4th edition "Black belt DM's Guide": best of the internet

[peach]

Hmm, that would be easy to set up, but I am hesitant to put a free for all out there. I was thinking of *tested* ideas making the cut, separating the "best" ideas from run of the mill messageboard ideas. Some kindnof peer review, no matter how subjective seems necessary to maintain a certain standard of utility beyond just one table.

The whole notion of selectivity seems counter to the wiki...

doesn't gnomestew already do this?

 

[Quickleaf]

Nah, as the organiser/admin guy we'd put up with you and even allow you to refill our beverages for us <j>

Hey Morrus never refills my coffee!

[MENTION=6670354]sangeet[/MENTION]

I already like the Idea ! I am currently expanding my own libary towards this subject. I think it would also be very good to compile a set of narrating techniques.

Hi sangeet, this is your first post? Well welcome to ENWorld!

Like I said up thread I want to focus on DMing 4e. While there is lots of great general DM advice out there and some folks aggregating it, what my aim for this wikiblog is a well honed resource. While there may be some overlap, to make a polished resource I've got to limit my focus (at least to start).

And yeah as the future admin guy I can say "wikiblog" like it's an actual word. Or maybe, to honor it's Hawaiian origin, the "wikikine", as in it's sorta like a wiki but I have no idea what word to use, but you know what I mean.

There are Wiki´s outside which support PDF export, so there could be both sides pleased. There are also book plugins for wiki media which is able to link multiple pages into one large PDF. So i think the best thing would be to continue to discuss the content, and not so much the form.

Neat! Any specific sites or products you recommend?

My GMing Advice:

If you try to Improve your "freeform" narrating skills, you could pick up a card game: Once upon a time.
You get there about 100 Cards with places, characters, and items, and a narrating "goal" card, so essentially it´s a creative card game usally plable also with persons who are not so much into the RPG type of games.

Hey I remember that game, it was a blast And interesting idea to record what you come up with and play it back later.

[MENTION=80979]Brys[/MENTION]

I would recommend a limited write page where only your vetted DM's can add content. EDIT: This would be the official tip page people are looking for.

That makes a lot of sense. I guess I am uncomfortable with the idea of me vetting other DMs, then again it would be more coherent and faster than doing it by committee. Maybe there's a happy middleground?

Voting makes sense but it requires that (a) people take the time to vote, and (b) the voting folks speak for other DMs as a whole. Minor issues but stuff I'm considering nevertheless.

 

[Quickleaf]

doesn't gnomestew already do this?

Indeed and they do it well too. But there are lots of good ideas scattered around other sites and messageboards. The idea isn't to introduce more new articles into the mix but to do a bit of investigative reporting, to collect, synthesize, and organize.

What I'm shooting for is a more comprehensive resource/portal focused on the DM; if another website has a great article on XY then I would link to it.

 

[surfarcher]

Hey Morrus never refills my coffee!

Meh coffee... I'm an aussie so that should be beer!

 

[TarionzCousin]

This idea is better than sourdough toast with grape jelly.

 

[sangeet]

@ quickleaf

ExtensiondfBook - MediaWiki

This is just an example, there are a also Book Plug in´s avilable , for example Doku Wiki also has some plugin for the same purpose.

A Table of Contents & Link base might be usefull, but i also think it would be neccessary to copy the Information to a central site, and rate it to make it really usefull. Without rating, the worth of the information could be unclear.
(But nevertheless inspiring, one get´s only better while trying new things out.)
If it´s copyrighted material copying the stuff might not be okay, but it might be a good Idea to do write some essay´s about it, and rate the content of the material.

Not all GM advice is to get from the "special" Books for this thematic, there are also a lot of ressources to drain good idea´s from. I read a book for
Screenwriter´s : Robert McKee --> the title was : Story. It´s a really good source of Information, and it help´s to analyze Plot´s and provides
really usefull advice how to create "Encounter´s " which are memorable.

Even in the old GM Advice Books from Gary Gygax he recommends to get a lot of libary stuff done, like reading history book´s and books about ancient weapons. Sun Tsu is also recommended for a strategic thinking DM.

As a World creator, there is probably nothing which is out of scope, that´s the bad thing, but when you struggle you still can come down to the things, which are transportable via a game session, so some instant creativity help´s.

 

[Quickleaf]

Meh coffee... I'm an aussie so that should be beer!

Ya know I used to live with an Aussie. I thought it was a stereotype but Fosters was like catnip for that guy! Btw I dig your sig.

This idea is better than sourdough toast with grape jelly.

Better than Oregon grape n blackberry jam on homemade sourdough from 100 year old Belgian starter?

@ quickleaf

ExtensiondfBook - MediaWiki

This is just an example, there are a also Book Plug in´s avilable , for example Doku Wiki also has some plugin for the same purpose.

My impression was that MediaWiki's code base was bloated and debug logs were difficult to wade through, making it challenging for amateur programmers like myself (I took a class in C++ and taught myself some HTML). You sound more int the know than I am, so maybe I am off base?

