The Red Box Trick for Faster Sessions

Caller You’re on the Air

Have you ever tried using a Caller?

The topic came up in Saturday’s Wizard of Adventure Zoom session, and the role has several great uses. Gygax used this method a lot.

Here are Mentzer’s instructions on using a Caller from the 1983 D&D Red Box (bolding is mine):

The caller is a player who announces to the Dungeon Master what the group of characters (the Party) is doing.

The Caller must check with every player to find out what all the characters are doing, and then tell the DM (quickly and accurately) what they plan to do.

The Caller does not tell the others what to do; the Caller merely reports what is going on.

The Caller’s first job is to find out the “party order” — the way the characters are lined up or grouped during normal travel.

The Caller should also report the movements of the group, such as “We’ll go northeast through the woods,” or “We’ll turn right at the next corridor.”

Battles are always more complicated, and the DM should then take the time to check with each player, instead of handling it all through the Caller.

You may have games without Callers, if the Dungeon Master is willing to ask each player what each character is doing, and make notes to remember the actions. But it’s usually easier and more organized if one player acts as Caller.

Why Use a Caller?

As Wizard of Adventure Auke pointed out on Discord:

A fantastic side-effect of using a caller is that it can help prevent “silo play”, where everyone does their own thing “when it is my turn”. With a caller approach, it is always “our turn”. And, everyone is on the same page each round.

When a group gets large, a Caller saves a ton of session time. While they work on group consensus and actions, you can update your session notes, prep an upcoming encounter, or create something quick you need to improvise.

Callers also help with split parties. You could wrangle every character and remember who is in which sub-group and what they’re doing, but running with two Callers greatly simplifies things behind the screen.

Also, as mentioned in the D&D excerpt, travel and wilderness modes make excellent candidates for session efficiency. With one person wrangling everyone’s feedback, and then getting the group to decide on one direction, the GM wins time back and has reduced cognitive load.

And when new information forces players to rethink their plans, which is common during travel or a dungeon crawl, a Caller can facilitate the huddle.

d3 Caller Tips

Avoid removing player agency. Remember, the Caller doesn’t tell others what to do. Our goal is having a single point of contact who tells you (quickly and accurately) what the PCs plan to do. The Caller is ultimately a communicator and collaborator, not a decider.

Ask for a volunteer. This is a pretty social role to delegate, and a quasi-leadership one at that, so do not force players into it.

Ask for group feedback. After the first time using it, ask players if the experience was a good one. Ditto every few sessions, just to check in. Sometimes a Caller misunderstands, gets bossy, or “edits” what players really wanted. Sometimes the Caller just gets overwhelmed and starts taking shortcuts.

Calling You

Next session, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with a large group, dealing with a split group, or running game modes where it’s easier to interface with a single player than many, try using a Caller.

It’s a good tool to experiment with and add to your GM Toolbox if you like it.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
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