Rule #1: Don't give the Ref ideas.
Rule #2: Keep the Ref happy.
2a-- Feed the Ref.
2b (of limited applicability) -- Kiss the Ref.
Rule #3: That's a LOVELY loophole; it won't work.
3a-- Because I SAID so, that's why.
Rule #4: Don't spoil the Ref's dramatic developments.
(Famous last words: "Oh, Metlay can't kill us yet. The villain has to appear
and reveal who he is, then explain his plans to us in detail and taunt us
for being helpless while leaving us a loophole to escape and foil him in
the nick of time." --W. Dow Rieder)
Rule #5: Shut up. You're dead.
5a-- see #3a.
THINGS TO AVOID IN A RPG:
1. Players whose introduction of their characters mentions any sort of
inanimate object in their possession, e.g. "I'm running a Marine and he
has an FGMP-16 and some way-cool cybernetically enhanced bionic arms and..."
2. Refs who are careful about in what terms their rulings are couched
when dealing with certain players.
("That's an awkward sentence, Metlay." "Not really. Last game I
played in in college, if the girl leading the party ever had anything
bad happen to her character, the Ref (her boyfriend) slept on the couch.")
3. Refs who lean on one aspect of a game to the exclusion of all else,
e.g. "What do you mean you have to leave early? The adventure's almost
over, we only have three more melees to run through!"
4. Anyone who reads from a script. EVER.
5. Refs who laugh at their players, or vice versa.
(this list is dedicated to Mikey and Ed, the worst refs I'd ever met
in my life until I met Floyd in 1990.)
- --
Mike Metlay
[email removed]
[address removed]