Postgame Report
What are postgame reports for? Postgames are so that you learn from your game, and so that we learn from your game. You'll tell us the things we need to know, like a budget report, and you'll also tell us what you learned from running your game.
When's It Due?
Your postgame should be in to the EC by the time of the next proposal meeting after your event (usually about a month). You can either send this to the EC via e-mail, or present it in person at the EC meeting. The EC prefers the latter, since it lets you have a face-to-face discussion about the game.
What Goes In a Postgame
Budget
Include a budget report for the Treasurer. Tell us how much you spent, and how much you earned. Since the latter is based on attendance, also tell us how many people you had.
Your staff packet and Lore
If you ran a CG game, please email the CG chair (cg-chair@quest.org) a copy of your packet, your Lore sheets, and anything else relevant to CG canon. This way, the GWC can make sure that your info gets added to the CG canon.
CG Items
If you ran a CG event, you should list which magic items and treasure left the game with the players, plus any other significant effects your game had upon the world.
In addition, please send the CG Game World chair (cg-chair@quest.org) copies of your Lore sheets, your staff packet, and anything else that might contain gameworld information. (This way your material can get added to the CG canon!)
Other Things Quest Should Know
If there's something from your game that you'd want to pass on to future GMs, this is the place. If you tried something new or innovative, let us know how it worked out. If you have tips for Quest's officers or committees so that they can better help future GMs, let us know.
What You Learned
This is a free-form section, but arguably the most important. How do you think your game went? What did you learn from the process? What would have helped things run better? What would you do differently if you could do it over again? What will you do differently the next time you run an event?
GMs always say they learn more from what went wrong than what went right, so don't be surprised if you find yourself listing more "things that you'd do differently" than anything else.
Feedback from the EC
After you submit your postgame, the EC will also offer you feedback. Don't worry, we're not out to harsh on you; we honestly want to offer constructive criticism so that your next game runs even better. What criteria do we use when looking at a game?
Was your game fun?
- interactivity. Quest is interactive theater, not theater. Could the PCs affect the story's outcome, or were they just audience? Did they have choices (i.e. did they have free will)? Did their choices matter and cause things to happen (i.e. did they have agency)?
- immersiveness. How was your game's atmosphere? Did it portray its setting and tone well? Did it keep the PCs in-character?
- intentionality. Did the PCs have enough information to make intentional choices, or did they make random choices with seemingly random results? (e.g. if they suffered something bad, was the bad thing expected or unexpected? Did it seem "fair" based on what they knew going in?)
- gameplay. How did the encounters run? Were there enough paths and encounters to give each PC enough gameplay, or were the PCs glommed together? Did you write Lore, and make the lore relevant enough to justify the skill's cost? Did you provide activity for a variety of skills (melee, spellcasters, people with Locks, people with Awareness, etc.)
- player feedback. We keep our ears open and report what others are saying about your game, good and bad.
How smoothly did things run?
- attendance. How successful was your teaser (and your reputation as a GM) in attracting players? How good were you at recruiting players and staff both?
- organization. Did your staff get their packets in time, and did they understand what was going on? Were the PCs caught up in gameplay, or were there "dead zones" while they waited for the staff to get set up for a scene?
- logistics. Did you give the Scheduler and the DOp enough time to do what they needed to do? Did you get all your CG elements approved ahead of time?
- budget. Were you over or under? How many of your props are reusable and/or worth keeping in Quest stock?