So I've had some success in the past getting discussion threads on interesting (at least to me) topics in the past, so let's see if we can get another one going.
To all the DMs out there: What's your play style?
Do you coddle your players or mercilessly kill them off?
Do you print out pages of read-aloud text before each session or improvise descriptions as you go? (And do you describe everything in stunning detail or does your party already know what Monster X looks like, so why bother?)
Soap opera drama and intrigue or hack n' slash?
Do you play with a stack of rulebooks with bookmarks or opt instead for vague recollections of what the official rules may or may not have said?
Assuming that the two were mutually exclusive, what would you say is more important, having fun or treating everyone fairly?
If you say anything resembling "I just try to make it fun for my players", know that's all well and good, but how do you make it fun for them?
Play styles vary from group to group and even from game to game, so keeping all that in mind, again I ask:
What's your play style?
Hmmmm.
I run sandbox intrigue games with splashes of Diablo-style dungeon crawls. I'm not much of a actor, my presentations are probably dry, so I focus on setting and story.
I leave it to the players to look up combat rules, I play from memory, so they have to prove me wrong if there is a rules dispute. In combat I am the referee, not the opponent.
Treating everyone fairly is required to have fun.
I run my game by blocks; level 1-5 the kid gloves are while the players and I get to know each other and the mechanics of the game; this doesnt mean that you wont die; but it probably is not permanent; also during this time people are free to change their character concept and fix things is their characters are just not working out or enjoyable to them. This is the time I really want players to learn their characters; set goals; get their teamwork down and like that. GM offers players thread advice and role playing tips and explains the game, the npc, provides background about the world that your character may not actually have to get you immersed in the game. Players tend to meet one or two movers or shakers. Game is more black or white during this play time. The pc's are under the radar and nobody is really concerned about them very much.
6-11; kid gloves are off; but hands are still open :) This is the period I really start to draw characters into various game threads; a player may have the primary adventure thread going; but also may have many many more secondary, tertiary or such game threads. At this point in playing I really test characters alignments and abilities; I look through the character sheets much more intensively; I set up dungeons so that players must use their skills and hone their abilities. In this part of the game; the players are learning the vast web of all the groups and goals in the world; they meet many Movers and Shakers in the world; and usually know a few well enough to get some support or to get chased and harrassed. PC's get to see the murky side of religion; politics; and all that. Less GM explaining; more role playing and npc interaction. The PC's are a blip on the radar and are getting noticed; wheels start turning in the background as npc groups react to things the pc's have been doing.
12+ The Mighty Iron Fist of the GM; hehe. Here I expect players to know their characters every facet. Here I dont give any more gm advice on probable outcomes; all interaction is through direct npc interaction. You know most of the Movers and Shakers by name and have met most of them. The PC are on everyone's radar; there is a whole bunch of wheeling and dealing; interaction are so murky that trust becomes a big issue in the party; those first 12 level should have shown the pc's that it is them against the world; and they really are out to get you. NPC's spend a lot of time trying to divide and conquer the pc's, convert them; kill them; all that. PC's have real knowledge of most of the main themes in the game and may have tens or hundreds of side threads; they know many groups on all sides; can really make change in the world. And, here you learn there are thing much much worse than death.
For me, it depends greatly on the campaign we're playing. In general, I like to mix in a decent amount of story and intrigue, and mix in a lot of fast-paced combat. When we do encounters, I don't dwell on mechanics; if no one can recall the rule, we make a judgment call and move on. I roll combat quick and dirty; the bad guys make mistakes, not every single turn is a lesson in tactical superiority, we just jump in head first and do what our characters would do. But again, it depends on what we're playing.
The first campaign I ran was Ravenloft back in 2002, and I ended up with a small group of 3 players. Small groups are much easier to get immersive RP with, in my opinion, since there's almost no side-conversations and everyone can stay pretty focused(fewer distractions). This campaign had very little combat, but a lot of story telling. Sometimes even regular encounters build up over the course of an entire session; one time, the party was on the road, and were being hunted by a werewolf. Instead of simply having it attack and they roll initiative, I built up the hunt and chase for a entire session as it stalked the party, then after they injured it, they chased it back to it's warren. Overall, Lots and lots of tension building.
The new Ravenloft campaign I'm running now has 5 players, and I'm noticing right away that it's more difficult to get into the minute-detail of story telling. So, I'm running the story a little thinner, and focusing more on action and events to keep the player's interests. I call out lots of skill checks just for casual observations by the party, to help get newer players used to the skills mechanic and for everyone to notice when something's "just not right..." So, a little little less tension building overall, and more action.
I run another game randomly(off-weeks, and when people just happen to be available) involving a high-level, end of the world scenario from the Elder Evils book. This is a no holds-barred, anything goes campaign. Little bit of story, just enough to keep the ball rolling. High action, lots of combat, lots of crazy monsters and magic. This game has a foreseeable end, so min/maxed characters don't matter to me. The challenges that await the party are insane, so I tell the player's to just bring it.
