Kingdoms: Playing The Adjudicator

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Introduction

Being the Adjudicator is both tough and rewarding, requiring a high degree of skill and a good sense of game balance. The following is advice for those who would Adjudicate...

Fairness, above all

You must not show bias to any player. If the game isn't fair, then no-one is going to want to play.

While the players will do well to be imaginative, you mustn't go out of your way punish players who struggle with the creative parts of this game. Instead, reward creativity!

Its also vital not to let any personal grudges come into play. If you go from being a Player to an Adjudicator, for example, you must clear your head of the events of any past game and make sure that you are as unbiased as you can be.

If you lose fairness, you will soon lose your players.

The rules are your domain

Players should be gently discouraged from trying to break the game and overly manipulate the rules. For example, it isn't a good idea to let players browbeat you into attaching a certain descriptor to their prose, or to manipulate you into telling them what they need to write to achieve a descriptor. By all means, teach and guide, but don't let the players play you.

Part of fairness is not deliberately feeding players great or duff combos. Make your judgments objectively, and keep game balance in mind at all times.

That's not to say that you should be striving to keep both sides equal in power all the time - that's just another form of bias, but towards the underdog. Your goal is to provide a memorable and enjoyable experience, not to work towards a certain outcome to the game.

Of course, to know how to use the rules, you need to be familiar with them. Read them through at least once, and get a feel for how they work. The players can learn as they go - you need to know how things work ahead of time.

Encourage Roleplaying

Part of the implied social contract of a roleplaying game is that the GM-equivalent holds authority. The implied social contract for a board-game, on the other hand, is different, as players are more likely to expect concrete rules rather than subjective interpretation.

Thus, to justify your role as subjective interpreter, you need to make sure that you are playing a roleplaying game!

Keep players in character as much as you can. Engage them by running the game like an RPG, and in reporting back your own information in-character through NPCs, or through traditional storytelling. If all you feed your players is numbers, then expect nothing but numbers back!

Adjudicator, not Gamesmaster

An important distinction in this game is that it is centred around the players. You're there to provide rules structure and to make judgment calls, not to drive the story. The players should provide the drama themselves!

What players want from an Adjudicator is fairness, consistency and guidance. You don't have to be a storyteller if you don't want to, and you certainly don't need to "prep an adventure" or provide a setting.

Enjoy yourself!

Finally, and most importantly, have fun. If you're not having fun, then stop playing the game and put an end to the game session.

Being the Adjudicator is a joyful experience, but its not for everyone, just in the same way that a game like Kingdoms won't suit every player group.

If the fun is gone, don't play Kingdoms anymore!