I've had a little bit of experience in GMing, but suffice to say it hasn't been as satisfactory as I should like. My campaigns were flat, I wasted too much time designing enemies and the bad guys lair, (they did enjoy that) and I've failed to provide sufficiently challenging enemies. Anyway, I’m hoping to get some sage advice from all you pros out there!
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks? If there’s one thing that I’ve seen go wrong numerous times, it’s the clunky, awkward transitions. “Why are we on this quest again?” is something I’ve said and heard far too often.
4. Rules - How closely do you follow/enforce the rules? Do you make your players write out the contents of their spell component pouches? Do you double check the potential encumbrance of characters? How do you do crafting magic items? What are some typical homebrew rules that your group uses?
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
7. Gaming Materials - What materials do you use for your games? Do you think they make the game more enjoyable? Most of what our group uses is pretty basic. We generally use paper with grids and drawings, but also a kind of white eraser board with grids. I have some good friends that are awesome artists and they drew our characters for us, which one of our group’s players scanned, scaled, printed, cut, and attached to washers so we could use them to represent our characters. We tend to use mancala beads or whatever to represent the bad guys.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
9. Player Experience - How do you deal with players with different levels of experience/interest? Before you start and during. (A well-rounded experienced player; a first time player; a player who loves to role play, but can’t optimize; a player who loves to optimize, but can’t role play; a player who’s played a number of times, but has no interest in truly learning the game, etc.)
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain? (Terrain has played almost no role in games that I have played.)
11. Intelligent Items - Have you used intelligent items? I just finished reading the Design Tuesday articles and I’m really looking forward to using them someday. How did it go? I’d love to hear the raving successes as well as situations where they fell flat.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
1. Role Playing: Its fairly common for groups to degenerate into out of character jokes and what not. When i run, i try to make each NPC that they encounter have something special about them that makes them unique and fun to talk to.
I took somthing streight out of the game masters guide for a crazy old wizard just yesterday. He sat alone in his room with nobody except 3 air elimentals and his best friend, Mr. Kobalt the hand puppet. My players ate it up interacting with him.
3. Plot Hooks: I usually try to build my hooks around some of the NPCs that my players find most interesting.
For example, one of my players went to sell a gem he had just swiped from some old lady and the merchant ended up ripping him off something feirce. Then his chaotic stupid alignment kicked in, things happen, and now written on the top of his sheet it says "GET RAT BASTARD!!!"
Naturally, i have to bring him up later so he can extract his revenge.
5. Starting Level: We almost never start out at level 1. It is just way to hard for our play styles to start that low because one random crit could kill somebody. It sounds to me like your group is the same way in that respect. We find between 3 and 5 to be a good starting point because by that level you can take somewhat of a beeting before having to run to the cleric for a quick heal.
12. Challenging Players: I usually tend to throw a few moral delemas in for my players as a quick challenge when its out of combat and use overwhelming odds when it is in combat.
Now thats not to be interpreted as "odds that will TPK", i just play to action economy. When there are 5 pc's and 15 mooks there is a whole bunch of tactical things that your combatants can choose from aside from the obvious number of extra attacks they can get off.
1. Role Playing: Its fairly common for groups to degenerate into out of character jokes and what not. When i run, i try to make each NPC that they encounter have something special about them that makes them unique and fun to talk to.
I took somthing streight out of the game masters guide for a crazy old wizard just yesterday. He sat alone in his room with nobody except 3 air elimentals and his best friend, Mr. Kobalt the hand puppet. My players ate it up interacting with him.3. Plot Hooks: I usually try to build my hooks around some of the NPCs that my players find most interesting.
For example, one of my players went to sell a gem he had just swiped from some old lady and the merchant ended up ripping him off something feirce. Then his chaotic stupid alignment kicked in, things happen, and now written on the top of his sheet it says "GET RAT BASTARD!!!"
Naturally, i have to bring him up later so he can extract his revenge.5. Starting Level: We almost never start out at level 1. It is just way to hard for our play styles to start that low because one random crit could kill somebody. It sounds to me like your group is the same way in that respect. We find between 3 and 5 to be a good starting point because by that level you can take somewhat of a beeting before having to run to the cleric for a quick heal.
12. Challenging Players: I usually tend to throw a few moral delemas in for my players as a quick challenge when its out of combat and use overwhelming odds when it is in combat.
Now thats not to be interpreted as "odds that will TPK", i just play to action economy. When there are 5 pc's and 15 mooks there is a whole bunch of tactical things that your combatants can choose from aside from the obvious number of extra attacks they can get off.
1. lol, that does seem like a good way to draw out some role playing. I'm still a little concerned that the "roll players" will still leave it mostly to the party face/s. ...but at the very least, it can draw the entire group into the role playing frame of mind and the story.
3. A recurring NPC seems like a potentially useful strategy. "Oh right! That guy we met back in such and such." How much you'd want him to "recur" is debatable, but tapping into character memory banks simultaneously induces role playing and allows you to lead your group to the next part of your campaign.
This also brings to mind the whole buying/selling process. Our group has more or less skipped over this entirely. ...which leads me to a brand new question! D:
13. Buying/Selling - How have you used the process of PCs trying to buy or sell things in your campaigns? My group often gets cash and cash equivalents in our adventures and have unlimited access in buying whatever we want. I think this is kind of unrealistic and unfortunate as we're missing out on some basic role playing opportunities.
5. Yeah, I'd have to agree. Between 3 and 5 is where your character starts coming into its own. Level 1 is pretty restricting. However, I kind of like the simplicity of the limited options you have at level 1. Introduces a lot of role playing opportunities you couldn't otherwise get, since players often have to get creative just to survive.
12. I guess I just need to develop a feel for what is appropriate. Obviously Paizo does some of the work for you with the CR system, but we'll see. ...and I definitely appreciate going up against a creature in which I feel that our party is screwed. We had a group of level 7 characters and we were up against a kraken or what not. (This wasn't exactly Pathfinder, mind you.) The first 2 tentacles were beastly. The next 8 were really tough too. ...and the kraken itself ended up gnawing on my Mystic Theurge-ish character. (I kept on rolling 15s and 17s against the fort save against Con damage and I was getting healed constantly. Crazy times.) All in all, it was a great and memorable battle.
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
Don't expect your players to spend a lot of time role playing if they get nothing from it. Players love XP, and combat is the fastest way to gain XP, so they'll skip the role playing part as fast as they can to get to the next battle. However, if you give them a decent amount of XP every time they're role playing, they'll start to role play more and more. If you follow this advice, give the same amount of XP to every players, even if only one of them speaks while the others remain silent. In this way, you will avoid jalousy the to its ungly face in your group of friends, and the players that are more shy and don't speak often won't feel penalized.
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
Starting at 1st-level is the best way to introduces new players to the game, and it's my personal favorite starting level. In my group, a newbie player's had to start at 4th-level and it's a real headache for her. Try to avoid this if you can.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I do both. I also modify modules that I bought. If you feel inspired, let your imagination runs wild. However, creating your own campaing is very time consuming. Since I play only once per month, I can handle it, but if I had to play more often, I would run an APs or something like that.
I've had a little bit of experience in GMing, but suffice to say it hasn't been as satisfactory as I should like. My campaigns were flat, I wasted too much time designing enemies and the bad guys lair, (they did enjoy that) and I've failed to provide sufficiently challenging enemies. Anyway, I’m hoping to get some sage advice from all you pros out there!
