Hey folks, this is my first time posting, and hopefully won't be my last. First, to give a little background info about myself. I have been a player for almost 20 years. I started with 2nd edition, switched to 3.0/3.5, then finally made the transition to Pathfinder when it came out. I have never really ran a full length campaign. I have ran some one-offs and some multi-session adventures, but nothing long term. In my main group, we switch off DM's after somebody finishes a campaign and I have volunteered for the next slot. It looks like I won't be running till mid-fall or so, but in order to get ready, I've decided to run a mini-campaign during the summer. This will be during the week, not on the weekends with my regular group, and will consist mostly of members from my weekend group. I am running both games in a homebrew campaign setting that I have been working on for sometime. My biggest problem, obviously, is lack of experience in the DM's chair. I have problems organizing myself, and generally am very harsh on myself. I want to make sure everyone has fun and generally doesn't feel like the story is bland. Any input would be great. I know this is a big issue to tackle on the forums, so I'm not expecting to be able to solve all of my problems with just this post. I would just like some input/advice from all of you experienced DM's.
I'm sure several posters will post links to some of the many "New DM Guide" sites, blogs or message board threads on the internet. Of course you can google them too.
My advice is for you to simply allow yourself to develop your own style and not try to adopt too much advice from people like me.
In my experience the best GMs (I have taken to calling them "Game Masters" since that is a more general term that applies to multiple game systems) have been the ones who have a strong internal sense of consistency, theme, history and social structures. Pretty much all the rest is just mechanics.
Specific "duh" level advice:
1. Know the rules. That's your job, so do it well. Don't allow yourself to be lax on the main rules you need to know to do the job. Read the RuleBook, the GM guide and any other material you are going to allow. Read the spells, at least the first few levels if you are going to start at level 0. Know the basic equipment rules.
2. Set the tone. Talk with your group of players. Inform them of what type of campaign you intend to run. Let them know if you want it to be deadly serious, light comedy, farce, whatever.
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Have your encounters set to go. Roll up your monsters, NPCs and loot. Draw maps. Write notes. Set scenes. It is much easier to read a room's description that you carefully created in the privacy and comfort of your own home than it is to try desperately to remember the key details you committed to "memory" when you thought up some great idea.
4. Have fun. I see many GMs so wrapped up in the task of being a GM that they lose track of the fact that the game is supposed to be fun for EVERYONE, including the GM. Don't fall into that trap. If you aren't having fun, you won't improve and grow as a GM. So allow yourself to do things that YOU find entertaining on occasion. Just as you have to keep the characters engaged, it is even more important to keep YOURSELF engaged.
That's about it. Everything else is story or mechanics, and I can't help you with the first, and everybody else will be more than happy to help you with the second.
I completely empathize with your concern. Still, after DMing for a couple of years, I always bring that concern to the table once I get behind that screen.
It is really important that you do not let yourself get hung up on the nit-picky mechanics or every tiny detail the game could offer. That is something I had to overcome early on. You naturally shed that concern, though, after you have DMed multiple times and are used to how you and the game work.
The most valuable tool a DM has is self confidence. The fact that you have that want to do good and to run a really good game for your friends is almost the entire battle. All that is needed now is for your to approach it with the mentality that you're going to kick some arse. I know with my friends, even if I feel like I ran a sloppy, disjointed game that night, the fact that we were able to hang out and play Pathfinder was all they really needed.
Once you get more practice under your belt, it will come more naturally and you'll develop your own style. Just have fun with it and it will all fall into place :)
EDIT: Sorry, I had to come back to this - it is still on my mind, haha. I had a friend DM once with an adventure he had written himself. He approached the game not with the intent of the players having a good time, but with the intent of pleasing himself and showing off how good of an adventure he could craft. The end result was a terrible night of gaming with all of us unsatisfied and upset. I am really glad that your approach is one of wanting to do good and wanting your players to have fun. That's a sign of a great friend who is not seeking to feed an ego, but of a considerate human being. Quite refreshing really. I hope somewhere in this rant you may find something. . .
I completely empathize with your concern. Still, after DMing for a couple of years, I always bring that concern to the table once I get behind that screen.
