I've been DMing for two years and even though much of my campaign setting is fleshed out, sometimes I feel like I missed the smaller histories in order to focus on the larger histories (abysmal invasion, creation, death of a god, etc.) Also, since I've taken a sabbatical from DMing, long boring story, I thought it would be nice to write out some useless details my players may never see! :D oh yeah, I'm that kinda DM lol Really, I'm just looking for ideas for my short stories. For any responders interested, try to include a protagonist, an antagonist, an obstacle for the hero to overcome (optional), and the type of story it should be (comedy, tragedy, etc.) So bring on the coolest, darkest, craziest, or weirdest topics you can think of. Cheers. -Canis
I know I'm a little behind on posting but, just as with gaming, real life takes precedence. Things have prevented me from posting, from family problems to sickness, and for the lack of posting, I apologize. Alright, now to the post. Today is all about role playing. This is the cornerstone of RPGs, it's the RP for God's sake. However, role playing often takes a back seat to combat within a game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. If your group prefers a story-light-campaign, that's your business. What do you do, however, if you have a brand new player who doesn't know how to role play, or is shy, or simply doesn't like to role play? Is there a way to teach someone how to role play or do you just "have to do it" to really understand? Also, how do you encourage a group to role play when you, as the DM, want a more story-heavy-campaign without having to find a new group? Lastly, how do you balance a group that contains both those who enjoy role playing and those who prefer roll playing? Let's take a closer look at some of the questions above Q. What do you do if you have a new player?
Q. Is there a way to teach someone how to role play?
Q. How do you encourage a group of roll players to role play more?
Q. How do I balance a game in a group of role players and roll players?
What does this long boring paragraph have to do with the question above? It's a lead in of course. Some of my players wanted heavy combat/light RP, others wanted a balance, and at least one wanted me to continue a light combat/heavy RP syle. In the end, we reached a compromise. Try to balance between the two extremes of heavy combat and heavy RP. Should a night occur with one of the extremes being the predominant play style, the following session would be more of the opposite extreme. Yes, it's a slightly odd style, but it's worked thus far. In closing, role playing is literally the name of the game. Sure many people love role playing more than any other part of DnD, but just as many feel the same about combat. The trick is to either get on board with your players expectations, find a new group, or just do the adult thing and compromise. DnD may be a role playing game, but if no one's having fun, what's the point of even playing? Cheers. -Canis P.S. These two questions occurred to me as I was finishing up: What if I, a seasoned DM, have a group of people completely new to role playing? What if I, the DM, and all of my players are new? I thought to answer these questions but I decided it would be more enjoyable to allow you, the readers, to answer these questions with some of your own ideas, hints, or tricks. Thoughts?
Today's post will cover one of the more confusing, and probably most debated, subjects within DnD: Alignment. This system has created more problems within a group dynamic than any other that springs to mind. Certainly, as a DM, I've had my fair share of problems with it, but why does it matter? Barring spells and abilities that function off of alignment, what is the big deal with alignment? Beats the hell out of me, but I'll take a stab at answering that very question. So what exactly is alignment? Is it a moral designation, firmly tying your character to a set of ideals? Or is it a framework of perspectives in which your character can exist, completely unalike to another with the same alignment? Truth be told, there is no "right" answer when it comes to alignment. It all falls on you, the DM, to determine when an action is good, evil, lawful, or chaotic. What makes one alignment different from another? Is there a noticeable difference from Neutral and Chaotic Neutral? The simple answer? Yes and no. The differences between alignments are often undefined and hard to understand. Do only good people save others? Do only evil people torture? Are there shades of gray? Once again, it is for the DM to decide. Perhaps a closer look at what makes up alignments, i.e. law, chaos, good, and evil, would help in determining whether that CN rogue would torture you for information. I'll list the major traits of the law-chaos and good-evil axes first, as well as neutrality in relation to the four. Lawful:
Chaotic:
Neutral:
Good:
Evil:
Neutral:
What does this mean for the combinations of the above descriptions? If a trait isn't listed in a given alignment description does that mean a character won't do it? Of course not. Two characters may be lawful evil but that doesn't mean they act exactly the same. However, there actions won't be as different as that of a LE character and CG character. Let's return to my above questions. First off: do only good characters save others? Not necessarily. An evil person may save someone if it benefits them. Do only evil characters kill? No, Paladins are renowned for killing evil people. Are there shades of grey? Realistically, of course. Within the game, for simplicity's sake, absolutely not. Though you and I may express chaotic good in different ways, neither of us would purposefully kill the innocent. Would that chaotic neutral rogue torture someone? If it helps that character then yes. This situation toes the line between neutral and evil, but a skilled player knows how to peer over the edge of the endless abyss that is evil and step back. Is the difference between alignments all relative. Yes, relative to the DMs perspective only. As the referee of the game, you have final say on what breaks alignment. Realistically, those we call Patriots as American were nothing but terrorists to the British, but in game, keep it simple. Evil is evil, good is good, etc. What does this mean for in game situations? Let your players push the bounds of their alignment and don't worry so much about it. If a supposed LG knight kills a room of younglings, tell him he either atones for his actions or his alignment shifts to LE. Also, if you say no evil in a game and someone purposely commits evil acts to become evil, make him/her roll a new character and explain your reasoning to the player. This is one of the most debated subjects within the reaches of the DnD community with questions like "Does this break alignment," or "would my character do this," appearing on forum boards across the net. I think, in 9 cases out of 10, if a DM is having problems with his group acting out of alignment, it speaks to a deeper problem. Your players are most likely acting out of boredom. Talk to your players. Ask them if they enjoy that storyline heavy quest you're running or whether they would prefer to slaughter a few hungry wolves instead. In short, as has been said time and again, listen to your players, whether they say it aloud or not. Lastly, unless it is having a direct impact on the game, just don't worry about it. Of course don't let your Paladin act like the Joker or the Druid act like a Paladin. Alignment restrictions come with the class and shouldn't be ignored. Mostly, just roll with it. Let there be reactions to PC actions if need be but just stop worrying about a subsystem and just play DnD and have some damn fun. Cheers -Canis
Contrary to my post above, I can agree with pretty much everything you pointed out Malignor. I guess I'm still stuck on the "Smaug" mold of dragons. No friends, no allies, only meals. lol I may, if you don't mind, incorporate some of your ideas into my dragon encounters if eer my PCs are foolish enough to tangle with dragons.
Hello again folks. Today’s post will be the start of my normal posting schedule of Mondays and Thursdays. In this way, I’ll be able to pour a little more help into my posts and maybe reach a few more DMs and players. Anyways, to the post. Today is all about wealth by level, loot, and the pesky problem of characters being equipped with overly powerful gear. So why does it matter if your PCs are, by game standards, poor or rich? The ability, or inability, to buy the gear they need can lead to negative consequences within a game. Let’s look at the two extremes of character wealth before we continue. Characters who are too rich:
Characters who are too poor:
To keep it simple for you as the DM as well as your players, just stay within the Wealth by Level guidelines. Often, however, you will find that your PCs have more gold than what the WBL advises. This is where loot comes in to the equation. Loot is often the motivating factor for many players. Finding or taking the best loot possible is one of the best parts of playing DnD, but loot can cause a dramatic spike or drop in PC wealth. So what do you do if a PC has too much wealth? Simple, a few encounters without loot can fix the problem. If instead a PC doesn't meet the WBL, a few encounters with above average treasure should fix the problem. As an aside, loot need not always be "standard." Spice up what your players find by having them create "wishlists." Wishlists are lists of items that players either want to find or buy. Throwing in a couple items from your player's wishlists can make a normal encounter into a memorable encounter. Lastly, before I give my customary example, what to do about high powered weapons in the hands of lower level PCs. There are two methods to go about this: 1) Deal with the problem in game. Purposely strip the item from the PC, by force, trickery, or deus ex machina. This can lead to feelings of being "picked on" by the DM. I suggest avoiding this if at all possible. 