My first bit of advice for all GMs is to talk to your players. No matter how much research you do and how much you ask a bunch of strangers, in the end all that matters is that you and your friends are having fun. Take everything we tell you with a tiny grain of salt.
No matter what, don't let the people on various message boards tell you how to run your game. Only you know your players.
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
There is no proper level of role playing. You should find the level that works for your group. What I do is I try to get into character as GM. I try to have a few voices I use (I suck at acting). I have the players roll their dice for important role playing encounters and then we role play it out. They find out how well they did by the end of the conversation.
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
My players like hand outs. I have been known to print scrolls out on parchment looking paper. I use different fonts or translate into languages to make it look more authentic. I also like to show pictures of NPCs when I can. It helps them remember who they are talking to.
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks? If there’s one thing that I’ve seen go wrong numerous times, it’s the clunky, awkward transitions. “Why are we on this quest again?” is something I’ve said and heard far too often.
I keep a journal of the party’s adventure on a website they can access at any time. I also like to start off each session with a recap of the adventure and the previous session. My players have learned to keep some notes.
4. Rules - How closely do you follow/enforce the rules? Do you make your players write out the contents of their spell component pouches? Do you double check the potential encumbrance of characters? How do you do crafting magic items? What are some typical homebrew rules that your group uses?
I stick to RAW as closely as possible but I don’t restrict myself if they story works better by deviating a little bit.
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
I try to start campaigns at level 1 and run them up to level 20 or higher. That being said, sometimes I like to start a little higher if I think it would be easier for the party.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I am currently running the Age of Worms that I am converting from 3.5 to Pathfinder. My next campaign is going to be focused on a small group of criminals (they may or may not really be guilty) who are exiled to an island of criminals. There will be several non-core races available because of this. They will find that they need to work with others to get their small village to be livable. They will find that there are other humanoids and monstrous humanoids living in the area that they will need to either defeat or befriend. I plan on having about 10 cultures for them to explore during their 20 levels of play. There will be a lot of combat and role playing as they try to forge treaties with groups that are enemies of each other.
7. Gaming Materials - What materials do you use for your games? Do you think they make the game more enjoyable? Most of what our group uses is pretty basic. We generally use paper with grids and drawings, but also a kind of white eraser board with grids. I have some good friends that are awesome artists and they drew our characters for us, which one of our group’s players scanned, scaled, printed, cut, and attached to washers so we could use them to represent our characters. We tend to use mancala beads or whatever to represent the bad guys.
I should use miniatures but I am very old school and tend to keep everything in my head. I use a lot of hand outs. I just ordered the Condition Cards from Paizo. I also use Critical Hits and Fumble decks. My players love them. They aren’t for everyone though.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
I try to have a large story that is tied together by several smaller stories. I try to include the players as much as possible. I like them to be the center of attention.
9. Player Experience - How do you deal with players with different levels of experience/interest? Before you start and during. (A well-rounded experienced player; a first time player; a player who loves to role play, but can’t optimize; a player who loves to optimize, but can’t role play; a player who’s played a number of times, but has no interest in truly learning the game, etc.)
I have the experienced players help the newer players. We all give input when someone asks. I don’t tell people what to play but I do give them ideas to help them with the goals they have with their characters.
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain? (Terrain has played almost no role in games that I have played.)
I should but I don’t. I know it would help my players a lot but I just don’t want to take the extra time to set it up and take it down. Some groups like it though.
11. Intelligent Items - Have you used intelligent items? I just finished reading the Design Tuesday articles and I’m really looking forward to using them someday. How did it go? I’d love to hear the raving successes as well as situations where they fell flat.
I have tried to implement intelligent items. I tend to avoid them for two reasons: 1) I don’t like running NPCs constantly, 2) my players haven’t expressed interest.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
This all depends on the type of campaign I’m running. I ask for input after every adventure to see what they want. I like to know what they liked and disliked about the adventure. I ask them where they see things going. I then work the campaign in that direction.
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1. Role Playing I think most groups tend to have a combination of OOC gaming, OOC jokes/stories, descriptive role playing, and 1st person and/or theatrical role playing. Encourage by example. Recurring NPCs with quicks help. Maybe ask players to bring a character fact, background vignette, etc. to introduce via roleplay each session.
3. Plot Hooks - Curiosity. Just drop something into the game that is unexplained. They'll try to figure it out.
4. Rules -I follow the rules fairly closely, but I do a fair amount of campaign setting oriented house rules, as well. By RAW, spell component pouches don't need to be inventoried and I don't. I use encumberance, but don't monitor it. I don't use the Pathfinder magic item crafting rules; I don't like the design.
5. Starting levels - We start at 1st level and rarely play past about 10th. 1st level creates bonding and background that you don't get otherwise.
6. Campaigns - I prefer to do my own, but have had great success with some purchased one. If doing your own, think thematically and build things up with a wheels-within-wheels approach. Use foreshadowing and incomplete information. Drop it in, even if you aren't sure what the background on the mystery is, and then add it when the creative juices flow.
8. Story - Story is the heart of the game in my mind. I tend to have a lot more story elements in place than the players ever see. It creates a depth and sense of discovery. That said, some session tend to pick up where left off and it's all dungeon crawl for a bit.
9. Player Experience - I tend to ask experienced players to help out less experienced players to keep things moving. I try to provide guidance about how much optimization is expected (based upon mutual decision of the group). I've little interest in casual players being part of group unless they have a personal relationship
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? Terrain is what makes combat encounters interesting much more so than the creatures, in my mind. A couple of memorable terrain pieces: fighting kobolds in gnome burrows sized for the gnomes; goblin pirates in a ship-themed combat practice room; rescuing a lizardfolk innocent from bog imps in a muddy morass
11. Intelligent Items - In 30 years, have never used intelligent items. An interesting character idea I heard of once was playing the character of an intelligent sword.
12. Challenging Players - Give them problems to solve. Let them discover the solutions or the answer to the mysteries. They discover...you don't tell.
#1 Roleplaying:
This is one even veteran GM's struggle with when it comes to new players. Or even veteran players. If anyone comes up with a fool proof system they'd make alot of Money.
My tactics? I offer bonus xp on in depth character backstory. Another thing I do, is that if a total rp conversation with an npc gets a certain result. I see no need to throw in skill checks that might fail.
e.g. a players trying to convince an npc to do something, if they can provide a valid argument that appeals to the notes I have on the npc's personality and deliver in a manner that their character would use. Then why need that pesky dc20 diplomacy check? Even when it comes to skill checks, I still ask 'could you describe your actions'. Once you engage them in the narrative, they will start telling the story with you.
#2 Subtle inclusion:
Maps work well. Not everyones an amateur cartographer, but when running premade campaigns allows you access to detailed maps. Players love a good handout. Even hastily scribbled maps can add to the fun, particular if you get the group to maintain it.
e.g. I'm running Serpent's skull adventure path and every now and again I throw at them torn and damaged scraps of homedrawn maps. Supposedly made by previous castaways when documenting the island.
An eraseable Initiative tracking board can be fun. I let the players who rp the least maintain it. It makes players thing about initiative more if everythings combatty is out from behind the screen. Takes the pressure of you, when it comes to remembering whose next etc.