It is really important that you do not let yourself get hung up on the nit-picky mechanics or every tiny detail the game could offer. That is something I had to overcome early on. You naturally shed that concern, though, after you have DMed multiple times and are used to how you and the game work.
The most valuable tool a DM has is self confidence. The fact that you have that want to do good and to run a really good game for your friends is almost the entire battle. All that is needed now is for your to approach it with the mentality that you're going to kick some arse. I know with my friends, even if I feel like I ran a sloppy, disjointed game that night, the fact that we were able to hang out and play Pathfinder was all they really needed.
Once you get more practice under your belt, it will come more naturally and you'll develop your own style. Just have fun with it and it will all fall into place :)
+1 to this...
And a comment: In most endeavors, the best way to build confidence is to be prepared. If you go into a session thinking "I'm not ready for this" that's going to hamper your ability to run a good session. You can still overcome this, but if you go into that session thinking "I've got this crap DOWN" then you've pretty much already won the battle.
Thanks for the feed back so far guys!
Brassbaboon: I didn't even think about doing a google search for that sort of thing. That being said, that can be one of my problems, tunnel vision. Sometimes I get one thing on my mind and I don't look for answers in other places. That also leads to another concern I have with my adventure prep, not being able to think outside of the box and being imaginative. Also, your right, I need to make sure I'm having fun, cause if I'm not, I'm done for.
Cranewings: I really like your thinking process on planning an adventure, which is something I need since I'm only a quasi-organized person in general. I need to have a good outline of what I'm preparing and what you gave is a good start. I'll take your stuff into account, I think it could really help.
Robot: That is the most important thing for me, making sure everyone else has fun. I need to develop some self confidence. Also, like you and Brass said, I need to be prepared. You guys are right, the more I can get ready for the game, the better I'll feel. The good thing is too, my friends are like yours, they aren't going to rake me over the coals if I run a rough game, which is good.
I'll be running my game next Tuesday, which gives me plenty of prep time. The party consists of 6 people, all starting at level 3. However, there will be some conflicting schedules at times with two people, so I will always have at least 4. I have drawn out a pretty good map of the town, which the adventures will be centered around. I have my pantheons, race background information for the realm, and the history of the realm done. These are all printed out so the players can have handouts to look through, as well as for my easy reference. Now I just have to figure out what kind of adventure to through my friends up against. As soon as I figure this out, I'm going to put all of your good advice so far to use. I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks for the feed back so far guys!
Brassbaboon: I didn't even think about doing a google search for that sort of thing. That being said, that can be one of my problems, tunnel vision. Sometimes I get one thing on my mind and I don't look for answers in other places. That also leads to another concern I have with my adventure prep, not being able to think outside of the box and being imaginative. Also, your right, I need to make sure I'm having fun, cause if I'm not, I'm done for.
Cranewings: I really like your thinking process on planning an adventure, which is something I need since I'm only a quasi-organized person in general. I need to have a good outline of what I'm preparing and what you gave is a good start. I'll take your stuff into account, I think it could really help.
Robot: That is the most important thing for me, making sure everyone else has fun. I need to develop some self confidence. Also, like you and Brass said, I need to be prepared. You guys are right, the more I can get ready for the game, the better I'll feel. The good thing is too, my friends are like yours, they aren't going to rake me over the coals if I run a rough game, which is good.
I'll be running my game next Tuesday, which gives me plenty of prep time. The party consists of 6 people, all starting at level 3. However, there will be some conflicting schedules at times with two people, so I will always have at least 4. I have drawn out a pretty good map of the town, which the adventures will be centered around. I have my pantheons, race background information for the realm, and the history of the realm done. These are all printed out so the players can have handouts to look through, as well as for my easy reference. Now I just have to figure out what kind of adventure to through my friends up against. As soon as I figure this out, I'm going to put all of your good advice so far to use. I'll let you know what happens.
Try a minotaur, maybe the fiendish one. It kills, then it leaves a trail to bait adventurers into its maze. Simple start, simple progression, lots of room to improvise.
