Basic GM mistakes

[moritheil]

50: Resist the temptation to plan lots of stuff out: Many novice (and not novice) DMs make the mistake of envisioning an entire campaign arc at the outset, and trying to move things so that the arc plays out. And then they try to plan out everything for the arc on Day 1, prepping setting material that won't affect play for the next six months. Given that six months from now all of your carefully laid plans will probably be in ruins, this is probably wasted effort.

That's sound, though I would add that it's only wasted effort if the world is created for one campaign and for no other purpose. If the world is run through multiple campaigns, it's probably okay to do a little more planning than one campaign warrants.

 

[The Shaman]

. . . the dragon ginsu . . .

Heh.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

51: Never expect PCs to resolve a situation by means other than killing things: Many DMs think they can have someone fight the PCs, have the Pcs surrender or be captured (or run away) and get lots of role playing goodness as a result. This is amost always a recipe for failure. PCs hate to be captured. They hate to surrender. They hate to run away. They will frequently obstinately refuse to do these things in the face of overwhelming odds, resulting in TPKs and bad feelings.

Also bear in mind that even if the party decides to run away partway through a fight, it will almost certainly be too late. This usuall results in a TPK, or possibly with one or two characters getting away while everyone else dies. As for fighting to the bitter end, why not? There's always the possibility that a lucky roll or two will change a certain death scenario into a party win! There's even a new thread here on that very subject.

 

[Thunderfoot]

37) When a PC is killed, avoid looking like it was malicious or that you are gloating over the death.

So then I should probably take the row of skulls off my DM screen showing the number of 'kills' I have then?

Actually as a corrallary to rule 37 (even if there is gloating) make it fun - I issue death certificates to players when a character dies, usually with a witty saying or supplimented by a certificate of bravery or stupidity (depending upon whichever is more appropriate). While a character death can be somewhat traumatic to the player, taking the sting out with a little humor can go a long way to keeping said player, especially if they are new, at the table. Which leads me to

#52: Never be too prideful to stop the action and say - oops. If the CR 3 Ancient Great Red Wyrm Necromancer Lich you rolled up is suddenly much more powerful than you thought...oops, admit it. Step back, call foul and ask for forgivness - reset the scales to 0 and start over from said oops. It may take a few more minutes to get your bearins or it may end the session for the night, but admitting you goofed and letting the players know is better than slaughtering the party because you are a bonehead, losing a player because you are too arrogant to admit you were wrong or losing your firends because you are too prideful to ask that they overlook your stupidity. You probably shouldn't have to bribe them to forgive you (if you do then THEY have issues), but be prepared to suck up the ribbing you're going to get for the next few weeks/month/years/decades and don't be surprised if you end up reading about it in an electronic or printed format in the humor or MY DM IS SO DUMB columns.

 

[howandwhy99]

53). When choosing Players, do not take RPG experience into account at all. The ability to play the game has nothing to do with knowing the rules.

54). Plots are never created for the PCs. Plots are what your NPCs are hoping to do to them, (if they involve the PCs at all).

55). RPGs are, at every point, simply adults playing "Let's Pretend". It is the make-believe game, not the ruleset, that should take precedence whenever the group decides what to do next. If you cannot do what you want to because of the rules, agree on changing them. Your imaginations should lead, not designer expectations.

56). Beware of being a completist. A complete setting or character is a finished setting or character. Creativity cannot breathe in an airtight world.

 

[Lanefan]

57) Use your players' talents. If you've a player who knows more about something than you do, lean on them for advice. Me, I know nothing about horses beyond they've got 4 legs each and eat grass...but I had a player in my game who'd been around horses almost since birth. So, any horse questions got deferred to her. Conversely, I play under a DM who often defers to me on anything to do with boats, similar reasoning.

57a) Use your players' talents to help with design and flavour. If you've any artists in the group, try to get them doing game-related creations e.g. pictures for rulebooks, character portraits, etc. If you've a climatologist in the crew, let him help design your world's climates. And so on.

Lanefan

 

[Storm Raven]

That's sound, though I would add that it's only wasted effort if the world is created for one campaign and for no other purpose. If the world is run through multiple campaigns, it's probably okay to do a little more planning than one campaign warrants.

I have found that even for settings you plan to use for multiple campaigns, this sort of effort is often wasted if done right at the outset. Too many unexpected things happen in the course of a single campaign (let alone more than one) to make this sort of planning very fruitful.

 

[Amitiel]

Well that's easy. Unless you have a dwarven miner in the group or someone with massive ranks in Appraise, you just don't tell them what the metal is.

I mean, seriously, if you see a silvery-grey piece of jewelry, can you tell immediately if it's silver, titanium, white gold or iron? Thus....

Actually, its in the adventure write up NPC speech so the party will go on the subquest for the key. 'You must seek the key for the doors are indestructable adamant' or some such. It was apperantly the best he could come up with to force the key quest which was about 2/3's of the adventure. Which is why I recomend reading prefabs with a pad of sticky notes to scribble down changes like the doors are iron but with high level magic protection. The most creative I heard was substituting a wall of force projected from a nearby object and the 'key' was an amulet that allowed passage of someone to disable it.

55). RPGs are, at every point, simply adults playing "Let's Pretend". It is the make-believe game, not the ruleset, that should take precedence whenever the group decides what to do next. If you cannot do what you want to because of the rules, agree on changing them. Your imaginations should lead, not designer expectations.

This goes double for the DM, especially if you intend to monkey with the characters in ways normally disallowed (Example in my up coming game all the charaters will recieve 'Wedded to history' as they are all from 500-2000 years out of date (imprisoned as statues) along with a race/region linked bonus for it, This feat, feats, SA or skills are mandatory so I'm having them count as 'extra' abilities beyond the normal limits, ie this feat will not come from their feat pool any special skill or ability will not take away from thier normal character choices)

I did this in my current game as well when a character was exposed to the far plane I added Aberrant Blood to them but did not take a feat from thier normal feat limit.

 

[Erithtotl]

58) Here's one that always gets me when I'm DM'ing. It's especially possible for this to happen when running a published adventure and you have an unorthodox party makeup. Think about what challenges you want major encounters to give the party, and plan accordingly. As nice as the EL and CR systems are, they don't always translate very well depending on party makeup. In my current game I have a lot of high-attack bonus, high damage melee types in the party. If you want that evil wizard to be a threat, even if his level is 3 higher than the party, he's going down pretty darn quick if there's nothing between him and a bunch of greatsword wielding fighters in 40' long room.

Likewise, if you throw a bunch of CR appropriate, high damage output monsters with DR 10/magic against a party without magic weapons, you might have a total party kill on your hands even though the EL says they should be fine.

 

[Brimshack]

59) Don't Play Accomplice to the Munchkins. If a character is consistently winning the day in every game, it is a safe bet that you are consistently sending the same challenges at the party. That character is taylor made to solve the same plot you keep putting out.

player has maximized a character for one sort of encounter, then it has weaknesses in another. If the Meat Shield is hero 3 games in a row and the Rogue's player is getting bored, think about running a game with more skill checks and sneaky challenges. If the fighter is getting bored while the spell casters plot and plan every game, then send something their way that can and should be smacked down with an axe. Vary the challenges a bit, and you may be surprised to find the useless characters have something to offer after all.