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How Do You Stop TPKs/Killer GM Habits?
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<blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 8689950" data-attributes="member: 90374"><p>First suggestion is adjust your style. I think it takes a delicate GM hand to run a long plot based campaign. Running published adventures is not easy, despite the notion that they do the work for you. No published adventure can account for GM and player playstyle. You have to adapt the material. That means changing some of the fiction so that important clues are not left out. Also, certain encounters need to be adjusted because of poor placement or use. This means adventure material and system.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Understand the system and how it plays. There is always growing pains on both sides of the screen.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Do your homework. Read the adventure material well in advance. Be prepared for the entire session and don't wing it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Check the community on their thoughts. Folks are happy to share what works for them and what doesn't.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Give the players tools to save their bacon. Hero Points or whatever meta currency. (This isnt all or nothing you can dial it to taste)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When things go south, try to adapt. If the players get shellacked by Goblins, don't let them walk into a second buzzsaw. Give them a chance to recoup. On the flip side, if an encounter goes down like a glass jaw, add something to spice it up. Dont be afraid to improvise and change up the material. (This is also not an all or nothing suggestion. Could simply be in case of emergency tool.) </li> </ul><p><em>The better you get as GM the less you should need to do these things.</em></p><p></p><p>Second suggestion is to lean into the game part of the RPG. Your style might just be that the <em>game</em> is utmost important. Your role is simply to be impartial. You set up a fair, yet difficult adventure for the players. It is their job to survive and thrive the adventure. It is your job to explain that no holds are barred and the dice fall where they may. That winning is always an option, but not always likely. </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Avoid long plot based adventures. Stick to sandboxes and/or one shot episodic adventures.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Understand the system and how its meant to be played. Communicate it! </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> Avoid systems with complicated chargen.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Signpost your adventures. Dont leave a sign laying on the ground covered in mud that says "dragon this way!" and hope the PCs find it.</li> </ul><p>I believe you have an easier time with your own adventures because they are all you. The plot makes sense because you came up with it. You know how to run the encounters because you chose them. You grok how its supposed to work because you chose the system. Nothing wrong with any of this, but if you want to deliver a fun published adventure experience, you need to realize it takes a combination of you and the material. Dive in and live it. Make it you, or else you are just phoning in somebody else's work. That's my advice on adventure material for you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="payn, post: 8689950, member: 90374"] First suggestion is adjust your style. I think it takes a delicate GM hand to run a long plot based campaign. Running published adventures is not easy, despite the notion that they do the work for you. No published adventure can account for GM and player playstyle. You have to adapt the material. That means changing some of the fiction so that important clues are not left out. Also, certain encounters need to be adjusted because of poor placement or use. This means adventure material and system. [LIST] [*]Understand the system and how it plays. There is always growing pains on both sides of the screen. [*]Do your homework. Read the adventure material well in advance. Be prepared for the entire session and don't wing it. [*]Check the community on their thoughts. Folks are happy to share what works for them and what doesn't. [*]Give the players tools to save their bacon. Hero Points or whatever meta currency. (This isnt all or nothing you can dial it to taste) [*]When things go south, try to adapt. If the players get shellacked by Goblins, don't let them walk into a second buzzsaw. Give them a chance to recoup. On the flip side, if an encounter goes down like a glass jaw, add something to spice it up. Dont be afraid to improvise and change up the material. (This is also not an all or nothing suggestion. Could simply be in case of emergency tool.) [/LIST] [I]The better you get as GM the less you should need to do these things.[/I] Second suggestion is to lean into the game part of the RPG. Your style might just be that the [I]game[/I] is utmost important. Your role is simply to be impartial. You set up a fair, yet difficult adventure for the players. It is their job to survive and thrive the adventure. It is your job to explain that no holds are barred and the dice fall where they may. That winning is always an option, but not always likely. [LIST] [*]Avoid long plot based adventures. Stick to sandboxes and/or one shot episodic adventures. [*]Understand the system and how its meant to be played. Communicate it! [*] Avoid systems with complicated chargen. [*]Signpost your adventures. Dont leave a sign laying on the ground covered in mud that says "dragon this way!" and hope the PCs find it. [/LIST] I believe you have an easier time with your own adventures because they are all you. The plot makes sense because you came up with it. You know how to run the encounters because you chose them. You grok how its supposed to work because you chose the system. Nothing wrong with any of this, but if you want to deliver a fun published adventure experience, you need to realize it takes a combination of you and the material. Dive in and live it. Make it you, or else you are just phoning in somebody else's work. That's my advice on adventure material for you. [/QUOTE]
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