I have been honored by some of my Twitter followers for my positive presence there.

On Twitter, I have been mentioned as one of the positive influences in the OSR, more than once in the last week.

I know that I am not perfect, and fail far too often for my liking at being a good person. It is far easier to present your best side online: Don’t try to argue with people, or discount their opinions or experiences.

I’ve tried to win arguments online, and one day a few years ago, realized it was a waste of effort. I might still write a rant about something to get it out of my system, but I rarely post them now. The things that bother me usually are not worth bothering other people about them.

However, this week has been quite the eye opener to the TTRPG crowd. We can learn from this, someone who is a horrible person online is more likely to be a horrible person.

We can’t stop people from being horrible. Their dysfunction, or whatever it is, can’t be cured with online discourse. Only someone with authority in their personal lives whom they truly respect has a shot at making that impact. Unfortunately, for some of these people, they are either their own echo chamber and masters of manipulation, or those who agree with their brand of nonsense flock to them forming an echo chamber.

An echo chamber is a good thing when it reinforces positive traits and experiences. However, the negative version of that is often that people in those negative groups don’t see or hear the dissonance as they are on a different channel. Their twisted ideas of right and wrong and self-justification shield them from the rest of the world.

My concern is how can we learn from this and keep those new to the online TTRPG experience safe from those who seek to cause trouble and outrage to promote their own agenda or products?

I want to focus on the positive. Making a sign saying stay away from X on every social media page only serves the purposes of those who seek any publicity. They fully believe that any publicity is good publicity. Please don’t feed the trolls.

I’m not about making a blacklist and curating it, that never ends well as those always end up influenced and controlled by those with the wrong motivations.

If we follow anyone online who is horrible to others, please unfollow them. Don’t mention or re-tweet their nonsense. Let their influence wain. Maintain a long memory so that in a few years they don’t make a sudden comeback sneaking in with a new crowd. This same problem exists among the charlatans and false prophets that are nearly all TV and radio preachers. Those that get exposed as frauds fall from sight, and in ten or fifteen years show up again.

Screenshot, Block, Report, and Ignore

Where physical safety and mental and emotional well-being permit, I recommend to screenshot and report those causing you grief online, then block, and ignore them. If they are the lowest level of jerks, this is usually enough. I blocked the most surly of the TTRPG people from all my socials a few months ago, and my feeds suddenly became brighter and more encouraging.

Online interactions need to be efficient. It is better to block someone at the first sign of nonsense and re-think it based on the experience of others than to put up with nonsense. All online communities of TTRPG people should oust anyone who displays disrespect to others. Make it clear that such behavior is not tolerated. Allow X number of chances, but whatever line you set, stand firm and expel and block them when they cross it.

Help and Encourage

For the very few that will learn from their mistakes, help and encourage them in their efforts to change. Keep the reins in check, however, in case they are not genuine in their change of heart, or not resolute in their determination to change.

Be the kind of person you want your online experience to be. If you want a fun and engaging online experience, be fun and engaging.

Modify Your Behaviors

I grew up with a strong sarcasm inherited from my father. I have struggled to keep it in check, as it is not always well received. A lot of my sarcasm is of the dissing or casting shade variety, and I find when I type it out, it doesn’t feel right, so I delete it before sending. Unfortunately, it is far too easy to let my mouth spew the stupid thoughts that springs to mind when face to face.

I have said things that have caused fresh acquaintances to look at me with questioning looks. Those first impressions are hard to overcome. It is the same online. If we spew venom and so forth online, that will be the first impression others have of us.

I try to be genuine to who I am and the way I am in real life, but I have found online, at least with a text based interaction, I more easily catch myself and say a lot less things that cause athlete’s esophagus.

Be Helpful

I like to help others, one reason I’ve had a tech support job for 21 years now. I was also a volunteer firefighter/EMT, and have mentioned a few times, was a pastor for ten years.

I don’t always have something helpful to add to a conversation. I’ve seen some posts by people I follow online about personal tragedy or personal connection to recent events in the news. I want to say something to them, but my words are inane and pointless. Nothing I say can fix it. So I click the like or heart emoji, and maybe post a gif.

As Thumper said, “If you can’t say sumthin’ nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”

Honesty

Honest criticism of a game product should be proper criticism. That includes what you liked, and for what you didn’t how would you fix it or improve it?

A hospital chaplain once told me, “The truth hurts, bullshit kills.” [I had to take a unit of chaplain studies long ago, and was on the oncology floor of a hospital two days a week. I chose the oncology ward to deal with my own issues involving disease, death, and dying.]

At the same time, the truth does not need to be delivered in a cold and cruel or heartless manner. One can pick their words to speak the truth direct and true without being intentionally hurtful. For example, a victim of an online jerk deserves more careful phrasing than the online jerk. The jerk needs the most direct and concise explanation of what the issue is. If they are unteachable, block them.