Here's the thing: your questions on how to become a better GM are good, and important, and certainly, warranted. However: you're really asking the wrong people.
We aren't players in your game. We're just random blobs of 1's and 0's on the internet. Ask your players what game they're looking to play. Let them tell you what's working for them and what isn't. Ask them after every game session, "What was good? What was bad? What can I do different?" Developing a good dialogue with your players about your game style will give you more pertinent and accurate information than we can give you.
I would not say he is asking the wrong people. There are things I wish I had known up front. Some advice applies to all games. Some does not, but I do agree he should ask the players also.
Being prepared is a must. Keep in mind though no matter how prepared you are your players may do something you are not expecting. so also be prepared for the unexpected. When this happens use your best judgement and roll with it. Ultimately have fun!!
Good luck and I hope you enjoy.
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Very basic advice I once received, that I can pass along:
When building a dungeon (or a similar adventure area), ensure there is content in place that somehow relates to all characters present.
This generally means arcane mysteries for the wizard to unravel, traps for the rogue to disable, enemies for the fighter to engage, and something theological for the cleric to ponder the greater meaning of.
You'll also want to tailor content to character backgrounds, in addition to their roles within the party. This content could relate to their birthplace, their occupation, their family, their ancestors, their faith, their goals, etc.
This is a good, simple step to take, to ensure that all players are involved, and as you get better at this, you can tailor challenges to multiple players, to promote teamwork. (eg. Scripture written in an ancient arcane language is generally interesting to both the wizard and the cleric.)
As you design adventures, try to think as both the GM and a player. =)
I can't agree enough with all the good advice here. The main thing is to give your players the game they want. Roleplay, rollplay, or a mix?
I figured out that my group wants to KILL THINGS AND GET TREASURE more than anything else. I go light on description and such, and make sure they get into some good, hard battles, and they're quite happy playing that way. For these guys, the drama is all in the dice.
Ask your players what kind of game they want, and have at it!
Well! I agree with the majority of the advice herein, but see the perpetuation of one of the greatest myths of DMing. This myth is "You have to be prepared."
Now, I'll agree that you should do basic preparation, especially for the first few times you run a game, but eventually, and inevitably your players are going to come up with something (or Nat. 20 something) that you never could have planned for (If this does not happen, the players are probably doing it wrong/not being creative/involved enough). When this happens, if you have a meticulously prepared set of encounters or RP or what have you, the temptation to railroad them into it may arise. Typically, railroading is a no-no.
In my opinion, there are two good ways to handle this
1) get really good at winging it
2) get really good at masking your railroading
I find option 1 more fun and exciting, but option 2 may be necessary if you've spent weeks setting up a reveal, or a meeting with the BBEG, or whatever.
But yeah, mostly, do what works for you, then relax and see where it pulls you, and let it go there. After all, this is the story of the PCs, so their interaction with it (and decisions) should play a big role, otherwise it's just a slower-paced vidjagame.
Well! I agree with the majority of the advice herein, but see the perpetuation of one of the greatest myths of DMing. This myth is "You have to be prepared."
Now, I'll agree that you should do basic preparation, especially for the first few times you run a game, but eventually, and inevitably your players are going to come up with something (or Nat. 20 something) that you never could have planned for (If this does not happen, the players are probably doing it wrong/not being creative/involved enough). When this happens, if you have a meticulously prepared set of encounters or RP or what have you, the temptation to railroad them into it may arise. Typically, railroading is a no-no.
In my opinion, there are two good ways to handle this
1) get really good at winging it
2) get really good at masking your railroadingI find option 1 more fun and exciting, but option 2 may be necessary if you've spent weeks setting up a reveal, or a meeting with the BBEG, or whatever.
But yeah, mostly, do what works for you, then relax and see where it pulls you, and let it go there. After all, this is the story of the PCs, so their interaction with it (and decisions) should play a big role, otherwise it's just a slower-paced vidjagame.
If I was giving advice to an experienced GM who is running in a well established campaign world, I wouldn't focus so much on preparation.
For a new GM who needs to be confident and has never run a group through an encounter, I think preparation, preparation, preparation is not only good advice, but is the best advice.