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1.) I don't set-up set-up any insta-kill scenarios. If the encounter is something much, much, more powerful than the party, I drop plenty of hints that running or hiding might be the best option. If they ignore those warnings, and they die, oh well.
2.) I try to play monsters to their intelligence level. An owlbear is not a tactician, but a dragon is. Players should beware when engaging smart critters in battle.
3.) I use traps sparingly, and try to put them in places where it actually makes sense to have one.
4.) I am not a believer in the DM vs Player mentality. I do not keep score as to how many PCs I kill. If anything, I have found that too many character deaths tends to ruin the continuity of the campaign. However, if there is no palpable threat of death, then there is no challenge, and therefore, no adventure.
I always wanted to run a silly; pun happy; spoof kind of game with maximum sillyness like a Xanth novel on steroids. Has anyone run anything like that and have some experiences to share of difficulites and thought to keep it fresh and fun?
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I always wanted to run a silly; pun happy; spoof kind of game with maximum sillyness like a Xanth novel on steroids. Has anyone run anything like that and have some experiences to share of difficulites and thought to keep it fresh and fun?
The closest I've ever gotten was 'Dwarfapalooza.' We borrowed concepts heavily from Warhammer (book of grudges, slayers) and set out as a rag-tag group of dwarves who have lost their honor and are trying to die a glorious death to get back into the good graces of Moradin and be welcomed into the Hall of Ancestors when they die. My character, nicknamed "the Colonel", was a truly ancient old chap who spent most of his time remembering the glory years, initiating a charge in the wrong direction, and complaining about the beard standards in today's dwarven military. We had a lot of fun getting wholloped on, almost dying, and then healing one another to the lament of the rescued ... "I was ... almost there! Why did you heal me???"
The only keys I can give you are, the timing has to be right, everyone has to be in the right mood, and not to force it.
Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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My games are typically fast and loose. Lately, I've been running pre-made modules due to the time constraints of being the father of a 17 month old, but I've typically created my own adventures in my homebrew world.
Things I tend to do consistently as a GM:
- Allow for Tangents - If the players want to investigate something that I'm not necessarily anticipating, I feed into it. I like to provide my players with the notion of unlimited options, so they can explore anything/anyplace they like - even if it's not part of the planned adventure. This means I'm often flying by the seat of my pants, and create encounters and NPCs on the fly. Strangely, the tangents tend to be more memorable than some of my planned encounters after time has passed...
- Allow Players to Work it Out for Themselves - I do my best to avoid railroading players. I also let my players try to decipher my puzzles, riddles, and clues with a minimum of guidance. Often their solutions are better than anything I could think up, and the look of satisfaction after they solve one is priceless!
- Create Memorable NPCs - Every NPC I create has a personality, voice trait (I try to add accents, voice tonal changes, etc. to make each NPC unique). I find that my players are more likely to remember the names of NPCs if each one has a unique personality. My players still talk about NPCs from past campaigns (The Mayor, The Man in Black) based on their personality quirks.
- Move Things Along - If my players get stuck overly long on something, I will provide subtle hints to them if I notice them getting frustrated. Sometimes my riddles are too complex for them, or their next act isn't as obvious to them as I planned for, so I'll have a clue fall into their lap or an NPC help them out to keep the game going. We have too little game time to spend it getting frustrated.
- Mix Up Monsters - There are times when I use monsters as they are written up in the Monster Manual/Pathfinder Bestiary. There are times when I soup them up a bit. This keeps my players on their toes, and the encounters are a bit more unpredictable since they don't know exactly what they are facing in each combat.
- Allow for Player Input - I always take player suggestions into account, whether it's for a magic item, a plot twist, a character background suggestion, adventure suggestion, or campaign point. Getting my players involved in the scenarios we play helps them buy into our campaign world, and adds to the overall experience for everyone.
- Have Fun! - I don't get uptight when our game session gets taken over by hijinks at the game table. For example, every session has about a 15 minute pause for Monty Python quotes. These usually happen based on something that happens in-game (a PCs response to an NPC, Players mocking other players' decisions in combat, etc.) and I find by encouraging this, it re-energizes the players when they're ready to continue.
- Provide Handouts - My players love handouts. Maps, scrolls, notes, etc. add to their experience and really help bring them into the game. I often provide handouts that begin as nothing more than red herrings, but after hearing my players try to determine what the note/map might be, find they actually become useful campaign items down the road...
Well, that's my short list. Hope this helps any new GMs out there. I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that every gaming group is different, so there is no "right" or "wrong" way to GM a game.
