I get overwhelmed very easily, and I think it comes down to a general lack of experience combined with having never really played under a particularly skilled GM. I can write a campaign setting and play with mechanics well enough, but presenting that setting, writing campaigns and adventures, and running an actual game session are the things I don't know how to do. I'm looking for the advice new GMs need to hear, especially PbP GMs (I just don't have the long, uninterrupted time block necessary for a face to face game).
As long as you're putting the effort in don't worry about it too much. Most players will be understanding and wiling to work with you. Don't waste your time with unpleasant people. Some of your material won't be very good. It happens. Learn from it and move on.
As for specifics I would try to make sure to present a living world. The whole universe doesn't revolve around the PCs (in most campaigns anyways). The rest of the world goes on and things completely unrelated to their quest will be going on in the background. If you never describe background details and then suddenly start giving details about an NPC they'll know something's up. Is that shifty one eyed fellow in the corner of the tavern someone important or is he just the local creeper?
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I'm going to have to disagree a bit. The most important thing in my opinion is story and character interaction/development. Rules are helpful but I've always been of the opinion that if the rules get in the way of the story then the story comes first. That's no excuse for not trying to learn them though.
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For PbP recruit 1 or 2 more players then you actually want in the game. Someone will drop for some reason.
Keep all your players involved in the story as much as possible - try to have something for everyone to be doing even though they might be waiting for a player to finish scouting, or talking to someone (it can be hard to do in some of the social encounters). If you don't have something for everyone to be doing, then in those situations get through that section as quickly as possible. Make the conversation shorter, or provide as much info as possible for the scout based on how you might expect them to respond to something they find.
I usually suggest that new DMs try to think on their feet, because players will inevitably do things that you don't expect.
That's less of a worry in PbP though, since you'll have some breathing room.
Don't be afraid to let something work (even if the rules say no), if you think it would make the game more fun, but don't be afraid to say no either. Every DM has their own place on the "rules strict/anything goes" spectrum that they prefer, find yours.
Don't get too stressed, as long as you and your players are having fun, you're doing fine. :)
Don't plan to much ahead, players will likely walk the wrong direction.
I usually have only 3 possible paths from where the pc's are and only work on them far enough to last like 2 sessions. If you work ahead to much you will lose to much time in paths the team didn't go.
Think easy first, some melee guys and a archer or flying creature is encounter enough in the beginning. Few sessions later maybe add a sorcerer and make the encounters complexer only if you feel like.this way you can 1. Save time in combat because you don't have to look up what exactly "blink" does and 2 have more time to work on the story and npc's. As long as you only add 1 new thing each combat the players will not get bored.
Good luck !!!
Always, always, always have alternate routes for the players to find stuff out. They WILL miss things, even things you consider clearly labeled as hints. When given a choice, players will focus on why the guard captain is stuttering or why there is a pile of horse poop on the square 100% of the time. Make sure there is more than one way to find out. If they miss all your hints, beat them over the head with it. Seriously, this is dangerous ground.
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I agree with the alternate routes to finding out information. I am GMing currently a game with multiple plot threads and a huge mystery in the background. I drop clues and plot threads that some characters will completely ignore or decide, "No, I don't want to follow this."
So I've learned to make sure that all my plot threads overlap with at least two other plot threads. If they ignore it the first time around, it will come up through the back door via another plot hook, this one aimed at a different PC. Eventurally, they all get the information that they need to proceed.
If doing something less complicated as a plot, just make sure that more than one NPC has the information they need. Give them multiple paths to the treasure. Whatever you do, don't say as a GM, smugly, "Well once again, you guys have missed 3/4s of the treasure and half the plot hooks. I don't know how you keep managing to be so lame."
(I gamed with that GM. Ugh. Never, ever again.)
Hmm
Know the combat rules really well.Try to create interesting environments for fights to take place in...difficult terrain,puddles,elevation changes,low walls/obstructions etc..
