Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Min Max your physiology

Here are our four top tips for making sure you’re in the best shape possible to role play.

1) 40 minutes of fun.
Most people can concentrate on one topic for about forty minutes before they start to get tired, their thoughts begin to wander or they simply get bored. Time your Roleplay heavy scenes or combat encounters to about 40 minutes and you’ll get the best from your players. Over run and you’re likely to loose them.

2) Savoury snacks.
Sounds odd, but munching on sweets or drinking sugary cola can actually diminish your energy levels. Roleplaying demands lots of attention- you’re juggling imagination, rules systems, listening to the GM and all the social interaction of portraying a character. Munching Haribo or swigging Mountain Dew will give you a temporary blood sugar spike- but this will soon crash, leaving you with less energy than before. Stick to carbohydrates like Crisps, toast and nuts. (Pies are, of course, mandatory for WFRP)

3) Get the blood pumping.
A good combat session or spooky horror scene can get the heart beating fast, but most of the time when you’re roleplaying; your body is quite inactive. Make sure you have regular breaks where you get up, move around and get your circulation going. This will save you back problems, increase your attention span and give your brain a welcome break. If you’re roleplaying in a cold room, this is extra important. Check your fingernails- if they are bluish/purple, you need to get up, move around and get warm.

4) Drink!
Schools recognise that their pupils need to drink plenty of water if they’re going to pay attention and do well. You loose water when you sweat, talk and take. err… ‘Comfort breaks’ it’s a lot easier than you think to become dehydrated. If you find it hard to concentrate, or find your group gets grumpy after and hour or so of Roleplay, think about a round of non alcoholic drinks. If you feel fuzzy headed, vague, ‘hungry’ even though you’ve just eaten or get a headache across the crown of your head you probably need to stop the game and get a drink.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great tips, I'm proposing numbers 2 and 3 next sunday.

8:44 pm  

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