I also use face down cue cards for providing info to players who are the only ones who say notice a kobold sneaking up on them. By enforcing the surprise round and penalizing metagaming/out of round character warnings. You bypass the whole 'player hive mind' conundrum and create a bit of actual surprise in combat.
#3 Plot hooks:
Always kinda struggled with this one. Doesn't help that players have a short attention span and never listen whenever I say 'okay so you guys reckon it might be a good idea to help bob, cos one day he may return the favor'. Going back to npc's. Providing boons for dealing with other characters problems. Loot, xp, story progression. Sometimes a little transparency can be fun. My new groups are used to rpg games. So I tend to keep a record of ongoing quests, subquests and relevent npc's on our groups 'Obsidian Portal page. Involving the players in documenting the groups adventures can help train up their ability to follow a plot. Relating to the previous two topics: using an xp incentive for characters to write journals of their recent actions in character really helps with roleplaying and gets players involved in the story.
#4 The Rules:
Big topic. With some rules like encumbrance, identification of items and resource tracking. I help them get into it slowly with plot devices and npc's that take the burden away. Including these service based npc's as part of an expedition or organisation can help with this early on while you train the group to take up these duties themselves. If they can't be bothered, make em pay extortionate rates for these expert services. The group might start hunting their own food once you hike up prices etc.
When it comes to the rules. Players can be very annoying. They never complain when you rule in their favor but when you say explain why they have to take penaltws on dual wielding or why they can't macgyver their way out of any trap. Peoples are biased idiots. As a GM, you have to be both impartial and knowledgeable. That means Reading the rules. Alot. Until you have whole chapters commited to memory.
Having said that, not everyone hasan eidetic memory. One tip I give to everyone is creature a reference system.
e.g. A list of page and book references to allow you to quickly find the section on 'rule X'.
If you say, know that the upcoming encounter will involve a certain spell like ability, reference the page and perhaps the rules on 'spell-like abilities' just so you can quickly find the relevent page in a rule book should you need it.
Let's face it, not everyones a master of improvisition or a human rules compendium. Only thing you can do is be prepared.
1. Role Playing - if you role-play the NPCs then your players may be inspired to role-play their characters. Encourage speaking in-character and decribing actions dramatically.
2. Subtle Inclusions - NPC portraits, background music to introduce atmosphere, pre-prepared handouts all add to the game but remember, less is more.
3. Plot Hooks - get the charcters involved in the campaign plot from the get-go with background traits that link to the story arc. Make it personal by threatening what they love.
4. Rules - Bend but don't break. Follow the rules but don't forget the fun. Ignore mundane spell components but insist on listing the unique/expensive ones. Check character sheets once in a while but don't be pedantic. Remember to allow some downtime for crafting items or players won't bother but do follow the rules for cost and time. I like hero points, critical hits/fumbles and storycards as house rules.
5. Starting levels - With expereinced players you might want to start at 3rd level but there's a pride in bringing a character on from 1st.
6. Campaigns - I run my own campaign but it includes ingredients from many different settings. I often use published adventures to save time but edit them for my own purposes. Start small and think big is my advice.
7. Gaming Materials - Battlemats, floorplans and miniatures really add to a game. An initiative tracker speeds things up.
8. Story - My campaign has been running for over twenty years so has a lot of backstory but each segment has its own story arc. I add minor details on the fly from my own knowledge of the game world and also put out player guides and information sheets. I try to balance role-play and combat 50/50 but shift the balance depending on the situation. Starting a game with a brief recap and then a fight to draw the players into the action works well, as does halting before a big fight and picking it up at the start of the next session.
9. Player Experience - Experience isn't as important as playing style. Guide new players through the rules but don't smother them. Avoid putting them into situations where they are overshadowed by the deeds of previous characters or punished for not knowing past events in the campaign. Try to give all the players a little bit of what they want from the game and make sure everyone gets a moment in the spotlight. If people are unhappy talk it through.
10. Terrain - There's nothing worse than a fight on a plain battlemat. Terrain makes a fight interesting and inspires players to try things. Use published floorplans to save time or pre-draw your own. Use 3-D terrain once in a while to remind players that a fight can happen on more than one level. Chases across rooftops, fights in alleys, battling on bridges over chasms all add flavour.
11. Intelligent Items - Use intelligent items sparingly but make them memorable. One player wished for a superior magical bow and got one with an enormous ego that belonged to a legendary elven cavalier with whom it constantly compared the new owner. A foul-mouthed sword unearthed from a a barrow kept starting fights by insulting opponents. Another sword took on the personality of the wielder and exaggerated it. The main reason for intelligent items falling flat is when they have no voice and the player controls them completely.
12. Challenging Players - Give them moral and ethical problems to sort out. Set deadlines or give limited resources. Make them choose the lesser of two evils. Put them outside their comfort zone once in a while.
Well, I’m certainly no pro, but here’s some of how I do it for what it’s worth;
1) Role playing varies for player to player and group to group so it’s best to get a feel for what each wants from their game. I personally like to try and have a rough fifty/fifty mix of role playing and combat in my games. I tend to run intrigue and mystery heavy games where the goal is figure out what’s really going on, so roleplaying tends to be more useful than simply fighting. To encourage my players to role play I plan and treat many scenes in similar ways to combat, having a clear order, set goals, and of course some experience for being involved. Experience for role playing is always evenly distributed just as combat experience should be, even if one player/character wasn’t really involved. I would like my players to role play, but I’m not going to punish them for not doing so.
2) I like to get ‘feelies’, little things that I hand to my players to hold and look at. I keep an eye out for things that I can use for this purpose; toys, bits of junk, books, etc. A few years back I found this weird piece of scrap metal and ended up radically altering my campaign to fit it in. Also along those lines I try to have pictures for important/unique non-player characters. It does give out a “Hey, this guy is important” message but I feel that it’s worth it. Every so often I’ll get a picture for a non-important character just to see what happens. Also I listen to my players as they work out the problems and try to figure out the plot, and will sometimes take little bits of their ideas and mix them into mine. It leads to a nice “I knew it!” moment for the players.
3) Generally I set a common background element for all the characters before the campaign starts. I keep it as non-invasive as possible so as to not limit the players’ ideas, but it helps me come up with plot hooks that will appeal to all the characters. We also sit down during character creation and discuss character histories, letting me weave some of the plot into the characters in the process. However because of the type of homebrew world I run I tend to get a lot of semi-mercenary characters, which makes motivating the characters much easier.
4) I cleave as close to the rules as I can. If there is a rule for something, we use it. If there isn’t a rule for something, than we have a brief discussion about possible solutions and ideas, after which we have a vote as to what idea to use and I write it down for later reference. Needless to say this requires that everyone involved be mature about it and remembers that rules go both ways. Non-player characters and the world as a whole are also bound to the same rules as the players. The only rule I try not to use is Rule 0.
The only house rules that I use regularly is that starting characters get three times their base Hit Points at first level and all class get two additional skills point per level. The only time I’m going to check someone’s character sheet is if their new or they ask me to do so. I don’t like to baby-sit my players and if they feel the need to cheat encumbrance and equipment, so be it. As for crafting magic items; if you got the feat, the gold, the skill, and the time than you got the magic item. I also allow custom items that aren’t clearly game destroying.
5) I generally start at level three. I find that it’s a good level for giving the impression that the characters are on their way to being something special, but at the same time they’re not there quite yet. It also allows me to not have to play it safe with enemies or worry that one stray critical will kill somebody, while at the same time it gives the player more options.
