New to DM'ing

[jasper]

1. Keep it simple for the first couple of games. I recommend the Dm's Guild Adventure League Season 1- 7 modules which are 4 to 5 1 hour adventures. I think they are DDAL01-01, DDAL02-01, etc.
1A, (Don't go whole hall. A tavern and a four room goblin lair is enough at the beginning).
2. Important information. Clue 1, Clue 2, Clue 3 and then CLUE HAMMER. "Hey blockhead here is important info write down! I don't see your pencils moving!"
3. The Story is not your Plot line. It where the thief went off on his own and got busted for putting peanuts in his Dr. Pepper. The Goblins ate the family and moved into the family's house. (see 1a.)
4. Make mistakes and move on. If you can't find the rule in 3 minutes, make a guess. If PCs' bodies are not on the floor, it does not matter. You can do research after the game to find the book rule.
5. Sandbox and getting them back on track. Depends they decided to go to New York City instead of London, move the monsters to New York City (no one will notice).
6. World information. Varies, I would not do much world building.
7. Player interrupting you. This varies. Does the group need the information tell Celebrim to shut up (nicely). If not important, let Celebrim yank on.
8. If necessary limit player choices, like player's handbook only. No Imucalta I don't care if we are using your pool room and you have all the books, PHB ONLY for x months.

 

[jasper]

9. Use the starter set adventure.

 

[MNblockhead]

2. Important information. Clue 1, Clue 2, Clue 3 and then CLUE HAMMER. "Hey blockhead here is important info write down! I don't see your pencils moving!"

Okay, okay, gheesh, I didn't know this was a class!

;-)

 

[Imaculata]

A thing I forgot to comment on earlier, is how to distribute narrative across a sandbox campaign.

This may seem complicated, but you can make things really easy on yourself, by making your plothooks independent of any specific location. If for example a local city is under attack, there are all manner of ways in which the players could come upon this information that is unrelated to their current whereabouts. Npc's are always useful for this purpose: They could hear about it from a towncrier, or from traveling merchants. They could stumble upon someone in a bar who tells them this information, while not actively looking for it. The story can come to the players, if the players don't come to where the story is.

Another more devious way, is to connect seemingly unconnected plots together. For example, if the players are attending a ball, then perhaps the ousted mayor of the besieged city is attending it as well. Perhaps he is there to rally support for his cause? Or maybe he fled as a coward along with the city guards, leaving his city undefended? Maybe the main villain is attending the ball in disguise
and even has a chat with the oblivious players. This allows you to easily set up a shocking reveal further down the line.

 

[pemerton]

I am at a loss for what to do when players interrupt me during a dialog or descriptive scenario.... or skip a piece of my campaign that would explain more about what is actually going on... how do I get them back on track? How do I get the important information to them?

What system are you playing - I assume some version of D&D?

From what you say, it sounds like you are running a pre-scripted game - in the sense that you, as GM, have already decided what the important events are (on track) and have already decided how you will instruct the players in respect of that (important information). For that sort of game to work, you need to be pretty confident that your players will find whatever it is that you've pre-written interesting and exciting. Players declaring actions for their PCs that take them "off track" may be a sign that the players aren't as interested in what you've written as you would like them to be.

If I'm right that you're running D&D, one thing to be aware of is that the system itself doesn't provide much of a way for the players to communicate about what it is they're looking for in the game, or what sorts of adventures they would like for their PCs, other than declaring actions for their PCs. (Eg there is not much of a system framework for the players to do things like establish formal PC goals or aspects, or to establish for themselves the sorts of challenges that confront their PCs.) Hence if the players aren't prepared to talk about these things "out of character" (ie a real-life person-to-person conversation) - and many players may be hesitant to do so if they've been told it's bad to "metagame" - then their only option may be to declare actions that they think will push the game in the direction they want.

I don't run pre-scripted games myself, and so can't offer much advice in respect of them beyond the above. But I will provide links to actual play reports of four first sessions I've GMed over the past few years, in four different systems, that will give you an idea of how I approach GMing:

* 4e D&D Dark Sun

* Burning Wheel (posting as Thurgon on rpg.net)

* Cortex+ Heroic (a fantasy hack of Marvel Heroic RP)

* Classic Traveller

 

[Numidius]

My simple advice is: start with an action scene to let the players roll dice and familiarize with their abilities/powers. Rinse. Repeat. Then continue with whatever you see fit.

 

[Bawylie]

[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] That is what I would like to believe. Table running skills.... how do I gain proficiency in that? lol

Run more games.

Get a little bit better, every time. Learn Walk before you worry about how to Run.

 

[jasper]

Okay, okay, gheesh, I didn't know this was a class!

;-)

That why they are called PC CLASSES, you blockhead. Now stay begin after the game and beat the erasers.

 

[sd_jasper]

Here is my advice: Don't plot a story, set up a problem! PCs are going to go off and do unexpected things. You can't stop that... and nobody is going to have a good time if you try. So avoid trying to set up some grand story that the PCs are "suppose" to get involved in.

Instead, set up a problems in the world that will only resolve if the PCs get involved. Easiest is if the PCs have a goal already. Ask the players what they want to be working towards and then throw some roadblocks in the way. Another option (and my favorite starting place) is to have powerful NPCs or NPC factions that have come to some sort of stalemate. The have that conflict interfere with the PCs in some way. They can always ignore the problem, but that makes their lives hard. So they will have to get involved, pick a side, and change the balance of power.

If the PCs decide to "take a left" and just bolt... go with it... but maybe their problems end up following them, or have already "arrived" at the new destination. Maybe a whole new set of problems await (but I tend to fine a way to tie things together so that the overall theme stays consistent).

Also, how are the PCs interrupting dialog? If they are speaking in character, then the NPC should react and call them out for rudeness or whatever is appropriate. But also be aware that PCs are the "stars" of the show... not the NPCs. And if an NPC is just up "monologuing" and you have written out a 5 min bit of expositions.... stop that! You're going to lose the audience. Just in film, it's better to "show don't tell".