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DM tips - what makes a good DM?
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<blockquote data-quote="aboyd" data-source="post: 4804745" data-attributes="member: 44797"><p>Some bullet points:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Expect the unexpected. You will put a lot of time into an NPC -- maybe a villain, maybe a quest-giver, whatever -- only to see the players ignore/sidestep that NPC. <em>Don't railroad</em> if you can help it. Instead, simply reuse your work. Are they getting actively involved with some <em>other</em> NPC? Apply your work -- you spent hours statting an NPC, giving it a background and a motivation, then use it when the players want it. I was joking around with another DM last week, about a group that was quested to clear a small dungeon. The group approached the dungeon entrance, the wizard cast stone to mud and then reversed it, killing <em>everything</em> in the dungeon in a single round. I said how disappointed the DM of that game must have been to invest all that time, but the DM I was chatting with laughed & said, "Why? He just uses that unexplored dungeon for the <em>next</em> dungeon they enter." And I thought, "Duh, shoulda seen that one coming."</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Get comfortable ad-libbing and rule-arbitrating. This sorta builds on the previous point -- the players will do stuff you didn't plan for, and it's OK to say, "Crap, you stumped me, I need 3 minutes to work up what happens." It's also OK to say, "I don't need any time to react, but what I'm about to say isn't a permanent house-rule. I'm going to make a judgment and then look it up later, and make changes for the future if I have to." I had players (at the end of a particularly uneventful game last month) ask if the local mage's guild would conjure up an illusory monster for them to fight, just for fun. One player offered to pay for the spell to be cast. Technically he didn't have enough money, but I said "to hell with it, yes, and if you manage to beat it, I'll even give XP." Several games later they want to repeat the process, but I'm very comfortable saying that was a one-off, and if they try again it will follow the rules (since I know what the books say about such things now). You have to be able to do this so that you can balance the players having fun with you own feelings about what's reasonable in your game world.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Get comfortable taking 1 minute to check something or read a paragraph. Get uncomforable taking 15 (or 30, or 45) minutes to look up rules, discuss something with one player, role-play a single element, etc. All the players need to be involved, and if you get comfortable having lulls in the fun, the players will get increasingly dissatisfied.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Remember that you're running a complicated game that has dozens of rule books, maybe hundreds or thousands if you allow in third-party splatbooks. So don't let yourself be run over by books. There is a way to know it all or most of it all -- spend years running games, never switch systems or versions, and spend lots of time here reviewing what you did. However, since most people are not that insane, you have to fall back upon your own judgment. Try to make decisions that are level-headed. If you make a house-rule on the fly and it hurts a player, think about how to help the player without undermining yourself. Last Saturday, I was running the players through the Cage of Delirium module (a haunted house) and I didn't understand how the Unhallow effect would work with an evil cleric -- it actually boosts their rebuking ability (my intention was to inhibit the turn undead ability, but that backfired, and I'm OK with that). So I accidentally gave the cleric command control of some powerful undead. I told him I needed to revisit that after I had some time with the rules. This freaked out the player, who insisted he would have played differently. I wanted to stick to my guns -- I'm not giving 4th level players uber-undead as free henchmen -- but I didn't want the player to feel that I yanked away all his combat efforts. So in the end I decided that he <em>does</em> have control of these undead, but I set their CR down to something appropriate for his level. I retain game-world balance, and he gets to have the flow of combat remain unaltered. Being able to see the rules as malleable helps immensely. Don't get caught painting yourself into a corner when you have control of the corners themselves.</li> </ol></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aboyd, post: 4804745, member: 44797"] Some bullet points: [list=1] [*]Expect the unexpected. You will put a lot of time into an NPC -- maybe a villain, maybe a quest-giver, whatever -- only to see the players ignore/sidestep that NPC. [i]Don't railroad[/i] if you can help it. Instead, simply reuse your work. Are they getting actively involved with some [i]other[/i] NPC? Apply your work -- you spent hours statting an NPC, giving it a background and a motivation, then use it when the players want it. I was joking around with another DM last week, about a group that was quested to clear a small dungeon. The group approached the dungeon entrance, the wizard cast stone to mud and then reversed it, killing [i]everything[/i] in the dungeon in a single round. I said how disappointed the DM of that game must have been to invest all that time, but the DM I was chatting with laughed & said, "Why? He just uses that unexplored dungeon for the [i]next[/i] dungeon they enter." And I thought, "Duh, shoulda seen that one coming." [*]Get comfortable ad-libbing and rule-arbitrating. This sorta builds on the previous point -- the players will do stuff you didn't plan for, and it's OK to say, "Crap, you stumped me, I need 3 minutes to work up what happens." It's also OK to say, "I don't need any time to react, but what I'm about to say isn't a permanent house-rule. I'm going to make a judgment and then look it up later, and make changes for the future if I have to." I had players (at the end of a particularly uneventful game last month) ask if the local mage's guild would conjure up an illusory monster for them to fight, just for fun. One player offered to pay for the spell to be cast. Technically he didn't have enough money, but I said "to hell with it, yes, and if you manage to beat it, I'll even give XP." Several games later they want to repeat the process, but I'm very comfortable saying that was a one-off, and if they try again it will follow the rules (since I know what the books say about such things now). You have to be able to do this so that you can balance the players having fun with you own feelings about what's reasonable in your game world. [*]Get comfortable taking 1 minute to check something or read a paragraph. Get uncomforable taking 15 (or 30, or 45) minutes to look up rules, discuss something with one player, role-play a single element, etc. All the players need to be involved, and if you get comfortable having lulls in the fun, the players will get increasingly dissatisfied. [*]Remember that you're running a complicated game that has dozens of rule books, maybe hundreds or thousands if you allow in third-party splatbooks. So don't let yourself be run over by books. There is a way to know it all or most of it all -- spend years running games, never switch systems or versions, and spend lots of time here reviewing what you did. However, since most people are not that insane, you have to fall back upon your own judgment. Try to make decisions that are level-headed. If you make a house-rule on the fly and it hurts a player, think about how to help the player without undermining yourself. Last Saturday, I was running the players through the Cage of Delirium module (a haunted house) and I didn't understand how the Unhallow effect would work with an evil cleric -- it actually boosts their rebuking ability (my intention was to inhibit the turn undead ability, but that backfired, and I'm OK with that). So I accidentally gave the cleric command control of some powerful undead. I told him I needed to revisit that after I had some time with the rules. This freaked out the player, who insisted he would have played differently. I wanted to stick to my guns -- I'm not giving 4th level players uber-undead as free henchmen -- but I didn't want the player to feel that I yanked away all his combat efforts. So in the end I decided that he [i]does[/i] have control of these undead, but I set their CR down to something appropriate for his level. I retain game-world balance, and he gets to have the flow of combat remain unaltered. Being able to see the rules as malleable helps immensely. Don't get caught painting yourself into a corner when you have control of the corners themselves. [/list] [/QUOTE]
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