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<blockquote data-quote="Yaguara" data-source="post: 6061312" data-attributes="member: 6703721"><p>One of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, once said &quot;Plot comes from what characters want.&quot;&nbsp; The same advice applies to games and gamers.&nbsp; As a GM you need to know what your players want from the game.&nbsp; It makes your planning and prep much easier and more streamlined if you have this information ahead of time.&nbsp; If you know what the player's goals then the character's goals become almost automatic.&nbsp; The other two pieces of advice that I always give to prospective or new GM's - Remember you only have an obligation to describe to the players what their characters PERCEIVE and not what is actually there.&nbsp; A humble goblin becomes a terrifying monster when all the players have to go on is vague noises in the dark and shadows.&nbsp; The other is remember your goal is to evoke emotions in your players - not their characters.&nbsp; For example, many horror games have rules for simulating fear.&nbsp; That is stupid - if you scare the player you don't need rules for simulating fear in the character as the player will do that for you.&nbsp; To do this effectively you need to get to know your players.&nbsp; Your lesson on listening to your players is probably the most important one in the list to my way of thinking.&nbsp; A good GM listens more than they talk.&nbsp; I used to run a convention scenario to great effect.&nbsp; It was a locked-room murder mystery.&nbsp; I had a victim and four NPCs as potential killers.&nbsp; Each NPC had motive, opportunity, and an alibi.&nbsp; I never decided who the killer actually was - I just let the players figure out who it was and how they did it for me.&nbsp; All I had to do was sit back and listen, do a little role-playing, and let the players &quot;catch&quot; the real killer.&nbsp; It worked like a charm.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="Yaguara, post: 6061312, member: 6703721"] One of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, once said "Plot comes from what characters want." The same advice applies to games and gamers. As a GM you need to know what your players want from the game. It makes your planning and prep much easier and more streamlined if you have this information ahead of time. If you know what the player's goals then the character's goals become almost automatic. The other two pieces of advice that I always give to prospective or new GM's - Remember you only have an obligation to describe to the players what their characters PERCEIVE and not what is actually there. A humble goblin becomes a terrifying monster when all the players have to go on is vague noises in the dark and shadows. The other is remember your goal is to evoke emotions in your players - not their characters. For example, many horror games have rules for simulating fear. That is stupid - if you scare the player you don't need rules for simulating fear in the character as the player will do that for you. To do this effectively you need to get to know your players. Your lesson on listening to your players is probably the most important one in the list to my way of thinking. A good GM listens more than they talk. I used to run a convention scenario to great effect. It was a locked-room murder mystery. I had a victim and four NPCs as potential killers. Each NPC had motive, opportunity, and an alibi. I never decided who the killer actually was - I just let the players figure out who it was and how they did it for me. All I had to do was sit back and listen, do a little role-playing, and let the players "catch" the real killer. It worked like a charm. [/QUOTE]

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