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Advice for a newish 5E gamemaster
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 6819911" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>I'm not exactly sure what advice you are asking for. Just opinions on your 3 points? That's the direction I'm going with.</p><p></p><p>1. On being too nice. This is entirely a play style thing and not really a problem so long as it lines up with the player's expectations. The only issue I might see is down the road, the players might come to rely on this and expect you to keep them alive regardless of what they do and I find that this can hurt the game (makes the game boring) in the long run. It's a very fine line to walk.</p><p></p><p>2. Taking shortcuts - there's nothing wrong with this, so long as you're consistent. Then again, if the player's are noticing that your math is wonky and are bothered by it, it might be an idea to brush up on the mechanics a bit, take a few more notes before the game starts and maybe have a DM's Cheatsheet on hand to do calculations.</p><p></p><p>3. On Houserules - I'm of two minds about this. Since these are very new players, it might be an idea to stick closer to the rules for the first time out just so the players aren't confused. It can be a bit of an uphill battle to try to remember both this honking big book of rules plus whatever changes you have decided to add to those rules. Since the players have no basis to judge your changes, it makes feedback on changes problematic. No feats is no problem and using the Pathfinder beginner box for goodies is a fantastic idea. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever.</p><p></p><p>3b. On Favoritism. This one is a really sticky issue. I totally understand where you're coming from with this. You're playing with new gamers, and a new group, and you haven't really sussed each other out very well. IMO, this is one area where it's best to be 100% brutally honest about things. Don't try to keep this a secret as it will lead to resentment at the table. And, there's the danger that while you might feel (and you might be 100% right) that Player A can't play that character and Player B can, your judgement might not be 100% accurate. My advice here is to let Player A play that character but be very up front about what you expect to see. Try to find some sort of compromise between the two of you that both of you can live with. I try to err on the side of trusting the players and giving them as much rope as I can. I find that if I do that, and then set a bar for behaviour, players will often meet and exceed that bar, seeing it as a challenge to be met while playing the character. I mean, in this specific example, Oathbreaker paladins ARE anti-paladins. Aren't they supposed to be killing everything that moves? Try not to enforce your specific views of what a class is on other players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 6819911, member: 22779"] I'm not exactly sure what advice you are asking for. Just opinions on your 3 points? That's the direction I'm going with. 1. On being too nice. This is entirely a play style thing and not really a problem so long as it lines up with the player's expectations. The only issue I might see is down the road, the players might come to rely on this and expect you to keep them alive regardless of what they do and I find that this can hurt the game (makes the game boring) in the long run. It's a very fine line to walk. 2. Taking shortcuts - there's nothing wrong with this, so long as you're consistent. Then again, if the player's are noticing that your math is wonky and are bothered by it, it might be an idea to brush up on the mechanics a bit, take a few more notes before the game starts and maybe have a DM's Cheatsheet on hand to do calculations. 3. On Houserules - I'm of two minds about this. Since these are very new players, it might be an idea to stick closer to the rules for the first time out just so the players aren't confused. It can be a bit of an uphill battle to try to remember both this honking big book of rules plus whatever changes you have decided to add to those rules. Since the players have no basis to judge your changes, it makes feedback on changes problematic. No feats is no problem and using the Pathfinder beginner box for goodies is a fantastic idea. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. 3b. On Favoritism. This one is a really sticky issue. I totally understand where you're coming from with this. You're playing with new gamers, and a new group, and you haven't really sussed each other out very well. IMO, this is one area where it's best to be 100% brutally honest about things. Don't try to keep this a secret as it will lead to resentment at the table. And, there's the danger that while you might feel (and you might be 100% right) that Player A can't play that character and Player B can, your judgement might not be 100% accurate. My advice here is to let Player A play that character but be very up front about what you expect to see. Try to find some sort of compromise between the two of you that both of you can live with. I try to err on the side of trusting the players and giving them as much rope as I can. I find that if I do that, and then set a bar for behaviour, players will often meet and exceed that bar, seeing it as a challenge to be met while playing the character. I mean, in this specific example, Oathbreaker paladins ARE anti-paladins. Aren't they supposed to be killing everything that moves? Try not to enforce your specific views of what a class is on other players. [/QUOTE]
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