I'm all about having the PCs survive by the skin of their teeth. The closer they are to death, the better. There's nothing more rewarding than barely irking out the victory, be it by a great roll, ingenious tactics, or the ocassional flubbed roll.
Ocassionally, I'll lie and drop a critical hit here or a failure here to either increase the tension or lower it and give the players a chance. I won't flat out always save them, though. It's all about having an exciting time.
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To all the DMs out there: What's your play style?
I *used* to be "all about the story." In other words, as a DM, I felt it was my job to tell a deep and meaningful story through my gameplay. As such, I would "fudge" rolls to ensure players didn't die, etc.
I would say that 4E and the people that I play with have changed my focus and my style. Before, it was all about MY story, I'm the DM-god, etc etc etc. Now, it's YOUR story. As such, I've adapted these principles, and both I and my players are much more content these days:
1) Reduced Scope/No Sandbox. I will not be a great writer in the RPG industry. Rather than tell you a-next-to-nothing crappy story and it all contradictory about a magnificent city with dozens of plots and intrigue, etc., if I can tell you one good story about the inn, then that's where I'm going to put my focus.
2) Realism is found on the Discovery Channel. I try to make things thematic and generally sensible, but I am not going to get all wrapped up on realism, for the same reasons above.
3) Open Rolls. I do it all out in the open now. Yep, gone are the years of "fake rolls to keep the players on their toes", fudged saves, etc. You roll it, you own it.
4) It's all about the players. Since I've changed my focus more player-centric, I try to give the players what they're really interested in. That includes magic items. I try to make acquiring it meaningful and personal, but if a player decides that "it would be awesome" to have X item, then I'm going to probably make it happen.
5) Assign a "rules lawyer." Each game I pick one generally sharp player and make that person the "rules lawyer." Any player that has a concern during the game directs the question to the assigned rules lawyer. Anything that takes longer than a few minutes to resolve automatically goes to the player and I'm moving on. After the game we'll review and adjust future play accordingly.
6) Game playing is a social event. In the end, what is most important to me is the fellowship I've enjoyed with my fellow gamers rather than what happened in the game. I've read where GMs have done things in order to elicit an emotional response, like deliberately belittling players, etc. To me, that sort of stuff is taboo. The players will provide all the required emotions. I'm just there to herd things along.
My style has definitely changed from a classic old school confrontational style to a much more impartial judge who sometimes gives out good advice on how to handle the encounter.
My last campaign as a DM I was ending things up with Maure Castle (check it out this trap makes you destroy your magic items) but those players were hard core vets, many I had played with as far back as 1E.
These days I'm DMing for enthusiastic newbs so I'm running something a little more akin to kinder gentler D&D. Oddly enough some of these babes in arms think I'm out to get them - they've heard stories...
I prefer to sandbox it a little--I have a pretty detailed campaign world that I use, and while I will come up with a villain or points of conflict to attract the players, I try to flesh out the world so that whatever direction they choose to take, there's something they will find. If it makes sense, I will make more than one path to the same goal. I particularly have players where if you only have one road to follow, they'll dig their own tunnel instead, so I try to be flexible and give them some choices.
That said, somehow in the campaign I'm running currently I've managed to come up with a too-convoluted political plot in the background, which I'm trying to remember to keep simple. The players have established some pretty clear cut goals for themselves and I don't want to muddy the waters. I guess what I'm saying is that while I like to sandbox, I get myself in danger of overdeveloping things that don't need to be developed. I will of course always develop stuff that it turns out the players have no interest in, and the players will grill me with extremely precise questions about stuff I didn't even think about.
Which brings us back to "wing it."
My strengths I would say are generally in world building and area design; providing background and history.
My weaknesses are in battle tactics. I hope I challenge my players, but I'd say combat design is my weakest area. I think I have at least improved in this over time.
I'm also a miniature hobbyist, so I love to use minis and as you can see I get the GameMastery maps so I'm always pulling this stuff out and cobbling together battle grids. Even if the fight's lame, it looks cool. ;) I also make some custom maps with Campaign Cartographer, but haven't quite mastered how to make a printable battle map from that.
I keep the rules to hand for reference (and I've started using a laptop for that more and more) but if we're in the middle of a tense (in-game) situation, I would rather handwave/jury rig a rule than pause the action to look up a rule. Usually anything there is a question about, we will make a call so we can move on at the game, and then afterward, I will discuss the issue with my players and make the call. I consider my word final, but I always hash out the issue with my players and make sure we're all on board before something gets implemented.
I use very few supplements. Supplementary books can be useful, but I don't want to be sitting under a pile of books at game, and having to track different abilities through six different books. I also don't want players, especially new players, feel like they MUST have many books to be able to play the game. To me, many (but of course not all) splats are just a source of power creep, time consumption, and frustration. The ones that I do use I tend to use more for the advice, creature stats, and maps, than extra mechanics. When players create their characters, my guideline is, "Try to stick to core only, but if you feel you need this feat/PrC from another book to properly reflect your concept, just show it to me and let me think about it." I usually allow these things unless they are insanely broken (strangely, the Complete Divine PrC got in just fine; the player whose PC already had an AC of 34 at 15th level who wanted pair of gauntlets that permanently cast shield on him did not get the "custom item" he wanted).
