If there's been a consolidated thread of this nature in the past I apologize for the redundancy of this one. I would like to have a sticky post of the best GM'ing "Tips & Tricks" from the community as a whole as I've seen a lot of new threads pop up over the last few weeks concerning new GM's and the seeking of advice therein.
So without further ado, I'll give some of my tips and tricks from being a GM.
1) Never say "No" to your players, there should always be a way for them to accomplish the tasks you set forth for them or that they've come up with when trying to role-play.
2) Keep a notebook or electronic means near at hand to jot down quick notes of NPC names you've come up with so that you can reference them easily and insert them into your campaign.
3) Always talk to your players beforehand on what kind of campaign they'd like you to run whether it be a high fantasy game or low magic game, whether the group as a whole would rather play in one of the AP's or a home-brewed setting. It should be fun for everyone, including the GM.
4) Ask for feedback from your group on how your game went, soliciting comments from your players will only make it better for the group as a whole and allow you to focus more on what the group likes and less on what they dislike. Example: They want to RP/Combat 70/30 rather than 50/50, this allows you to prepare more role playing scenarios rather than more combat.
If there's been a consolidated thread of this nature in the past I apologize for the redundancy of this one. I would like to have a sticky post of the best GM'ing "Tips & Tricks" from the community as a whole as I've seen a lot of new threads pop up over the last few weeks concerning new GM's and the seeking of advice therein.
So without further ado, I'll give some of my tips and tricks from being a GM.
1) Never say "No" to your players, there should always be a way for them to accomplish the tasks you set forth for them or that they've come up with when trying to role-play.
2) Keep a notebook or electronic means near at hand to jot down quick notes of NPC names you've come up with so that you can reference them easily and insert them into your campaign.
3) Always talk to your players beforehand on what kind of campaign they'd like you to run whether it be a high fantasy game or low magic game, whether the group as a whole would rather play in one of the AP's or a home-brewed setting. It should be fun for everyone, including the GM.
4) Ask for feedback from your group on how your game went, soliciting comments from your players will only make it better for the group as a whole and allow you to focus more on what the group likes and less on what they dislike. Example: They want to RP/Combat 70/30 rather than 50/50, this allows you to prepare more role playing scenarios rather than more combat.
Good advice.
I would add that a DM / GM pick up a copy of Gamemastering by Brian Jamison. Absolutely fantastic. Been playing for 30 years and his tips on general organization, plot lines, npcs, pc histories, et al is just great. Good advice on how to tackle alignment issues as well by using a sliding scale of vices and virtues. Cant say enough good things about this book. Best RPGing book I've ever bought.
Also as a bit of a caveat, this thread isn't meant for arguments on styles, just to give your advice on what you've done as a GM or seen done by the best GM's you've played with to help other people out. Everyone can learn even the old grognards!
@Gulrokkius, cool. I'll take a look at that book it sounds interesting.
5) A bit of advice on alignment stuff as kind of touched upon by Gul above when he mentioned the Brian Jamison book... I've always found it's best to talk to your group and figure out what each alignment means for yourselves. It's much easier if the few of you figure it out and agree ahead of time on what constitutes each individual alignment and this should help you all get along better.
6) Whenever you can, try to get back-stories from the PC's, this just adds more depth to the characters and gives the GM a chance to really incorporate them into their world. It doesn't have to be a small novel, a couple sentences or a paragraph can add a lot to the GM's story and provide numerous hooks/plots.
Be ok with ending things. By this I mean: unless your players are highly immersed with tons of free time then its ok for your plot lines to hav a beginning, middle and end. Not every BBEG has to have a mentor, master, big brother etc. that the story inevitably leads to.
It is a little thing, but I like to make sure that the PCs are very clear what they are fighting and where it is. A grid map is a must. We use one and draw the terrain/town/room on it with erasable marker. Every PC has a figurine.
Then, each foe has a well-labelled marker.
I like to use pennies I paint with liquid paper and mark with a blue permanant marker. 1 thru 10. I also have the alphabet in capitals and use them for the Big Bosses with a Class. I=Inquistor, P=Paladin, etc.
Does anybody NOT use figs or some other markers?
Does anybody NOT use figs or some other markers?
Some of us used to play entire 2nd ed. campaigns without the use of maps or figs. :) Of course, if you tell that to kids of today, they won't believe you...
When the pace and timing of the game are off, and people are falling-behind, and no one knows whose turn it is, announce "I'm going to go around the table from left to right and everyone fill me in on what you're doing." and then do so. Just get the gist of their actions, don't have them go into detail. Come BACK for detail, but getting everyone engaged again is important and puts them back in the "here and now".
