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I travel to many different conventions and find myself organizing or GMing at them. Here's some advice I can give to GMs who are traveling to a con. If this is repeated elsewhere, I'm sorry.
1) Read the mod. Read it before you get there and again at the con before you run the game. Reading the mod before you get there allows you to do the following.
2) Prepare the encounters. I note the encounters, monsters, and traps. I set aside monster figs that I know I'm going to use for a particular encounter and keep them ready. One way to organize is to use ziplock bags with post-it notes or note cards noting the encounter.
3) Prepare the maps. I either draw them out ahead of time and move a book to 'reveal' the map to pcs or (recently) shell out $0.75 for a black and white rendition of the map at the local Fed-ex. Drawing the map saves on precious time.
4) Prepare the certs. Sign everything on the bottom.
5) Know your GM number, know the event code, and write your name legibly on the paper in case a player has questions.
6) Have fun. What's the point running a game if you aren't going to have fun? Don't turn off the next greatest GM because you are having a bad day.
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7) Print out the stats for any monsters named without stats in the adventure. You can usually find them in the PRD. Do this for every adventure. And any animals you may need as a player. The extra pages will be a lot easier to lug around than the Bestiaries.
8) Get large sheets of 1 inch ruled graph paper and draw your maps before going to the convention. Fold them up with each adventure.
9) If you have some flip-mats or map packs that correspond to the adventures, use them, if you have the space. They look great and a blank side can be used when you need to draw an unplanned map (or run a random adventure).
10) If you have the funds, get a good tablet, laptop or netbook. You can load it with PDFs of the books and adventures or access the online PRD if you have internet access. Don't settle for a device that takes more than a few seconds to load a PDF or turn a page. You won't use it (at least for checking books at the table).
11) Bring a few extra PC minis and dice for new players to borrow or for players who forgot theirs.
12) Bring a map of the Inner Sea to show players where they will be.
13) Bring printed copies of the PFS character sheets (found on the last 2 pages of the PFS Guide) and copies of the 4 standard pregen PCs at each tier for the adventures you will run.
14) Don't forget pens, markers and pencils (with erasers).
15) Index cards. Great for tracking initiative, makeshift table tents, large or huge monster tokens, etc.
16) Bring a copy of the current PFS Guide, Traits doc, PFS FAQ, Additional Resources and maybe an extra copy or two of Chapter 2 from the PFS Guide (character creation).
17) Some generic tracking sheets to report your tables just in case the convention organizer doesn't provide one.
18) Get all this together well before the convention (or game day) and keep it up-to-date and well stocked so you don't have to spend time on this in the last few days before the con when you should be getting plenty of sleep and reviewing your adventures.
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Wow, this is a lot of preparation! I wish I had time to prepare like that, you guys must run great games.
If you don't have time to draw maps beforehand (and draw the horrible ones first if you can) then WET WIPES!
I have not been to a convention where I haven't gone through all of my wet wipes, since other GMs steal then all the time!
Also, I definitely second point 10, I have a $100 tablet which has an Amazon app for d20pfsrd, which is absolutely vital!
fun,fun,fun!
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WET WIPES!
Another option (when using hand-drawn wet erase map mats) that can save packing space and perhaps some cost is using paper towels from the venue (restroom, etc) and keeping a small spray bottle containing water with you. The perfect one for this application is the small spray bottle for cleaning eye-glasses. They are often very cheap (less than a dollar) and easily fit with the rest of your gaming supplies. Takes up about as much space as a set of dice.
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We've had a couple of the local players ask about doing some GMing, and I had been thinking about what all prepr I do before a game day/con, to give them as an example of stuff they might want to think about. This thread does that job for me perfectly.
22) Make sure to bring a sheet of new player numbers to pass out to any new players.
23) Brush your teeth and take a shower before coming to game. No one wants a stinky GM or one with bad breath.
24) Show up on time! And by on time, I mean a bit early, so you arent rushing to get everything started on time.
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7) Print out the stats for any monsters named without stats in the adventure. You can usually find them in the PRD. Do this for every adventure. And any animals you may need as a player. The extra pages will be a lot easier to lug around than the Bestiaries.
