Help! Newbie GM gonna kill it for others!

[the Jester]

Honestly, SaladShooter, the best thing you can do imho is make sure that you encourage him when he gets it right and ensure that all your criticism is constructive.

Don't assume the game will bomb until it starts to drop. A lot of first-time dms are full of great ideas, and sometimes it's good not to let the rules get in the way.

 

[Moleculo]

Keep us posted, I want to see noobie boy pull this off!

/rooting for underdog.

 

[monkeygrrl]

The reason I'm meddling in his affairs is that the GM is my friend, and so are his players...several of them are genuinely interested and may stick around if the game goes kaput, several of them really aren't interested and may not stick around even if the game goes amazing. I remember the first time I tried DMing, I massively flamed out because I made the scenario too rigid and my players squeeked past into something that I really hadn't expected, or planned for, in the first 15 minutes of the first session. It went so badly that I didn't attempt to DM again for quite a while. I want him to not have a massively horrible experience, or his players, so they'll both keep it up. I sound like a mother now ("NO! He can't do this, I did this and got hurt, so it's guaranteed he'll get hurt")...I think he ran his first session tonight, I don't know how it went (at least, I assume he ran it, my PHB is missing, and that means it was borrowed by one of his players or him, at least he was intelligent enough to secure a copy before starting, though I wish he'd asked...) We can only wait and see...

I can understand where you're coming from, and you seem to sincerely want to help, but it still comes off as a little condescending. You are asking for people's opinions and, honestly, if I were you I'd bite my tongue and not offer any advice unless he asks you. Unsolicited advice is hard to give in a way that people will honestly listen to and accept. Sometimes people just need to try things their own way... sometimes it will work, and sometimes it won't.

 

[Salad Shooter]

Haven't talked to anyone in the session yet, but from AIM stalking it looks like the session went well tonight, not sure exactly went on. Guess I was wrong, oh well, it happens (not that I'm upset about it). I'll give you all an update when I talk to people tomorrow. ::sigh:: Nothing like making an @#$ of yourself

 

[S'mon]

Haven't talked to anyone in the session yet, but from AIM stalking it looks like the session went well tonight, not sure exactly went on. Guess I was wrong, oh well, it happens (not that I'm upset about it). I'll give you all an update when I talk to people tomorrow. ::sigh:: Nothing like making an @#$ of yourself

That's how we learn and improve.

It can be hard for many ENWorlders to accept, but encyclopedic knowledge of and adherence to the published D&D ruleset really isn't necessary for a game to be good. It's not a wargame and the published rules are there to help run the game, not as a straitjacket. A GM can run a good game that resembles D&D, while ignoring 95% of the rules.

 

[Pbartender]

Also be aware that if neither he nor his players have any experience with D&D and roleplaying games, then none of them really have any expectations on what the game should be like. That by itself will make it a little more difficult to dissappoint them.

So long as everyone involved is having fun, I'd leave well enough alone.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Talk to the players and let them know that he has no experience running the game and not to let their experience with that DM (I use the world loosely) form their opinions of the game. I had a GM that ran Cyberpunk but even though he had the rulebook he used it only as source material. He'd have us make dice rolls that had no function in the rules as written. The storys were actually pretty good but most nights I went home spitting mad because the characters had been screwed over by some calling the DM made that was clearly contradicted in the rules. Players depend on the rules to ensure a fairly run game. Stretching and working with them is fine but throwing them completely out is not (IMHO).