Black Omega
First Post
How to be good GM threads popped uprecently and had some interesting ideas. Someone mentioned Aaron Allstron's Strike Force and someone else mentioned How to be a bad GM. So, I dug out my old copy of Strike Force and present Ten Ways to Ruin A Campaign. This was originally put out by Aaron Allston in the early 80's but the book has been out of print so long it's a miracle if you find one. Stuff in quotes is from the book. Sometime I should compare the player types in SF to the playertypes DnD uses.
1. Never let your player-characters be the best at anything.
""PC's like to be considered experts in their fiels, and it's your job to make sure they understand that they're really not. Always have an NPC around who is better at the PC's skills and professions. When your heros are overwhelmed by enemies, have your NPC's save them . Every time."
Omega Note: This applies more to Hero System, where a starting character can be a nobel prize winning scientist, than it does in DnD where most starting characters are scrubs. But the basic idea is valid and one I definitely broke in younger days. Don't have NPC's show up the heros all the time. I like to think I've gotten better at having a world with interesting NPC's without them dominating gameplay.
2. Make sure the Plot and the NPC's are more important than the PC's.
"On a related matter, make sure the plot and NPC's you worked so hard to create aren't seriously disturbed by the actions of the PC's. Given the chance, your players will come up with plans and tactics that are directly backwards of what you thought they'd do. Don't hesitate to force them back into the plot line as you conceived it."
Omega Note: Seemed appropriate with several threads talking about railroading. Lord knows it's easy to fall in love with cool NPC's you create. There have been a couple of times I thought to myself "It's a shame the PC's will just kill this guy tommorrow."
3. Force your PC's into role their players hate.
"Players shouldn't be dictating to you the roles they want their characters's to take. If a hero wants to be shiney and respected, frame him for murder and make everyone hate him. ... And don't forget about deliberarely crippling and scarring the heros for plot effect."
Omega Notes: Ugh. I tend to avoid crippling at all costs, aside from something really dumb happening like a PC reaching into metal lionhead with an open mouth to try and pick the lock there without checking for traps.
To a minor degree, a short arc where a paladin is framed (for example) can be fun, but if it causes problems with the player it should not be a continuing theme. Not everyone wants to be the Amazing Spiderman.
4. Introduce Genre conventions your players hate.
"Here's a question, who's campaign is it anyway? If you'd like for the heros to spend their careers as fugitives from the law, go ahead, regardless of what your players think of the idea."
Omega Note: Do you ever get the idea AA has dealt with alot of power tripping GMs?
5. Overcomplicate!
"This is fun, create massively comnplex plots with clues flying around like clouds of bats. then make the players feel like idiots when they can't figure things out. ... In association with rules #1 and #2 above, be sure to have an NPC thinker on hand to figure everything out when the PC's are too dumb too."
Omega Note: While it's not intentional, I've been guilty of plots that were overly complex. What seems obvious to me sometimes, is obviously less obvious to my players. I'm working on this, but haven't really found the right balance of obvious to subtle yet.
6. Always obey dice rolls; Never surender the scene!
Omega Note: This can be a point of style for some games. Some people prefer to just roll the diceand never fudge, just let the dice fall where they may. Personally, if a it's been a long, hard fought struggle, it's 2 AM and a PC has just reduced the bad guy to 1 HP, I'm willing to call it a kill instead of using that last cute critical wounds the bad guy might have had. It's fudging a little, but in a way that gives a good climax to the game.
7. Drone.
"When game-mastering uyse narration instead of acting out dialogue, always stay as calm as possible while describing everything out in minute detail. Keep telling yourself it's only a game."
8. Get to know your players -- and step on their psychological limitations.
"Find out what your players want out of a campaign -- and by denying it to them show them who's really boss. ... Don't forget the player's lesser irritations: if the players truly dislike a recurrent villain, have him show up all the time."
Omega Note: I've so seen this in my old days in university. The hated recurring villain can be an accident of a GM simply too in love with his NPC to realize everyone else hates him. But we've all seen the power tripping GM at some point.
9. Use characters as leverage on players.
"Try making this anouncement: 'If you are not here on time, I start tearing up character sheets.'"