Think of a reason for creatures to be where they are and something for them to be doing there..so that the scene makes sense.
Example: Why are 3 goblins standing in the middle of an empty locked room? with big sacks of money?
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Just remember that every character is built specifically to do something. Maybe it's a combat maneuver, a skill specialization, or a signature spell. It could be a personality quirk, like drinking, womanizing, or rumormongering. Whatever it is for each character, keep it in mind and make sure it comes up every session or two. Players are happiest when they feel like the character they've built or invested some personality in get to shine in that capacity.
For bonus points, you can even design your villains with this in mind. Your group has a bard who loves to amaze crowds and rally his allies with rousing songs? What if the campaign's big bad guy isn't just an anti-paladin, he's also an overzealous censor out to ban all music not associated with his dark religion?
This is coming from a PbP player who has been toying with the idea of PbP GMing on these boards.
Spoiler blocks are your friend. If someone casts a spell or uses an ability have them post the spell with a spoiler tag for a quick and easy reference.
Example - Hawk uses Energy Body.
Character sheets posted in profiles or other easily referenced locations.
Encourage players to break up numbers. Let me give an example - instead of doing.
Do
This does a couple things, first it allows you as the GM to understand where numbers are coming from, additionally if players forget to add or subtract numbers it is far easier to catch (and if I had a dollar for every time a fellow player forgets to add Bless.....).
Limiting material is a decent idea. Also know there several decent sources online where one can look up information for Pathfinder.
Paizo's PRD
D20pfsrd
Archives of Nethys
If I were to limit material I'd limit it to Paizo's PRD and use PFS ban rules. Add things from there on a case by case basis.
I get overwhelmed very easily, and I think it comes down to a general lack of experience combined with having never really played under a particularly skilled GM. I can write a campaign setting and play with mechanics well enough, but presenting that setting, writing campaigns and adventures, and running an actual game session are the things I don't know how to do. I'm looking for the advice new GMs need to hear, especially PbP GMs (I just don't have the long, uninterrupted time block necessary for a face to face game).Don't try to work with too much as a novice GM. Work with a small basic ruleset and be very very limited about allowing alternate mechanics. Stay away from things like the Race Builder, Words of Power, Psionics and all other third party stuff.. and especially stay away from the noncore races.
Take time to master the basics before taking on the whole enchilada.
What is it that makes non-core races a problem with calling out? The Asian races and Catfolk are pretty important to me.
There are some things I am not going to allow until I have more experience. Path of War and spell points are good examples. Both are awesome, but when I really think about it I'm not quite ready. In general, I do think I should take your advice on not allowing alternate mechanics such as those. Things like the Talented classes (I don't think I could go back to the Core Fighter, Cavalier, and Rogue now that I've seen the Talented versions), consolidated feats/free feats, and new archetypes/bloodlines/deeds aren't intimidating to me, but I don't view those as new mechanics, just additions to existing mechanics that I understand well in theory.
These might help, although they were written with Society play in mind: GM 101 and GM 201.
The most important things are a working knowledge of the rules (easier in PbP, because you have time to just look them up) and confidence. Both come with experience, so get to it. ;)
Thanks. I'l take a look at these.
If doing something less complicated as a plot, just make sure that more than one NPC has the information they need. Give them multiple paths to the treasure. Whatever you do, don't say as a GM, smugly, "Well once again, you guys have missed 3/4s of the treasure and half the plot hooks. I don't know how you keep managing to be so lame."
:/ I know I don't have the best sense of tact, but dayum.
For PbP recruit 1 or 2 more players then you actually want in the game. Someone will drop for some reason.
What if somebody doesn't, though?
+1 Hawktitans Pos good stuff there!
The only thing that I can really say to a new GM is like what has already been said above."
1) Take your time, learn the basics and move up from there.
1a) Sometimes creating houserules when You discover a potential conflict, can mitigate it before/when it happens.
1b) Don't be afraid to go to the Advice thread and ask questions. I've had to many, many times.
