Main Question: What are really cool things you have wished would happen as a player and what are some of the really cool things that have happened?
Really just dump anything about dming here im a sponge for this knowledge.
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When planning a campaign, keep The One Rule in mind at all times.
No matter how many plans you have in place to prepare for something your PCs are going to do, they will always, inevitably, do NONE OF THOSE THINGS. And you must be prepared to deal with that.
So many DMs don't learn that lesson until it is far too late, if ever.
Also, keeping your characters' backstories in mind for involvement in the story really brings people into the game. That's something I'm really trying hard to work on as a DM.
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Focus on descriptions, not actions. Focus on sounds, smells, emotions, and more. 1e modules were considered the best because they allows players to explore, rather than being railroaded.
Allow for ingenuity in your players; don't say "no," but determine difficulty. Allow your martial classes to do things out world of physics wouldn't allow, just like you do for casters.
Plan for generals, not specifics; no well laid plan of a GM ever survives your players.
Find out what kind of campaign you AND your players want to play, and build that. Listen to what your players want and temper your decisions based on their desire for a certain type of game with yor own desire for how you want to run the game.
Enforce the rules upon yourself greater than you would upon your players. When you bend the rules, your players will feel cheated and come to resent you. Allow for th rule of cool to cause your players to do awesome things, especially if it advances the storyline.
Music can be used to set the mood, but it can also be distracting and cause your players to speak up (which makes side conversations louder and creates more distractions from the game). Use it sparingly, and it can be used to great effect.
If your players aren't as glib as their characters, don't let t hurt their characters chance to be diplomatic. Afterall, we don't punish characters because most of us players can't lift over 159lbs or swing from tree to tree with grace and skill. Along these same lines, if a player can't think of what to do and they're playing an intelligent character, let other players help out (this simulate the intelligent character rather than the limitations of the player).
Taxtics are a great thing and can make or break a battle. Tactics are difficult when you can't actually see the battle field. So either allow for minis with maps and/or landscape, or be very descriptive and allow players to change their decision if they misunderstand the description.
Play your intelligent bad guys intelligently (tactics, using leverage, blackmail, etc) and your dumb bad guys dumbly (attacks what's in front of them rather than going for the smart move).
Give players goals that require them to do something other than slaughtering all enemies. Encourage them to be good guys and actually spare lives. Reward them for doing good things. While having them punished by the locals misunderstanding that they actually saved everyone can be fun occasionally, it's horrible when it happens every week. Along those same lines, allow players to suffer the consequences of their actions, both good and bad. Don't use a deus ex machina - or some GM PC (or other ultra powerful NPC) always save the day.
Remember that it's a game and everyone is there to have fun. If people aren't having fun, then you're not playing the right game for your table.
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I'd say my main rule is:
Figure out what kind of campaign your players want to play, and provide it.
There are many different ways to play Pathfinder, and the only way to be a good DM is to figure out what kind of game your players want to play. Are they looking for a "beer & pretzels" game? Immersive storytelling? Character-driven improvisation? Interesting tactical combats? High adventure? Comedy? Horror?
99% of the time that a game doesn't work it's because the players and the DM aren't on the same page. For example, a DM will try to play a city-based campaign based on interactions with NPC's, when the players really just want a hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. Or the DM will run a lighthearted campaign when the players would respond better to something dark and epic.
Along these lines, you might want to take a look at The Same Page Tool.
I've also answered similar questions to this in the past. Please see some of my previous posts for similar topics:
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Turn speed.
If turns are slow, all your other flaws are gradually magnified.
The more stuff that happens, the more good that can bury the bad.
Turn speed.
If turns are slow, all your other flaws are gradually magnified.
The more stuff that happens, the more good that can bury the bad.
Excellent suggestion. Along those lines, here are some ways to either speed up combat or make it so players don't notice the slower pace.
Very nice aspiration Rhaddrain.
I'll present you with my advice for aspiring GMs, here
If you need some specific info, don't hesitate to ask.
And good luck with it all :)
-Nearyn
Thanks for all the input, Nearyn's link is quite helpful and I recommend it for anybody else interested.
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Just make every game like it is your last session. Basically if you have a cool idea, just use it. I mean, it's cool to plan for epic encounters with a demon lord or the archdevil, but quite frankly just making a campaign to build up to something, sometime real life happens and every session could be the last.
You will always have more cool ideas, so just use them and have fun.
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Know your players and what they like, some dming styles are good for some people and some others are not. For example some players prefere character development and relationship over beating dragons and viceversa. Learn to know your players likes and you will have a blast. remember the Dm is the host the entertainer, by keeping players happy you will have a good eviroment and in turn you will have a good time
When planning a campaign, keep The One Rule in mind at all times.
No matter how many plans you have in place to prepare for something your PCs are going to do, they will always, inevitably, do NONE OF THOSE THINGS. And you must be prepared to deal with that.
So many DMs don't learn that lesson until it is far too late, if ever.
