Learning to do DM type things

[DungeonKeeperUK]

I've been DMing for about 20 years now (ouch is it that long!) and I think you'll find DMing adn being a good story teller all comes with experience. I think that fact you are asking about this adn show an interest in developing you skills shows that you are willing to look at different ways of unning games and well thast a great start...

How I usually run my games is to first of all sit and create teh characters with the players, developing their history with them and all the time looking at posibilities for their future too adn how they might be linked with other players.

Once I have the players and their backgrounds sorted, I look at how they would fit into my world and the kind of adventure said players would embark upon, why they are all together (Its been a while since "You all meet at the Inn... off to adventure.. ) what would push them to go adventuring.

I then plan world events that might be happening, wars, slavery, political intigue, huge mushroom men with stabby sticks, whatever it is I have that running in my head the whole time. The world events continue whatever teh PC's decide to do.

They may very well know about the evil rising to the north despoiling and moving thier way south.... but it s up to them what they want to do, they may just decide to head down a dungeon adn get a bit gold.

At times the world events will impede upon what they are doing and they will innevitably get involved to a certain extent in what is happening, but mainly I try to run the adventure to their needs..

Now this comes to the planning, something I find very important, I have the benefit of a few years under my belt so I have a shed full of adventures, sub-plots, side line, hidden trails.. etc that I can plug into the campaign should the party head off at a tangent.


So to summise I would consider the 3 key elements to DMing (in my style anyway) are planning, adabtability, foresight and knowledge of your players... no the 4 key elements to Dming are planning, adabtability, foresight, knowledge of your players and the ability to think on your feet.... (I think you get the point.. and thank you Monty Python)
But being able to hold the players with a tale, fighten them when needed, sadden then adn fill them with joy as players adn within their characters is something I always try to take from a game.... just generally to have a damn good time..

I'll go now, think I've bored you enough, adn well done to have read this far..

 

[barsoomcore]

If I may be permitted an excursion into tenuous metaphor (and a chance to blather on about both my obsessions):

DMing is like film directing.

The best directing advice I ever got was from a fellow no more experienced than myself, who said, "You gotta have a plan. You won't get to use it, but you've gotta have it anyway." It's good advice.

Have a plan. Have a story you think will be really cool and will connect with your players in some way. Prepare. Write lots of stuff. Rehearse the big moments in your head (am I the only one who does this?) Have your stats and maps and other good stuff all done up and ready to go.

And keep in mind that if your players actually show any interest in the story at all, even if they go into it backwards and chuck all your careful plans out the window, you're well ahead of the game. It's just not going to go the way you planned -- deal. Present it to them, see what they do and start improvising like mad. That's what all of us do. That's a big part of what makes it fun.

Remember that you're not telling them the story -- they're telling it to you. You play the little characters -- they play the heroes. If you can just come up with situations that involve them intellectually and emotionally, THEY'LL tell the story much better than you ever could.

Or, possibly, they'll stomp all over your carefully crafted storylines and laugh at you. It happens.

I love DMing. I truly do.