2) Deal with the problem out of game. Talk to the player whose character possesses the item. Tell him/her that the item is disrupting the balance of the game and that the adventure is suffering because of it. For instance: your player has that +2 flaming longsword, "oh no I meant a masterwork longsword." If the player refuses to cooperate, use method 1. Alright, even though it may be shorter than usual, it is example time. Keep in mind, as in my last post, I will be using "points of advice" rather than "mistakes." "My players were running through a dungeon, looking for a dragon (A1). Sounds difficult I know, note the sarcasm. (Seriously, how hard is it to find a colossal creature?) The PCs were all level 2. After a dungeon full of encounters (A2), my players find a chest containing two swords. The swords were a +1 longsword and a +2 shortsword (A3). The fighter took both and began using the longsword as his primary weapon. It was hardly noticeable, but the fighter's prowess did increase(A4). The remainder of the dungeon was easier accordingly." Breakdown: A1- When using dragons in a game, keep in mind the very real possibility of player stupidity. Also remember that dragons are, by their nature, extremely powerful. If a PC attacks a dragon, the dragon will retaliate. Dragons are best saved for higher level PCs. A2- Concerning creatures living in or around a dragon's lair: most don't. The mere presence of a dragon will drive away any random creatures that may try to inhabit the upper, and smaller, levels of a dragons keep. A3- This is a clear example of giving a player an item well beyond the WBL guidelines. Just remember to keep an eye on it. A4- Remember: don't give a powerful weapon to a PC and not expect him to use it. It can disrupt your game so try and keep your treasure hordes within WBL guidelines. Well, that's it for today folks. The best advice I can give about today's topic is this: keep what you kill, within reason, and always remember to loot the bodies of your fallen enemies, and companions. Thoughts and comments are welcome. -Canis
Update: I've changed the URL of my blog to canisconfessions.blogspot.com. My next BLP will be up within the day. Thanks for the replies folks. -Canis
Thank you to Run, Just Run for the inspiration. This post will be a little different from my previous posts. Rather than writing from a DM’s perspective, I will be writing from a player’s perspective. I will still be giving an example, but rather than pointing out mistakes, I’ll be illuminating “points of advice.” I’ll abreviate the points of advice as A. This post concerns my first experiences with D&D, and with table-top games in general.
When I first started thinking about playing D&D, I was very apprehensive, “That’s the geek game right?” I visited my cousin’s group once, saw the miniatures, mat, and books and thought, “Yup, definitely a geek game.” I guess you could call it self denial. Geek is the biggest identifier I use and, being 6’2”, I usually don’t hear anyone laugh about it. Anyways, after a fair amount of convincing from friends, I finally agreed to give it a shot. I began reading up on it, discovering the history and supposed infamy of the game. I borrowed a PHB from a friend and read as much as I could. I was immediately hooked on the idea of being a hero and of playing my favorite fantasy creature: dwarves. The first night of play couldn’t come soon enough. The first night, I was confused from the word go. Modifiers, saves, bonuses, AC, it was all Greek to me. Thank God for good friends. That night, as I remember it, was pretty standard, story wise. We had to find a bandit and kill him for the reward. Simple, but so fun for a new player. Here’s an excerpt from the night: We, the party, started out in a bar, original I know (A1). On the wall of the bar was a piece of paper, a bounty notice. We decided, yes, we will take the plot hook (A2). We geared up and headed towards the bandit’s normal stomping ground. Soon we were waylaid by henchmen who we easily dispatched (A3). After a little persuasion, one of the minions revealed the location of the bandit hideout. The hideout comprised of three levels, which we only found out at the end of course. This dungeon was successively harder the further in and down we went (A4). Long story short, we found the bad guy, along with a literal wagon load of loot, and put him down. Breakdown: A1- It may seem clichéd to a young DM, but starting out simple is usually the best way to go. In the example above, we started in a bar and had a blast. Bars in D&D are comfortable for many