Group Honesty

As a group, the TTRPG online community needs to be aware of the jerks who give TTRPGs a bad name. Publishers need to vet individuals and ensure their online presence is not that of jerk supreme before enshrining their names and ideas in various products. If someone is hurtful in one group, they must not be allowed to skulk around at the fringes of other groups.

There are those who claim allegiance and even that they are leaders and authorities on what is and isn’t OSR. The do it yourself mentality of the OSR is, “Oh, Yeah? To heck with you! I’ll do it my way!” and we ignore the jerks. Unfortunately, our ignoring the jerks has led to much chaos and trouble for those we failed to warn or shield from the crap. This has led to the jerks being the “face” of the OSR to many. Which has led to the OSR being generalized as a bunch of jerks.

I am part of the OSR, or consider myself as such. I found the OSR back in 2007 or 2008 when I started looking for game opportunities online. I started this blog in the summer of 2009. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that I was able to do anything about the online jerks I encountered. I’m still not sure what I can do. How do you rally others to a cause who are content to let it slide?

They don’t want the hassle of dealing with things when they “poke the bear.” Other than anonymous reporting, how does one deal with such jerks? I’d have to unblock them and allow their nonsense into my life and wait for something worthy of reporting. [It should go without saying one should only report with evidence so that something is more likely to be done about them.] I really don’t want to do that, as I’ve got enough things in my life causing me stress. Some of the things I have mentioned online or on my podcast.

Input/Advice

What tried and true methods of dealing with online jerks actually works? I’m looking for proven methods to:

• Reform their behavior.
• Keep their nonsense from bothering others.
• Prevent the like minded from drawing encouragement to do likewise.
• Help those harmed by the jerks to prevent them leaving the hobby.
• Making this hobby a warm and welcoming place to meet like minded people who want to play!

Conclusion

I grew up when it was normal for it to be hard to find other players. If not for Roll20, I would not get to play regularly. I try to be a positive influence on the games I am in, both as a player and GM. Excluding people from the table to me is so antithetical to the idea of RPGs that I just can’t comprehend it.

Everyone who is a fan of TTRPGs should feel welcome to “pull up a chair at the table” and never have to worry about being judged or excluded as long as they are there to engage with the game and have fun. I invite you to help make that goal a reality.

Jeff Rients shared a list of 20 questions to help DMs flesh out their campaign settings. I’ve used it for planning, but haven’t posted it online. Here is a player friendly, AKA no spoilers for my players, list.

1. What is the deal with my cleric’s religion?
   It is rare to worship specific deities. Most worship generalized Powers and Great Ones. The powers of light honor life and oppose undeath. The powers of dark offer their followers eternal life in undeath. This is the central struggle in the campaign world.
   
   
2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
   Most towns near the frontier/border or known adventure locations, will have the usual weapons, armor, and other adventuring supplies.
   
   
3. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
   That will be an adventure in itself. It will depend entirely on what the monster is and how far you are from a smith willing to do the job. You may have a long wait for them to get to your spot on their work log, in addition to requiring a large payment.
   
   
4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
   The first true archmage since the long ago collapsed of the Dulmar Empire is Urman the Great. He lives on Ogre Island, and any adventurers who have never faced more than one ogre at a time should probably heed warnings not to go there. Urman is interested in one the ruing of one of the great cities of the ancient Dulmar Empire, now infested with ogres. I have created an adventure that I ran at Marmalade Dog a few years ago to help me flesh out this area. I plan to publish it in the future.
   
   
5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
   Many lay claim to that title, very few close to reality. The wisest don’t claim such an honor to avoid having to kill or injure another fool. Different towns and cities often have a champion or town bully.
   
   
6. Who is the richest person in the land?
   Probably a king of one of the kingdoms, perhaps even one of the claimants to the title of Emperor of the Dulmar Empire in The Fractured Kingdoms, near its ancient capital.
   
   
7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?
   There are clerics and shrines where cure light wounds is available for a donation. Alchemists have concocted their version of a healing potion. It is like a super energy drink. It heals like a healing potion, but in a few minutes after drinking it, you fall exhausted. It is best taken after a fight, or before a close fought fight is over.
   
   
8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
   The more severe an affliction, the more likely travel to the interior is required at one of the temples in a city. Some large towns might be blessed with a powerful enough cleric, or a druid might inhabit a grove near the players.  You may come upon a group of pilgrim monks, Followers of The Way, who travel between holy sites and shrines giving honor and repairing them. They also erect new sites, as wonders never cease. They are welcoming to all and are sworn to serve and protect travelers. Some healing and often other aid is available from them
   
   
9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
   While Urman the Great has trained many of the powerful wizards of today, efforts to establish a guild similar to ancient times have not yet been successful.
   
   
10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
    Alchemists tend to be in cities and larger towns, and perhaps may travel to set up shop near known adventure locations.
    
    
11. Where can I hire mercenaries?
    Many towns along trade routes have mercenaries who look for work before the merchants do the return trip, or don’t want another long journey.
    
    
12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
    Cities towards the more civilized and stable areas tend to frown on open display of weapons and disruptive magics. The Fractured Kingdoms have a confusing set of laws, one or more of them have some sort of law to ban something.
    