1c) Build a rapport with your players. It helps.
2)Expect your players to do the unexpected.
2a) Set up alternate routes in situations, they don't need to be extensive but they need to be there. Like combat changes, the morale text for NPC's in paizo adventures is a good resource to look at and start thinking. Will BBEG really fight to the death or does he have an escape route? That sort of thing.
2b) I find it easier for players to post the following info in...
In profile screen- Post in the Race box HP: 28/30 | Init: +1 | Perc: +4 | AC: 21| Touch: 12 | FF: 20 | Fort: +4 | Ref: +2 | Will: +2
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In the Classes/Levels tab Major Skills
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I find it way easier as a quick reference in a fight, all the major things are there. You can use my character here as a reference.
2c) Some may disagree but posting the enemies basic AC and even HP can help limit confusion as well.
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Granted this means a lot of trust needed between you and the party but it saves the group from having to redo posts because they did 55 dmg to a 19 hp creature.
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It also allows them to write the story for you some and limit having to Recap the round of combat every time.
2d)Having a standard posting style is good for players too.
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I, normally, as a player always try and post.
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Round X, Ini XX
Current Effects: Active Resistances, Haste (10/10 rounds left), -2 to Dex based skills, Etc.
3) If using an adventure path.
3a) Stick to the path as written until you get good enough with making Alternative routes that make sense to spice it up.
4) Homebrew settings.
4a) Start small and build up. It becomes overwhelming when you try to build the universe and the world and the continents and everything that lives there all at once. Build around a central place, village, woods, whatever. As the players progress through the beginning, decide how the world takes shape. Is the starting place in a valley? On an island? W/ an (in)active Volcano? :O
5) Party Size. Pick what you are comfortable with. Normally I use five players. I have done up to 14 and its a mess... 5 leaves wiggle room and allows for the possibility that RL overwhelms one of your players. Minimizing the downtime the group suffers.
5A) A four person party is optimal, just have some NPC's on standby to step in if someone leaves. Then you can recruit and keep moving forward~
6) Races: I suggest you go through the races and select some that won't conflict to badly. Make a standard list and stick too it. Sometimes allowing things like ARG can make some terribly powerful stuff.
If you ever need anything feel free to PM me. :)
For PbP recruit 1 or 2 more players then you actually want in the game. Someone will drop for some reason.What if somebody doesn't, though?
You can always recruit two more and make a second party.
Make a Group A vs Group B. I was in an Elves vs Dwarves campaign. No real PVP was involved but each group was accomplishing different tasks in different areas of a small continent.
In your case
Urban party vs Catfolk. :)
I get overwhelmed very easily, and I think it comes down to a general lack of experience combined with having never really played under a particularly skilled GM. I can write a campaign setting and play with mechanics well enough, but presenting that setting, writing campaigns and adventures, and running an actual game session are the things I don't know how to do. I'm looking for the advice new GMs need to hear, especially PbP GMs (I just don't have the long, uninterrupted time block necessary for a face to face game).Don't try to work with too much as a novice GM. Work with a small basic ruleset and be very very limited about allowing alternate mechanics. Stay away from things like the Race Builder, Words of Power, Psionics and all other third party stuff.. and especially stay away from the noncore races.
Take time to master the basics before taking on the whole enchilada.
What is it that makes non-core races a problem with calling out? The Asian races and Catfolk are pretty important to me.
There are some things I am not going to allow until I have more experience. Path of War and spell points are good examples. Both are awesome, but when I really think about it I'm not quite ready. In general, I do think I should take your advice on not allowing alternate mechanics such as those. Things like the Talented classes (I don't think I could go back to the Core Fighter, Cavalier, and Rogue now that I've seen the Talented versions), consolidated feats/free feats, and new archetypes/bloodlines/deeds aren't intimidating to me, but I don't view those as new mechanics, just additions to existing mechanics that I understand well in theory.
Shrugs
I prefer lizardfolk, but to each their own. ;)
Some people, not meaning any offense, prefer to keep it simple and realistic. Too many race options can lead to the story being conflicting or losing the sense of fantasy and making it more like a wonky cartoon feeling.
Like you prefer catfolk. So Catfolk aren't rare in your adventures right? Are they everywhere? Only nomadic tribes? Are these tribes anywhere near where the adventure is? Is the character the only one on that Continent?
Its like the bluff skill, it has to be believable or people may lose interest. Not always but...
Do you use racial tension and such in your games?
An example would be like a Teifling on the border of the Worldwound. No one is going to be really nice to him, all will assume hes a spy and you'd have to work really hard not to get put on the rack by the inquisitors...
Just my opinion.
I get overwhelmed very easily, and I think it comes down to a general lack of experience combined with having never really played under a particularly skilled GM. I can write a campaign setting and play with mechanics well enough, but presenting that setting, writing campaigns and adventures, and running an actual game session are the things I don't know how to do. I'm looking for the advice new GMs need to hear, especially PbP GMs (I just don't have the long, uninterrupted time block necessary for a face to face game).
PBP games are alot easier than real time games to me. I dont write my own settings. That makes things easier. As for writing adventures I come up with an idea. I then create the villain, his plan, and the reason for him being evil. I also try to come up with a general idea of his resources such as minions and wealth. I then decide how he can accomplish his goal. This might mean altering his resources. I then work on how the PC come to oppose him and the obstacles they have to overcome. As for running a face to face session it just takes practice. There will be mistakes. I tend to go over my session after the game to see what can be improved
Shrugs
I prefer lizardfolk, but to each their own. ;)
Some people, not meaning any offense, prefer to keep it simple and realistic. Too many race options can lead to the story being conflicting or losing the sense of fantasy and making it more like a wonky cartoon feeling.
Nothing wrong with that, it's just my style to have more variety.
Like you prefer catfolk. So Catfolk aren't rare in your adventures right? Are they everywhere? Only nomadic tribes? Are these tribes anywhere near where the adventure is? Is the character the only one on that Continent?
Its like the bluff skill, it has to be believable or people may lose interest. Not always but...
Well, I like both "European" and "Asian" fantasy (yes, I am the Fantasy Counterpart Culture type), so my setting focuses on "North America" rather than "Europe" or "Asia", which makes it very easy to explain why "Asian" and "European" characters exist in large numbers in the same geographic area. The addition of "Latin American" and "Native American" character concepts is a definite plus, too. Catfolk are historically a "Chinese" nomadic tribal culture, but a ruling dynasty that distrusts nomads, magitech fueled industrialization and urbanization, and an concerted attempt to attract immigration by the Kingdom of Vendalia (a major country in the "Americas" region) has attracted a lot of catfolk to the region. The switch from nomadic life to settled life is a major cultural issue for them, however.
Do you use racial tension and such in your games?
An example would be like a Teifling on the border of the Worldwound. No one is going to be really nice to him, all will assume hes a spy and you'd have to work really hard not to get put on the rack by the inquisitors...
Just my opinion.
Yes, there is a fair amount of racial and ethnic tension. A good example is Vendalia, which has a massive immigrant population that the kingdom endorses, but also has a nativist movement that opposes this influx of new arrivals. Vendalia lacks a dominant ethnic group (used to be the "French", but they are no longer an ethnic majority do to immigration and the current king is "Spanish" and "Chinese"), so nativism isn't a clear one race versus another issue. Compounding matters is the fact that the king is trying to break the power of the nobility and create a strong unitary state, and has made some significant gains. He is trying to portray himself as a populist working against those elitist nobles for the good of the commoners, and the nobles are getting scared, prompting them to act out of fear. Nativism gets conflated with nobilist attitudes and pro-immigration with royalist attitudes, so political arguments turn racial and ethnic with some degree of frequency.