6) I have my own homebrew world that most of my campaigns take place in that I’ve slowly been refining over the years. I’m not opposed to buying campaign books or premade adventures, I have several of mine own that I use for reference and I think that for a beginning dungeon master or one with limited time their wonderful. I wish I had known about them when I first started running games. As for designing your own, don’t be afraid to look at how others do theirs, nip an idea here and there and make it your own, involve the players in world creation, have a big overarching idea and then start small.
7) For a long time I would just draw area maps in a pad of gridded paper and set it in the middle of the table and my players would just ignore the parts they hadn’t explored yet. During combat I would give descriptions of the scene and the players would ask me questions like “Is there anyone within charging distance?” or “Can I get to the cleric in a single move?” and I would decide based on my mental image if they could. Than one of the players got into miniature games and we started using her miniature’s to represent characters. It didn’t take long for it to jump to accurate battle maps and everything that comes with it. I’m sort of mixed on how I feel about to be honest, on one hand it’s easier for the player to make informed decisions about their options which speed combat up, but on the other it limits them in ways that I wouldn’t have. Now they know for fact that the dying cleric is just outside of movement range.
8) Well, I hope my stories have a lot of depth. As stated earlier I like to have an equal mix of story to hack n’ slash so as to appeal to all my players. Knowledge skills tend to be really useful in my games as having a wide range of information helps the players get an edge in the story based sections. I normally have the basic outline of a story ready before the game starts and flesh out it depending on the actions of the characters. Nothing is ever set in stone and the character’s actions have real effects on the world and story.
9) Most of the people I’ve played with have been more experienced than me, so I generally let them have at it. The few I’ve had less experienced than me I’ve been sure to work with them as much as they need and tend to cut some slack that the more experienced don’t get. I like to make sure that everyone is optimized for their desired play style and I allow people to change their characters around if something isn’t working out how they hoped it would. For players that refuse to learn the game I try to force it, so let’s say they want to grapple an enemy, it would go something like this: “I want to grapple the goblin.” “Sure, go ahead” “What do I do?” “Look it up” and then I hand them the rule book.
10) I love to use terrain and weather effects in my games. Fighting in the middle of a panicking crowded market as your opponent leaps from stall to stall, sword fighting while knee deep in a freezing swamp, a ranged conflict as you’re racing across the broken steppe on horseback, the desert wind tearing at your skin and eyes as the beast comes around for another pass, a brutal last stand atop a crumbling bridge in the driving rain. To me, that’s the stuff that really brings combat to life and makes for a good story.
11) I don’t really do this, and I’ve only had one player ask for one. I regretted letting him have it. It wasn’t overpowered or anything, just stupid.
12) I try to play enemies to their intelligence/wisdom. Smart enemies take advantage of terrain, circumstance modifiers, and good tactics. Numbers of weaker enemies are generally more effective than a single large enemy, and mixing the two (carefully) can make what might normally be a generic slug fest more interesting. Combining smart powerful enemies with a number of weaker creatures makes for a nice set up. I also like to have enemies that aren’t physically or magically powerful but might be socially powerful or have some reason why you can’t just go and plant an axe in their forehead and call it a day. Again I enjoy mystery games where the most important thing is to try to figure out where it’s all heading. As already meantioned lots of smaller encounter before the big one's help to wear down daily resources. It doesn't matter if a character used up half their daily resources in a single battle if it's the only one their having that day.
First off, the fact that you are interested, honest about your own weaknesses,want feedback and want to become a better GM means that you are well on your way to becoming one already.
Second, there is lots of good advice here already, but remember that you have to adapt everything to your own and your group's style. One size does not fit all, and none of us know your group nor do we have all the answers. I've been GMing for more than 30 years and I know I don't. So try the stuff people recommend and keep what works for you and discard what doesn't. Soon you'll have a GM style that fits you and your players pretty well.
All that said, here's my two cents:
1. Roleplaying: If you want more roleplaying you have to model it and reward it. Talk in character for NPCs whenever possible and give them interesting and engaging personalities the PCs will want to interact with. Don't be afraid to be a ham. Also, don't let a player get away with just saying "I make my Diplomacy roll." Roleplay it out and then, at the appropriate time, have him make the roll. Apply appropriate bonus modifiers if, during the roleplaying, the character came up with a clever approach.
4. Rules: Strive to master as much of the rules as possible before considering any houserules. Make sure to get buy-in from your players for any houserules. For your specific questions, I don't ask about spell components at all unless it is an extraordinarilr rare or expensive component. Similarly, with encumbrance I have them work it out at charcter creation, and after that only do spot checks if it looks like someone is carrying way to much. I do ask them to write down where on their character's body everything is so that there are no arguments when I make rulings about how long it takes to get a certain item out. Not everything can be readily at hand.
5. Starting Levels: If it is a full campaign, I always start at 1st level. It allows players to know their character much better and develop it organically, IMHO, and I'm very comfortable with lower powered characters that might actually die. But that's me. I know lots of folks prefer higher powered games and are frustrated with the relative lack of power and/or versatility that the lower levels have. There's no right answer. Do whatever works for your group.
7. Gaming Materials: It's all optional. I'm at a point in my life where I have a fair amount of disposible income, so I've got a battlemat and tons of miniatures, Crit Hit and Fumble decks, Condition cards, etc. They all enhance the game, in my opinion, but none of them are absolutely necessary. Buy what your budget can afford.
8. Story: This is another gamestyle thing. Personally, I love having a vibrant, "realistic" world with a lot of story going on that both impacts the PCs and is impacted by them. It helps immersion and enhances the experience for me. I know others who could care less and are focused on the gameplay and immediate objectives.
9. Player Experience: It is possible to have a good game with players of varying levels of experience and/or different expectations of gamestyle, but it is more work. I would suggest talking to the group, as a group and deciding together what you want the campaign to run like, and calling upon them all to compromise so that everyone can get something out of the game, even if it isn't exactly what they want. If people aren't willing to compromise or can't help themselves, you may need to break into a couple of different games or suggest an unrepentant outlier find a group that suits his gamestyle better.
10. Terrain, in my opinion makes for much more interesting combats and encounters, so I encourage its use, as well as the use of atmpospherics like lighting, weather and environmental conditions. For example, a fight on a narrow mountain path, with loose rocks rolling underfoot and a 300' drop on one side during a driving rainstorm is a lot more interesting than that same fight on a featureless plain with no weather. You don't need to buy terrain, though. Just be descriptive, learn the rules (or make them up if there aren't any available) for using the terrain and atmospherics and apply it fairly, qnd maybe draw it on a battlemat or grid paper so people can visualize it better.
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1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
I don't let them not role-play. Each session reaches a point where describing your actions is not enough. If they have a conversation with an NPC... they have a conversation with the NPC. It never goes 'I tell him what we want' and then they get it. They have to say what they want. It reinforces the details of the story for the players and for me.
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
Nothing subtle. I make sure there is something in every session, for every player. I make their actions have impact. Even if it goes off-course from what I had planned. I will work to bring it back on track, but I don't outright stop them.
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks?
I drop so many plot hooks I don't even keep track - they bite on the ones they want to and we go from there. That way, they never have to be reminded - it was their idea! I have an overall idea of where I would like the story to go, but nothing is planned out in detail - there are these wonderful AP's you can buy if that is what you are after.
