#14 - Strikeout
Before, - I've talked about the nature of role-playing, as a shared fiction. I've also mentioned the choice - consequence dialogue. The way players work together to have their character's accomplish something. Players make decisions as the representatives of their characters. GMs offer the consequences to advance the drama. All of these player decisions, and the following consequences amass into a story. The story of the RPG, a shared fiction.
This can work out great, and teammates can solves large problems, usually its a lot of fun to cooperate. But, sometimes this collaboration doesn't catch on. Sometimes the heroes ignore the behavior of the people around them. When they start to feel that nothing matters, or they have nothing left to contribute, the sharing is lost. The story falls apart from lack of attention.
It’s pretty easy for a book to end if you stop reading. Lack of interest can lead to dallying about and hours of busy nothings.
I've seen a lot of dumb decisions in my time. Sometimes I sit there as the GM, and I think the current course of action will lead to ruin.
It is not my job, as the referee to punish players, but it is also not my job to save the heroes from poor choices.
This is when I deploy my "three strikes" rule. If ever I get 3 bad decisions in a row, the game is over.
By "bad decision" I mean something that would surely result in the death of a character. Or in some inevitable unpleasant consequence, like going to jail or contracting food poisoning.
If I get 3 of these in a row, I deploy a strike out, and finish the game early. Completing the shared fiction by fast forwarding to the end result of trouble. The consequence arrives ahead of schedule. This "bad ending" is easy enough to believe because the trouble had just chosen.
While it may not have been what people wanted to happen, nobody ever really calls foul. Its the logical conclusion.
I wouldn't get into the habit of expecting this as a needed tool for a GM. Nor is it really necessary to explain that you are ending the game because of people not taking things seriously. This advice is more of a secret weapon for when the truly dumb and bizzare raises its head.
The more important question may be, do people still want to play?