players. As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” A2- Like in A1, simple is better. Sometimes, blatantly obvious plot hooks are better than cleverness. A3- Easy encounters can be used as a means to find information and further your story. In addition, it’s always fun for players to feel awesome because they breeze through an encounter. It’s also an easy way to bring PCs up to WBL if you feel they may be lagging behind a bit. A4- Making dungeons that become more and more challenging as PCs explore them can be one of the most memorable experiences for your PCs. “Sure it may have been all hacking on level one but we’ll have to think tactics for level 2.” This type of dungeon forces your PCs to close ranks and work as a group. Let me talk about my DM a bit before I conclude. The night I mentioned above went as most nights did for my DM. To me, he always seemed prepared and never got upset if we breezed through an encounter. He didn’t have to keep flipping through his rulebook because he knew what he was doing that night and had read up on it beforehand. I as a player felt more involved in the story because there were fewer breaks to double check a rule, so the “mood” wasn’t disturbed. Project confidence to your players, whether you are isn’t the issue, and your games will improve for it. That’s all I got for today folks. Thoughts? -Canis
To Richard: I do realize my mistakes and yes I am a storyteller but the point of this thread isn't to "fix" my DMing style. My players are fine with it, we have fun, and mostly leave happy from the table. I made this thread to offer advice to young DMs and hopefully have a few chuckles in the process. I'll update this later, I gotta run. -canis
After thinking about it a bit, I've decided to turn this into a blog. I'll still update this thread as I post so I can stay connected to my Paizo friends, but I'll also be running the blog to reach other pleyers and DMs outside the Paizo forums. masterofplataea.blogspot.com for those interested -Canis
Since you're all brand new to table-top in general, I would suggest you do as Adamantine suggested but try and get your group to go with you. Ask a GM if they mind you watching, of course explain to him ya'll are brand new, and he should be cool with it. (If he isn't, post on here and I'll contact the Pathfinder Secret Police and deal with him.) I also suggest the Beginner Box, it's made just for a group of brand new faces. Lastly, welcome to the world of table-top rpgs. You'll like it, we have cookies. Best of luck.
Hello again folks. I'm happy to say that momma is doing much better. Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts. As for this thread, I intend to start writing a BLP biweekly, I hope. I'm shooting for Mondays and Thursdays. I already have a few thoughts for topics, but I'm open for suggestions. Any thoughts? -Canis
I'll come back to the rest of your post shortly, what caught my eye was your admission that you stutter. Kudos for not being embarrassed about it. That shows you have the courage necessary to be a great DM. Why am I pointing this out? My father stutters so bad that if someone hasn't spent an extended amount of time around him, you can't understand him. His solution? Sing. It sounds silly but even the slightest singsong voice reduces his stutter to nearly non-existent. Give it a try, hell even make a town populated by bards. I know it's hard to stand in front of people and lead if you feel self conscious about your stutter, I've been there, but as long as you explain to your group what you want, what you don't want, and the value of patience, you will do fine.
Amen brother Hanlin, preach them good old fashioned DnD fundamentals lol but in all seriousness, your biggest problem is nerves. Run with a pre-made and let what happens happen, unless it's something totally ridiculous, at which point, it's time to put down your foot and lace up your DM-as-final-say boots. lol
Once you get your feet wet a bit, I'd suggest using this. You'll need a google account but this is an invaluable tool to use. As for the character sheets, I like to keep copies of my player's characters, not to prevent cheating as I'm in full agreement with robertness on that subject, so that I know their ACs and such without having to ask at the table.
Go to this website and pick an adventure that looks fun. Read through it and get ready for night one. And I agree with Mr. Grundy, campaign journals are invaluable tools. Whether you write two lines or two pages, any record is better then none at all. Note: these are 3.5 quests. You have one of two options: 1)rewrite all the encounters and change some of the skills into PF skills, like search, spot, and listen into perception, or 2)you can run it as written, converting as you go along. (When the module says, "Have your players roll spot," just tell your players to roll perception. That should do it.