Many of the hooks I drop never get more than a nibble. And I always drop them at the end of the session to give me some time to plan them out for the next one. It lets the characters tell the story. It's very dynamic for me.
4. Rules - How closely do you follow/enforce the rules?
I stick to them as best I can, and am willing to discuss everyone's point of view or interpretation. We are very democratic in that way :)
Unless someone is abusing them, I don't bother. Especially at higher levels. I also hand-waive a lot of crafting.
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
I have found that level 1 is best - if you think a higher level is in order, then have 'fast-track' sessions to get them there. Start at 1, have a couple of encounters, jump to 2, repeat until you are at the level you want. It feels more natural and invests more in the characters and builds background. It is a little longer than just saying '7th level, go' but I have had more success with this approach than other ones.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
Both. The AP's are fantastic. You NEED to buy Kingmaker. At the very least, you can use it to start you off and jump off the path at any point in time you want. I haven't played/run much of it yet, but from the reading I have done it is a very open environment that has a lot of solid information in it. It is also a bit non-traditional in my view, so if you like traditional dungeon crawls, just use canned adventures.
7. Gaming Materials - What materials do you use for your games?
Always use miniatures for the heroes... but I tend to mix it up for the enemies. I have a ton of minis... and that is the problem. Too many minis, and they are never quite right, so I end up searching forever. If I had less, it would be easier to mentally make do. Do yourself a favour and get the paizo maps. They are awesome, and I actually design encounters to use them when possible.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign?
The campaigns are all story. The stuff that happens in them is often combat :P
I don't think I am the best at creating huge depth - I leave that to authors like Steven Erikson. I am better with a simple plot that I get the players to help me flesh out based on what interests them. See the point about the hooks.
If they follow something that is clearly not combat related, then there isn't likely to be a fight. If they choose a path that leads to a fight, there is likely a fight.
9. Player Experience - How do you deal with players with different levels of experience/interest?
I can't really answer this one as well as many others since I mostly have been playing with the exact same group for over a decade. But I do have players in that group who nothing of optimization... they are entirely characters of... character. And I just plan around them for combat.
Everyone gets something when they play my game - role-players get social situations and persona drama, action players get to beat stuff up and do fancy acrobatic tricks.
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain? (Terrain has played almost no role in games that I have played.)
Terrain is a must. I don't mean 3d stuff on your table, but if you aren't using terrain in your encounters, you are only getting less than half of what you could out of the game. I have had characters tackled through windows, climb trees to avoid floods, jump rooftops to catch an opponent... and those are the easy bits of terrain that we use. The players world may be 2d (paper), but their characters' is 3d.
11. Intelligent Items - Have you used intelligent items?
I don't use traditional intelligent items... I just basically make it up. It's usually a plot device anyway.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
They have to put up with me... that's challenge enough.
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1. Role Playing
The best way to encourage roleplaying is to roleplay your NPCs. Note: RP is not an excuse to end-run the "stats". I.e., my CHA 6 barbarian could roleplay being a lovable drunk, but my social skills will likely preclude the being lovable part.
2. Subtle Inclusions
Use NPC organizations to their full capacity. -- If the PCs are thieving, murdering punks, they should be wanted by the law in short order. The party may have thought it was on its way to rescue the princess from the dragon and loot its hoard, but now the story has shifted, and things are gettin' interesting. Maybe the king would as soon hire the dragon to come eat the PCs.
3. Plot Hooks
See above. Your campaigns can easily "write themselves" as a consequence of PC actions.
4. Rules
Alignment I am pretty inflexible on -- you are what you are. Components and arrow-counts and that sort of thing are tedious. If a long-haul, weeks-underground dungeon-crawl won't permit trips to town for supplies, I inform players in advance. Otherwise, it's assumed most PCs have an 8gp pack-mule standing around someplace.
Just keep an eye on Manyshot archers if they're blowing through four Cold Iron arrows a round. "How many of those things did you buy?"
5. Starting levels
I like starting at 2nd so multiclass concepts are good to go.
And: point-buy all the way. Rolling sucks, and makes some PCs grotesquely more powerful than others. And, if your fighters and barbarians level and roll 2 after 2 for HP, it's just stupid.
Full HP on the first class die, following levels are half/round-up. I also recommend 20pt, as it yields an even mix of strengths and weaknesses in builds. (Everything-uber just isn't that interesting, IMO.) -- This is identical to Society organized, btw.
If the players are too young to figure out the nuances of point-buy, help them make their characters after asking them what they want to play.
6. Campaigns
Currently I play Society organized.
7. Gaming Materials
Map, minis, "table tents", dominoes or 'fridge magnets for initiative order.
8. Story
See #2 and #3.
9. Player Experience
Even though it may not be "fair", it works better if the party is invariably the same level in a home campaign. So, ignore XP numbering and state that the party will level-up after such & such accomplishment. (If somebody gets killed, their new character comes in one level lower, and "catches up" after two sessions.)
This has the benefit of you-the-DM not having to worry about whether or not you're over-rewarding the players who are more charismatic.
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain?
My favorite was a low-level Living Greyhawk mod where an entire party of 6th level PCs was stymied by a single 3rd-level fey druid riding a hawk.
Zot! Brambles! Freakin' everywhere. You're all stuck.
Zot! Spike Growth! Start taking damage!
Eventually my spamcan on a warhorse gets sick of it, and requests the wizard to just roll a Flaming Sphere back and forth over the whole party. We eat the 2d6 and the additional d6s from flaming brambles, but we get out of the rubbish.
Druid got away.
-- Terrain is fun stuff, and rewards players with skillful rangers, etc.
11. Intelligent Items
The best IIs are also NPCs that talk. ...usually when you'd rather they weren't. They're especially good at keeping noble characters within alignment -- or tempting them away.
12. Challenging Players
See #2 and #3.
"So, as you're about the enter the tavern, you notice some familiar faces staring back at you from the wanted posters nailed to the pole outside. Whatever wizard they hired to Scry and draw the artwork knew what he was doing, because there's not a single hair or wart out of place...."
I'll give you what advice I can.
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
Don't force it. And if you enjoy the game just as roll players...just go with it.
But if you want to increase the RPing your group does. Make sure it is entertaining...casuel...and well reward it when it is done well.
I like to use this as a way to get people to RP. At night around the campfire I tell them to RP a little(I usualy have a NPC there to do help out). I leave it open that something might happen...and just want them to RP a little before it does. I than usualy sit back and hope they remain in character and just have a conservation. Than I just give them exp bonus.
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
I usualy usee the same world...or atleast the same shared cosmology. I have recurring characters...have them hear about the deeds of their previous characters...etc.
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks? If there’s one thing that I’ve seen go wrong numerous times, it’s the clunky, awkward transitions. “Why are we on this quest again?” is something I’ve said and heard far too often.
I generally run a sandbox type game...so I let the PCs decide what they want to do.
4. Rules - How closely do you follow/enforce the rules? Do you make your players write out the contents of their spell component pouches? Do you double check the potential encumbrance of characters? How do you do crafting magic items? What are some typical homebrew rules that your group uses?
I follow the rules closely I don't go all crazy with the mintuia though. As long a PC say I refill my spells component pouch...or the encumberence seem rights...etc I don't double check.
Magic Items I follow the rules in the book(PF or the 3.5 book depending what I am running)...though I have been thinking about raising the craft DC base from 5 to 10...
My House rule are mostly bans on feats, spells, or combos.