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I've known quite a number of DMs who don't prepare much -- who improv certain elements of the game based on what the PCs are doing and, of course, how fun the game is going.
But they have a talent (in theory, at least) for that kind of thing.
Me, since I have only a little talent for improv, I prepare. Whatever your strengths are, work to them. You say you don't have great organizational skills -- so DON'T create a really complex campaign with tons of NPCs and plots and sub plots and sub-sub plots. Otherwise you'll end up forgetting who's who and what's what and, since you're you'll make the situation even worse.
The other side of that coin is that the other Players need to be invested in your DM style as well. THAT'S what lots of folks have been talking about when they say "don't ask us." If your group LOVES those really complex story lines with lots of dynamic NPCs you're gonna want to include that as much as you can so that they, as you put it,
For some groups, internal consistency is HUGELY important. Mine is like that. In other groups it takes a back seat to moving the game forward and making something work or flow regardless of what the deal was a month ago.
You know what kind of game, atmosphere- and style-wise, your group enjoys; we don't.
But what we do know (collectively, at least) is great DMing vs poor DMing.
And, if you keep your group in mind when listening to our advice, you'll do well.
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Well! I agree with the majority of the advice herein, but see the perpetuation of one of the greatest myths of DMing. This myth is "You have to be prepared."
snip
In my opinion, there are two good ways to handle this
1) get really good at winging it
2) get really good at masking your railroadingI find option 1 more fun and exciting, but option 2 may be necessary if you've spent weeks setting up a reveal, or a meeting with the BBEG, or whatever.
But yeah, mostly, do what works for you, then relax and see where it pulls you, and let it go there. After all, this is the story of the PCs, so their interaction with it (and decisions) should play a big role, otherwise it's just a slower-paced vidjagame.
You are mixing preparation and railroading. They are not the same. Railroading is having a plot and then forcing your players to hew exactly to how you envision it to play out. Preparing is getting things ready for the game, npcs, names, locations, figuring out how to best run your monsters/npcs in combat, motivations, extra stuff for when your players do unpredictable things. Do you need to wing it periodically, sure the players will always mess you up. But if you are prepared you can minimize that necessity.
Everybody needs to prepare if they want to run a good game. Winging it leads to a lot of dead time as the DM looks crap up or tries to describe something from their imagination. If you think you are a good DM because you wing everything then you are fooling yourself. You are short changing your players. If your DM always wings it then you are missing a quality game experience.
Always prepare. Prepare more than you think you will need for the next game.
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DM advice from me:
1) As DM, you're the loser. All your characters and monsters are supposed to lose -- by design. Sure you can bend rules when you make your NPCs and monsters. You can fudge die rolls during the game and add hit points to your monsters to make 'em last just a bit longer. But you're still gonna lose. So don't fall too in love with your creations.
2) Don't "Railroad" the PCs. A train has no choice but to stay on its track, going to an ABSOLUTE, predetermined conclusion. PCs should not be on "story" or "plot" railroad tracks.
3) Don't "Turtle" the PCs. If the monsters are so tough or the situation so intimidating, the Players will be afraid to do anything and go into their shells like turtles. And the game will stall because turtles don't move if their extremities are safely inside their shells.
4) Be cognizant of Player and Group "fun." Each player enjoys something different from the game. One likes to be a tank; give him those chances. One like to be uber cool; let him be. One loves puzzles and traps; include some. One is only their to be with his girlfriend the Druid -- don't hammer him with rules and story. Another loves his character's backstory and getting into character; make it at least a little part of the game. That's cognizant of "Player" fun.
The second part is "Group" fun. If the group starts tuning out during your vitally important and beautifully written description -- FINISH it right then and have 'em roll initiative (or whatever). If the group seems confused on what's going on, go back over some of the description as if YOU'RE the one who overlooked it (instead of their bad memory). Etc., etc.
5) Be fair and consistent with rules and adjuticating. It's okay not to know all the rules. Sure, we try to remember all the rules but very few of us actually do. Be fair. Be consistent. EXPLAIN decisions and adjutications from time to time to illustrate your reasoning. If you feel the game is being hindered because of a ruling you've made in the past, address it with the group and explain WHY you're changing it.
