GMs: What lessons have you learned from playing/other GMs?

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Saying yes: I used to reflexively deny new bizarre plans of my players. No longer! Let it fly and it just might work! Learned that one from PirateCat.

Doh!!

I can't believe I missed mentioning this one.

Yeah, I do my absolute hardest to avoid saying, "No."

"Yes" and "Yes, but..." are one of the Golden rules I have for GMing. And of course, I really don't use "Yes, but.." as another way of saying, "No."

 

[cr0m]

The importance of pacing. Knowing when to cut away and fast forward to the good parts. That immersive play isn't all it's cracked up to be. That the Big Reveal isn't all it's cracked up to be.

That the worst kind of roleplaying encounter is the ambiguous kind. There's nothing worse than seeing the mysterious stranger in the bar, talking to him and getting nothing but name, rank and serial number.

Do your shopping offline. Don't always ambush the party when they're asleep, weak, or otherwise acting like human beings. Don't expect players to parlay with an obvious enemy.

Describe what's important. This usually doesn't mean the dimensions of a room... unless someone is pointing a crossbow at the party. Sometimes "a fetid torture chamber" is more evocative than "a 40 x 60 room with an iron maiden, a rack, a wheel, a cell, a dunking trough, 4 whips, etc".

Don't be afraid to tell the players what their goal is. Fighting your way through the fanatical legions of a blubbery demon prince before they raise him from hell is the fun part... not spending five sessions trying to figure out why there are so many cultists hanging around the local pub.

 

[Imperialus]

Saying yes: I used to reflexively deny new bizarre plans of my players. No longer! Let it fly and it just might work! Learned that one from PirateCat.

Sound advice. I'll quote a post of mine from Dumpshock.com. Keep in mind it relates to Shadowrun, not D&D though but the principal applies, perhaps even moreso in Shadowrun since the opposition to the PC's is in a completely different league. A lot of SR GM's seem to be of the opinion that if you leave a single shred of DNA behind next thing you know some ritual magician will be slamming spells through you while you're sitting on the john or corporate snatch squads will be busting through your front door at 3am. I happen to think that makes for short, boring campaigns.

Not to call you out personally but this is what I mean.

My criteria for letting the PC's get out of trouble is this.

1) What's going to happen if it goes bad? TPK? PC death? End of the campaign? Do I want any of those? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. It depends on the individual campaign.
2) Was it amusing? Not necessarily lol amusing but did I have fun running them through it?
3) Did the rest of the group enjoy it? Even if one PC (say the face) was responsible for talking their way out of the situation did everyone enjoy the interplay? Did they inject comments, advice and criticism? Were they laughing?
4) Was it creative? Did the player come up with something new (even if it was a bit off the wall) or did he just fall back on the same tired response?
5) Does it seem reasonable at first blush?

Needless to say "is it realistic" doesn't even make the list, even 'plausible' is last on the list. My reasoning behind this is that the sessions where PC's come up with crazy schemes are the sessions that people remember.

Just as an example. Probably 4 or 5 years ago my group was running through the old 2nd ed adventure about the cybereye. The name escapes me. We were at the rave thing at the mall and it just so happened that one of the PC's had a day job as a security guard at said mall. Now the logical thing to do (and the thing we probably should have done if we were being real 'pros') would have been to summon Lone Star using his authority, use them to bust up the party and use the sec guard's character as a distraction while we preformed the run.

What actually happened was the Sec Guard PC started flashing his badge and shouting "DISPERSE!" while chucking stun grenades. The rave turned into a riot as Lone Star showed up anyhow and we got into a big firefight with the cops before escaping into the barrens. We got away scott free. Why? because everyone had a blast playing the running gun battle. Everyone participated. My street sam cut a hole in the roof of the teams van and improvised a pintle mount for his LMG, the mage kicked open the back door and started chucking spells, the sec guard drove the van while leaning out the window and plugging away with his pistol while the physad with the motorcycle acted as an outrider and scout. We even had the noncombat decker leaning out the window firing a combat shotgun he didn't know how to use. It was a great time, a little goofy at points but it was still probably one of our most memorable sessions.

We still talk about that session and 'DISPERSE!' has become practically the groups battlecry when dealing with a huge mob.

 

[jdrakeh]

• 9 out of 10 times, a deliberately orchestrated TPK is only for for the sadist DM running the game. Also, 1 out of every 10 players is a disturbed masochist.
  
  
• Allowing all of the old players in your group to get away with bloody murder but doing your best to 'test' the new player in the group by ensuring that they're punished for doing anything isn't a trial by fire -- it's you and your friends being !@#@&$%!
  
  
• Simply depicting graphic sex acts or brutal violence in your game does not make you or your campaign more mature or adult. Mostly, it just squigs out any sane, healthy, people who happen to be within earshot.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Doug Douglason taught me that I need to create an immersive fantasy of epic Gygaxian proportions.

I'm still working on it.

 

[Wik]

In a homebrewed world I played in, the GM gave out extra credit XP if we made a unique magic item, an NPC, a historical event and a place. He incorporated them into the plot/world (with modifications that he saw fit) and a good deal of them have been major parts of the game. It made his job of fleshing out the world a little easier and as a player it's very fun to see one of your creations pop up in the game.

I've heard of this one, and it's something I'd love to see done. I really should do it myself. Shadowrun does something similar, with players creating their own contacts at character creation - and since contacts are a huge part of the game, they come into play quite often. A feature I've always loved.

 

[MINI]

9. Related to #3, incorporate player feedback. "Feedback" doesn't simply mean, "Did I run a good game" and they say, "Oh yeah dude, you rock. Just keep on doing what you're doing". That's obvious feedback and while it's useful to a point (part of the whole communication thing), the _really_ useful feedback is when someone or other goes along and says, "Dude, wouldn't it be cool if..." or "Oh man, I'm going to do [whatever]."

I used to hand out a survey after the end of my games. It was all anonymous and i found some of the answers surprising and very helpful. I still also take player feedback on a regular basis.

Take a moment to fill out the survey.

Rate each question with a short comment.

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Character Name?

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Game Mechanics
==========
Were proper game mechanics used in the game?

Are there any rulings in the game you disagreed with?

Story Elements
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Was the plot of this game interesting? If so what was interesting about it? If not, why not?

Did the NPC's seem realistic to you? What made them so?


Role-Play
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Did you like how you role-played this game? Why or why not?

Did you like how the other players role-played this game? Cite any examples, thsi will stay private.

OpenRPG
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Were any maps, backgrounds or preprepared nodes (such as an introduction summary) used in the game?

Did the GM use miniatures on the map?


GM Techniques
=========
Did the GM control the flow of the game well?

Were combats paced quickly enough?

Was there enough Combat this game?

was there enough RP this game?




Player Techniques
===========
Did you learn anything this game? mention new rules, things you learned about teh story or NPC's, anything new.

Was the game challenging? If so how was it a challenge? if not what could have been done to make it more of a challenge?


Optional Player Input
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[Bob the Destroyer]

The three most important things that I've learned in playing in another DM's game are

1. To be descriptive, it is much more interesting if the DM says "You knock aside the bugbear's mace and, ducking under his shield, drive your spear up through his throat, killing him.", than if he says " you deal 10 damage, the bugbear is dead.

2. Let yourself get excited about the game, the players can see if you're having a good time and they will get more involved in what is happening in-game than if you appear to be bored.

3. Never DM when you don't feel alert and awake. I have found that a lot of the time a drowsy DM doesn't have the energy to keep things interesting and the game devolves into seemingly endless dice-rolling.

Bob the Destroyer

 

[cr0m]

How'd they get the XP for the survey if it was anonymous?