First off, thank you Jak the Looney Alchemist for the idea for this post. For those who may have missed Jak’s post, he talked about not becoming too attached to any part of your campaign. This is some of the best advice a DM can receive. When it comes to world or campaign building, young DMs often, as is my case, invest a substantial amount of time and energy into their creations. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, but after lovingly crafting the “perfect” campaign or world, it is often hard to let a PC change something. In my case, this has led to some pretty stupid moments as a DM. I’ve made excuses for why an NPC survived, why PCs were not allowed to do something, and rail-roaded the adventure countless times just to ensure my campaign remained as originally written. I am the first to admit that, for the longest time, I was guilty of this. Plataea (my campaign setting) was my shining accomplishment. I was unable to allow my players to have a substantial impact on the world because I had carefully thought out what the status quo was within the world and I didn’t want that to change. My games suffered for it. I was so wrapped up in the in-world narrative that I pushed the game narrative to the side and did not allow the second to impact the first. Not my finest moment. I am, by no means, telling you not to invest yourself in your campaign setting, campaign, or NPCs. The best adventures are born of enthusiastic PCs, NPCs, players, and DMs. If your players see that you are enthusiastic about an adventure, they in turn will be more enthusiastic. If you breathe life into your NPCs, the players will do the same for the PCs. DnD is about stepping into a whole new world where you are the hero. Enjoy that, immerse yourself in it, have as much fun as you can. That is Canis’ tip of the day. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Allowing your players to really impact the town, city, and world they inhabit is by far the best approach to drawing your players into the narrative of any game. When you as the DM ensure that things, just like in life, change in the game in response to the PCs actions, you add a new layer of interest to the game. Sadly, more often than not, young DMs ignore this rule. Why? To be frank, “Because this campaign or campaign setting is all my work and I’ll be damned if you or anybody else screws it up.” You want to be a better DM? Forget about how awesome your world is, to a degree, and focus on building around your players. To quote an older DM, “There is no room for pride in DMing. The game is about the players, not the campaign world,” (Oakspar77777, Lessons from DMing with my girlfriend). Here’s my example: wrote: I was co-DMing a game in which the PCs were trying to put down a proto-demon (M1). In that particular setting, the biggest faction was focused on the eradication of spell casters. Why is that relevant? Because you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing one of these people and the night in question was all about storming one of their smaller keeps. Note: this was my first night ever DMing. I built a custom encounter and started the night feeling pretty confident. During the night, the PCs completely eradicated my NPCs and became bored, significantly lowering my confidence level (M2). Soon afterwards, the PCs had the encounter taken care of with no visible continuation of the story. Oh but I had a plan you see; a mysterious stranger, bearing a mysterious symbol gives the PCs a cryptic message and leaves. The stranger, after saying his piece, begins to cast teleport and the PCs attack him. That was not allowed. I had invested too much in that NPC, in my misguided reasoning, to let him be killed so I simply told my players they weren’t allowed to do that (M3). In response to my player’s indignation, I simply said, “That’s just how it is, sorry,” (M4). Breakdown: M1- I am against co-op DMing in general but when it comes to trying to co-op as a young DM, as was the case above, the best advice I can offer is don’t do it. Get your feet wet on your own first, then give it a shot. M2- First, of course you want your players to have fun but if they’re not, because of lackluster fights as in the above example, boost the NPCs a bit. No one will notice, or if they do, they won’t care so long as they’re having fun. Secondly, don’t lose confidence in yourself because things aren’t going as you’d hoped. Roll with the punches and switch things up a bit if you start to sense boredom at the table. M3- Sometimes it is necessary to just say your PCs do something, or don’t do something, in order to advance the story but avoid rail roading as much as possible. Have contingencies if the situation calls for it. M4- If you do have to rail-road something in your game, give your player’s a reason for it. Don’t just say, “Cause I said so.” Example Overview: I didn’t allow my PCs to do something, not because it would advance the story, but because I was attached to an NPC. The night ended on a sour note because I forgot the first rule of DMing, “It’s about the players, not the campaign world, NPCs included. So in summary, keep the PCs as the focus of your adventure. Take pride in your world, but don’t get too wrapped up in it. Roll with what changes and above all, have fun. -Canis
Good day folks, today's order of business: another big long post, or BLP. The next post will primarily concern world building and the effects of getting overly attached to your campaign setting, or anything in a game really. I should have the post written out and up before 5 (I write slow). Before that, however, I would greatly appreciate some feedback on whether or not there is enough substance, so to speak, in my posts. Last night as I was typing up my last BLP, the thought occurred to me that my posts contained few helpful bits of advice. Maybe it's just my overactive brain, now you can see where my trouble as a DM comes from, so your feedback would be most helpful in writing my next BLP. Thanks to all who have read and replied thus far. -Canis edit: I feel I need to add that I'm not looking for kind words to stroke my ego. If you have ideas or sugggestions on how I can improve my content, presentation, level of detail, etc. that would be greatly appreciated.