But one interesting house rule I have on skills is that they are not locked to a stat...for instance if you are going to try to accelrate climb a ladder I might say use dex instead of str. Or for jumping under acrobatic I might say use str instead of dex.
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
I like campaigns both as a player and GM that go from 1st level to 20th+ level. And never had any major problems with any level so I'll say 1st to 20th works fine for our group.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I tend to buy them. And change them if needed.
7. Gaming Materials -What materials do you use for your games? Do you think they make the game more enjoyable? Most of what our group uses is pretty basic. We generally use paper with grids and drawings, but also a kind of white eraser board with grids. I have some good friends that are awesome artists and they drew our characters for us, which one of our group’s players scanned, scaled, printed, cut, and attached to washers so we could use them to represent our characters. We tend to use mancala beads or whatever to represent the bad guys
You use alot more of that stuff than me. Though I have a DM who get minis and has somebody paint them for all the characters.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
I let the PCs tell the story....and have NPCs react to them. I think my campaigns have a great depth. Also there are game sessions I run without combat at all.
9. Player Experience - How do you deal with players with different levels of experience/interest? Before you start and during. (A well-rounded experienced player; a first time player; a player who loves to role play, but can’t optimize; a player who loves to optimize, but can’t role play; a player who’s played a number of times, but has no interest in truly learning the game, etc.)
The thing here is it depends on the experience player. It is really hard to judge. A experience player can be the best thing ever...or your worst nightmare.
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain? (Terrain has played almost no role in games that I have played.)
I use terrain...not all the time but it is useful to use it because it mixes things up and presents different challenges.
11. Intelligent Items - Have you used intelligent items? I just finished reading the Design Tuesday articles and I’m really looking forward to using them someday. How did it go? I’d love to hear the raving successes as well as situations where they fell flat.
The important thing about int. Items is to develope a personailty for them. Make it fun...not annoying. Usualy it goes well.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
Know their character sheets. Understand what they can do. I am surprised by how many DMs I run into who have no idea what their PCs can do.
13. Buying/Selling - How have you used the process of PCs trying to buy or sell things in your campaigns? My group often gets cash and cash equivalents in our adventures and have unlimited access in buying whatever we want. I think this is kind of unrealistic and unfortunate as we're missing out on some basic role playing opportunities.
I think for mundane stuff to minor magic items you should handwave it...for more potent stuff...or rarer items they should be some RP asscociated withit...the same with selling it.
I hope this has helped you. You don't have to exactly what I am saying but atleast think about it. Also the biggest advice is if you and your players are having fun...don't worry about it as much...you are doing it right.
I've had a little bit of experience in GMing, but suffice to say it hasn't been as satisfactory as I should like. My campaigns were flat, I wasted too much time designing enemies and the bad guys lair, (they did enjoy that) and I've failed to provide sufficiently challenging enemies. Anyway, I’m hoping to get some sage advice from all you pros out there!
Hey there Chort
All the "pros" out here are constantly asking themselves the same questions. You look like you are willing to improve your style (regardless of its state) and that's a good thing, but my advice: roll with it rather than force things in.
In the end, a good DM is someone who is able to provide good and fair fun for all. Everything else is circumstantial to the style, interests and expectations of the players (which includes you btw).
Experience got me better techniques for sure, but it especially gave me the ability to gauge my players and provide the right thing for the right guys and gals. So in essence, it hard to advise you on what to do - not knowing your interests and those of your players - and I admit that knowing what they want is not necessarily easy to tell. Sometimes new players don't even know what they want... A five minutes chat with the players is usually enough to give you good pointers.
So the players enjoyed having a detailed lair? I wouldn't necessarily consider it a waste of time. Detailed can mean coherent, coherence implies links to a greater whole and from there, all kinds of avenues and ideas for adventure become tangible. That's where you could get your "un-flatness". I'm not saying that a good campaign has to be super detailed and coherent, I'm just starting from what seems to have been successful so far.
[edit] a few points worth noting...
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I prefer Designing my own campaign but Paizo's are outstanding. Regardless, you'll save A LOT of work if you start with a published setting. As such, don't be afraid to say that its your version of it and that you don't have to play everything cannon.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
That's probably the most important question and again, is nearly impossible to answer anything else than DO challenge your players, in and out of combat (I'd go as far as in-game and out-of-game). Reward is always proportional to the work that has been achieved, and keep in mind that "having fun between friends" is the players' only reward (as with any other games that do not involve gambling). Again, the right amount (and right nature) of challenge is different for all.
good gaming!
'findel
*le sigh* They moved this post to another forum. Ah well, this should be more than enough to get me going in the right direction.
I really just want to extend my thanks to everyone who took the time to address all of these questions with all of your anecdotal experience. It's been fun reading all of them! Although I'm going to have to read over all of them again; this time taking notes in my shiny new "GM Journal." I hope to store everything that inspires me in my journal for the coming months. I won't be able to muster my group until June at the earliest, so I might as well take the time to do it right. Thanks again!
~The Chort
(I may have sounded like I was closing off this thread from further discussion, but the more feedback, the better. So if you still have something to say, go go go! I want to hear it. The more points of view I get, the more weapons I'll have in my arsenal of potential ways to take on the monster known as GMing.)
You should also consider grabbing a copy of the Gamemastery Guide. It has a ton of advice for you. I've been GMing since 1980 and I've run many different systems. Some more successfully than others. In each system, I made sure I read and reread the game master sections. Even today, I open up my Dungeon Master Guides from DnD, the Gamemastery Guide for Pathfinder, old Dragon Magazine articles on GMing, etc.
A good GM is one who brings his players back to the table each week because they are having a good time. It doesn't matter how closely you stick to the rules or how many hand outs you give them. If they are happy, you have succeeded in being a good GM for that group.
Hullo thar der Chort, lert me see...
Well, I don't know if I'm in the good GM category, but these are my thoughts having run quite a bit in the last few years...
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
Give mechanical rewards for a well written background (you give me a good background, you get a free +2 to a stat or feat or something). Once players have put thought into a background a lot of time inspiration for roleplaying come more easily.
Good roleplaying in session gets rewarded with praise and usually again, some kind of mechanical bonus--"Wow, what you said to the lady was beautiful and perfectly in character. Add +4 to your Diplomacy check." Or what have you. The characters should also get more information and more treasure for playing things out and exploring well, not just plowing through the game like a Diablo-style click-fest (not that there's anything wrong with Diablo!).
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
I'm not good at subtle and my players are worse at it :) (most players are, myself included. A difficult challenge of being a GM is that YOU know the world, clues seem obvious to you but usually show up as background noise to the players. Anything you need the players to know needs to be seeded in at multiple points.)
In terms of external subtleties, I use background music, I guess. Again, I'm not very good at subtle myself.
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks? If there’s one thing that I’ve seen go wrong numerous times, it’s the clunky, awkward transitions. “Why are we on this quest again?” is something I’ve said and heard far too often.
Work stuff in from characters' backgrounds. Start the party having known each other or with a reason to know each other. "You all meet in a tavern" is fine and dandy, but have them meeting there for a reason, not a chance encounter. If you establish that the party all works for the city guard, then the guard captain ordering them in makes sense. If the damsel kidnapped is the paladin's sister, he has a strong motive to insist the rest of the party join him in her rescue, etc. Figure out what the party's goals and motivations are first, then determine the hook.