I'd like to take what I've learned in the last long campaign I've run and run a new 1st level campaign again, something simple but flavorful. Maybe pull from some mods or APs for inspiration, but take it and make it my own.
I run my game by blocks; level 1-5 the kid gloves are while the players and I get to know each other and the mechanics of the game; this doesnt mean that you wont die; but it probably is not permanent; also during this time people are free to change their character concept and fix things is their characters are just not working out or enjoyable to them. This is the time I really want players to learn their characters; set goals; get their teamwork down and like that. GM offers players thread advice and role playing tips and explains the game, the npc, provides background about the world that your character may not actually have to get you immersed in the game. Players tend to meet one or two movers or shakers. Game is more black or white during this play time. The pc's are under the radar and nobody is really concerned about them very much.
6-11; kid gloves are off; but hands are still open :) This is the period I really start to draw characters into various game threads; a player may have the primary adventure thread going; but also may have many many more secondary, tertiary or such game threads. At this point in playing I really test characters alignments and abilities; I look through the character sheets much more intensively; I set up dungeons so that players must use their skills and hone their abilities. In this part of the game; the players are learning the vast web of all the groups and goals in the world; they meet many Movers and Shakers in the world; and usually know a few well enough to get some support or to get chased and harrassed. PC's get to see the murky side of religion; politics; and all that. Less GM explaining; more role playing and npc interaction. The PC's are a blip on the radar and are getting noticed; wheels start turning in the background as npc groups react to things the pc's have been doing.
12+ The Mighty Iron Fist of the GM; hehe. Here I expect players to know their characters every facet. Here I dont give any more gm advice on probable outcomes; all interaction is through...
I want to play in your game.
I guess I have a rules lawyer also; one player; same player; that keeps track of all rule call; home rules; modifications and stuff like that as over the years you run into those iffy places in the rules and somebody has to keep track of it; and this player is really good at it; real sharp guy; thanks for years of help Ty.
RaFon,
have you been reading along on either of my two pbp? My first homebrew is up to nearly 6k posts; the other is about 600; read up and see if one of them interests you. The homebrew II is fairly new and it is a good group; take a look at that one and post if your interested.
You may wish to read the discussion boards for each of my pbp; as there is a lot of information there as well as comments from people who have played around my table; some for decades.
I have been running this world for over 30 years.
...I run my game by blocks; level 1-5 the kid gloves are while the players and I get to know each other and the mechanics of the game; this doesnt mean that you wont die; but it probably is not permanent; also during this time people are free to change their character concept and fix things is their characters are just not working out or enjoyable to them. This is the time I really want players to learn their characters; set goals; get their teamwork down and like that. GM offers players thread advice and role playing tips and explains the game, the npc, provides background about the world that your character may not actually have to get you immersed in the game. Players tend to meet one or two movers or shakers. Game is more black or white during this play time. The pc's are under the radar and nobody is really concerned about them very much.
6-11; kid gloves are off; but hands are still open :) This is the period I really start to draw characters into various game threads; a player may have the primary adventure thread going; but also may have many many more secondary, tertiary or such game threads. At this point in playing I really test characters alignments and abilities; I look through the character sheets much more intensively; I set up dungeons so that players must use their skills and hone their abilities. In this part of the game; the players are learning the vast web of all the groups and goals in the world; they meet many Movers and Shakers in the world; and usually know a few well enough to get some support or to get chased and harrassed. PC's get to see the murky side of religion; politics; and all that. Less GM explaining; more role playing and npc interaction. The PC's are a blip on the radar and are getting noticed; wheels start turning in the background as npc groups react to things the pc's have been doing.
12+ The Mighty Iron Fist of the GM; hehe. Here I expect players to know their characters every facet. Here I dont give any more gm advice on probable outcomes; all
I tend to be careful with handouts as some players can be intimidated. That is one reason I like players to start at 1st level; so they can meet pc's on their own terms; when a player starts at 10th level, for example; the list of npc biographies; the short version; is easily 30 to 40 pages and can be intimidating and is nowhere near the thousand or so active npc's that I have files on for each city; country; continent; profession; ect.
Throw into that mix; handouts a character would have for maps; prophesies and general politics; and you have a few inches of paper. While some people may find this interesting; other find it stark raving full of intimidation; and you know one of my cocky players will say something like "get this memorized by next game session".
As a gm; I feel pretty lucky when a player gives me the list of spells they have memorized at the beginning of the playing session without me asking.