A Challenge—Burgeoning Blogs 1/100

In an act of incredible community, the indomitable ktrey of d4 Caltrops created a table of potential topics for new entrants to the RPG blogosphere. I chose to see this generous and welcoming gesture instead as a gauntlet, and for the time being will eschew original thought and instead power my way through as many topics as possible before I am either broken under the weight of self-imposed limitations, or annealed in the fires of ambition. 

I was inspired to undertake this folly after seeing Dan do the same. I highly recommend you read their  evocative yet concise approach to this imagined challenge, before bearing witness to a far less nuanced and entertaining attempt. Their essay on creativity as alchemy catalysed a long dormant ambition to actually put the words in my head out into the world, and anyone with a passing interest in the esoteric and a fascination with creative endeavour should read it immediately. The only advantage I have in this imagined match up in this made-up challenge is that I am, in fact, burgeoning, while they have the disadvantage of being fully-fledged. 

1. Are Phones/Devices permitted at your Table? How do you handle Distractions?

The sessions I run are predominately for friends in different cities and timezones, so we have to rely on digital tools to make play happen. There are plenty of immersive and interesting options for VTT, but I like to foster as much of a tabletop feel as possible so we have a camera set up, and everything else is pencils, paper and trust. By keeping as many of the accoutrement of play physical, it minimises the risk of distraction, but I find you have to be realistic and read your players. If interest is waning and people are beginning to fidget, if the real world is knocking at the door and they're starting to multitask while playing, I call the session early so we go out on a high. 

For the regular in person table I play at however, distractions are a reoccurring problem. We have a couple of players who are checked out from the word go. But, this has actually led to some hilarious consequences where those of us who are actually engaged with the GM get to relay information back to these players when they decide to lock in, but twist it to our advantage. The GM loves this, and has been handing us dangerous items constantly purely so we can get the other players to test them out. It isn't an ideal situation, but sometimes you just have to make do with the table you have.