The GMG also has some good advice for how to set up branching plot hooks--two different paths which will lead to the same place.
4. Rules - How closely do you follow/enforce the rules? Do you make your players write out the contents of their spell component pouches? Do you double check the potential encumbrance of characters? How do you do crafting magic items? What are some typical homebrew rules that your group uses?
I like to stick to the rules, but it's disruptive of the game to rule check everything. Basically if I and the players are in agreement on how something works, we move on, and if there's a debate AND it's important to determine the outcome of something, we look it up.
Anything that involves stuff PC character tracking, I trust the characters to track. I may occasionally ask the wizard if he has enough pages in his spellbook, but I'm not going to count his pages myself. I don't care about spell component pouch contents, but I do of course expect the players to have costly material components noted on their sheets (they do).
Most homebrew rules get written down and provided to the players at the start of the game. My rules tend to be fairly simple... for the current campaign, off the top of my head it's that all ride DCs are +5, you can't full attack and have your mount full attack in the same round, uncanny dodge is as it is in 3.5, and clerics have Cat's Grace on their spell list.
5. Starting levels - Do you start your campaigns at level 1? What levels work for your group?
The only actual PATHFINDER campaign I've run started at level 14, but that's atypical. :) (I've had fun, but I doubt I will run another high-level campaign any time soon). Most of my campaigns (from my 3.x days, and likely in the future) start around 2nd level. PCs have a little more equipment and experience and makes it easier to work them into my stories. Although there is one story I'd like to run involving characters that are level 1 NPC classes, and then when they level up, they would become gestalt with a level 1 PC class, then take ordinary (non-gestalt) PC levels from there on. :)
6. Campaigns -[/b] Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I run a homebrew world. After years of making my own adventures, I've thought about running from modules or at least stealing some ideas from them. I don't like the railroad nature of a lot of modules, but I also just don't have the time to prep like I used to. I do steal maps by the ton from adventures.
7. Gaming Materials - What materials do you use for your games? Do you think they make the game more enjoyable? Most of what our group uses is pretty basic. We generally use paper with grids and drawings, but also a kind of white eraser board with grids. I have some good friends that are awesome artists and they drew our characters for us, which one of our group’s players scanned, scaled, printed, cut, and attached to washers so we could use them to represent our characters. We tend to use mancala beads or whatever to represent the bad guys.
I like to paint minis and I have an obsession with maps, so I have a bunch of minis, flip mats, and map cards and sundry other battlegrid tiles and the like. I also use a big container of 1 inch plastic tiles (counting squares from an educational company, <$20 for a bucket o' 400), which do anything from represent enemies I don't have minis for to mapping out spell area of effects or terrain.
I don't think any of the above is necessary however. I just personally get a kick out of using that stuff.
I also use a laptop and otherwise pencil and paper. And dice. Dice are important. ;)
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
Too much if anything! I have a bad habit of overwhelming my plots with too much detail, which makes things hard for the players to track. I am learning "KISS" the hard way. I usually have 1 villain too many with overly convoluted motivations. (I'm trying to run a civil war, which seemed like a BRILLIANT idea at the time, but got overzealous in designing all the factions fighting in the war, and there's too much for the players to track what's going on, especially since we only game once a month)
What I do think I do well is I have a very detailed world and can provide a lot of background description and provide the backstory to what the players are involved in. I like to tie NPCs to PCs--NOT IN JOINING THEM--but simply give the PCs personal contacts that make them feel a part of the world, not just move through it. It's hard to do that with every PC depending on character concept but I do my best to do it.
Non-combat situations--sometimes I go out of my way to design a difficult puzzle, sometimes the PCs simply find their way to them as they try to seek out information. That's the kind of thing I sometimes do more on the fly as the story evolves... I think if you have good backstory, it's easier to work in as it comes rather than try to plan it. With the exception of the occasional actual puzzle challenge (cross this chasm without using magic, etc.).
9. Player Experience - How do you deal with players with different levels of experience/interest? Before you start and during. (A well-rounded experienced player; a first time player; a player who loves to role play, but can’t optimize; a player who loves to optimize, but can’t role play; a player who’s played a number of times, but has no interest in truly learning the game, etc.)
I try to make sure a player group has compatible interests, but not necessarily experience. It's hard to say because my current campaign is comprised of players who are all in fact far more veteran players than I am. I'm just gasping to keep up with them!
But generally speaking, when I have dealt with a mix of experienced players from newb to veteran.... the big challenge is to make sure the VETERANS DON'T TELL THE NEWBS WHAT TO DO. A lot of time new players actually come up with some incredibly cool solutions to problems because they're NOT bound by tradition or optimization discussions, etc. Nothing makes me cringe more when a newb starts to say she wants to do something which is a perfectly fine if not awesome action to take, and the veterans literally shout her down because in their minds it defies whatever strict concept they have of how the game should be played. I have seen this happen all too often--and seen newbs run screaming from the game, the game system, or gaming in general because of it. Other newbs respond oppositely and then just sit there waiting for other people to determine their actions and stop participating completely because they anticipate being told what to do, so they just stop trying. The big thing is to sit down with new players and encourage them to do what they feel is right and that it is NOT a big deal if they make a mistake; and likewise to sit down with veteran players and ask them to help newbs with things like looking up the rules, but not to tell them how to play their character.
It's also important to ask everyone, new or old, to review the rules. Some newbs just assume everyone else will tell them how to play and don't read the rules at all; some experienced players will start conflating editions or house rules for the current system being used.
For roleplayers vs rollplayers, as long as everyone has something to do, it should come out okay. Constantly ask your players for feedback and ask them if they're having fun and what they'd like to see, etc.
10. Terrain - Do you use terrain much in your campaigns? What are some memorable situations you’ve had that were caused by certain terrain? (Terrain has played almost no role in games that I have played.)
I often forget to, and I am trying to work that in more. Weather effects I would love to use more. I think the problem with terrain is that it's one more layer of mechanics to remember. Maybe GameMastery could put out terrain tiles...... (little things that have +2 cover bonus, etc.) written on them.... because I find I have to write it straight on the battle map if I'M going to remember the terrain is there, let alone the players.
I think terrain can be a great thing to use but it is a lot to remember.
11. Intelligent Items - Have you used intelligent items? I just finished reading the Design Tuesday articles and I’m really looking forward to using them someday. How did it go? I’d love to hear the raving successes as well as situations where they fell flat.
I used one as an NPC source of information. I will have to go read that article! I think the main thing is making sure players don't feel railroaded by them--I played one game where a high level paladin really wanted a holy avenger. The GM had them find one--but the sword turned out to be intelligent and frequently overtook the paladin's personality. The GM was basically punishing the player for asking for a holy avenger and used it to make the player frequently lose control of his character. Not cool. "No," or having him find one after a very difficult challenge would have sufficed.
12. Challenging Players - How do you challenge your players? This may be inside or outside of combat.
Try to vary it up as much as possible. Not a lot of the same kinds of bad guys if it makes sense to do so.
Another area where asking for feedback helps a great deal.
1. Role Playing - How do you encourage good role playing? Our group tends to be predominantly out of character while playing and many of us (myself included) are guilty of being “roll players.”
Unless you feel that a lack of "roleplaying" is harming your game experience, the only thing you're guilty of is enjoying yourselves. If everyone is having fun as is, don't feel as though you need to fix what isn't broken.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
I like prepackaged adventures. I don't want to stress over whether I've crafted a solid story when there are so many great ones out there already. It removes a significant stressor from the DMing formula.
