In an effort to make this often-invisible part of GMing a little more visible, what do you say we share our favorite tools and processes for session planning? How does your group handle scheduling, conflicts, and reminders? Tell us all about your Doodle polls, sacrosanct game times, and favorite cat herding strats!
Take a large filter that you pour potential group members into that can meet certain requirements, and shake around until you are left with a small handful that manage to remain. Build your social group from those people and hold onto them as if your life depended on it. This does not mention the part where you have to be serious and act like adults to remove the toxic personalities that somehow manage to make into the finals. It is merely assumed you do so.
And for those of you who think I was joking at all, I was not. Hold to your standards and do not compromise on them, even if it takes a while to find the right people. Also remember that people do change a bit over time, and you will too. Pruning the group and/or grafting in new people will inevitably occur.
As for scheduling... People have to be capable of setting aside time to get together. If they cannot do so reliably, they simply do not make the cut. Cancellations occur, yes, and being adults we can recognize that and work around it. We aren't talking about every now and then. If you can't commit, don't attempt to.
I used to set up Doodle links, but the site got numerous overhauls to the worse, so I ended up with a similiar service.
In the past we tried to establish a common social platform where everyone would be online. We failed. So when I send these not-exactly-Doodle links, it's going to be via e-mail, Steam, Discord and finally Facebook. These players are absolutely worth the additional effort, though.
Since players have a lot of other things on their mental plate, I try to keep the game time simple. It's always the same time of the day, and it's always a weekend day. As soon as you introduce one additional variable, it's just a matter of time until a player will mess it up.
Thankfully, reminders are covered by one of the players, who was annoyed by fellow players forgetting about the appointment.
Cancellations happen, but as long as three players are present, we will play. It's the active and present players I should focus on, not the ones with scheduling issues - learned that the hard way. If it's just two players, we will at least spend some time chatting, so their effort wasn't completely in vain. We play online mostly, otherwise we might pull a board game or something.
First, we've been playing remotely since 2001, when I moved from Virginia to NYC (I'm the DM most of the time). We first used NetMeeting with a low-res camera pointed at an actual map and miniatures, then ScreenMonkey, and then settled on FantasyGrounds. We used Skype for voice for a while, but now we're using Discord. We've just started using Kanka to track all the campaign stuff, but we're in early days there. Also, we are a group of 6 - 1 DM and 5 players.
We pick a "standard" game night that seems to (mostly) work for everyone, and I send out Google calendar invites that run through eternity for that night (we play 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM east coast time, where all but one of our players lives [we have one in Texas]). Then, at the end of each game, we review the next ~4 weeks to see if we need to move any particular game (I and my players are all in our 40s and 50s with kids, work, significant others, etc. and things come up). If someone has a conflict then we look for a different day that week where everyone can play and we'll move that week's game to a different night. (I'll change it in my Google calendar and revised invites go out to everyone).
Our "rule" is that as long as we're going to only be 1 player down, we'll play with someone taking over that character for the game. If we're going to be 2 players down then we don't play. If, however, there is some significant role playing or combat where that specific person is key, then we'll skip (or pick a day that person can play, even if it means someone else can't attend). But generally, we try to minimize playing a player down if at all possible.
Coordination during the week, for example if plans abruptly change and someone cannot make game night, is done over Discord. That is where we handle things that can be done between games as well, in order to maximize the 3 hours per week that we have together.
This system works well for us, and we end up playing 45+ weeks per year, with most cancelations due to multiple people being on vacation simultaneously or holidays.
Mouths and Discord.
We have regular game days/times. At the end of a session we discuss who can't make the next one. If something changes in between, we have a group chat in Discord and it's discussed there.
No real benefit in anything more complicated.
Technology doesn't help keep real-life from interfering with game nights, which is the real issue.
we have a set scheduled time (Saturday from 6-10). we have 6 players, so if 1 or 2 can't make it, we can still play. We use a group text message to communicate during the week on any cancellations etc. And before a game session ends we discuss who can or cannot be at the next game. We also happen to have a group of serious players who purposely choose to keep saturday night free for game.
Facebook messenger and a Facebook group is what we use. Our game nights are 99% of the time Friday 6-11pm, but in the summer months and during holiday season it can get kinda rough schedule-wise. So we just make a poll on the facebook group to figure out everyone's schedule, and everyone votes for the days that they're available, and if everyone votes for Saturday, then that's what we go with. If we can't find a night where everyone can play that week, then we just take a week off.
Email, through our group's Facebook page, and texting. Some don't use Facebook, and some don't even check their email every day. But everyone checks their texts. Between these three methods there is no excuse for not knowing when the next session is. I also remind them one week before the game. Aside from being in a coma or dead, no excuses.