How to improve at DMing?

[Silver Moon]

Also, try to minimize distractions. Keep the TV off, the Magic cards put away, and take specified breaks for eating. Its amazing how much small destraction detract from the overall gaming environment. Also, make sure tha the gaming environment is adequat. I played in a short lived campaign where the setting for the game was just wrong. The DM's non-gamer spouse was constantly interrupting, the room was extremely humid, and the only seating was an uncomfortable couch. This just didn't work well.

Baraendur is right about this one, as our group alternated houses for our first decade, and some were clearly better than others. The worst was a player who lived in a moble-home, so the kitchen that we played in was open to the living room where the SO intentionally tried to distrupt the game - usually by putting in video tapes of Monty Python during the game.

 

[Delemental]

I will add in my two cp here as well, being one of those who doesn't consider himself a very good DM despite the fact that his players tell him otherwise.

The best thing I ever did was stop trying to fight my personality. When I first started DMing, I tried to run very serious, epic-style campaigns, because that's what I enjoy playing in. However, I am by nature a not very serious person (I'm never one to complain much about out-of-game jokes, since I'm usually the worst offender), and my first campaigns quickly disintegrated as both my players and I lost interest.

Recently, I began running an occasional game of Dragonstar. This time, I embraced my tendencies. While I do have an overall plot for the campaign, it's very light, and for the most part the game is more tongue-in-cheek. I'm happy, my players are happy, problem solved.

I suppose this advice is much like the previous suggestions to "play up your strengths", but I'd refine it to "run the game that suits you". And keep in mind that the kind of game you like to play in may be different from the kind you like to run. For me, I love playing in epic, heavily-plotted campaigns, but I can't run them.

Also, I will second (or third, or wherever we're at) the advice to be firm. When I started, I thought the key was to keep players happy, so I caved in on almost everything. Today I know that gamers, like children, need structure and limits. Now, like children, gamers will occasionally rebel against those limits, but hold firm. As long as you're fair and consistent, you're fine (along those lines, make sure you write down any house rulings you do make - this is especially important in multi-DM groups, where each DM does things a little differently).

And take this fact to heart; despite your misgivings about your abilities, your players keep coming back. That alone is a sign of success, especially in a multi-DM group like yours. If your players truly felt that you sucked, you'd know it.

 

[La Bete]

Hi randomling,

as has been said before, dont stress too much about your dming sucking - if it really did, people wouldnt play under you!

That said, there are two key things that have drastically improved my dming recently (I have run some good games, but Ive had my share of die-offs), but since trying to pay more attention to these points, my games have been doing well.

1. Preparation - not necessarily hours and hours of prep, but some quick cheat-sheets of names, etc. I frequently head to my game with just a few scrawled notes in my notebook. Plus I always have a dozen names for NPC of each race for that "name-brain-drain" moment.

2. Consistency. If the nature of your games is consistent, then you players are more able to immerse themselves in your game. This can be everything from noting down the names of npcs the PC's have met, to ensuring house rules are clear and upfront. Also ensure that your world is internally consistent - i.e. why does the little village populated by good people nestled at the bottom of the Mountain of Doom, Stronghold of the Dread Wizard Hoojiwazzit survive? etc.

Running short sessions can also help - though if you are running online games, you are getting the benefit of this already.

I used to have problems sometimes when I was running evening games - sometimes there would be a session when the game really lost traction, and people were just milling around. 3-4 hours of that a few weeks in a row will kill most games.

Or the party would take completely unexpected paths, and in the scramble to keep up, eventually, without the opportunity to collect my thoughts, I would make a mistake that would often appear 'silly' - which would damage the feel of the game.
Recently however, I started running a lunchtime game - with only an hour to deal with, the sessions rarely run away from you.


hope this helps....


PS, whatever you do, dont do a'hand of god' or 'super-npc saves the party' until you are really confident with your dming - its really, really Really easy to screw this up.

 

[Tyberious Funk]

I wouldn't describe myself as a good DM, but I don't think I am too bad either. I have had some moment of pure magic, but some downsides as well. My general suggestions for running a good game are:

Good characters - good DMs make interesting NPCs, but they also help players to develop and grow their own characters as well. There is no point populating your world with interesting NPCs if the PCs are bland, boring and underdeveloped. Look at character development as an important aim for all the principles in your story arcs.

Good story - whether you are writing a piece of non-fiction, or plotting an adventure, many of the elements of a cracking story are the same. Think of some of the great books you've read and the great movies you've watched and think of the elements you can borrow for your campaign. Power, money, greed, romance, lust... these fit in to any genre and any campaign.

Flexibility - Good characters and a good story are all very well, but players have a habit of de-railing things. Keep flexible enough to go with the flow... but at the same time, be prepared to get strick when things get a bit too out of hand ie, learn to give the gentle push back on track without making it *look* like you are pushing... you need to maintain the illusion of free will

Work right and work smart - a lot of good DMs recommend plenty of preparation, but at the same time, some of the best sessions I've seen/played have been almost totally improvised. I think there is a balance somewhere in between. Don't go overboard with the amount of work you do before a session... work out the right amount of prep you need to do for a session and stick to it. I've spent many hours preparing for a session only to watch my hard work go out the window when the players took an unexpected turn. Learn to only prepare the important, key components of the story. If you have extra time and want to put in the extra effort, work on some generic game things that can be used anyplace... eg, taverns that can be placed in any town, wandering monsters, random NPC traits/descriptions, interesting non-standard treasure hauls.

I'd like to hear some thoughts from experienced DMs on the way to build a good *campaign*. I can keep the intensity high for several months, and then interest starts to wane, and before long, we start talking about moving to a new game system and trying something a bit different. Building long-term interest and excitment can be rather difficult. Getting your players to come back for the next session is quite easy... getting them to come back for every session for the next 18months is a bit harder.

 

[randomling]

Wow -- once again, thanks everyone. Particularly Buttercup for those links (I've found a very interesting module in Asgard magazine which I think I'm going to play with, and got hold of lots of generators).

I'd definitely be interested in campaign-running tips too!