Honestly, though, I think that switching in the middle of a session would be even worse. I hate changing gears from one week to the next, much less over the course of a couple of hours.
Ya know, people accidentally showing up late doesn’t bother me that much, especially if we’re playing Amber (or another non-party game), because then we don’t have to wait around for them. It’s the leaving early that gets on my nerves. That’s not a matter of losing track of time or poor planning–it’s effectively saying, “I know we’re scheduled to play until nine, but I’ve got better things to do.” Grrr. RPGs dont’ have to be the end-all-be-all of your existence, but don’t commit to a game if you’re not serious about it.
To completely diverge from the subject… my game is reborn! One player - a notorious whiner - has dropped out completely, and I got two new players last weekend. One is okay, but the other… first-time player, imaginative, goofy, funny, smart, and enough balls to play a female character.
And the next day, he had a figure and a set of dice. And he wants to see if I can fit in another player…
But to get back to the OP at hand… players can make all the difference in the game. If you players don’t want to play, recruit people who do. A good RPG is hard to find, and if you’ve got one going, get some people who’ll appreciate it. Don’t necessarily exclude your party-gamers, but maybe some more serious people can convince them that they’re ignoring the potential of your game.
Off to research the culture of the nomadic tribes of Pakistan for next week’s game…
My current groups GM has been running the same campaign essentially since '73 or so, though I have only been part of her group since '98. We have several parties in her universe, and the current adventure is based in part on if we want to play low level chars, mid level chars, or high level chars. As time goes on, of course, characters gain xp, so we might have two mid level parties or high levels. Also, group dymanics being what they are, characters from one party occasionally move to the other parties. Her universe is very intricate and she does a good job of making sure that events are recorded and that no party gets too ahead of the other in terms of time location. We have even had incidents where party A didn’t have an encounter that was roled up, because party B met the encounter earlier and delt with it unknowingly. Our games usually last about 9-11 hours on Sat’s.
Before that, my gaming life was Sat’s at home with some college and elem/high school friends, we would swap GM duties, but were in a common universe, so that a GM’s character would be on vacation, while every one else played their normal chars. Those were fun days.
Poddy, you lucky dog! I’d sell my soul…wait, didn’t get Fenris to appraise it yet, so I can’t be sure that would finance anything…well, anyway, I’m green with envy (though very happy for you) that you’ve got a good live RPG group together, no matter what the game.
You’re being very considerate to these guys – more so than they deserve. Sounds, though, as if they’re not the core players, and that everything was just fine before they came along. In short, you’re being a friend, but they’re not, and fair weather friends are, frankly, disposable.
Maybe I sound a little harsh, but I’ve had too many of my own live campaigns spoiled by bad eggs and online freeform storylines screwed up by morons to have much sympathy for 'em any more.
I vote with the group that recommends having your husband (or someone else) run Amber weekly and try a different party-based campaign once a month; if they can come to that, great, if not…who needs 'em? If they’re really friends, they’ll work with you, and if not, you haven’t lost anything. Or maybe they would be willing to do the work to get a party-based RPG together. Fair’s fair.
In any event, good luck and very happy gaming to you and all the other thread respondents! And if anyone is looking for people for a good RPG in the Dallas area, please yell…