7. Gaming Materials - What materials do you use for your games? Do you think they make the game more enjoyable? Most of what our group uses is pretty basic. We generally use paper with grids and drawings, but also a kind of white eraser board with grids. I have some good friends that are awesome artists and they drew our characters for us, which one of our group’s players scanned, scaled, printed, cut, and attached to washers so we could use them to represent our characters. We tend to use mancala beads or whatever to represent the bad guys.
Battle mat with washable markers, minis for PCs, tokens for monsters, a DM screen with paperclips to hang pictures of NPCs/fights/environments/whatever from, ambient music, condition cards, a laptop for me to run the game from.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
As much depth as the APs have, so some. Prepackaged adventures tend to have a nice mix.
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3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks?
My Favorites - the ones the players make up for me :)
Seriously. And I don't mean those wishy washy 5 page character backgrounds that you have to sift through to find the nuggets that might be worthwhile.
Those 5 page stories are for characters to fill in other characters (through RP, etc.)
I ask my players for a point form list:
* One strong adjective to describe their character
* Who, or what, do you love?
* Who, or what, do you hate?
* What is your secret?
* What is your destiny? (regardless of whether you achieve it)
To help tie some of these items into others, I've also begun asking my players to ensure that everyone of their characters either knows, or knows of, at least one other character.
This lets me tie sub-plots together amongst more than one character, if need be. Use what they give you from the above list, and not only do you get ready made character focused adventures, you get ready inspiration for plots that the characters (not just the players) will latch on to.
2. Subtle Inclusions - What subtle little things have you used in your campaigns that really made the game more fun and intriguing to your players?
Hand Outs are good, also pictures where ever appropriate. If they see a creepy castle its fun if you have a picture. Also pictures of the monsters they are fighting tends to get the players more into the act and pictures of NPCs helps the players to remember them. Humans are very visual - try and tap in on that when possible.
3. Plot Hooks - What are some of your favorite plot hooks? If there’s one thing that I’ve seen go wrong numerous times, it’s the clunky, awkward transitions. “Why are we on this quest again?” is something I’ve said and heard far too often.
Hand outs are great for this.
6. Campaigns - Do you buy them, or make your own? The precedent in our group is that we’ve all made our own thus far. Any suggestions for designing your own campaign?
APs a very good learning tools for designing campaigns. If you have the most awesome idea for a campaign and can put down some kind of a background (or your players really like a Dungeon a Week style) then go with that but otherwise playing an AP that interests you helps keep the story coherent and also keep things easier on the DM.
8. Story - How much story accompanies your campaign? Do your campaigns tend to have a lot of depth? How much do you incorporate non-combat situations into your games? (Our group often starts a session with a little bit of background about our current situation, then our characters spend some time deliberating, and then we go off to adventure somewhere and start beating the crap out of whatever comes our way.)
I good trick I have found with this is to try and leave off the last session at the start of a fight (in the middle actually works too but the book keeping is a b~$#&). Not always possible but when you can it can be a good idea for the DM that has 'roll' players but wants more story. Basically I have found that players that are keen to get into a fight calm down after they get that first fight over with and now are a lot more open to role playing (or at least letting others role play) and story development. Sate these players early and you can get in more memorable story building and role playing elements for the rest of the session and everyone often seem to be paying more attention too (especially if it was a good fight that got their blood pumping...now they are awake).
1. Role Playing - if you have beginning players, there will not always be roleplaying. Some of your players probably never will. Do what comes naturally to you and your group as long as you have fun. If you have a story-oriented campaign, this often stimulates roleplaying. You can also choose adventures with a mix of combat and roleplaying encounters (and then give XP for the roleplaying encounters as well). If someone has to roll a bluff, intimidate or diplomacy check, award him or her a bonus when he or she roleplays the moment as well.
2. Subtle Inclusions - I use these a lot, but accept that your players will pick up only half of them - or less. If you use a lot of them and repeat them often, at least they will pick some up - and if they do they will feel very smart. You can use these to keep a story going. What I do, is often ask for spot and listen checks, sense motive checks, knowledge and intelligence checks. If they roll well, I give a piece of vague information appropriate to the check and the moment (e.g. "You find a small blue piece of thread", etc.)
3. Plot Hooks - Tailor your plot hooks to the characters. I always ask for a short character description (even half a page should suffice) and base my plot hooks on these descriptions. Players then remember why they are on a quest. Then I keep notes during the campaign and tailor the rest of the plot hooks to these notes: e.g. if the players find one of the NPCs particularly obnoxious, chances are this NPC will be their enemy in the next adventure. Third I try to make them curious. Players usually go after a plot hook when it is mysterious and eludes them all the time, and often do not go after a plot hook when it is just someone hiring them for a job (though that can come after you have already made them curious about that same job). Do not force them to do anything they do not want. If a plot hook does not work, switch tactics (and do not make this too obvious).
4. Rules - I stick very closely to the rules, except when they slow the pace of the campaign. So I only loosely check encumbrance (which is mostly determined by the armor they are wearing in my campaign, and for the rest not important unless they are carrying something extremely heavy or bulky). I assume their spell component pouch is complete if they have the pouch. I only check components if they cost money.
5. Starting levels - We always start at level 1, but that is a matter of taste. But do not start at higher levels when your players have no experience with the game.
6. Campaigns - What I do, is buy a campaign and then tailor it to my own campaign world (which usually means a lot of rewriting). The advantage of buying adventures is that you can learn a lot from them when you are a beginning DM. They often contain tips and you can see how more experienced DMs handle a situation.
7. Gaming Materials - It sounds like the materials you have, are OK. You might check out condition cards, which I personally find to be a great help (and they speed up play).
8. Story - This depends on your players. I am the DM of two groups and the one campaign has a lot more story and depth than the other. Also, if you play regularly, you can have complex and immersive stories, but if you play only occasionally you will reach a point where nobody (except you) will have any idea what is going on. You can also ask players to write down notes or even a PC diary of events.
9. Player Experience - I try to tailor the adventure to players with different experience levels and interests. I usually add side encounters specifically meant for specific players. E.g. when a player likes roleplaying, he or she gets a roleplaying encounter; when a player likes combat, his or her character will be ambushed by thugs in a city; a player who is a real tactician, will get the chance to plan a battle or a siege ahead of time; a player who is not really interested in all these things, gets a humorous encounter (if I am lucky, it will make him more interested, and if not, everyone at least had a good laugh).
10. Terrain - I use terrain a lot to up the difficulty level of an adventure. I like adventures set in very hot or very cold climate, and have used snow storms, avalanches, sand storms, a burning building, etc.
11. Intelligent Items - Sometimes. But be careful, since they are often just annoying to the players and the joke will soon wear out.
12. Challenging Players - I use a combination of things, such as terrain (see 10), but also villains who take matters into their own hands and are not just waiting in a small room in a dungeon until the PCs arrive. So what I use is villains coming after the PCs (assassins), political situations which are adverse to (some of) the PCs, e.g. the ruler of the country they are in, is an evil tyrant or the religion of one of the PCs is illegal. The PC's actions always have consequences, sometimes even political. This leads to a gritty campaign where the players never know where the next danger will come from. However, this is not to everyone's taste, so be sure your players like this style of campaigning.