I am interested in DMing a scenario, either written by someone else or self-created at next year's PaizoCon. But I have never done anything like this before, so I have a lot of questions.
What do I need to know? What kind of experience do I need? Should I go take the RPGA DM test? What do I need to provide my potential players?
How do I know how long to write my scenario? How do I playtest?
I am also interested in volunteering for other parts of con, set-up, take-down, etc. I don't know what the facility does, but I'd be interested in helping out where I could. Staff comment on this would be appreciated.
I'm asking so I have lots of time to prepare for next year! Thanks in advance for all the good advice.
{What do I need to know? What kind of experience do I need?}
Have you ever GM'd before? :)
If you can handle running a one-shot scenario, you should be fine.
If you can handle running a game with a new player, you should be fine.
{Should I go take the RPGA DM test?}
I never did. :)
{What do I need to provide my potential players?}
If you're going to run a Pathfinder Society scenario, you'll need to say what level it is so people know what level characters to bring.
If you're running something you created, you should provide characters (otherwise they'll need to create PCs on the spot, and that eats up playtime).
{How do I know how long to write my scenario?}
A typical 4-hour scenario is three encounters, plus some introductory material.
{How do I playtest?}
Try it out on a local group. :)
{I am also interested in volunteering for other parts of con, set-up, take-down, etc. I don't know what the facility does, but I'd be interested in helping out where I could. Staff comment on this would be appreciated.}
Josh would have to answer this part.
|
{Should I go take the RPGA DM test?}I never did. :)
Was this part of that "No Gamer Left Behind" initiative?
Is it standardized?Does the Fed cut off funding to gaming groups when their GMs fail to meet the federally mandated required scores?
And how do I go about getting my federal funding anyway? ;)
Seriously GreatKhanArtist, if you have GMed before, especially if new players were involved, and everything went well, you should be fine. Sean's hit it all on the head like a whack-a-mole game.
Thanks guys.
The reason I asked about the RPGA is not because I'm an avid WoTC gamer (OGL all the way!) but because I'm not a rules stickler. At all. In fact, this is the problem I'm most worried about encountering, so any advice on how to make it fun but not biased or with favoritism but not constricting would be helpful. (I know PFRGP Alpha is about to be released, but the Beta isn't much different from 3.5, so I'm not too worried.)
Does anyone know any threads or info on writing scenarios? I know that there are two books for purchase on the site, but I'm looking for pointers that I can playtest against. I've been reading a lot of old Dungeons to see what works. I would be doing low-level scenarios, since that's what I'm familiar with.
Again, thanks everyone!
Thanks as well for the post Sean - I'm nervous for running my first Con game as well. I've DM'd forever, but not with a strict time limit :)
Speaking of - I glanced through one scenario - I don't see a limit/minimum for the number of characters. Is that not regulated, is there a suggested number?
Thanks as well for the post Sean - I'm nervous for running my first Con game as well. I've DM'd forever, but not with a strict time limit :)
Speaking of - I glanced through one scenario - I don't see a limit/minimum for the number of characters. Is that not regulated, is there a suggested number?
I think the limit is 15 for first time Con DMs. :P
Or maybe it was 6.
|
Thanks as well for the post Sean - I'm nervous for running my first Con game as well. I've DM'd forever, but not with a strict time limit :)
Speaking of - I glanced through one scenario - I don't see a limit/minimum for the number of characters. Is that not regulated, is there a suggested number?
If you have fewer than four players, you will probably kill them all. If you have more than six players, you will probably blow the time limit due to all of the chaos at your table. I recommend between four and six.