    
13. Which way to the nearest tavern?
    Even most small villages have at least a small tavern for farmers and laborers to gather.
    
    
14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
    Undead, bandits, humanoids, and giants have caused troubles around Farthorpe after the earthquake. There has been one unreliable person talk of a two-headed giant.
    
    
15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
    The far off Fractured Kingdoms are always fighting for dominance and undisputed right as the true Emperor of The Dulmar Empire. There is a proverb about those adventurous or foolhardy enough to sign up: Go a fighting in the Fractured Kingdoms and your mother will soon be a weeping o’er your grave.
    
    
16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
    It is rumored that the orc tribes and their ilk do such things with some of their prisoners. However, there is no reward but living til the next match.
    
    
17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
    Those who serve the dark powers and seek to evade death through undeath are always looking for new recruits. The party has discovered an ancient cult that follows/worships The Necromancer, whose tomb they discovered and sealed. He’s not completely dead. They managed to spoil the plans of one who calls himself, The Son of The Necromancer, and has a flying carpet the party really wants.
    
    
18. What is there to eat around here?
    Ogre bites refer to large meat pies that can fill those around a table.
    
    
19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
    Lots of legends and rumors. The player characters hold a letter/map indicating that there is a treasure beyond bearing. They think it might be in the area near the starting town.
    
    
20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
    That’s a very good question. There are lots of rumors of dragons in the mountains to the north.

When something of note occurs in the OSR, good or bad, someone seems to make one of these question things that many in the OSR rise to the challenge and answer. 

OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire From Zak S.

1. One article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me:
   Twenty Quick Questions for Your Campaign Setting on Jeff’s Gameblog.
2. My favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark:
   Rulings Not Rules
3. Best OSR module/supplement:
   Richard LeBlanc’s d30 Sandbox Companion [Affiliate Link]
4. My favorite house rule (by someone else):
   Shields shall be splintered, I believe it was this article on Trollsmyth that brought this to popularity.
5. How I found out about the OSR:
   It was around the time I read that Gary Gygax had died. Either a short while before or immediately after. I found this group of bloggers going on about the kind of games I played. Especially B/X which we always thought was “for babies” because Holmes Blue Box Basic said we needed AD&D when it was released. The OSR showed me that there was some cool stuff in there. [The more I worked on answering these questions, I’m pretty sure I was reading the OSR blogs about 2007, Gary Gygax died in March, 2008.]
6. My favorite OSR online resource/toy:
   DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] with all the free and low cost game aids. 
   
7. Best place to talk to other OSR gamers:
   G+ was the main place. There is still a bit after the whole ruse to MeWe. There is a tiny bit on Facebook. I find a lot among a few on Twitter. The G+ shake up has left the best place up in the air a bit, but right now, it looks like MeWe.
   
8. Other places I might be found hanging out talking games:
   Patreon: Patrons get a vote on the PDF I release the following month.
   Podcast: Episodes Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
   Twitter
   YouTube
   Instagram
   Facebook
   MeWe
   Reddit
   Contributor to Multiverse by the new TSR.
   
9. My awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough:
   I love seeing how my players interact with my world and see some aspect or focus on something and make it important. I love seeing how their actions have repercussions. I also love watching them burn it all down. Just being surprised by how players do things I could never anticipate is a big part of my fun as GM.
10. My favorite non-OSR RPG:
    Looking at my gameshelf, the only  non-OSR game is D&D 5e, which I’ve only played a few times. I want to run it for new players and get a better feel for it, since most new players will encounter it first.
    
11. Why I like OSR stuff:
    I never got into modules back in the day. We couldn’t afford them, and only ran the ones that others bought. I also find that it takes me too much effort to figure out a module. The amount of effort I put into it gets better results if I make my own adventures and world.  Plus there are so many cool OSR things that help me create adventures and locations if I need ideas.
12. Two other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet:
    Hexcrawls and Sandboxes.
    Both are styles of play that go together, but can be used indepenently. A sandbox is a way for a GM to design their campaign in a quick and easy way that allows the players to go anywhere and do anything. The world building is bottom up, that is it starts with a town and a few nearby adventures, and as the players interact with the world, it grows to meet them.
    Hexcrawls are ways that players explore the game world and figure out where things are. 
13. If I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be:
    Jeff’s Gameblog by Jeff Rients.
14. A game thing I made that I like quite a lot is:
    Library Generation Tables – Tables to help generate a library and aspects of its collection.
    I also made a card game that was a big hit at Gary Con X and I hope to Kickstart in 2019.
15. I’m currently running/playing:
    Last week we just finished playing in a 4-1/2 year 221 session AD&D campaign on Roll20. We’re taking a break. I play in a Sunday AD&D campaign on Roll20. My in person and Roll20 AD&D games are on hiatus.
16. I don’t care whether you use ascending or descending AC because:
    It’s a game and should be all about having fun!
17. The OSRest picture I could post on short notice: