Hey, everybody, I'm going to be running Mummy's Mask for my group, but it's my first time being a GM. I've read the first book already, and, I've got to say, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of information that's being thrown at me. I'd just like to know what helps some experienced GMs as they go through this adventure path and just some general GM tips as well. What kind of notes should I be taking? I don't want to have to reference the book each time the party learns something that I didn't feel was important to the story. Any help would be appreciated.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
First, I'd read through all the (GM Reference) topics for Mummy's Mask volumes here on the forum. There are quite of few of us who have contributed our tweaks, adjustments, and general observations there, and its a huge resource as you go forward.
Second, I would read all the rest of the AP beyond book 1. Skim it if you need to, but knowing where the story is headed will help you massage the players back toward moving the story forward if they, say, decide to take over the Mumia trade after they murder some drug dealers in Book 2.
Be flexible. Mummy's Mask is a very diverse AP, with themes covering Indiana Jones tomb raiding, to Fantasy Economics Simulations, to Bureaucracy getting in the players' way, to good ole' dungeon crawling.
Let your players know that the scope of the AP covers pretty well all of SW Osirion, so if they get attached to Wati or Tephu, they won't be as disappointed when books 4 5 and 6 barely even touch civilization.
Most importantly, though, is to have fun.
Welcome to GM'ing.
Those are all good suggestions. I would add that while it's extremely good to have read the whole thing to have an idea of where the story is going (it helps to seed plot points early. I introduced my party to Ptemenib as soon as I could, so that they would be invested in saving him later - I highly recommend this), it's also a good idea to do your detailed preparations in manageable chunks. This first book is really good for practicing that, since they're going to be doing the tomb of Akhentepi before they have a chance of getting to the House of Penthuru. So you don't have to cram all the information from the latter into your head until they're getting close to getting there.
I Would also recommend having a handful of random encounters ready to go, and don't be afraid to sprinkle them around the necropolis liberally. It's hard to give a place like the necropolis the fear factor it needs if their travel around it to their exploration sites is uneventful, and the more you can make your players fear it now (or at least treat it with apprehension), the more intense it will make the return to it in the second book.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I find a good trick is to know how much of the story your party will go through in a session, it varies by group, and then the night before read over only what you'll need for that session. So if you play for 4 hours at a time, and your party averages 1 encounter per hour, then don't worry about preparing more than the next 4 encounters. Just don't overwhelm yourself!
Also, shameless plug, but I am the GM for the Find the Path Podcast, which is playing through Mummy's Mask. If you want to listen to the first half of book one you can find it, and our RSS feed, on our website here. We are also on iTunes and most podcast apps. Good luck!