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If you're reading out a lot of information - especially from Pathfinder Society scenarios, read it slowly. Slow down to the point of what you think is slow enough, and then take it a step down and read it slower than that.
Digesting "here's your mission" information at the beginning of a scenario can be a lot to take in all at once, especially for different people that you may not have a feel for yet.
Nothing is worse than starting off and not really understanding what you have to do throughout the entire game, or having to break character to re-summarise what they should have had a good chance to pick up the first time.
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Be flexible. A wise military man once said 'The first casualty in any engagement is always the same: the plan.' Your players may come up with solutions to problems that you hadn't expected, and if you're used to a one-problem, one-solution mindset, it can throw you off. Keep a variety of possibilities in mind for all of your encounters, and when in doubt, don't be afraid to just wing it. Do it smoothly enough, and the players won't notice or mind it at all.
When reading text, players care about names, and often stop to ask 'how do I spell that?'
I've found that index cards with the name of the NPC, and a picture, allow me to move much faster in social encounters.
To represent a big area, like the Mayor's feast from Council of Thieves, players can just put their minis on the index cards, to show who they are speaking with.
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Draw the map now. Don't wait for the players to arrive.
Familiarize with monster tactics and abilities and try to make their moves according to their intelligence. It may be harder to PC when every band of goblins will be readying actions with their slings to disrupt spellcasters, but it's clearly unfair.
Before a session, make mini-character sheets for upcoming enemies.
These should look something like this:
Gazebo. Space 30, Reach 30, Speed 10. Init +1
AC 41/18/40 DR 15/Slashing HP 238
Melee +36/+31/+26 4d8+30
F+22 R+18 W+31 Immune mind-affecting
SR 21 CMD 48
Most of the time this is all the information you'll need, so you can spend less time looking at Bestiaries.
4) Ask for feedback from your group on how your game went, soliciting comments from your players will only make it better for the group as a whole and allow you to focus more on what the group likes and less on what they dislike. Example: They want to RP/Combat 70/30 rather than 50/50, this allows you to prepare more role playing scenarios rather than more combat.
This times.... a lot. Someone pick a big number. I'd actually say do it the other way around. Along with #4 of understanding if they just want to see an AP, talk to the players first and understand what sort of game they are after... or at the very least, what sort of game you have in mind. This affects the pacing, mood... heck.. We'll just call it everything. The other point to go with that is to be aware of 'outliers' in your group. If 3 people say "I hate combat and like seeing RP and character development" and one wants to run a kick in the door style game, this group of people (not characters) is probably going going to gel. Also have a feel for how much optimisation people want to put into their builds and look for any outliers there. MinMax the AM Barbarian, a God Wizard, and a shuriken swarm ninja and Dustin the Cloistered Cleric... Well... Dustin might feel like a bit of a 3rd wheel.
Don't be afraid to take something 'offline' with a player. Usually this is how I'll handle a rules dispute that isn't going to lead to a death. This is my ruling now.... lets talk about it after the game, and move on. People thumbing through books looking for obscure rule <X> is just boring for everyone else.
What goes with the above, if you have a chance, familiarise yourself with the main tricks that a party is going to us. Ask for their builds, not just for right now, but for where they want to head. Ask if there is anything in there you should be aware of. Don't present it as a "I don't trust you." Present it as insurance against having the core of your build ripped out if I decide on a spur of the moment that I don't think you can charge with expertise. If your concerned about power or balance and that some PCs might be chronically over powered in comparison to the rest of the party, this also presents an option to head off certain builds
Don't be afraid to admit you made a mistake. If you make a wrong call against a player, people will be irritated. Admit it and it smooths things over. If you made a wrong call in the players favour, next time they may expect the same call... and be surprised when they get told you made a mistake last time and the zombie isn't affected this time and eats your brains.
Most of all. HAVE FUN. Just as a player needs to find a play style that suits them and that they enjoy, a GM needs to find a style that they can enjoy, get into, and really have fun with. Whether you love narrating the over the top combat scenes, or if the innkeeper always seem to be a Cleatus (with IQ, accent and overbite to match), or you love putting together plots and reasons behind the scenes (whether they see the light of day or not).... Find your groove and remember to have fun.
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Leave room! Your players may, while discussing their own thoughts othe campaign, present some idea that would actually be really cool. Take the opportunity to incorporate it into that extra room you've left in your plot... Without telling them. You get to use a great idea and the players get to feel a greater connection with the game because they've figured something out (even if they really didn't).
Ecaterina's advice about admitting mistakes is invaluable, too. You completely eliminate the Players vs GM feeling that sometimes creeps into a game if you're willing to do this. I've retconned an entire night's Shadowrun session because I forgot a camera was somewhere that would have busted the npc's as they tried to ambush the pc's.