How do you mentally prepare yourself to DM? or Help me save my player!

[dreaded_beast]

Thanks for more advice everyone!

During the week, I actually think about DND at least a couple times a day, in terms of the kind of characters I want to play, histories, settings, rules, etc. Now that I have taken my first "baby steps" as a DM, I find myself thinking up ideas for adventures for my player, rules that always come up, magic items to give, monsters, etc.

So, I guess I love the anticipation and the "mental planning" of being DM. Now, I just have to get off my lazy butt and type or at least, write my ideas down, hehe.

 

[BSF]

Carry a pocket notebook with you. When you have great ideas, take a moment to write it down.

 

[Yokiboy]

However, when it is actually time to play, I find myself sluggish, lethargic, and a little less enthusiastic.

Hey Beast,

Check out the Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering from Steve Jackson Games. It's a short little booklet that is well worth the $10 pricetag. It will give you insights on what would take years to discover by trial and error.

TTFN,

Yokiboy

 

[Black_Swan]

Quick Tip

I'm a new DM too so the advice on this thread is very much appreciated.

Here's a mistake I made recently.

I had a character grabbed by a creature lurking in a pool. They're struggling uderwater and the scene is great until I realize I forgot about drowning rules. I had to stop and look them up. It totally killed the moment and I saw it in the players face. (Killed the character too...luckily it was a dream sequence).

Planned encounters should be just that, planned. Know the special effects of your creatures and rules that will be necessary for the encounter itself.

I used to give tours at a museum and the number one suggestion they had to help with customers was to remember that you know more than they do.

People will ask questions and people will try to stump you. Just remember that you know more than they do and project that when you speak.

Like others have said, it's all about confidence.

 

[Mighty Halfling]

However, when it is actually time to play, I find myself sluggish, lethargic, and a little less enthusiastic.

I always found that I needed to "wake up" my "talking motor" before games, so I found my favorite CD, threw it into the car stereo at full blast and sang along with the lyrics in various accents (german, english, spanish, southern drawl, etc.). It helped warm me up for a night of talking and role-playing NPCs.
A strange suggestion, but it helps!

 

[Calico_Jack73]

I throw Fellowship of the Ring or Two Towers into the old DVD player and have it playing in the background while I sit in my easy chair reading over my notes. Immersion in the genre helps get me in the mood to run a good game.

 

[Janx]

Here's some basic tips for a new GM:

Try to get 3-4 players (not too many, not too few)

Try to get an "experienced" player to help the newbie, so you don't have to.

If you're all newbies, learn the basics (ala D&D3.5-1.5)
Know how to roll an attack (1d20 + level bonus + STR bonus) > AC = hit
Know how to roll a skill check (1d20 + ranks + stat bonus > DC = success
Use DC15 and DC20 for basic skill checks (DC15 = challenging, DC20=hard)

Get those basics down, before you worry about how specific feats work, and how to use Attacks of Opportunity (in fact, first fights, ignore them).

Tell the players what rules your using (and ignoring for teaching purposes)

Avoid Dream Sequences, they're a bit cliche for "I didn't mean to kill your PC"

Avoid capturing the party (if you capture them, they'll want to escape. It's harder to manage that if you hadn't planned it all)

Never assume you will be successful in having something happen to the party aka RailRoading the party, ie. The duke will capture the PCs here, and take away all their armor and make them go through my dungeon. First off, the party may surprise you and never get captured. Secondly, if you force them by making sure the party always loses, they will not like the game.

Avoid sexual references (at least until you know everyone very well). That means don't rape the PCs, don't strip them naked, don't even play out pick-up lines. This can get out of hand, and easily offend someone's PC.

One new GM I played under made the mistake of forcing a party capture and then stripping all the PCs naked (2 female players) and taking all their stuff (in the first game) because it was the "smart" thing for the guard to do (can't hide anything). This breaks both the don't railroad, and don't mention sex rules, and it really bothered the players. Pretend you're filming an action drama for the 7PM time slot. This gives you a sense of what types of things to have happen in the game.

Early off, keep the plots simple:
1. somebody pays or asks the party to go somewhere and do SOMETHING
SOMETHING = get item, rescue person, kill critter
2. party journeys to place (through town, across land, etc)
3. Party searches place (ie. dungeon, sewer, castle, house) for SOMETHING
4. Party does what is needed to "do SOMETHING"
5. party returns to collect reward

Write up a bunch of these at once, and offer the hooks, run the one that the players bite on. This also gives them something to pursue (after we rescue the princess, let's go fetch that Fungus for that mage")

Just a few tips,
Janx