Author  Message [bottom]
JohnB
 supporter, 2104 posts
 Demigod of the Stunties
Mon 7 Dec 2020
at 14:47
 msg #1
Secondary DMs
Just recently I  have been working out ways to let one PC adjudicate a duel between two other PCs.  I dislike PVP, arenas and pseudo-wargaming, so I thought I would  get someone else to do it for me.

It did, however, encourage me to think (briefly) about adding a second DM to the game -  however, I don't really need a second full time active DM.  However, I would quite like to let some of my Players run minor adventures / scenes on my behalf.  Duelling, being one example, and it would be nice to send out the occasional small adventure under another DM.

However, I really don't want those players to have access to ALL of the information / PMs etc that a full DM does.

I wonder how difficult it would be to set up Secondary GMs  (or some other title) that has GM rights in one or two groups?  Perhaps to read character sheets of players in their group, start threads in those groups, and see 'GM' Private Lines in those groups?
jkeogh
 member, 86 posts
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 05:48
 msg #2
Secondary DMs
For the character sheets you could copy them into a thread that only the secondary GM could see.

For the private lines portion, you could create a secondary persona for that player/secondary GM and provide instructions to the players in that group to always include that persona in the private lines (not foolproof, but a start).

It’s definitely an interesting question though.
Skald
 moderator, 921 posts
 Whatever it is,
 I'm against it
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 06:45
moderator post | [quote] | [reply] | msg #3
Secondary DMs
Does Moderator access level do what you need or are you after something in between that and a Co-GM ?

GM FAQ - 'What exactly do the Access types mean?':
Moderator: A Moderator is a player with a few extra privileges.  Moderators can edit other players' posts, in the case of misbehaving players.  Moderators cannot see Private Lines or Private Messages which have not been sent directly to them.  They cannot start new threads, and they cannot see whether rolls on the die roller have been fudged by the GM.

JohnB
 supporter, 2110 posts
 Demigod of the Stunties
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 10:24
 msg #4
Secondary DMs
Thank you :)

@JKeough -  I am doing something like that in the threads I am going to use for duelling :)  Two Participants and an Umpire.  The information characters would normally share with the GM must be shared with the Umpire in a PM.  Umpire then adjudicates each round.

@Skald - It has some of the abilities that I would like to use, but my understanding is that it works across all groups, rather than allocated groups.  It has one advantage, in that the moderator could 'edit' private lines to make them public -  but that isn't much different from the Umpire copying content of the PL in their post.

One of my best gaming experiences came about in a group I played with for three of four years.  We had three GMs, but we all  GMed the same group of characters, originally taking it in turns, so we could all play a bit, as well as GM.  While one GMed a specific area, two of us GMed in the same part of the game world, but had different story lines running, however I never knew any detail from Dave's storyline, and Dave never knew the detail of mine.  My Character was a full-blown active PC when Dave was GMing, but a support NPC when I was GMing.

We got to a point where we could swap (GMing) back and forth between us in a game session without the group really noticing.  On some occasions we would both be DMing effects at the same time.

As much as anything, this request is a combination of wishful thinking and nostalgia  :)

It doesn't help that I have been thinking of a Nexus style game, although with a Primary GM running a central location and secondary GMs running games in associated planes/areas/regions.  Although I probably can do that with Moderators and a group of separate games.
Skald
 moderator, 922 posts
 Whatever it is,
 I'm against it
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 13:03
moderator post | [quote] | [reply] | msg #5
Secondary DMs
Just thinking out loud ... (always dangerous) ;>

This could be accomplished by modifying access levels to give us an Owner access level and then GM level that sits beneath that.  Won't need Co-GM anymore.

Owner has access to everything just as primary GM does, so our single GM games can run things exactly as we've been doing all this time - no difference whatsoever for them to the way things are working now.

GM access would be set by the Owner to specific groups ... either the owner could control access to groups for all players OR we could let the GM give access to groups that they have access to (the Owner would be the only one who could give GM access and specify what groups they're allowed obviously).  Maybe set that via another flag when giving GM access, though that might be getting a bit complicated.

If the Owner set GM access to ALL groups then that'd be the same as Co-GM access now.

An additional group option could be made available to Owner to allow them to give their GMs access to Private Messages (which allows us to completely duplicate current Co-GM capabilities).

And to (hopefully cover all the bases) if the Owner left and a) hadn't set the Sole Ownership flag and b) had already appointed a GM with access to Private Messages then that GM could apply to site moderators to take over the game.

Transition would be very simple - Primary GM becomes Owner, Co-GMs become GMs with access to all groups and private messages ... which would deliver existing functionality but allow for subsequent restrictions to groups/PMs per above.

I'd vote for that !  <grrrins>
JohnB
 supporter, 2111 posts
 Demigod of the Stunties
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 14:02
 msg #6
Secondary DMs
If groups are managed by the owner ...  DMs can see Character sheets for the groups the run / manage -  but not the others ?

I have this weird idea for Tusk 100 years on ....
evileeyore
 member, 427 posts
 GURPS GM and Player
 Joined August 2015
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 15:40
 msg #7
Re: Secondary DMs
Skald:
Just thinking out loud ... (always dangerous) ;>

I'd vote for it too, that looks like a pretty simple way to go about it (or so I say with no knowledge as the the amount of coding it will require).
jkeogh
 member, 88 posts
Sun 13 Dec 2020
at 19:55
 msg #8
Secondary DMs
In reply to JohnB (msg # 6):

I like the idea of multiple games given the current structure. I had never thought of that. :)
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