
GM Red Box |

So I am starting to GM AP's and I have a question.
As I do my research I also like to look at what is going on in other game play threads. Would it be frowned upon to crib bits from other GM's?
To be more specific, I ask because I am personally good with maps and logistics but not great at unique voices for NPC's. Is taking bits of dialogue from other games a bad thing?
PbP is a unique medium and in a real life game this would never come up.

CrystalSeas |

There are public GM prep threads for most of the APs. In addition to looking through the game threads, you might want to take a look at some of those.
They are specifically designed for GMs to share information about how to run the AP.
And there's also a website for GMs to share materials
Which APs are you thinking about running? There is sure to be a lot of material here that you could make use of

Leedwashere |

I think it's good to take inspiration from other people who you think have done a good job before you. As creative types, learning from others is a great way to improve your own craft. That being said, I would say it's not okay to just cut and paste what someone else has done, wholesale. Given the nature of PbP I don't think anyone is going to notice or raise a big stink about it if you do directly copy, but it's still intellectually dishonest and doesn't help you improve yourself long-term.
Me, I have the opposite problem. PbP gives me time to come up with dialogue that I'm really happy with, but I have difficulty improvising it at the table.

Storyteller Shadow |

Well into first book of Iron Gods and prepping for Jade Regent and possibly Giant Slayer. Honestly I just, a ways in, checked some other games and realized how much better the dialogue that other GM's use is.
I am pretty good at improve in person but I have to much time to think in PbP lol.
Dialogue gets better the more you write. :-)
It's players that up the DM's "game" from a dialogue perspective. Characters that are well written will inspire you.

Rennaivx |

Me, I have the opposite problem. PbP gives me time to come up with dialogue that I'm really happy with, but I have difficulty improvising it at the table.
Same. And I'll echo Leeds' other thoughts as well - feel free to read other campaigns for inspiration, but I'd avoid copying and pasting whole hog, just to keep from getting into the habit. Plus, the more you practice, the sooner you'll be able to write the same spectacular dialogue for yourself!

Joana |

Technically, everything posted on these boards becomes the property of Paizo, anyway.
I think copy/pasting runs into the same problem boxed-text dialogue does, in that it won't have a preprogrammed response for every question or comment a PC might ask in game. The super-eloquent aristocrat with the elegant vocabulary might be reduced to, "Um, yeah, sure, I guess that'd be okay" if your PCs take a different tack toward an NPC than the party in the other GM's game. Trying to put together an in-character response, however, in that NPC's voice would be good practice toward eventually making those NPCs your own, though!
If you borrow an original sidequest, or idea, or an NPC's personality, or, yes, dialogue from another GM's game, I think it would be nice for you to drop that GM a Private Message telling them how they inspired you and maybe inform your players in the discussion thread that you borrowed a fun idea from *insert GM's name here*'s game, just to give credit where it's due.

John Mechalas |

Technically, everything posted on these boards becomes the property of Paizo, anyway.
Technically, no. By posting here you are granting Paizo a non-exclusive license to use your content. You still own it. Posting it here may get in the way of licensing it to another publisher (esp. if they want exclusive rights, or previously unpublished material), but it's still yours.