In another thread, I broke up my inexperience into 12 different questions and asked for people to help me on them. Quite a few people were prolific on each topic, so check it out if that sounds helpful:
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DM advice from me:
1) As DM, you're the loser. All your characters and monsters are supposed to lose -- by design. Sure you can bend rules when you make your NPCs and monsters. You can fudge die rolls during the game and add hit points to your monsters to make 'em last just a bit longer. But you're still gonna lose. So don't fall too in love with your creations.
2) Don't "Railroad" the PCs. A train has no choice but to stay on its track, going to an ABSOLUTE, predetermined conclusion. PCs should not be on "story" or "plot" railroad tracks.
3) Don't "Turtle" the PCs. If the monsters are so tough or the situation so intimidating, the Players will be afraid to do anything and go into their shells like turtles. And the game will stall because turtles don't move if their extremities are safely inside their shells.
4) Be cognizant of Player and Group "fun." Each player enjoys something different from the game. One likes to be a tank; give him those chances. One like to be uber cool; let him be. One loves puzzles and traps; include some. One is only their to be with his girlfriend the Druid -- don't hammer him with rules and story. Another loves his character's backstory and getting into character; make it at least a little part of the game. That's cognizant of "Player" fun.
The second part is "Group" fun. If the group starts tuning out during your vitally important and beautifully written description -- FINISH it right then and have 'em roll initiative (or whatever). If the group seems confused on what's going on, go back over some of the description as if YOU'RE the one who overlooked it (instead of their bad memory). Etc., etc.
5) Be fair and consistent with rules and adjuticating. It's okay not to know all the rules. Sure, we try to remember all the rules but very few of us actually do. Be fair. Be consistent. EXPLAIN decisions and adjutications from time to time to illustrate your reasoning. If you feel the game is being hindered...
+1 to that, especially the losing bit. The players win by overcoming obstacles. You win by having a fun game.
Also, if you do a deep involved storyline be prepared for at least half of the players to just not be interested in keeping up with it. Be prepared to repeat information (a lot).
~bookmarks for later perusal of the good advice~
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I find that sometimes railroading is necessary.
Yes, it's a tight line, and one I wouldn't really want to get into in a new DM advice Thread.
But,
Players DO have to be aware that the DM prepared "X" and if they don't play "X" then they don't play anything at all.
The game is over.
Wanna play Risk?
In my experience, smaller groups *sometimes* need an adventure that's a bit more linear or directed. Because there's only maybe two or three PCs there's fewer Players putting out ideas. Again, *sometimes
More often, Players who have never played before need a bit of Railroading. For a complete newbie who's still learning what a d20 looks like and what it does, having a DM introduce an NPC that says "Go there; do this" is necessary -- otherwise the game will very quickly stall cuz the Players simply don't know what to do.
And then there are the occassional (though more rare, in my experience) Players who just want to show up to the game and have the DM tell them where they're gonna go and what they're gonna do. They don't have time in real life to "take their PCs home with them" and get into complicated campaign arcs and such. They want it simple and Railroading gives them that.
. . . .
I think that when we talk about Railroding, especially when we're talking about published adventures and general adventure design, we MUST talk about Micromanagement Railroading as opposed to Macro. That is, the overall adventure may have a linear plot and use an Event Based model but individual Encounters, the "micro" parts, MUST NOT be Railroaded.
I guess my "Rule" #2 earlier, and I've articulated it as such previously in these Threads, should be "Create problems, NOT solutions." The DM designs a trap and whatever the PCs come up with, that's what works. Present them the river and see how they figure out the crossing.
When DMs come up with solutions it's VERY often that they feel that that's THE ONLY solution -- and that's Railroading.
.... A couple years ago someone on the Boards here described what his DM did last session; I'll paraphrase based on my memory:
You guys come to a wide raging river that seems impassible.
(Apparently the DM had in his mind that the PCs should turn south and not cross the river at all.)
The PCs say they swim across.
