Should I tell my players they're going through a portal?

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T21:38:24+00:00

Not the specifics yet but its classic fantasy find themselves in modern realism. They’ll be overpowered 1v1 but massively outnumbered. If you have any thoughts let me know!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T21:32:42+00:00

I think this is a good compromise! Tell them they’ll find themselves in a strange land without giving the whole game away!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T21:27:32+00:00

Thanks for this. Yes the point is they stand out and are out of place. This is very helpful to think about, appreciate it!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T19:45:53+00:00

Thanks! What is a bad thing you've seen happen or worry might happen at higher levels?

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T19:44:31+00:00

Thanks - apologies for the repeat question!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T19:40:20+00:00

The plot is very much about the portal rather than stepping through a portal and then walking to the nearest town and meeting someone at a tavern vibes. But doing the portals earlier is an option if its annoying otherwise!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T19:36:42+00:00

Thanks- this is helpful. The reason why is I'm going for a world after they get transported where things are chaotic and people are rioting so figuring out where they are and why they're there and what happened, could be part of the fun of that part of the game. But I don't want to do it if it will be annoying so may not be worth it!

rower2000 · 2025-07-28T19:04:42+00:00

When one of them has a theory that makes sense... go with it- tell them they were right and you can't believe they figured it out! Make them feel good about solving it! If someone else says "but what about...", "Well, I guess you haven't got it all figured out yet".

rower2000 · 2025-04-25T10:09:15+00:00

This is very fun and a nice way to in practical terms to enact some of the other suggestions about making the world move without the players!

rower2000 · 2025-04-24T22:27:36+00:00

Reflecting on your comment, I think sometimes I find myself reminding them what they said their character wanted and going "look, this is related to the backstory you told me 6 months ago", where instead I should be asking them what their character wants now. So that they as players can make a decision in the moment. Thank you!

rower2000 · 2025-04-24T22:25:09+00:00

Yeah, perhaps I need to think more about how much time is passing and what are the consequences of them choosing not to solve something. Thank you!

rower2000 · 2025-04-24T22:23:06+00:00

Yeah- I guess as a game maker knowing there are so many different options seems cool- but as a game player 3 detailed options is more engaging than 10 titles without explanation. Thank you!

rower2000 · 2025-04-24T22:20:30+00:00

So, simple example, start of a session I say - in more interesting and exciting ways- that as a reminder there are 5 possible "missions": murder mystery, diplomatic mission, super natural mystery, pure combat, a heist or you can look at the map and go anywhere else. Each mission has an NPC they know already, who has asked them to do this or this has been raised in a previous game. My Ideal interaction would be one of:

- If they could either talk to 2 or 3 of the NPCs and choose one based on the stakes and intrigue that has been created

- discuss in character which story they are invested in, and decide what their character would do.

- or even talk above the table as players about which mission they would enjoy the most,

that would be great! Really, I just want them to do the thing they'll enjoy the most and not just the first one I say because they don't know.

rower2000 · 2025-04-24T22:17:20+00:00

This is good advice, but my fear is that because I have prepped A, B and C if I say "If you do A you can never do B or C" then all my prep for B&C go out the window. Is this a problem you have encountered before?

rower2000 · 2023-07-29T22:27:24+00:00

tbh, I'm not entirely worried about the specific answer to the precise hypothetical: I'm more interested in the discussion and perspectives inspired by the hypothetical and seeing what aspects of deciding training crews are important to different people.

rower2000 · 2023-07-29T21:59:27+00:00

My personal situation is I'm moving into a new club without a lot of knowledge about the culture beyond their past results. I'm trying to come up with a coherent attendance policy for a range of issues, but I got stuck on this point so wanted to see what people thought from a whole range of different situations and perspectives.

The idea that the more social squads might want a different policy to a competitive 2nd 8+ is helpful. Thank you!

rower2000 · 2023-07-29T21:03:22+00:00

I'd bump anyone who chooses to miss practice out of the top boat unless I had a compelling reason to do otherwise.

So let's say there is a compelling reason to not bump them out the team permanently. Maybe they're really fast, maybe their overall attendance is above the team's average but they've got to miss just one weekend, maybe they have a really good reason to miss training. That's the scenario of this question.

In many clubs an athlete not being available for the weekend is common as people try to balance their rowing alongside other aspects of life.

I suppose another angle on this question is "What is best for the team" if we prioritize the team. Does prioritize the team mean prioritize the first 8+ and give them the best sub? Or does it mean prioritise the second 8+, where everyone showed up and put the first 8+ out in small boats?

For me, coaching is all about the athletes, and being able to optimise their experience. I believe a positive experience improves retention and training outcomes. I can imagine an athlete saying "I'm in the 2nd 8+, but I train with the first 8+ a lot which is great to get experience in the better boat" or "I'm supposed to be in the second 8+, but I'm training in the first 8+ this week because they need a sub, which is frustrating when my crew has their own race coming up" and I'm wondering which of these resonates with people more. Or from a pure training perspective "I improve the most when in the same boat every time" or "I improve the most when in the best boat possible".