Also make sure is any monsters include the advanced or young templates and are not stated out in the adventure you do so beforehand
And be sure you bone up on any environment challenges that happen in the scenario (underwater and darkness come to mind)
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I probably overpack for conventions, but I don't like to feel like I forgot something that I might need.
Before the convention I print all the scenarios and prioritize which one I work on first .. I generally get the easier to prep ones out of the way
I have notecards for all the NPCs in each tier that have the basic stats and have numbers for each npc that will be in the encounter, print all the faction handouts and cut them out and make a note has to what flipmaps/mappacks I need vs. which maps need to be handdrawn.
Once I have the list of what needs to be handdrawn for each scenario I generally take a Saturday or Sunday, pop in a couple of movies and go to work drawing, outlining and coloring.
For packing, I have a large duffle bag on wheels (best invention EVER). it holds all my hard cover books, flipmaps, container of minis, container of dice, dice rolly mat, and then it has extra side pockets to hold extra things such as pens/pencils, notecards and a pocket for all of my stuff at the con such as gun, wallet, extra drinks.
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For packing, I have a large duffle bag on wheels (best invention EVER). it holds all my hard cover books, flipmaps, container of minis, container of dice, dice rolly mat, and then it has extra side pockets to hold extra things such as pens/pencils, notecards and a pocket for all of my stuff at the con such as gun, wallet, extra drinks.Gun!!!
Mental note: Do not argue with Thea. She's probably packing.
All joking aside, this is a great thread. There are some fantastic items listed. As a somewhat OCD GM, I really like to feel well-prepared. It allows me to relax, focus less on the mechanical side of things, and simply make the experience fun for everyone.
It is very hard to get quality role play in when I'm flipping furiously through the scenario to find specific stat blocks.
Lol .. that's right ... really it's gum lol
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Venture-Captain, Ireland—Belfast
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A lot of excellent advice here particularily for people running planned PFS tables. Much agreement & special emphasis on having the stats that are not in the scenario at hand as ploughing through the bestiaries rather spoils the moment.
For me much as I enjoy running planned games I also like to be able to run something PFS if an unexpected opportunity appears at a convention.
In the file where I keep my Chrons I also have two flip mats, one wilderness one dungeon with the pens etc. With them are a selection of wooden tokens lasercut to the right base sizes with monster icons on top.
Throw in a tablet with the scenarios on them (and a handfull of minis for PCs) & you can run an impromptu game at the drop of a hat.
Given lots of time and the right module I like to do a 3D Dungeon though GM "Thod" is really the king of this with his Dwarven Forge collection. Presenting the Tower in MoTFF or Blackros Museum in 3D adds a certain je ne sais quoi
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Two things... pain reliever of your choice and cough drops (believe it or not, they can save your voice... saved mine while DM'ing True Dungeon).
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate...
Great suggestions on here so far!
I'll have to add cough drops to my medicine bag.
I tend to have Acetaminophen(tylenol), Ibuprophen, and Caffiene(Mt. Dew) handy for home made cheap Excedrin. I also pack 500mg Vitamin C pills that I pop with every meal (1500mg/day) which is 500mg less than the max you should take in a day. Cough drops and gum are something new on my list for that bag since U-Con.
Water, Water, Water. Also trail mix or something similar for a quick protein boost.
Pencils, spiral-bound notebook memo pads (the kind you can get four for $1) for players.
Extra dice set (or two), for the inevitable "I forgot my dice" (or if I need to get a fresh set after the old one has been rolling bad).
A friend willing to go on a caffeine (or meal) run. :P
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If you are using a blank flip mat/map board, don't forget yoru dry erase/wet erase markers.
If you also bring/use sharpies (and I sometimes do, for other things), make absolutely SURE which type of marker you have in hand BEFORE drawing on your map!!!
Minis for PCs, if you can.
Especially for large or larger monsters which you use a flat piece for, you need some way to mark it as prone, if such ever happens. So, some status effect markers, just as memory jogs.
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10) If you have the funds, get a good tablet, laptop or netbook. You can load it with PDFs of the books and adventures or access the online PRD if you have internet access. Don't settle for a device that takes more than a few seconds to load a PDF or turn a page. You won't use it (at least for checking books at the table).