Another example would be Ilbenna, where the aristocracy and nobility tended to be elves back when the land was a kingdom, which caused resentment from other races in the nation. It is a republic now, but elves still tend to be the richest race and are common in positions of power, and there are people who don't like that and view it as unfair or who are sore over the days when elves were overlords (Over their grandparents, not them, it may be noted. Elves are not much longer lived than other races, so the generations of elves around now grew up in a republic, same as the other races.).
Shrugs
I prefer lizardfolk, but to each their own. ;)
Some people, not meaning any offense, prefer to keep it simple and realistic. Too many race options can lead to the story being conflicting or losing the sense of fantasy and making it more like a wonky cartoon feeling.
Nothing wrong with that, it's just my style to have more variety.
Like you prefer catfolk. So Catfolk aren't rare in your adventures right? Are they everywhere? Only nomadic tribes? Are these tribes anywhere near where the adventure is? Is the character the only one on that Continent?
Its like the bluff skill, it has to be believable or people may lose interest. Not always but...
Well, I like both "European" and "Asian" fantasy (yes, I am the Fantasy Counterpart Culture type), so my setting focuses on "North America" rather than "Europe" or "Asia", which makes it very easy to explain why "Asian" and "European" characters exist in large numbers in the same geographic area. The addition of "Latin American" and "Native American" character concepts is a definite plus, too. Catfolk are historically a "Chinese" nomadic tribal culture, but a ruling dynasty that distrusts nomads, magitech fueled industrialization and urbanization, and an concerted attempt to attract immigration by the Kingdom of Vendalia (a major country in the "Americas" region) has attracted a lot of catfolk to the region. The switch from nomadic life to settled life is a major cultural issue for them, however.
Yes, there is a fair amount of racial and ethnic tension. A good example is Vendalia, which has a massive immigrant population that the...Do you use racial tension and such in your games?
An example would be like a Teifling on the border of the Worldwound. No one is going to be really nice to him, all will assume hes a spy and you'd have to work really hard not to get put on the rack by the inquisitors...
Just my opinion.
I like variety as well. :)
Very awesome explanation! I would love to see your homebrew at work sometime. :O Magitech gets me all geeked out, reminds me of Vicks and Wedge in FF. :D
But cool, so I wouldn't see a problem at all then. Racial Tension in a setting like that with the politics at work is very interesting. :)
Have you ever looked up the Tabaxian, from Tome of Horrors? Its a very neat Catfolk like race~
Sorry to derail. Is there any other advice you want/need? There are some really great people on the boards. :)
Yea, worldbuilding and mechanics tweaking are areas where I feel confident. As you said, establishing the setting to the players is a problem for me. Writing up a balanced adventure and wrapping that adventure into a campaign are things where I'm so lost I don't even know where to begin.
I like variety as well. :)
Very awesome explanation! I would love to see your homebrew at work sometime. :O Magitech gets me all geeked out, reminds me of Vicks and Wedge in FF. :D
But cool, so I wouldn't see a problem at all then. Racial Tension in a setting like that with the politics at work is very interesting. :)
Have you ever looked up the Tabaxian, from Tome of Horrors? Its a very neat Catfolk like race~
Sorry to derail. Is there any other advice you want/need? There are some really great people on the boards. :)
Thanks! Variety is nice. With immigration being such a major force, there aren't many ethnic groups that can't fit into a game in Vendalia. There are certain countries that provide most of Vendalia's immigration, but it has at least a few people from pretty much everywhere, so if someone wants, say, an "Arabic" character, it can be very easily explained how they got to Vendalia.
I have Tome of Horrors (every book), but I'd have to look up the Tabaxian.
I say welcome, and don't worry too much. All game masters have to start someplace. Seems to me like you're starting from a pretty good position given what you've said in this thread.
Good luck, and make sure you're having fun as well.
Good luck, and make sure you're having fun as well.
Most important advice of All! :D
i feel like the thing that taught me the most on how to feel the world is APs.