You can't.
The river is too wide and too fast moving.
The PCs say they use wood from any trees to build a raft.
You can't.
There are no trees anywhere.
Frustrated, the PCs remind the DM of the forest they just left and tell the DM they go back there to get wood.
You can't.
A Druid appears and protects the trees.
The PCs, beyond frustrated, move to attack the Druid they KNOW did not exist 4 seconds ago.
The Druid summons his army of dinosaurs.
... And thus the reason the Player started the Thread to b+@!@ about his Railroading DM.
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I remember one of my gms being an asshat about that stuff too. We would come upon a crossroad and then:
US:"We turn left"
GM:"You can't"
US:"Why?
GM:"BEcause"
US(Not wanting to argue):"Ok, we turn right"
GM:"You can't"
US:"Can we go forward?"
GM:"Yes"
US:"Why the **** did you make a crossroads in the first place for *****s sake?!"
I would suggest purchasing a Paizo AP, it makes the job much easier.
I have drawn out a pretty good map of the town, which the adventures will be centered around. I have my pantheons, race background information for the realm, and the history of the realm done. These are all printed out so the players can have handouts to look through, as well as for my easy reference. Now I just have to figure out what kind of adventure to through my friends up against. As soon as I figure this out, I'm going to put all of your good advice so far to use. I'll let you know what happens.
Whoa, that's a lot of stuff for a beginner. . .
Maps are a pain in my butt. I steal any map I can from any source and build things from that. History/religion/racial issues are a lot more fun for me, but my players generally could care less. Players are all about maps and visual aids.
You can get a lot of random things from the PRD. For instance, the settlements section is a pretty good source for defining a lot of random rules about a town. Rolling random magic items is also a pain. I just put whatever items I want in the town. Any time I can squeeze in a rod of wonder, I do.
I almost always create my NPCs from the NPC gallery (or at least use them as starting templates).
A lot of great suggestions in this thread. The example of the players wanting to cross a river that the GM didn't want them to cross is something most people have encountered on one side of the screen or the other.
As players, it can spoil the feel of the adventure if it becomes too obvious that they are not completely in control of their actions. For the GM there is that need to keep them on the right track without putting up signposts that read "The Adventure is THIS WAY!"
Players want to have the feeling they are in control while at the same time knowing there is a structured adventure hidden behind the illusion of a random fantasy world. It's just as frustrating for them not to know where to go next as to be prevented from going where they want to go next.
It's easy to control the adventure within a dungeon, be it an underground complex, an old castle, or an abandoned city, because the players accept there are walls and they have to follow the corridors (mostly). But in an outdoor setting or overland journey it's a challenge for the GM. I've relied on preparing a half dozen possible encounters with no set order, and letting the players decide the best way to get from point A to point B; A being the tavern/town they started from and B being the dungeon. When the pace slows or they appear to be getting bored, drop in an encounter.
And not all encounters should be combat. A small caravan passing the other way, perhaps passing on some useful story hook, a friendly farmer offering them a drink from his well or the shelter of his barn for the night who relates some interesting local legend, or similar things will add to the feel that this is a living world.
Something I always do is make a list of 20 or so names. When they encounter that caravan, farmer, or stop in a tavern, if they ask for a name I give them one off the list and make a note of who that is.
Do it seamlessly and they won't consider that the bartender didn't have a name till they asked. He was alive before they ever walked in the door and he'll be alive when they walk off down the road the next day.
As to the river example, as a GM I'd be wondering why they want to cross the river. Did they misunderstand where to go for the next part of the adventure? If so, then I'd let them figure out how to cross while I figured out how to give them the appropriate clues somewhere on the other side. If they want to cross because they don't want to go the way of the adventure, then consider that it might not interest them and either make it more interesting or change adventures.
I once had a player who insisted the party "track 'em back to their lair" after every encounter, no matter how obviously random. After they killed a pair of ogres, with supplies in sacks to indicate they were traveling, he persisted till the other players gave in. I even threw in a few encounters along the way so they wouldn't be too bored, but I didn't modify the adventure to put them back on track because I wanted to settle this blatant attempt to challenge me to prove the world existed outside the adventure path. I let them spend 3 days backtracking the ogres till the other players, in character, refused to go any further out of the way.