Don't forget to pack a charger before leaving for the Con if your device needs one... I loaded up an iPad with PDFs only to forget my charger once and that was no fun.
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Gulf
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I travel to many different conventions and find myself organizing or GMing at them. Here's some advice I can give to GMs who are traveling to a con. If this is repeated elsewhere, I'm sorry.
1) Read the mod. Read it before you get there and again at the con before you run the game. Reading the mod before you get there allows you to do the following.
At a larger con its a welcome to have every GM have a module ready to run.
You always get new players, and after they run the three intro mods having "Mists of Mwangi" able to run for a new group is very nice. Once I get people to bite on D&D campaign play they usually come back for more, since my cons like Megacon runs 10 slots of play, I always need spare newbie table DMs on Saturday and Sunday.I usually bring pogs or washers with pictures pasted to them, to save space.
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23) Brush your teeth and take a shower before coming to game. No one wants a stinky GM or one with bad breath.24) Show up on time! And by on time, I mean a bit early, so you arent rushing to get everything started on time.
Add to #23: Listerine Breath Strips, or what I call Miniture Scrolls of Protection against Bad Breath. This are great to pass around the table and kindly ask everyone to use one. Wish I had these at GenCon one year. One player, sho sat next to my, had breath that could kill a horse. I had players that sat on the opposite side come up to me later and saw something.
#24 Being early also allows you to get a table assignment for when DMing the larger cons like GenCon.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Add to #23: Listerine Breath Strips, or what I call Miniture Scrolls of Protection against Bad Breath. This are great to pass around the table and kindly ask everyone to use one.
I'll bet that you're a great game master, that you're a lot of fun to play with, and that you run an organized table.
But, whoa. Making alcohol breath strips available is one thing. Telling everybody to use one? That seems a step too far. (1) It's insulting. (2)Some people are naturally allergic to alcohol, and others are on medication that makes them intolerant of alcohol. And maybe this is the teacher-part of me waving a flag, but do you really want to be responsible for that kind of interaction at your table?
Player 1: Gkkkah-kk!
Player 2: Hey, it looks like Brad is LARPing about his PC being poisoned.
Player 3: No I think he's actually having some sort of seizure. Ah!
Maldar: But on the bright side, his breath is minty fresh!
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Another item if we're talking about convention preping is to bring your own chronicles. If it's not a huge major convention (i.e. gencon) then chances are your poor coordinator is funding the chronicles out of their own pocket as well as other things. Give them a break and make sure that you have [u]everything[/u] including chronicles that you are going to need.
As for the bad breath, I generally have mints or something hard to suck on while I'm judging to help my own voice and breath, I have been known to offer to the table and am generally not turned down.
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WET WIPES!Another option (when using hand-drawn wet erase map mats) that can save packing space and perhaps some cost is using paper towels from the venue (restroom, etc) and keeping a small spray bottle containing water with you. The perfect one for this application is the small spray bottle for cleaning eye-glasses. They are often very cheap (less than a dollar) and easily fit with the rest of your gaming supplies. Takes up about as much space as a set of dice.
Well put. I usually snag a half empty toilet paper roll from the restrooms to share with my table and neighboring tables, or just take the map in the bathroom after for a clean up -which usually works better then occasionally getting the colors smeared on the table if they are not cleaned up enough (especially with the flip mats).
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Add to #23: Listerine Breath Strips, or what I call Miniture Scrolls of Protection against Bad Breath. This are great to pass around the table and kindly ask everyone to use one.I'll bet that you're a great game master, that you're a lot of fun to play with, and that you run an organized table.
But, whoa. Making alcohol breath strips available is one thing. Telling everybody to use one? That seems a step too far. (1) It's insulting. (2)Some people are naturally allergic to alcohol, and others are on medication that makes them intolerant of alcohol. And maybe this is the teacher-part of me waving a flag, but do you really want to be responsible for that kind of interaction at your table?
Player 1: Gkkkah-kk!
Player 2: Hey, it looks like Brad is LARPing about his PC being poisoned.
Player 3: No I think he's actually having some sort of seizure. Ah!
