DM needs some tips please

[Delak]

Hello everyone,

I have just recently started DMing again and need some tips on time managment. Before when i was a dm i had plenty of time on my hands, but now that i have a newborn and full time job i find its hard to get everything together. So if any DM's out there have any tips tricks, advice.

Thanks
Delak

 

[darkbard]

this is always a tough issue. the role of dm can easily be expanded into a fulltime job: there's just so much potential to try to overdesign, from weather to npc's to all aspects of verisimilitude. i guess the best advice is to design only what you need to design and wing the rest as appropriate, filling in gaps as you go along.

start with a pre-published setting (the FRCS is a gorgeous book with tons of world setting info, plot hooks, etc). it's not necessary to reinvent the wheel. run pre-published modules (i'm quite fond of the wotc adventure path's opener "the sunless citadel", and you can find quite a lot of other beginning adventures out there--the freeport adventures by green ronin have an excellent reputation, dungeon magazine has a number of great adventures every issue, etc.). start small, you don't need to work out in advance much more than the character's starting point, a few adventure hooks, and an overall idea of where the campaign could head.

i guess the most important thing is to try not to overprepare, being swallowed by the immensity of what you can do but settling for what you need to do.

 

[Balgus]

It's not easy being DM- but here are some tips...

1)don't plan EVERYTHING out beforehand. Just have a clear picture in your mind what you plan on happening and let your players make decisions.
2) Number your encounters/traps/rooms/monster. Then place each one a notecard in numerical number. Each encounter has all the essential stats (monster stat block, DC,etc) and all you have to do is flip through them when the players get into X room.
3)there is no shame in running a storebought campaign. Many DMs find it hard to squeeze out teh time to write up a whole adventure campaign. So why try. Buyone, read it over a couple times and make out the notecards.
4)rule 0 is your friend. If you are ever in doubt- just make sometihng up on the fly- just to keep the game going. If you find out you were wrong later- apologise. But don't bog down the fun with arguments with players about rules.
5)never name your monsters. Instead describe them. You will find that a lot of people have comitted to memory the MM, MoF and other creatures compendium. If you announce that it is a Troll, they will know his weakness is fire/acid. Instead, say it is a 7 ft tall green humanoid with long pointy nose. Most players would know- but some won't.

have fun...

 

[Drawmack]

Game play breaks are a great aide.

I GM a group that is mostly college students. We only play during the semester (although there is some sporradic playing over the summer it is usually different games). This means that I have 5 weeks in the winter when we're not playing and 4 months in the summer. I do all of my prep work during this time. In the winter I generally write one adventure that is something with a lot of down time in it and then spend some time scouring the internet looking for short published adventures that I can run and by the time school starts back up I have everything for the spring sessions planned out. Over the summer I generally write a megaadventure that will carry the group through the entire fall semester. Right now we are three weeks into the fall campaign (we got a bit of a late start). The party has done a one-shot halloween adventure and also barly begun to scratch the surface of a mega mystery.

So I guess to sum up I manage my time by GMing a game that breaks.

 

[d12]

paperwork

This has helped me to shorten prep time:

Get two folders, any folder will do.

Lable one "PCs" label the other "DM"

In the PC folder keep the character sheets, any handouts they've recived from you, any maps they've drawn, etc... After each session, take these back up and put them back in this folder. Next session just pass the folder around.

In the DM folder keep any handouts they have yet to receive. Also keep a single sheet of paper that has a table with the Pc's names down the side and any attributes you need to keep track of across the top (I use AC, touch AC, flatfooted AC, search, spot, listen, sense motive, and a blank one for whatever.) Also in this folder keep notes on past sessions and notes on possible developments in future sessions.

Um, I hope that helps and wasn't obvious.

If you would like some homemade DM worksheets [that are already made!] the send me an email to ryanparson@yahoo.com

 

[pogre]

Dungeon
Use Dungeon magazine for main adventures with side treks in between. Your players will enjoy it.

Ask your players to draw up backgrounds about themselves and be vague about locations and NPCs in the beginning. As you continue to play there will be consistency and your game world will develop from the ground up with a minimum of effort on your part.

 

[ced1106]

Stole this one: Switch to four-hour game sessions. You can actually get more done in four hours than ten!

Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Naull]

Advice

I agree with Ced, 4 hour sessions are great. You learn to focus on the game, because you have 4 hours and after my gang switched to the format, we started getting a lot done.

Pre made settings, which you can then tailor to your needs are a big help.

Use pre-drawn maps. They are all over the web and are easy to find. Wizards has a ton of them on their site to use.

Dungeon magazine is good, the adventures are easy to tailor to your needs with a minimum of work.

Don't be afraid to use some ideas from books that you have read. If you are familiar with the details from books, it is easy to insert them into your world.

Ask the characters to come up with some of their own ideas for plot hooks and backgrounds. I do this regularly and you will be amazed at what your players can lend to your games.

Hope this helps.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Give out home work! You don't have to do all the work yourself, have the players start helping you build NPCs, just tell them that you want stats and 25 words describing a NPC, given the a level and let them turn them over to you.

Now you have a NPCs at a drop of a hat. Oh, I have started to ask for the stats and the 25 words on different index cards, so I can mix things up.

Get maps from the web! There are tons of maps at WoTC and the Dungeon web sites (maps a week) that you can use for quick games.

All inns, taverns, graveyards, and sewers look alike. Don't waste time drawing new, draw one and keep using it over and over again.

Adjectives - write on a index card words to help you describe your NPC, settings, and such.

 

[Delak]

Thanks for the great tips and advice guys