The Caulkhead Method or How I Play Games in a Forced Digital Age

Just as there are ways to skin a Barghest Whelp, I think it's also useful to have multiple ways to play table top roleplaying/social interactive games. Either in person (ye olde times) or via some other electronic method taking advantage of the vast tubes of the internet.

Usually these get boiled down into two categories of playstyle: 

Tactical Grid Based Play - I have full spatial awareness of everything around me, and I know exactly where I am in this space. I have a token that I move around,  and the map reveals itself to me as I move the token.

Theatre of the Mind  - I know generally where I am and where I would like to be, I have a conversation with the person running the game to clarify and rectify the environment as it appears around me.

From my experience in playing games I have personally found  that tactical play is perhaps more suited to electronic virtual play and theatre of the mind works best in person. 

But what if you want to play a game that isn't too focused on the tactics of battle? Perhaps lends itself more to theatre of the mind, but isn't currently suitable to run due to external factors such Armageddon's, alien invasions and more?

For lack of a better term and to be completely self brown nosing to myself (be nice to yourself, you're worth it) I propose the Caulkhead Method. This is a play style that I've developed for my group and I online via virtual table tops, this method requires fog of war but take these ideas and make them your own, it's ultimately what I have done.

In terms of the rules I use, I am very open to lots of different games but I prefer Lightweight rules over crunch and avoid looking up rules at all costs during gameplay. I have recently come away from more crunchy rules sets such as 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. Lightweight rules could be Old School Essentials, Into the Odd, or Knave. The rules don't really matter to me anymore as long as they are easily digestible and can be regurgitated with ease during the game.

I use battle maps but not in the traditional sense. I don't have time to use fancy lighting settings that require me to trace every single wall of a location nor do I want to. I use the fog of war feature, the map to the players will appear black until I reveal anything. Instead of giving the characters tokens there is one token to represent the party and they can't even move it about themselves, only the Games Master (GM) can. I don't hide anything either, what is revealed remains as such and is counted as familiar terrain.

Players can only see the highlighted areas, the adventurer holding the torch represents where the party is without everyone needing or worrying about a token. A few of the party already have retainers and henchmen so the map would get very busy and would be a chore to move everyone for the players.

I find when players have tokens, the game becomes about moving the token about rather than the actual game or the big thing I'm trying to convey. The players tell me what they want to do, where they want to go and we imagine the space in the theatre of our minds while still having some spatial reference as helpful aid. If they move from one location to the next, I simply reveal the next room, corridor, dungeon cell etc and if they move into that room then I move the token representing the party.

I feel this shifts the focus away from 'where I am' and more towards 'what I am doing' for the players, I like to keep things brief when describing anything and use broad strokes, if I don't know the answer to the description of something or I just want a gap to fill in it can very useful to take advantage of the brainpower of the people you are playing with and simply ask them how it looks, with the right people this can be a very rewarding style of play.

For when combat breaks out I try and keep it simple, I just ask who is going to be up front, who is behind and work from there, using logic it's very easy to tell Brian the Halfling that he cannot hide behind St Paul the Paladin and also be in range to attack., but also be open to shenanigans and for players to crash up against the rules like waves against concrete walls, it is after all a lot of the fun in these games.