Maldar: But on the bright side, his breath is minty fresh!
Maldar has the right idea :)
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Off Topic:
I'm reminded of something that happened to me one of the first times I judged PFS.
I had a player with a centipede phobia. When the monstrous centipedes crawled out of a pile of refuse I had some gory RP prepared. The player reacted strongly and I thought they were having fun RPing their character being grossed out it so I ramped up the description even further. Moments later when it was realized that they were having trouble breathing we took a break for a couple minutes and re-skinned the monsters into spiders.
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Add to #23: Listerine Breath Strips, or what I call Miniture Scrolls of Protection against Bad Breath. This are great to pass around the table and kindly ask everyone to use one.I'll bet that you're a great game master, that you're a lot of fun to play with, and that you run an organized table.
But, whoa. Making alcohol breath strips available is one thing. Telling everybody to use one? That seems a step too far. (1) It's insulting. (2)Some people are naturally allergic to alcohol, and others are on medication that makes them intolerant of alcohol. And maybe this is the teacher-part of me waving a flag, but do you really want to be responsible for that kind of interaction at your table?
Player 1: Gkkkah-kk!
Player 2: Hey, it looks like Brad is LARPing about his PC being poisoned.
Player 3: No I think he's actually having some sort of seizure. Ah!
Maldar: But on the bright side, his breath is minty fresh!
I said "Ask" them to use one, not "Make" them use one. Guess I should have worded it different as some people take things wrong. You make it sound like I'm shoving it down their throats.
For the insulting part, sorry, but I have been considering that from now on, if a player comes to my table with bad breath like that again, I will take them aside; ask them to do something about it or please leave my table. I should not have to put up with breath so bad you are dry retching. Yes, it was that bad. We are expected to be clean and have good breath and players should be expected to be the same. I ran every slot at that GenCon and it was only that one person, heck, out of all the conventions I have DM/GM, I only had that one, but it was so bad that I refuse to put up with that again.
As for the allergic reaction, I know about that, had a coworker that was allergic to alcohol. There are other options for them as well.
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I generally have...something hard to suck on... I have been known to offer...and am generally not turned down.hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...takes a breath...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That's mean-spirited.
(Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't "favorite" the post, mind you...)
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I generally have...something hard to suck on... I have been known to offer...and am generally not turned down.hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...takes a breath...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That's mean-spirited.
(Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't "favorite" the post, mind you...)
pfft ... I know him ...I'll have to get ahold of him tonight
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pfft ... I know him ...I'll have to get ahold of him tonightI generally have...something hard to suck on... I have been known to offer...and am generally not turned down.hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...takes a breath...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That's mean-spirited.
(Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't "favorite" the post, mind you...)
OK, that's really not helping the mental image Thea ;P
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OK, that's really not helping the mental image Thea ;Ppfft ... I know him ...I'll have to get ahold of him tonightI generally have...something hard to suck on... I have been known to offer...and am generally not turned down.hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...takes a breath...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That's mean-spirited.
(Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't "favorite" the post, mind you...)
O-O
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OK, that's really not helping the mental image Thea ;Ppfft ... I know him ...I'll have to get ahold of him tonightI generally have...something hard to suck on... I have been known to offer...and am generally not turned down.hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah...takes a breath...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That's mean-spirited.
(Of course, that doesn't mean I didn't "favorite" the post, mind you...)
O-O
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LOL.
When your done there Thea...
Ok we better stop before they say something or they may close the thread. Not sure how they run these forums, but I haveseen others where they closed threads.
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I like to have preprinted cardstock Name Tents for the players. I have them set up to be tri-fold with blanks on 2 sides (if they are just to the center of the table the players next to can't reference them):
Character Name:_________________________
Character Race & Class: ________________
Player Name:____________________________
Fold to make the triangle, and then a little 1/4 inch lip on the unprinted side and you don't even need tape. Remember to pull out the markers to write so you can see the names.
This is so that I and the other players, can speak to each other in character and refer to the other characters with ease. My focus tends to be out on the table, rather than behind the screen. Names where I need them is a plus, and frankly, I can't remember them all.
You wouldn't believe the difference in play when the players talk to each other in character and cue each other to use their common class abilities.