Co-GMing and Inheritance

Hello there,

Let me first say that I am a relative newcomer to this community having been a part of it for less than two months so I haven't had time to fully grasp how RP's are run on this site. However I come from a different RP community which although recently has burnt out, had a well-developed and functioning system for GMing.

If an RP can be visualized as a vehicle then we can suppose that the RP'ers are the engine that drives it forward. The body is the environment constructed by the GM and further manipulated by the players. The transmission and motive systems are the actions that the RP'ers pursue within the game environment. The fuel of this vehicle is imagination and determination both in equal parts. The electronics/lighting/control features is/are composed of the collective degree of discipline displayed by the players and the GM. When every part is in harmony, the vehicle functions as a well-oiled machine. There's one thing missing from this picture though: the driver. The driver is, of course, the GM. It is the GM's responsibility to manage the vehicle, point it in the right direction and apply throttle and brakes when necessary. They are the prime authority within an RP; they direct all and answer to none. But there is a problem...

You see, GM's are human beings, living creatures that have a life outside of the RP community and as you all know life can throw some serious curve balls at you. Or maybe its just that life for said GM might be on the edge, everything is very tightly timed and the slightest disruption will trigger a domino effect of scheduling collapse. My old community recognized this and also recognized that players who were heavily invested in an RP lose out when the GM is unable to fulfill his or her duties for whatever reason. To this end the OOC and IM systems of the website were utilized heavily in order to keep the RP'ers informed of any delays, dead zones, etc. Yet we found out that wasn't enough because there were times when a GM had to step down from his or her position as the driver of the RP permanently. Well what now? That vehicle has no driver to control it, what happens? Well it goes nowhere. What do you do in this situation? Well you may have had the foresight to have somebody ride shotgun with you: the co-GM.

The Co-GM will act just like a normal RP'er (and may be given some special permissions due to their authority) but unlike other RP'ers they will be informed of the GM's decision making before it hits the activity board. This is to keep the Co-GM informed of the desired direction of the RP, allows them to feel the flow of the creative dynamo and be ready to take the helm in the event that the first GM cannot continue for an extended period of time, or even just for a short duration. To this end this means that the Co-GM must possess formidable discipline as they are sworn to secrecy and must act as if they know nothing, or at the very least refrain from acting upon the information they are granted.

Then of course there is the unthinkable: what if both the GM and Co-GM are unable to fulfill their obligations for whatever reason? Who then is left to take command? Well ideally an RP'er will volunteer to take the helm and after being equipped with the information the GM and Co-GM had in their possession that player would know what to do. But reality is rarely ideal and power-trips happen. So then there must be a system of 'inheritance' established. The GM and Co-GM observe the actions of the players and analyze their capacity to follow and lead. This criteria will of course vary from RP to RP but the principle mechanics are the same, a player slated for inheritance must have a proper combination of discipline, creativity and perseverance. Inheritance is very "hit or miss", there is no science to selecting a player to inherit control of the RP and even if a player appears to be the perfect candidate it is ultimately up to them to decide if they want to grab the reins of command. This system was in it's experimental stages when my old RP community began to die off.

Whether or not a Co-GM or inheritance exists within an RP communication is crucial and having been a Co-GM myself before I made it my duty to keep players informed of developments, time tables and other insensitive material. This went a long way to stimulating interest in those RP's and I feel that the same methods can be applied here. I plan on starting my own RP sometime within the next few months and I will be utilizing these methods in order to maintain the integrity of the RP.

So then. Opinions? Similar experiences? Recommendations? Admonishments (be reasonable please)?

"There comes a time in the affairs of men when he must prepare to defend not only his home alone but the tenets of faith and humanity upon which his church, his government, his very civilization are founded."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1941

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/WzTspb64wuQ/viewtopic.php

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