Also, keeping your characters' backstories in mind for involvement in the story really brings people into the game. That's something I'm really trying hard to work on as a DM.
Probably the most important things you can hear as a burgeoning GM. The last 3 games I planned out my players did something COMPLETELY off the beam and I had to improvise the whole damned game. Be flexible and don't try to force them to follow your path. The trick is to be flexible enough to still do what you want in the game and make them think you're winging it just for them.
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In general, I like the idea that playing a PC should seem like being one of the main characters in an entertaining adventure novel or movie, but with the ability to influence the story. (The exact genre of adventure will depend on the group’s preferences). This approach leads to the following suggestions:
- The PCs should be able to make choices that have a significant effect on the story, and they should be able to take actions that seem meaningful.
- Set up regular opportunities for each of the PCs to shine (this may mean different things to different players).
- Avoid having NPC allies that overshadow the PCs.
- Avoid the sort of plot twist where well-intentioned PCs are tricked into doing things with bad consequences (for example, by a deceitful employer) - this can make the PCs’ role seem less heroic and meaningful, and may end up discouraging them from taking any action at all.
Also, I’d suggest bearing in mind that a GM’s decisions are likely to influence the choices that players make. For example, if you want to encourage your players to be creative, then aim to be flexible and think of ways to support their ideas so that many of their creative plans will work (rather than thinking of reasons why their ideas won’t work, or thinking of ingenious ways for their plans to go wrong).
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Some adventures have railroads and they can work. If you are going to railroad, make it painless.
By this I mean: don't have your players roleplay out a bunch of actions that are going to have no effect on the outcome. That's just mean and it violates the spirit of the game, which is that the players get to decide what their characters do. If you take away their control then you are basically playing by yourself.
For example, imagine your adventure plotline requires your party to be shipwrecked on a tropical island. This is a decent way for an exciting adventure to start and presents the players with some immediate goals, such as: How do we survive on this island? And how do we get home again?
But don't have your players play out the part where they try to prevent the ship crashing on the rocks. Forcing them to make a bunch of rolls that must fail for the story to go on is just cheap.
I have had a lot of success with starting an adventure off with "The Story So Far...", a bit of background that explains how the characters got where they are and what their immediate situation is. This amounts to a block of text that you can either read out or have the players take turns reading aloud. Try not to make it too long; if there are extra details you want to be available you could always allow players to ask questions later.
Preparation is key. That and making sure your characters feel involved so that everyone has something to do from the fighters needing baddies to kill and the rogues needing locks to pick. If you can combine those two elements, then everything else falls into place.
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@Rhaddrain
Probably best advice would be to simply start GMing. I myself tried to absorb every bit of knowledge about the system before, and although it helped, it never really helped me out with difficult situations that included lazy PC's, problematic PC's, steering PC's back on the track, etc. I had to learn most of it on my own and to be honest, I was kind of terrible at some moments. Some people would brand me as tyrant and rules lawyer killer GM, but eventually I improved myself. I threw away my ego, kept checking topics, comments, what people say around internet and learning from private experience.
My best advice would be to have maximum fun while playing the game. Don't force anyone on anything. The game will flow on it's own even if it's a railroad campaign.
@bookrat
I enjoyed reading those topics and can in much the same way contemplate how hated "deus ex machina" is. In last campaign, my characters had around 20% success chance in solving quests. Something always happened and blew our chances away.
Adam
It's worth mentioning that Hero Lab is probably one of the best investments you can make to help you develop NPCs and monsters on the fly as a GM. Highly recommended!
"What are really cool things you have wished would happen as a player and what are some of the really cool things that have happened?"
I've never really had a plot twist thrown at me that blew my mind. I see plot twists coming a mile away. It does not matter if it's on a TV show, movie, video game or at the table...my mind is always a few steps down that road. So yeah, I've always wished I could have a GM blow my mind with a great plot twist.
As for cool things that have happened...
That's a tough one since my mind is filled with so many great moments at the game table that might not have the emotional resonance since you did not play in the game.. But as a general thought about things I like: I enjoy moments to prepare for a battle. I love it when a GM gives a great illustration, provides resources and sets the stage for players to strategize. Even better is when the GM puts down a timer and walks away from the table with some ominous threat like "You all have 30 minutes to prepare, when I get back to the table you are all going to die."
Also on that last note. I like GM's who can talk a little trash and who are not cowards when it comes to backing it up.
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I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was...
To TPK them is my real test, to railroad them is my cause
They will travel 'cross the land, searching far and wide,
But they will never get a taste of the power that's all mine..
Gamemastery (Gotta kill 'em all) It's you vs. me,
I know it's my destiny!
Gamemastery, oh, It's Rule 0,
Because I know that I'm the hero...
Gamemastery, (Gotta kill 'em all) you know it's true...
My NPCs are better than you!
Roll up another, 'cause this PC's through!
Gamemastery! (Gotta kill 'em all!)
Gotta kill 'em all!
Gamemastery!
