More Responsibility Than I Bargained For

So there's a lot going on in the world, and one of those things means we can't meet face to face anymore. For most, this is not great but if you're here for the same reason I'm writing this then you're interested in RPGs and meeting face to face is kind of a big part of those, so this is really not great, to put it mildly.

I'm in the UK and the lockdown began officially on the 23rd of March but for about a week before, the government were making 'recommendations' in that direction. So rather than say "All pubs and restaurants must close", they were saying "We don't think pubs and restaurants should open currently". I won't go into my opinions on that decision but regardless. The week before, I found myself as the GM of a game that met at a club in a pub on Monday evenings. And I had been seeing the advice for some time but the pub was still open and I was in a dilemma: do I run for the group or not?

The position of GM comes with responsibility. How much responsibility depends on the game and the GM's view of it. Dungeons and Dragons places a large amount on the GM, the Dungeon Master's Guide says they are responsible for making everything up and writing it down and then telling it like a story but also improvising and acting and being a referee at the same time. Phew! The DMG mentions that you can lean on players for help but doesn't really start with that in mind. Recently kickstarted Heart: The City Beneath meanwhile says that the GM should talk to their players about what they want, let them invent parts of the world and run with those ideas, and invites the GM to be open about the process. Personally, I fall more to the D&D style of things, at least partially because that's how I learned it, but I've grown to appreciate more the open style of involving players. At the very least, I'll take their ideas that they randomly speculate about and adapt them when I like them to save on some of the mental stress.

But no game so far has made the GM responsible for the health of their actual players and I was left in that position with a dilemma. If I ran a game that evening, they would go to that public space, and be at risk. But on the other hand, I didn't know then how much risk. Fortunately, the club made the decision for us all and shut down hours before, just as I was leaning in that direction anyway, and in hindsight, that was a good move.

Since then, all my games have moved to Discord and run reasonably well, with a few teething issues. Might make a post on that in future but for now, I'm done. Stay safe.