I totally agree with the importance of user reviews/rating. Actually, that's part of the purpose for this thread - gathering input from the community (or at least my favorite subsection ). What are some of the best answers you've received or found for your 4e DMing questions? Or what are questions you've had come up repeatedly that I am overlooking?

Not all GM advice is to get from the "special" Books for this thematic, there are also a lot of ressources to drain good idea´s from. I read a book for Screenwriter´s : Robert McKee --> the title was : Story. It´s a really good source of Information, and it help´s to analyze Plot´s and provides really usefull advice how to create "Encounter´s " which are memorable.

Wait was that a verb plain white cover hardback book with notes by Orson Scott Card in it? If I'm Thinking of he same one it was awesome!

That said, I want to emphasize that I'm NOT proposing an exhaustive treatise on being a DM, GM, Storyteller, or anything. Edition neutral stuff like you suggest will always have utility and there are just HEAPS of it out there in the web. I think the 4e DMGs actually do a really good job of explaining story development. Those kind of articles would only have a place here if there was agreement they pushed the envelope of design specific to D&D 4e.

This is a self-imposed limit for my general sanity, but also because I'm shooting for depth over breadth, quality over quantity. When I was combing the net for DM resources a year ago, I found myself visiting five diffent sites to figure out solo monster design, then trying to aggregate what I'd learned into some sort of coherent structure. It would have been great to just visit the wikiblog, and have a brief densely packed article on best design tips for solos, followed by some links to the most highly reviewed blogs or boards on solo monsters in play. After all there's no need to recreate the wheel when there's already an elegant awesome solution on the net.

Then again there are times when wheel reinvention is exactly what's needed. For example, I haven't yet seen a compelling discussion of a 1-on-1 D&D game and what changes to play have worked in the long-term.

But if you have, drop a link for me will ya?

 

[surfarcher]

Ya know I used to live with an Aussie. I thought it was a stereotype but Fosters was like catnip for that guy! Btw I dig your sig.

Fosters? Yech! Peewie! I drink Coopers

 

[Quickleaf]

Fosters? Yech! Peewie! I drink Coopers

I think there was a certain nostalgia for him, like campers/river guides and Pabst Blue Ribbon. And what this has to do with DMing 4th edition I have no clue...maybe we need an article on Aussie gamers? I shudder at the thought of what would go in it

 

[sangeet]

Well, Dungeonmastering is compiling rules & story to a enjoyable thing, so to especially focus on the 4e thing i.e. rules / monster design could only be of value if it´s story driven. I play essentially to tell tales with groups of peaple. So , yes 4e is also a tactial chess like boardgame, but it comes only alive if you describe the manoevers you do with your "chess" figures. So, even if it´s worth to spend time on mechanical details, it´s not the main focus of the game. Without story it would be a sole statistical game, where the math is the most important thing, this might appeal the power mongers, but i think even they imagine themselfs as characters who like to change the gaming world. I understand that this is a complex thematic, i.e. sorting out where to start and where to end with the advices. But at least if you say the topic is mechanical details of 4e , what help is there ? Just the house rules ? Adding props ? I have seen a lot of good advise already with the pipe cleaners, as markers for AOE effects, with bottle rings to mark status conditions on miniatures, the projector as a tool for battlemaps etc etc .. This are already very valid thing´s which is worth to consider. I got also to a regional con to see other DM´s style of play, and to see if i could copy some of their ideas. (Initative Order with letters placed over the DM screen was a good idea , i taken from there.) But never the less, please consider also to TOC information ressources which are story driven, rules without story are empty. General Advices are system independend, but you could focus on the fantasy thematic which spares a lot of trouble a Dungeonmaster for Shadowrun has. Bringing alive a Matrix, Astral World, Fantasy & SciFi Elements which is compellling all at once is very very hard, if you dont just put up standard criminal activity as one shot adventures. Ok, D&D has now a similar thing with the Shadwofell, Feywild, but you dont have to cope with this all at once, you could chunk it in seperate adventures. I read currently a forum of an old RPG , where they complain a lot about the avilablity of the many sourcebook´s , the more material there is where everyone has to agree about, the more peaple start to fight , which is the most recent interpretation of the fantasy world. It take´s away the control from the World Designer DM to the Sourcebook avilable to Player´s which try to clinge to this books to gain some advantage in the fantasy World via argumenting : this is official, it has to be this way... So this might be a system specific issue, but i think it´s the same for all old fantasy world´s the source of material could be overwhelming. To bring this post to an end, yes it´s hard to draw a line, which information is worth and which not. So i would say, if what you like is 4e, stick to it, it´s your project, and you shall have fun doing it. But if you like to have it "living" bring up discussion where peaple like to brag about, so this will contribute also quite a lot. Probably keep the discussion in EN WORLD, so there will be more participants and contributers.