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The best advice I can give is to hide the rails and the mechanics. There will always be some type of rails, it is unavoidable. But make your players feel like there are no rails.
The same goes with mechanics. They will always be there, but your job as a GM is to make your players feel like they can (try to) do anything they want, not just what the mechanics say they can do.
Keep your plots simple and allow players to contribute. I usually have a basic outline of my plot and then let it unfold by way of player actions. Often the players think up things I would have never thought of and a lot of times their ideas are better than mine. When this happens steal the ideas from your players.
Always remain fluid in your plots. Don’t be afraid to move things around if your players don’t do what you expect. It really does not matter which room the encounter takes place in, just that it takes place. If your players missed finding the note with the clue in the drawer, move it to the chest with the treasure.
Not everything needs to be part of the plot. Feel free to include some seemingly random encounters just to mix things up. Truly random encounters are usually a bad idea, but something planed that has no bearing on the plot is fine. This is also a great source of future plot hooks. If the players react well to the encounter then fell free to use in the future.
When you need to adjust the plot try to keep it subtle. If the players don’t realize you have rearranged things all the better. This means you need to keep track of your changes so things are consistent. If you rearranged something then you want to make sure if they go back to the area it is as they remember it. If you steal an idea from the player make it seem like they figured it out, and don’t tell them you changed things.
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Give players goals that require them to do something other than slaughtering all enemies. Encourage them to be good guys and actually spare lives. Reward them for doing good things. While having them punished by the locals misunderstanding that they actually saved everyone can be fun occasionally, it's horrible when it happens every week. Along those same lines, allow players to suffer the consequences of their actions, both good and bad. Don't use a deus ex machina - or some GM PC (or other ultra powerful NPC) always save the day.
This more than anything! Help your players to be heroes instead of just mercenaries. That is if they want to be heroes.
If they don't want to be heroes don't push them to be heroes; but do remember that NPCs are supposed to be people too. They have hopes and dreams of their own inside the game. And they aren't impressed by the PCs until the PCs do something impressive for all to see.
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Sorry off topic - but when reading the OP title - did anyone hear (to music) "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was!".
Someone Caught it!
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You're the best, around; no one's ever gonna keep you down! - D. Laruso
Seriously though I can't second it strongly enough, what Bookrat said: focus on description. Your title might be GM but you're just there for setting. Encourage your players to play, to interact w/your world. Don't solve things for them, don't purposely kill their characters, don't let the world around them force their actions.
Make lists. Even if you only use them once, you never know when you're going to need an orcish sounding name.
Never worry about being prepared. No matter how much or how little, your players will always throw you a curve.
Prepare to live outside your comfort zone. If you like control your players will take it from you; if you have an ego expect your players to deflate it. This is not to say your players are the enemy. Rather your players are simply not you and so they have their own desires which will at times supersede yours.
You are not an actor OR a storyteller. You are not here solely to entertain your players. Many GM's miss the subtlety to this point, myself included. You want to narrate an epic, and the game can BE epic, but the key thing is you're not the NARRATOR. You're ONE OF the narrators.
Be collaborative. If your players have an idea, play with it. This goes along with "never say no." You will rarely have to re-write an entire campaign in order to include some detail or change a player wants to add. Encourage your players to think ahead, to speculate aloud what's in the next room, town or plot point. Then steal their idea and work it in.
Take notes. No you won't ever be fully prepared but lots of time and real world experiences can happen between games. Glance over your notes from time to time and try to remember what happened and where you were going from here.
Try to remember that your players are people first. There's no need to insult, berate, or belittle the players or their actions. Celebrate their victories, even if it ruins your plans. Heck, you can even tell them it ruined your plans; that'll make them even happier.
Don't always play to the characters' weaknesses. If you have 4 characters in the game, all of which are great at short range and melee damage, don't constantly attack them with ranged ambushes and mounted flying archers.
Validate your players' choices. If they take an obscure skill/feat for the flavor of their character, try to work it in. If they decide to take an easy out of the dungeon to worry about themselves rather than save the princess, prepare a consequence.
Be consistent, honest and transparent. If you tell them you like RP in your game, RP with them and give examples. If the PCs rightfully obliterate the boss in round 1, let them savor the victory.
Work WITH your players; not for or against them. You are one of many people at the table and this game belongs to ALL of you. Own your piece of it and give them theirs.
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I concur with everything Mark Hoover said.
This is an elaboration on Mark Hoover's "Validate your player's choices", but - if you ask the players to give you a character background, or if they volunteer one, use it. Do not let it languish ignored in a binder somewhere, or deliberately disregard it because it doesn't suit what you wanted to see. Do not always use it as a weapon against the player/character. You don't have to bring in the NPC family member as a henchman/cohort, or have the NPC get kidnapped every week, or bring in giant spiders every adventure because the character bio says she's deathly afraid of spiders. Just mention the the info from the bio every once in a while, and your players will love you for remembering what they took the trouble to tell you.