GM Techniques

[NoOneofConsequence]

A question I'm curious about:

What techniques do you as a GM (or DM if you prefer) typically use to run your games?

SOme background to what I'm thinking.

I love maps, pictures and visual aids - half my scenario prep time can be burned looking for that one piece of artwork that captures the visual feel of a character or a setting.

Also, I frequently (in fact almost always) have low level parties accompanied by a much higher level npc. THis guy stands in the background and says and does nothing until the party gets into more trouble than they can handle and then he's my deus ex machina.

Don't get me wrong, he doesn't carry the story and he can't be relied upon by the party to rescue them just 'cause they want. He's there as my circuit breaker, in case I've fouled up and over-clocked the scenario.

Does anyone else do this sort of thing? WHat other things do you do? I ask 'cause I want to learn.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Well, I sometimes use high-level NPCs and they have been known to save the PCs' butts, but I never have him there as a circuit breaker as such, but rather just a part of the story.

I sometimes use artwork, mostly for NPCs.

 

[Umbran]

I'm not much of an artist. Aside from campaign maps, I don't use much artwork.

I do sometimes use handouts - letters, story bits covering downtime, dreams, etc. I'm a better writer than I am an artist

Music is a good one, when I can find the time. Picking specific musical pieces to score certain scenes can add serious flavor.

Higher-level NPCs exist, and interact with the party, but almost never travel or adventure with the party. I don't like the problems that plays with the game dynamic. If you need a "circuit breaker" there are lots of ways to manage the problem without having a character along with the party.

 

[NoOneofConsequence]

I do sometimes use handouts - letters, story bits covering downtime, dreams, etc. I'm a better writer than I am an artist

Oh yeah, love handouts!

Higher-level NPCs exist, and interact with the party, but almost never travel or adventure with the party. I don't like the problems that plays with the game dynamic. If you need a "circuit breaker" there are lots of ways to manage the problem without having a character along with the party.

Such as? Give details, please?

 

[clockworkjoe]

NEVER EVER let NPCs overshadow the players. The players have to solve their problems, not NPCs.

I create news. That is, while the players adventure, things happen. This church has a wedding, this leader is killed, ruins are discovered over here, and so forth.

I give every important NPC and group an agenda to pursue and keep track of how far they are in their goals.

Foreshadow whenever possible. Throw in subtle references to future events.

Create an overall plot, but alter it to suit the interests of the players. If they seem to be more interested in dungeon crawling, throw in plenty o dungeons. If they like interacting with the townsfolk and fighting the corruption of the government or bringing down the thieves guild let them have it.

When starting a new campaign, IMMEDIATELY throw the players into a dangerous/exciting situation in which they have to act. Even a simple bar room brawl can suffice. Don't bore them. START THE GAME WITH A BANG.

With that in mind, after I get the action going, I start throwing different types of adventure hooks at the players. I run whatever whatever they bite at first and start making more adventures based on their likes.

 

[CRG]

Rumor lists: They can be true or false, but either way it helps make them feel like there is stuff going on in the world - time is passing, etc.

And if I stick a high level NPC with a party, he's more likely to be bait / chum than to help save the party's behind.

If someone in the game is skilled and has the time - art, journals, logs. Otherwise, the occaisional handout complete with "fantasy-ish font I pulled off the internet" helps. I may even crumple the paper for that authentic feel.

Beyond that we use LOTS of miniatures, including scenery items.

Depending on the game, lots of candles and music is sometimes cool. Careful with your smoke alarms.

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

This is really only my first year as a good and effective DM, but let's see if I can think of anything particularly special that I do to make my games memorable or more fun.

I think music does a lot of good at the game table in terms of setting the mood at the table, so finding something that suits your adventures is pretty important. (And I just realized that Umbran said this as well...pays to read posts!)

I also like having handouts to give to the players, though I don't spend an inordinate amount of time working on them--really I don't spend a whole lot of time planning like I should at all. Letters are probably the most commonly used handouts at my table. Pictures and maps are a good idea that I think I'm going to have to steal, however.