Hello folks. Momma and sissy are alright and I'm so juiced on stress that I think it's time for another post to relieve some tension. (I didn't know it was even possible to sound like a geek and a redneck in the same sentence. Score one for me!) Thanks to everyone for your kind words. They are well appreciated. To begin, I must thank Malignor. It is to you that I dedicate this post as your reply is what inspired my next topic: puzzles. Puzzles are, arguably, one of the cornerstones of RPGs as well as the scifi and fantasy genres. Puzzles are one of the most exhilarating, as well as frustrating, aspects of DnD. The question some young DMs pose is simply, “What the hell do you mean by puzzle?” Patience, young padawan, all good things to those who wait. Puzzles in DnD are plot devices that require logic rather than brute strength, though strength is often involved, in order to solve. Puzzles can take the form of anything, though my favorite kinds are those that require the sacrifice of something important. The best example of good puzzles, as well as a multitude of deadly traps, is the tried and true Tomb of Horror (see notes). In TOH, Gygax shows time and again the value of well made puzzles, and well placed puzzles, which often test a hero’s mettle to insure those who can best the adventure deserve it. That, however, is another post entirely, so back to puzzles in general. Puzzles can be great additions to any adventure, but, under the right circumstances, can completely break an adventure. I, unfortunately, have killed a campaign for this very reason. As is my style, the following is an actual occurrence from one of my games. (Let me take a few breaths before I enlighten you all to the absolute insanity of my DMing, though I like to think I have improved. One breath, two, three.) Alright, here goes: wrote:
This is, in my eyes, my worst mistake as a DM. In addition, this is also the least enjoyable session I’ve ever had, whether as a player or DM. Alright, ya’ll know the drill, mistake breakdown time: M1- This is not so much a mistake as an instance of, “Too much, too soon.” When thinking about what kind of adventure you wish to run, avoid tackling the biggest, baddest subjects you can. In my experience, fighting a pack of wolves at first level is just as enjoyable, if not more so, as chasing down gods and demons. M2- This is akin to M1 in that, rather than a mistake, this is more of a “knowing one’s players” problem. The Tomb of Horrors is a thinking group’s quest; my group is more of a hack and slash group. This is a clear example of a DM not listening to his players. The lesson in this: listen to what your players want and mold an adventure around it rather than running something because you like it. This particular instance says to your players, “I don’t care if you’re not enthusiastic about this quest, I like it, I’m the DM, so deal with it.” No one walks away from the table happy in that scenario. M3- This is a clear case of “rail-roading” your players (no escape means there is only one way out, through the DM’s plot.) Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but it should be avoided whenever possible. Allow your players the freedom to choose for themselves rather than predetermining the outcome. Avoid forcing players to do things “your way, or not at all.” M4- In the example, I relied on my players picking up on things two sessions earlier and using that knowledge to solve the final encounter. Never rely on players remembering irrelevant, to the task at hand anyways, information in order to solve a problem two or three sessions later. Another reason this is a major problem is that I gave my players no “in-room” help for the task at hand. I’m not saying have writing on the wall that tells the players how to complete the task at hand, but don’t leave your PCs completely clueless. M5- This is what I call “bottle-necking” an adventure. In other words, your PCs either complete the task at hand in the way you have planned or they fail. Try to have multiple ways of approaching in-game problems and if you must have a one-solution-task, stack the odds in your player’s favors. M6- This mistake, rather than being drawn from the example is the example in its entirety. This is the ultimate example of how a puzzle can break your game. My players spent hours trying to figure out this puzzle. Why didn’t I help them out? Simply put, the rest of the adventure depended on the PCs solving this puzzle. Everything depended on the PC’s ability to do a single task, a single way. Never, ever do this. There should always be, as I’ve said, multiple approaches for any in game problem. Lastly, as puzzles are the focus of this post, never hinge the entirety of your adventure on a puzzle, or any one thing really. Remember, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
