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<blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 67504" data-attributes="member: 812">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, &quot;You gotta have a plan. You won't get to use it, but you've gotta have it anyway.&quot; 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.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="barsoomcore, post: 67504, member: 812"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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