I really don't like having to send NPCs with the group to save their asses.

I'm trying to start up a little something to reward good playing at my table too: Save Your Ass Cards. If you roleplay very well, buy the entire group dinner (or something equally nifty), or if it's your birthday, you get one free. They basically can help you out in a few minor ways. I'm not sure exactly what though, since I just wrote up the rules not that long ago.

My final suggestion is just what fits my campaign and may or may not work with everyone: While I do have a main plotline for my campaign, it's not the focus of every game session. The focus of every game session is the players, and sometimes they interact with the storyline. Listening to what the players want in terms of adventures is key.

Just to sort of support my last line of thought, I'll give you a brief story--one of my players is really a total munchkin and has never roleplayed a bit in his life. Nothing too terribly wrong with it as long as we all have fun, but by making a story focus on him and his backstory--which reminds me of something else I like to do...but more on that in a moment--I actually got him to roleplay for nearly five solid minutes. I was amazed.

Character Backstories--FORCE your players to make these up. These are so vitally important if you want to cater to your players tastes a lot. Maybe they all like dungeon-crawling, but wouldn't they like to raid the dungeon of the fiend who slew their entire family?

I think that's all I've got to say for the moment though!

 

[LostSoul]

I don't use dungeons much, and if I do, I don't draw maps.

I try to make a storyline for each character. This personal storyline is driven by the character's personality and deeds, and gives them a chance to shine (or be outclassed). Usually I pick one of the characters to be the main character for the night.

Sometimes I do cutscenes that show the players what's going on somewhere else, just like in a movie.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Sometimes I do cutscenes that show the players what's going on somewhere else, just like in a movie.

I do this sometimes if the spirit comes over me. Can be incredible fun. Can be very corny as well.

 

[Umbran]

Such as? Give details, please?

Details on the ways to work a "circuit breaker" without having an NPC about to save the party's bacon, you mean? Well...

Let me preface by saying that many might consider what I'm about to suggest to be "fudging", and that this is often seen as being Bad Form for a DM. They may choose to yell at me for suggesting these things.

However, there are times when a DM screws up - he or she creates and encourages the PCs to enter a scenario that is too tough for them. It seems to me even worse form to kill off PCs due to the DM making an error in judgement. Ways of fixing this include...

Hit points - and other bookkeeping the PCs never see. The players never know how many hit points a critter started with. Nor how many spells a classed character could cast or had prepared. If an encounter is turining out to be too tough, you can alter these things behind the screen, and the players will never know it. If the encounter was originally with two strong ogres and a shaman, and they're toasting your group, they suddenly become two wimpy ogres and a shaman who had left spell slots open to fill needs later in the day...

Tactics - usually a DM wants to play his NPCs and critters as intelligently as possible. But even genius critters make occasional mistakes, or has obscure motivations (Maybe the necromancer doesn't actually want to kill the PCs quite yet, because he thinks the lady-wizard is really cute, or would make a really cute ghoul, or something). A stupid manuver or two in battle may turn the tide in favor of the PCs, or at least allow the PCs to escape.

Simple failure - Sometimes the PCs have a bad run of luck on dice rolls. Well, the same can happen to NPCs. Many people severely frown on fudging dice rolls, but if you really overestimated the power of an encounter, this technique is golden. Roll behind the screen. Complain about how incompetent the enemy is, or on how bad your luck is that night. The enemy simply fails to hit, and/or rolls poorly on damage for a while, no matter what the dice say.

In general, the idea is to correct your own mistakes in such a way as the players never know you made them. You don't do these things to save the players from their own stupidity. They're intended to save them from the DM's stupidity.

The problem with an NPC is that the players always know when they've had their bacon saved by said outside source. If this happens repeatedly, they can either come to depend on it, or feel like their own actions don't matter all that much, 'cause no matter what they do, Harry there will save the day anyhow. In fact, the DM can come to depend on such NPCs, and that leads to sloppy habits. So, instead, when you mess things up, you use seamless techniques - save the PCs in such a way that they never know that the saving happened.