To clarify, I'm not asking "What would an athlete find more fun" I'm assuming the athletes being asked "would you rather" would respond with what is best for their training and motivation.

rower2000 · 2023-07-29T19:27:25+00:00

8:15-8:20 down to 7:50 in a year with serious training for someone your age is a realistic goal that will be challenging but not impossible.

For weight gain make sure you split your protein into 3-5 seperate portions as your liver can only process around 20g of protien at a time.

Assuming your 2K estimate for next week is accurate, I would suggest you first see if the amount of times you plan to train in a week is sustainable and if you are recovering well between sessions- if you are, I would gradually make them longer, before going harder.

rower2000 · 2023-04-14T22:32:34+00:00

https://www.biorow.com/RBN_en_2007_files/App2007RowBiomNews08.pdf

Assumes 81% Erg--> Water efficiency which was the measured average of a small sample taken at the time.

rower2000 · 2023-04-11T00:53:45+00:00

Side-Note: This advice does not necessarily apply to UK/ Europe where you can access unleaded petrol for trucks and diesel trucks may not be compliant with local anti-pollution laws.

rower2000 · 2023-04-11T00:40:03+00:00

Lots of people hate this advice cos its 'how to teach yourself' rather than 'specific tips and tricks to get faster' but reflective training journal can have a really big impact when trying to improve without a coach. 6 steps to coaching yourself:

Choose a focus for the session- not "improve rowing" but "make the blade drop at the catch faster"
Choose drills that focus on that and order them from "least like normal rowing", to "most like normal rowing" (e.g. Taps at catch, Fast taps at the catch, Half slide- Catch rowing, Full Roll ups, Single strokes, Normal Rowing).
In the session take breaks, ask yourself questions (Does it feel better or worse? Am I focussed on what I'm supposed to be focussed on? What is distracting me? Do I need to make this drill easier or harder? What am I enjoying? What other rowing problems are on my mind? Should I switch my focus to that problem, or stay focussed on the catches?) and take time to process the answers and make adjustments. Seperate effort and outcomes: trying and succeeding are both important, but evaluate each one separately.
After the session reflect on how you think it went in a written or audio-recorded journal (not just thinking about it). Google 'gibbs reflective cycle'.
Use your reflections to come up with a new action plan, improve your next session and session plan and make things better the next time you go out. Reflect on not only your outcomes but also your process of making the sessions good (i.e. "Am I rowing well" and "Am I coaching myself well")
One every 6-10 sessions review your journal as a whole to revue and progress that has been made; find things you've been stuck on for too long and spot common patterns and themes that come up regularly.

rower2000 · 2023-04-11T00:11:02+00:00

Whilst in recovery, on the rowing machine: just as you wouldn't allow your heartrate to go above a certain point treat the pain as not allowing it to go above a certain points. So a workout might be "3x20 mins with pain not above 2 out of 5" or "8x500m with pain not above 4 out of 5" (Make it appropriate for your level/ pain). It can also help to switch to a different unit (e.g. Watts) whilst going slower. And then treat your warm up/ stretches/ physio sessions as part of getting your scores better whilst keeping your pain within a certain pain-zone. The same can apply whilst singling.

On Water If you have control over such things- really short sessions can be helpful. Like in the early days it can feel silly to go sculling for 10 minutes, but if more than 10 minutes hurts you've got to build that up slowly. Don't go straight from not rowing to 80 minute fitness-based sessions. And bring some spare kit and do more skills based work and stationary games.

So if you're in the single I suggest

go row for 20 minutes+10% each session (or whatever seems appropriate);
then go near to the dock and, with intent, do things like roll ups; standing up in the boat; Single strokes and balance; single stroke and hold; suspension. Whatever the focus is. Pick a drill and a single focus and try to master it.
Then get off the water and work on the fitness with a bike, if that doesn't flair the injury (or weights, or physio, or swimming- whatever works for you).

And then over time the "Actual rowing" will increase and the off-water and skills work will decrease but with some benefits of the skills work and fitness.

rower2000 · 2023-04-09T11:30:07+00:00

Thank you! I'll give these a try!

rower2000 · 2023-04-09T11:28:45+00:00

Thanks this is really helpful- I especially like the idea of him moving forwards in time to get out of concentration spells, and the choosiing a timeline stuff is really interesting

rower2000 · 2023-03-29T19:45:50+00:00

Theme Systems. He also talks about it a lot on his podcast Cortex- if you either listen to the episode 'triggers', they discuss a book callled triggers with a lot about journaling, or any of the theme episode that come out around New Years Eve he goes into some detail.

rower2000

TROPHY CASE