrote:

As someone who plays a gnome in PFS (not the one who Blackblood had a run-in with), I understand how mischief can be tempting, but I also realise that it is usually not as hilarious to players who are not involved, so temper that instinct accordingly.

We have a local player whose bluff and disguise is so good with illusions that he pretends to be a venture captain on mission, and no one can ever roll a perception or sense motive high enough to find him false, that could get very old indeed, if he ever decided to start issuing orders.

(PC level 11, so on a Tier 7-11 scenario)

Sense Motive +34, so over the entire mission I should be able to take 20 to hit a DC54... and that's not using spells or circumstances to boost it. How good is that bluff?

(wink) - not that I would tell though!

Scarab Sages 5/5

Katisha wrote:
Dhjika wrote:
Snorter wrote:

As someone who plays a gnome in PFS (not the one who Blackblood had a run-in with), I understand how mischief can be tempting, but I also realise that it is usually not as hilarious to players who are not involved, so temper that instinct accordingly.

We have a local player whose bluff and disguise is so good with illusions that he pretends to be a venture captain on mission, and no one can ever roll a perception or sense motive high enough to find him false, that could get very old indeed, if he ever decided to start issuing orders.

(PC level 11, so on a Tier 7-11 scenario)

Sense Motive +34, so over the entire mission I should be able to take 20 to hit a DC54... and that's not using spells or circumstances to boost it. How good is that bluff?

(wink) - not that I would tell though!

My guess would be the argument that at any one moment you can't be taking 20 - but there is that level perception and sense motive to make - making only one doesn't penetrate the whole thing - and after all can anyone say anything is off if Kreighton Shaine or Drendle Drang are not acting "normal."

Scarab Sages 5/5

Dhjika wrote:
Katisha wrote:
Dhjika wrote:
Snorter wrote:

As someone who plays a gnome in PFS (not the one who Blackblood had a run-in with), I understand how mischief can be tempting, but I also realise that it is usually not as hilarious to players who are not involved, so temper that instinct accordingly.

We have a local player whose bluff and disguise is so good with illusions that he pretends to be a venture captain on mission, and no one can ever roll a perception or sense motive high enough to find him false, that could get very old indeed, if he ever decided to start issuing orders.

(PC level 11, so on a Tier 7-11 scenario)

Sense Motive +34, so over the entire mission I should be able to take 20 to hit a DC54... and that's not using spells or circumstances to boost it. How good is that bluff?

(wink) - not that I would tell though!

My guess would be the argument that at any one moment you can't be taking 20 - but there is that level perception and sense motive to make - making only one doesn't penetrate the whole thing - and after all can anyone say anything is off if Kreighton Shaine or Drendle Drang are not acting "normal."

so... even if just taking 10, that would give a 44 sense motive result for all checks....

at that point maybe I could figure out that he's NOT Drendle Drang because he didn't call us to the briefing in the middle of my "Day Job roll" (middle of the night), to send us on some silly mission he's know about for more than a week. In other works, he's acting like a "normal person" which would be very out of character for Kreighton Shaine or Drendle Drang! LOL!

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Badblood wrote:
This might merit being a thread in and of itself, but does anyone have any advice for dealing with an obnoxious fellow player? I played a game today with one such player, and it was infuriating. .

The first line of defense against this type of player is the GM.

Badblood wrote:
The guy talked non-stop the entire time, dominated every encounter, argued with the other players (including children who were at the table) and interrupted constantly (including the GM).

This is a prime example of a player not being able to share the spotlight. Now PFS is not for everyone as it is at its heart a game about the community. Some players have a play style that demands that they always have the spotlight at all times. This play style, in my opinion, is extremely selfish / entitled and does not work for a community based game. Some players can learn to change and other cannot.

If this is not handled in game and at the table by the GM who has absolute control over where their spotlight shines and can ensure that everyone has the chance to shine then it needs to be handled away from the table and in private.

This is one of those uncomfortable conversations where you need to as kindly as possible bring up the concept that this player's play style is negatively impacting the fun of others at the table. This conversation is one that is better initiated by the GM or by your local VO but I would not let the chance go by if they are not available. Be as kind as you can be. Be as calm as you can be. Realize that this person might not even understand that they have a problem. If you are having this conversation as a player make it specific about your experience and how their behavior impacted you. Please work to ensure that you have this conversation as privately as possible.

Some problem players can change their spots and become pillars of the community acting as beacons to guide more players to the awesomeness that is Pathfinder. They just need to be given the guidance and a chance to change.

Now if the problem player has been on the receiving end of this conversation from multiple people and interesting thing tends to happen. The problem player gets a reputation and people start not playing with them. As I said earlier, PFS is not for everyone and some people are better outside of the campaign than in it.

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