Frequently Asked Questions

Here you will find several of the Frequently Asked Questions that the administration for this group receives on a regular basis.
If there is anything not answered here please Contact us with your question.

• Do I need to be in New Mexico to play in a game or host an event?
  While New Mexico Gamers Society has a large number of New Mexico residents, this is not a requirement as we have members from throughout the country and even abroad.

• Does New Mexico Gamers Society organize events online or in person?
  At this time we are organizing both online and in-person events. This is a great way to facilitate scheduling and reserving a seat, especially for regular game nights with drop in play becoming available again at local game stores.

• Why should I change my nickname on your discord server?
  The naming conventions that we require per our Discord rules are in place so that we can hold all members of the New Mexico Gamers Society accountable for their behaviors by knowing who everyone actually is. This is not the place for anonymity and so we require all members to provide the administration team with their actual real-life name. This also entails discord display names to be standardized with the provided format that reflects the name you use in real life rather than a cunning screen name.
  If there is a legitimate reason that you do not wish to have your IRL name displayed, please contact the admin team with pertinent details as listed in the Discord rules so that you may choose an alternate name. This will still need to appear as an actual name so as to not bring undo scrutiny to your exception.

• Why should I tip my GM?
  While most events are conducted at no cost to the participants, please be aware that event hosts, admins & moderators are unpaid volunteers. Many spend money on books, modules, software, crafting supplies and even rental fees for play-space. This doesn’t even scratch the surface as far as time spent, as a four hour session can easily take 4 to 10 times that for preparation for the event.

  When possible, we encourage participants to tip their hosts using the tipping method listed for the events that they join. Recommended tips are between $5-10 per session for each participant.

  If you had a great time and can afford to do more it is always appreciated. While a few dollars may not seem like much, it adds up & helps cover any costs that event hosts might incur. New Mexico Gamers Society provides scheduling services and event coordination at no charge but donations for administrative costs via the donate link on the top of the website are also appreciated.

• How do I run games for NMGS & what benefits are there for doing so?
  To run games for New Mexico Gamers Society we ask that you register to Host on our website. As soon as you register to Host a game on the NMGS website a few things will happen as detailed below.
  1. You’ll be given the Event Host role in our discord which will allow you to join the Event Hosts only text channel, post to the announcements channel about upcoming events that you’re hosting, & if desired, be assigned a category with text and voice channels of your own on our server for when you’re running your games. 
  2. We’ll create your event in our scheduler as an appointment type based on the responses given in the Host registration form. If the time and date(s) you plan to run were provided we’ll schedule that appointment type as an event. Otherwise we’ll leave the appointment type generated to be scheduled at a later point. We can always modify details of an appointment type if needed.
  3. We’ll set you up a login for our scheduler so that you can remove or modify listed players, reschedule your events, or duplicate the event to occur again at a new time for recurring appointments of the event you registered. You only need to register a new Host form if running a different game. A hardcover campaign would be one appointment type, while a home brew game or Adventurers League modules would be a different appointment type.
  4. Upon request we have resources for D&D 5e in Roll20 that can be shared as needed such as character maintenance games where we have shared the books we’ve purchased so that you can help players create characters in Roll20 using the charactermancer and our resources prior to them exporting to their character vaults.

  We try to check the host registration form daily but if we haven’t scheduled it for you within 24 hours send a message to one of the administrators (Christof or Linda D) in the discord to let us know to check on it.

• As an Event Host what should I use for a Virtual Tabletop when running online?
  There are many options for Virtual Table Tops. A few of these include Foundry, Fantasy Grounds, & Roll20. Which you chose to use is ultimately up to you. The admins for this group tend to use Roll20 when they run but we also have GMs that use many of the other options. Here are some of the highlights & what we’ve found:
  • Roll20: The most commonly used VTT, fairly well established with an online marketplace and a wealth of content available for it. It’s free for basic services but has paid options for premium features.
  • Foundry: Looks great and is only a one time cost for the software. That being the case, it does require the host to be fairly tech savvy in order to configure it properly.
  • Fantasy Grounds: This VTT has been around for a while and has a fair amount of content available for it, especially in terms of published adventure modules. It’s free but does have an older interface which is not as intuitive for all users.

• As an Event Host what should I use for voice or video when running online?
  When running games you will need a way to communicate with your participants in real time. Most VTTs have integrated text chats and some also have voice & video built in. We personally do not use the integrated voice and video options as it causes the VTT to run slower. Instead we advise using an external service of which there are many available. Out of game communications are typically handled with the discord channels that we set up for Event Hosts on our server while in game communications may also use Discord or another service of the Event Hosts choice. Alternatively you could use Microsoft Teams, Zoom, conference calls, Google Voice, Facebook messenger, or any other service you and your players agree on. Discord is likely the easiest option. Whether or not you use video is up to the event host. That said, we have found that the best course of action is to have Video as an option but not a requirement. Event hosts are not required to use the text or voice channels we provide in discord but may instead opt to use their own. That being the case, for games that are open invite, it is recommended to facilitate out of game discussions within the NMGS server.

• Should I flag my game as containing Mature Content?

  Because our community is open to minors we have to be mindful of the content that is made publicly available. Games that are flagged as Mature Content will show on our regular schedule with a content warning and a rating or age restriction. It is important with Mature Content games that you and the games participants establish and respect boundaries of what is and is not acceptable early on.

  Anything that could be considered rated R or higher should be flagged as mature content while games that would be rated PG-13 do not need to be. Most fantasy violence is usually rated pg-13 as long as you don’t dwell overly much on the viscera. A beheading with a spray of blood is one thing, while a minute long description of every gory detail is another.

  When there is a minor in a game it is also recommended to curtail excessive cursing and to steer away from topics such as the substance abuse, intimate relations, etc. Someone slipping with an expletive is not as big a deal, but continuous swearing should not be permitted. More details can be found in the Code of Conduct. If you prefer to limit your players to not include minors, this does not need to be flagged as mature content; rather simply be clear in your event’s description that the game is only intended for players 18 and over. In these cases when the admin team sets up the event it will be denoted as being intended for adults only.

• Why should I schedule events once I have a full table of regular players & have no open spots?
  Remember that if you’re running a game with a dedicated group of players, even if you’re not accepting new players at this time, we still want to have you register the event so that we can have it on our schedule and you can be added as an event host if you are not listed as one already.
  The reasons we ask for this as follows:
  • Your event will show on our calendar to illustrate how active our community is, even when there are no open games available.
  • Allows other GMs to schedule their games at times when parts of our community are not already committed to your ongoing game.
  • Ensure that GMs who have recurring games have the opportunity to join as a player when they are not running their own games.
  • If you have cancellations or want to open up a guest spot you can easily do so on the fly.