First off, let me say wow. There were a lot more posts than I expected when I logged on. Thank you all, it does a burnt out DM good to see the support and especially the critiques from my peers. I hope someone, player or DM, has learned something from my ramblings as well as the excellent replies I have received. I am going through some things in my life right now so I will most likely be posting a lot in the next couple of days as a way of relieving stress. Forewarned is forearmed, my friends. I will have another big post in an hour or so, hopefully. However, before I put finger to key for this next post, I'd love to see what you, my fellow DMs have problems with, so I can ramble about some of your topics. Once again, thanks for the support folks. -Canis
Let me clarify something from my original post. I just now noticed it, thanks Richard. In my first post, I use the phrase, "In one of my first games..." That should actually read, "In my first game DMing, with three first time players." That whole first quest was full of fail lol And I agree with you Richard. Sometimes, failure is a much better motivator than success.
That was and is my preferred method as a DM. Back when this story took place, however, I should have used a pre-made. I jumped in feet first and nearly drowned, to speak metaphorically. In the time that's passed, I like to think that I've gotten better, but this thread, and thinking about my games makes me realize how much I have to learn. In the end, though, that's what this thread is about. Taking a hard look at myself and fixing what's broken.
To bring this thread up to speed with my Wotc thread, I'll go ahead and post my second big post. In my first post, I touched on preparation for a game, NPCs, and not losing yourself in the details. While I will talk about these subjects in the future, today I want to talk about the most important, and often most difficult, responsibiluty of a Dungeon Master: creating an adventure. For me, this has always been my Achilles heel. I’ll have an idea for an adventure, then I reach a wall and am unable to progress the storyline any further. That’s usually when I tell my players to roll new characters. This is one of those times when player input is crucial. Ask your players what they want to play and really listen. Then, use their ideas to spark an adventure. Don’t be ashamed if you reach a wall. Talk to your players, post in the forums for ideas, or take a break to recharge. If you still can’t think of anything, look to published adventures for ideas or use the entirety of the published adventure to “fill the gap” in your campaign. Speaking of different types of adventure (segue alert). In my experience, there are three main ways to approach this aspect of DMing: 1) Run a Homebrew adventure, 2) Run a published adventure, 3) or run a mix of the first two. I have always opted for way 3. This way of DMing has its pros and cons. For inexperienced DMs, the cons can outweigh the pros. If you are new to DMing, start of with a pre-made adventure; it’s the best way to “get your feet wet.” As a young DM, choosing options 1 or 3 can lead to disastrous consequences. Example: I decided to run a level one adventure; we started off with a simple plot: rescue the princess. (Mario’s been doing it since 1985, so it can’t be that hard to make something from that premise, right? Oh no, not me, too easy.) I began the adventure with this plan: I’ll make it up, night by night (Mistake 1). I decided to use this homebrew adventure as a lead in to another adventure. My players got to the dungeon, annihilated my carefully laid dungeon and soon reached the Big Bad Evil Guy, BBEG. That’s when I hit the wall. So what do I do? I doubled the BBEG’s CR and made him pull punches to capture the PCs (Mistake 2). Flash forward three levels and we find my PCs working for a villian named Risir who has them search a dungeon for a mythical sword said to contain the essence of a dragon who slew a God in combat (Mistake 3.0). Oh it gets better. Within this dungeon, not only is there one obscenely powerful weapon, there are three (Mistake 3.5). The PCs recover all three and what do you think they do with them? Use them of course. Next session, the PCs were visited by a god who told them they must take the weapons to a certain location and hand them over to a certain NPC. They had no choice in the matter (Mistake 4). The adventure lasted two more sessions before I scrapped it. Mistake breakdown: (for the sake of ease of typing, I will abbreviate mistake as M.)