From then on, when someone suggests something that is obviously not part of the adventure and is wasting time, the players call it "tracking 'em back to their lair."
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Well, you've got the most important part down already: wanting everyone to have fun. The next step is talking to the players, making sure everyone's on the same page, and seeing what they want out of the campaign.
Starting the game, I find it's extremely helpful to have the characters know each other in advance. If the party isn't part of an organization, which can go very well, make sure each character has a friendly connection with at least one other during character creation. Use this time to feel out if you've got any obvious conflicts between PCs and make sure the players want that.
That's all kind of lofty, though, so I have some random advice about how to use prep time:
1) Start small. You've got your world but, especially for the first plot, focus in on that area and get a good grip on it.
2) Let your players help flesh out the world. A lot of players won't put a lot of effort into creating backgrounds or detailing the societies they're from. Cherish those players, but also pay attention to the little clues they give you.
If some players want classic dungeon delving, include reasons to have dungeons in the setting. If the ranger's favored enemy is goblins throw waves of the little buggers at them.
3) Is appropriately enough "the Rule of Three." No matter how obvious you think a plot hook or clue is, include three of them. This gives you both backups for bad rolls and backups for players totally missing things.
The biggest benefit you can get out of prep time is lack of downtime in game. Keeping clues flowing (3), focusing your efforts (1), and sharing the load (2) can all help at that.
Anyway, hope that helps! Best of luck with your games.
Cheers!
Landon
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3. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Have your encounters set to go. Roll up your monsters, NPCs and loot. Draw maps. Write notes. Set scenes. It is much easier to read a room's description that you carefully created in the privacy and comfort of your own home than it is to try desperately to remember the key details you committed to "memory" when you thought up some great idea.
This is the most technically import factor imo. Knowing the rules is great, but system mastery is going to come as you play and less so from memorization.
On the prep side I will offer a few suggestions.
- Have a vision for what you want to accomplish out of your next session.
Figure out where they may be/how far they will go in a session and just focus on that material. The bigger picture stuff you can work on in between games. It is much better to have a few very short but well thought out encounters than having a DM pour through paperwork every ten minutes looking for notes/encounters/stats.
Start small and work your way up to bigger sets and sessions.
- Think to NPC motivation; don't worry as much about the PCs actions.
I try to give my games as much internal consistency as possible, NPCs will have their motives and reasons for doing what they are doing, the PCs will react (and possibly be proactive to situations, don't worry). If you are trying to set up material and notes and details to cover every situation you are setting yourself up for failure. Stay focused on the important stuff - core NPCs, plots and encounters.
The smaller stuff will find its home around the other material and will help set the mood or break it if needed. Ex - running horror themed game/module and your players have a humorous or uplifting or even mundane encounter (bar fight with some toughs).
- Don't roll up random encounters as you play.
This is more of suggestion. What I like to do for exploration games (city, ruins, wilderness) is roll up a series of a few encounters prior to the session. I take what I roll and keep what I like, the rest gets dumped. In this process I may combine encounters. Say they are wandering through a forested area and there is a chance to encounter trolls and a chance to encounter elves. Why not combine them? The party can come in at the middle of a fight (either side about to lose) or after the fight. You can save these pre-built encounters and drop them when the party is exploring for long periods, things slow down, or even if you are offered random encounter guidelines from a pre-written module (1 on a d10 every hour, etc)
In any case whatever you do with random encounters is have the stats ready and read- and more importantly the set-up and tactics for the fight ahead of time. It will give the whole thing a more natural feel than just a fight as a monster comes out of the bushes and will get the most bang (and memory for the players) out of the encounter.
CRITICAL GUIDLINE: If you are planning on using material do your homework, don't figure out how a monsters spell or power works in the middle of a fight. If a creature or encounter is too complex as written - strip it down to what you are going to use and stick to that. Encounters have a feel -focus on what you are trying to convey.