10. Ignore complaints.
"Finally, some of your players may tell you they're not enjoying themselves, but that they would if you just changed a few things. Well, don't."
Omega Notes: And more so, lack of communication is always a hazard in a game. It's great to know what works and what doesn't and you can't tell all that just from player's reactions to the game.
1. Never let your player-characters be the best at anything.
""PC's like to be considered experts in their fiels, and it's your job to make sure they understand that they're really not. Always have an NPC around who is better at the PC's skills and professions. When your heros are overwhelmed by enemies, have your NPC's save them . Every time."
Omega Note: This applies more to Hero System, where a starting character can be a nobel prize winning scientist, than it does in DnD where most starting characters are scrubs.
But the basic idea is valid and one I definitely broke in younger days. Don't have NPC's show up the heros all the time. I like to think I've gotten better at having a world with interesting NPC's without them dominating gameplay.2. Make sure the Plot and the NPC's are more important than the PC's.
"On a related matter, make sure the plot and NPC's you worked so hard to create aren't seriously disturbed by the actions of the PC's. Given the chance, your players will come up with plans and tactics that are directly backwards of what you thought they'd do. Don't hesitate to force them back into the plot line as you conceived it."
Omega Note: Seemed appropriate with several threads talking about railroading. Lord knows it's easy to fall in love with cool NPC's you create. There have been a couple of times I thought to myself "It's a shame the PC's will just kill this guy tommorrow."
3. Force your PC's into role their players hate.
"Players shouldn't be dictating to you the roles they want their characters's to take. If a hero wants to be shiney and respected, frame him for murder and make everyone hate him. ... And don't forget about deliberarely crippling and scarring the heros for plot effect."
Omega Notes: Ugh. I tend to avoid crippling at all costs, aside from something really dumb happening like a PC reaching into metal lionhead with an open mouth to try and pick the lock there without checking for traps.
To a minor degree, a short arc where a paladin is framed (for example) can be fun, but if it causes problems with the player it should not be a continuing theme. Not everyone wants to be the Amazing Spiderman.4. Introduce Genre conventions your players hate.
"Here's a question, who's campaign is it anyway? If you'd like for the heros to spend their careers as fugitives from the law, go ahead, regardless of what your players think of the idea."
Omega Note: Do you ever get the idea AA has dealt with alot of power tripping GMs?
5. Overcomplicate!
"This is fun, create massively comnplex plots with clues flying around like clouds of bats. then make the players feel like idiots when they can't figure things out. ... In association with rules #1 and #2 above, be sure to have an NPC thinker on hand to figure everything out when the PC's are too dumb too."
Omega Note: While it's not intentional, I've been guilty of plots that were overly complex. What seems obvious to me sometimes, is obviously less obvious to my players.
I'm working on this, but haven't really found the right balance of obvious to subtle yet.6. Always obey dice rolls; Never surender the scene!
Omega Note: This can be a point of style for some games. Some people prefer to just roll the diceand never fudge, just let the dice fall where they may. Personally, if a it's been a long, hard fought struggle, it's 2 AM and a PC has just reduced the bad guy to 1 HP, I'm willing to call it a kill instead of using that last cute critical wounds the bad guy might have had. It's fudging a little, but in a way that gives a good climax to the game.
7. Drone.
"When game-mastering uyse narration instead of acting out dialogue, always stay as calm as possible while describing everything out in minute detail. Keep telling yourself it's only a game."
8. Get to know your players -- and step on their psychological limitations.
"Find out what your players want out of a campaign -- and by denying it to them show them who's really boss. ... Don't forget the player's lesser irritations: if the players truly dislike a recurrent villain, have him show up all the time."
Omega Note: I've so seen this in my old days in university. The hated recurring villain can be an accident of a GM simply too in love with his NPC to realize everyone else hates him. But we've all seen the power tripping GM at some point.
9. Use characters as leverage on players.
"Try making this anouncement: 'If you are not here on time, I start tearing up character sheets.'"
10. Ignore complaints.
"Finally, some of your players may tell you they're not enjoying themselves, but that they would if you just changed a few things. Well, don't."
Omega Notes: And more so, lack of communication is always a hazard in a game. It's great to know what works and what doesn't and you can't tell all that just from player's reactions to the game.
