So here's the deal: I'm trying to run a game for my family. I have almost no experience GMing(I've run a small oneshot, but I've got plenty of player experience), and most the players have their play experience from that game(Execpt my mom, who's started coming with me to society play and has the best idea of how to play out of all of them, and my younger siblings who are 8 and 11). I'm running two games, one for my younger siblings, and the other for the rest. I'm just looking for any advice that more experienced GMs might have. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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You sound like you are kind of young. I have been playing and GMing since 1979, so I am ancient and "more experienced". :)
My suggestions-
1 Start fairly simple, Core Ruelebook classes only say. Trying to take all the rules in at once is near impossible.
2 Be careful about strength of enemies. It is much better to have an easy win than to have everyone die.
3 Don't have a character yourself. It seems harmless and a way to sort of play yourself, but it is surprisingly bad for the game in my experience.
4 Try running a path. You have to learn to GM and help others with the rules. That is enough w/o trying to come up with original stuff as well.
5 Skull and Shackles has a reputation for being rather easy. 3 of us all experienced players played it and it was fun but we were rarely challenged. Might be a good choice for the younger group.
6 Be patient and it is OK to cheat a bit to get players out of trouble. Nobody likes having their PC die.
Glad to see you agree Scott.
But why? I know it distracts from the focus of the campaign on the players and splits the GMs attention. But that would seem to make the GM having a character a poor idea, but not for it to be as bad for a campaign as it turns out to be.
1) Take (shorthand) notes on things that come up that are "important" to you. This could be rules that you are unsure about, the wording of spells that the players use often, the name/class of an NPC you made up on the fly. It really can be anything, but part of gaining experience as a GM is remembering and studying up on previous instances, how you handled them, and how you can improve your handling of them.
2) Don't let the rules of a very litigious system dominate your game. One of the great things about Pathfinder is its structure, but there are times and situations where finding the exact ruling of something may prove untimely, or there simply is no defined ruling on something specific. As you and your players get more comfortable and proficient in that game, you will (should) all prioritize understanding the game's rules, but early on, and in times significant in the game, don't be afraid to improvise and make up a condition or ruling on the fly.
o Your rogue and barbarian are running from guards and find themselves trapped in an alleyway. Their plan is to grab a loose board or table, throw it over a barrel, have the rogue stand on one end and the barbarian jump onto the other to launch the rogue up towards a roof's edge so that at least one of them can escape.
o Are there specific rules for all these actions?, probably 10 different ones.
o Is it worth stopping the game to look at where all the perception, craft, acrobatics, and strength checks are applicable?, probably not.
o Is it a fun, cool, and creative idea?, hell yeah, especially since there is a consequential sacrifice of one character for another. They don't have to be successful, but they should be allowed to try with some degree of real success.
o Knowledge Engineering check DC...12, Strength Check DC.. 11. Why? because you as the GM have the power to keep the game's fun and flowing, without breaking immersion to delve through tons of rules. This comes from the "Yes, and" school of thought.
3) Especially with the young ones. Make it clear that failure is part of the game, and it should be embraced. Your wizard wanted to charm the queen, but he fails and pisses her off instead, getting the party dismissed from the royal chambers? This isn't the moment to be upset about how the dice rolled, or how the plan should have worked, or the DC is too high, or my character isn't good enough. It should be seen as an opportunity to try something else.
4) Know the important elements of The Adventure and how they can be delivered/uncovered and prepare a contingency for how the party may or may not come across these elements.
o The big bad evil guy has a secret warehouse where all of his evil plans and gear is stashed (or any other sort of major reveal).
o The party ends up surprising you (as parties do) and they somehow use a spell or item to enter this said warehouse, but it is far too early, and they are seriously unprepared or under-leveled for the combat inside. So what do you do?
o You simply rule that the BBEG cast an illusion spell before he left (doesn't matter which one, all you know is that the WIll save DC is unbeatable right now) And the CR 4 guard troll is dead asleep, or away on lunch.
The party will uncover knowledge about where to go and who to find and what to do through the interactions of the game, but you determine how, when, and how much of these elements to reveal at a time. Don't let a 4 chapter story get ruined, because the wizard reads the mind of THE guy in chapter 1.
It works in a reverse way as well, just because the party didn't find that ONE chest with the secret key in it, doesn't mean you just give it to them or they don't get it. Just give the key to the next enemy they fight as loot.
Sorry for the long-winded post
A good GM is either well-prepared or exceptional at improvising, or both. Personally, I prefer to be well-prepared because it helps my improv.
If you're computer-savvy and have a laptop/ipad, keep all your campaign info on an Excel Spreadsheet with lots and lots of Sheet Tabs and make good use of the "Comment" feature for each individual Excel block.
Take really good notes of what happens in session so you can review it whenever you need to remember something.
I have a Sheet for each of the following:
- >Session notes: What happened, who did what, how much gold did they receive, current story "hooks" that they know about but haven't investigated yet, anything you feel that is relevant to write down for later reference.
- >Pre-generated male and female names of Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Dragons, Bad guys, Mind Flayers, Drow, and any other possible race the group might encounter. Once I use a name, I put it the name in a column and write a brief description of where they met them and what they look like. You never know who your PC's are going to ask "hey buddy what's your name?" and this makes coming up with names on the fly super simple. Life is easier this way.
- >Random adventure ideas for when the DM has to cast the spell Instant Side Quest
- >Every single combat encounter in it's own Sheet (and then Hide the sheet when you're done with it so you can stay organized and you can always go back and look at it later if you need to reference something). Download Combat Manager on your laptop/ipad and copy/paste any custom-created mook or BBEG into that encounter's Sheet your Excel file. Once you get good at using Combat Manager, you can generate just about any combat encounter you can think of in 2-3 minutes or less.
- >PC Backstories, special abilities, special weapons/armor, etc.
- > If you're running a Homebrew campaign, have an "Overall Story" Sheet that is an outline of all the major events by level. For example, at level 5, they 'should' reach the Rain Temple, at level 7, there is a Hill Giant invasion of Sleepypeaceful Town, etc.
- >Every single Dungeon Map in its own Sheet-- use the Comment feature (right-click, Add Comment) in the squares to detail Traps, scratches on the walls, broken furniture, etc. It's so stinking easy to make maps in Excel.
- >Quick Reference List for obscure rules and anything else you don't want to have to memorize or look up in the middle of a session, like DC checks with a bunch of +/- modifiers, drowning rules, concentration rules, whatever.
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And then of course, have fun :)
When making a game for younger people, focus on spectacle. Try to come up with cool locals for your fights, and spend some time describing the details of their attacks using the most exiting language you can. You really want to engage their imaginations as much as possible.