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you don’t think you did as well as you could have on an adventure; as long as you and your players are having fun then you, my Dungeon Master friend, have succeeded. Thoughts?
I have posted this on the DnD forums, but I thought I'd post it here as well to see what my Paizo friends think. Enjoy. Be advised! This post is part rant, part ramble, and part instructive notes, hopefully, on how NOT to DM. This is drawn from my experiences alone and does not necessarily mean the things that did not work for me won't work for you. I intend this as a warning to young DMs; however, some shared stories or possible solutions from older DMs would be greatly appreciated. You have been forewarned. My name is, well it's irrelevant, but for the sake of any possible repliers, call me Canis (it's easier to type than Master_of_Plataea). I've played in two editions as well as Pathfinder and DM'd for PF for two years. In only two years, I've started and cut short too many games to recall, most of which were generic, cookie cutter adventures that any novice could have ran, but not I. Why, you may ask? Simply put, I couldn't see the forest for the trees. I was so caught up in unimportant details "The devil's in the details," goes the old adage, and for me, there were always endless details. The best way to explain this is to give one of my better, terrible DM moments as an example: In one of my first games, I was using a premade adventure to supplement my homebrew campaign. I was making a few NPCs to really flesh out some encounters, I was trying to look like a well put together DM for my group. Vanity, thy name is Canis (mistake 1.) As a sidenote, I choose to make a level 2 NPC from scratch because, according to my reasoning, all "real" DMs made their own NPCs so I had to do it to be like them (mistake 2.) Before I had even rolled a stat, I ran into a roadblock: what is this NPC's name? Yes, I know those who read this will probably laugh at something this trivial but at the time, this was a serious problem. So what do I do? The only thing I can do, dangit, I fire up the ole' web browser and look for names (mistake 3.) Completely abandoning stat creation, I launch into a two hour search for the "perfect name." Not just a name that sounds cool, oh no, too easy. This name must be racially correct, as well as correct for class, place of origin, and alignment. Why? Because that is how you do it, according to my naive reasoning (mistake 4.) After researching countless campaign settings, mythologies, and regional name guides, I finally gave up and went to bed, assuring myself I'd "get around to it soon." (Mistake 5) I never got around to doing any preperation, showed up to the session with no idea of what I was going to do, and ended up cutting the night short. The adventure lasted two more sessions before I scrapped it altogether. Not one of my finer moments. To wrap up, let me return to my example and explain the mistakes I made (for those young DMs who may not fully grasp these mistakes and maybe even for some of you older DMs who have some idea of what is about to come): Mistake 1: Rather than trying to impress your players with how acccurately you can quote rules or how prepared you are, let your adventure "do the talking." A lackluster adventure with a rules lawyer in the DM's seat will lose everytime in a contest with an awesome adventure run by a DM with a working knowledge of the game. In other words, don't try to memorize every rule, learn naturally as you DM. Mistake 2: Use the resources at hand rather than tailor making NPCs just to ensure every last skill point is where you want it. Most NPCs won't matter in 3 sessions. Mistake 3: Avoid needless distractions during prep time. Set attainable goals, work at your own pace, and don't overload yourself with too much at once. Mistake 4: Don't try to make every NPC, village, or region completely perfect. Your players will rarely, or more likely never, notice that the orc they just killed doesn't have an orc name. Mistake 5: Before stopping prep, evaluate what you have completed and consider if more prep is needed to ensure a good session. If you don't think you have enough to run with, set time aside within the next few days. I think that about does it for this post. Thanks for anyone who struggles through the ramble and I hope it helps someone out there. -Canis
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