Ex - don't set up a bruiser fight with a monster that has a ton of spell-like fancy abilities. A bruiser should just hit the party and hit them hard. Stay focused on your encounter message (what you are trying to convey or get out of the encounter), I know that sounds weird but it works.
Wow guys, this is a ton of advice. I know I won't be able to remember it all, but I'm going to try. Most important, you guys gave me a ton of options to work with here. I feel much better with so many suggestions. What a great community by the way, I'm going to be posting here more often, and hopefully I will be less of a newb next time.
I'm pretty good about communicating with my players, so that will help as far as making sure that I keep dishing out things that they are interested in. I also have a buddy of mine in the group that I have selected to give me unbiased feedback, so that should help.
I'm just going to get my adventure ready and try a couple of these options. Making sure my NPC's are fleshed out. Also, good idea having multiple ways to get into a plotline in case the players miss it Landon.
I was thinking about starting an undead storyline for the first couple of adventures. My other idea was a group of bandits. Either way, I thought that a semi-high ranking official in the town could be using the bandits, or the necromancer as a front to oust the current leader so he could take over. The idea is that he makes the current leader appear incompetent so he can make a power play. I know this has been done to death I'm sure, but I figured it would be a good way for me to start things off and shouldn't be that complicated for me to handle. The only thing that leads me away from the undead to begin with, is that I know I have many more undead options at higher levels. What do you guys think?
Depending on the party, undead could be easy or difficult for them. It's always fun to me, though.
The bandit thing would be ok. Discovering who's behind it and why could take them quite a while, or they could get lucky and find out fairly fast, only to find that no one believes them without solid proof.
Also, don't be too hard on yourself. GMing takes practice, and you may not find what works for you right away. The best GMs I've ever had made occasional mistakes, and I certainly do, too.
Half of it is simply attitude. You're doing this to have fun, not to be the best GM who ever lived. If you're enjoying yourself, the players will, too.
My advice to any new or rusty GM is to kick off with a module or two to get used to being in the hot seat. Being an experienced player and knowing the rules doesn't guarantee that you'll be a good GM. Can take a bit of time to adjust to being in the hot seat and needing to be on top of everything.
Keep your group small, 4 players is best and avoid going above 5. More players means more demands, complexities and firepower for the PCs.
Don't be afraid to start with a string of modules that aren't related and make the players create new characters each time. The low levels should give you a firm grasp of the basics so repeating it a few times before kicking it up to the mid-high levels is best.
If you really want to run a campaign or something long term go with an adventure path. It just cuts down on so much of the workload and you can tweak/twist things anyways.
Hey guys, just wanted to let you know how the game went. I took in as much of your advice as I could, implemented it, and the game went very well. My players had a great time, I had a great time, and I never felt unprepared. I had to go off of the cuff a little bit and even that worked out very well. Over all, I am very satisfied and I owe much of that feeling of satisfaction to you guys. All of you helped me out a lot and I owe all of you a great thanks. This community is fantastic and I believe I am going to be coming back here time and time again.
Hey guys, just wanted to let you know how the game went. I took in as much of your advice as I could, implemented it, and the game went very well. My players had a great time, I had a great time, and I never felt unprepared. I had to go off of the cuff a little bit and even that worked out very well. Over all, I am very satisfied and I owe much of that feeling of satisfaction to you guys. All of you helped me out a lot and I owe all of you a great thanks. This community is fantastic and I believe I am going to be coming back here time and time again.
Kewl!
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Dotting for later reading.
In the meanwhile, to the OP, I recommend reading EVERY ARICLE ON THIS SITE as you have the time. I recommend starting with The Three Clue Rule followed by Don't Prep Plots.
Edit: Skimming the tread, I'll add my two cents to the 'railroading' discussion.
Players are like water. They go everywhere.
So you need to cut the channels that direct them where you want them to go.
If they try to skip the channel, let them. Cut another one ahead of them.
Eventually, they'll take the channel. They'll even think it was entirely their own idea.
When you try to build a dam, that's when they resent you.
Holy cow TriOmega, that website is awesome. I've put that on my reading list for today. Thanks for the recommendation. Well, back to devouring the info.
