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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5689795" data-attributes="member: 22424">Okay, since you asked for specifics:- Keep the game light-hearted and fun. Serious games are certainly possible, and if done right can be awesome. But IME you need an experienced DM and buy-in from all the players. If in doubt, stick with "light-hearted and fun"; do serious later.- Keep the game moving. If you keep everyone involved, keep the pace up, and avoid getting bogged down (for any reason), it covers a multitude of sins. Consider this the "Dan Brown" effect - you're writing can be awful and your plot idiotic, but if the pace is fast enough nobody will notice.- Prepare as much as you need, but no more than that. For a combat-heavy game, you probably need to give quite a lot of thought to monster groups, combat terrain, and complications. For a story-heavy game, you can probably get away with a web of character interactions and a bunch of pregen stats.- Say "yes". The 4e DMG maybe takes this a bit too far, but it's still good advice. If in doubt, let the player try something. Especially if it's awesome.- If in doubt, set a target number and roll some dice. 4e has "page 42", which is an excellent aide for setting DCs. For 3e, at low level go for DC 15 or 20, rising to 25 and then 30 at higher levels. Or just pull a number that feels right.- Use 'gimmicks', but don't be a slave to them. If minis help you visualise combat, use them. If you find they slow things down, get rid. If power cards help, use them, but if they get lost... Experiment with background music, but if it becomes a distraction stop. And so on.- Be on time, be prepared, be appropriately dressed, be... Well, you get the idea. Basically, if you're an adult, you should know how to act. Sometimes, it's shocking how few gamers do. Just by not being a jerk you put yourself in a good light!- To your own self be true. Ultimately, it is you who is running the game. Not your rules-lawyer player, not your mentor, not some random guys on the net, and not me. So find the style that suits you, and go with that. You'll always do your best work that way - run the game for you, not for how you think others think it should be run. And if that means ignoring (or directly contradicting) any of the advice here, then do that. Honestly, I won't mind. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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