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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ralts Bloodthorne" data-source="post: 2928229" data-attributes="member: 6390">OK, all thanks to Buttercup for putting this in a Word Document so we can revive this.Now, if I can just get a moderator to change the title of the other thread to "Creating a World" or something like that...Anyway, without further ado, there is the old thread...Tim Willard’s rules of good DMingThe #1 Rule: Know your players and respect their abilities/desires.Everyone is different. Make a nice list at the beginning of the campaign, and ask everyone to rate how much they want of each, on a scale of 1 to 10:•    Roleplaying •    Hack n Slash •    Politics •    Magic •    Psionics •    Exploration •    Drama •    High Power •    Starting Level •    Starting Gear •    Monstrous Foes •    Moral Dilemmas •    Mysteries •    Dungeon Crawls •    Divine InterventionThis will give you an idea of what they want from the setting. Giving the players a choice of starting level can make a difference. Drop the lowest and highest, get the average, and set that as your campaign baseline, with the highest/lowest as the extremes.Take the pre-campaign prep time to give the player's a back-story on the location they are starting in, local rulers, famous people, major events. Make a sheet with the different information based by character class, according to the amounts of ranks in Knowledge (Local History) and Knowledge (Nobility) and Knowledge (History) that you can snip apart and hand to character's after creation.Print up a copy of all house rules, 3rd party rules/material, RAW adjustments that will be standard, and hand them out.Have notes on local culture, including mode of dress, customs, meal time, etc. Many players will skip over it, but you can make it work. Having culture gives the PC's something to fit within, and gives the players an easier time of coming up with back-stories.Agree on the following rule: Major NPCs will be no more than 3 levels/CR higher than the highest PC. Average NPC in a group will be lowest PC-3 (or 1/4 CR). Agree to the theory of: As a GM my NPC villains can be ruthless, conniving, and have plans that span months or even years. Sometimes, they will know your weakness. Finally, the most important: Foe level totals will not exceed more than 150% of the parties total levels.Insist that the player's create a PARTY. Yes, they can be individuals and have individual goals and desires, but they must be compatible.Insist on a credible back story. All PC's must have relatives. If all their relatives are dead, make sure to penalize them in some way. I know it sounds cruel, but too many times the players try to avoid entanglements with the old "All family killed and eaten by rabid shrews."Have a village for the PC's to explore, start off your introduction phase.Devote the FIRST NIGHT to character introduction and creation. Include a few problems, maybe a giant spider or something to kill that fits within the framework you have already established.Then, listen to any complaints, desires, comments. Perhaps people have changed their minds about what they want, maybe they seriously dislike or find offensive something.So far, you've devoted a lot of work, well, welcome to being a GM. Still, insist that your player's keep notes. If they don't, then expect you to replay a conversation for their 18 Int wizard, just go on about how Baron Wunderbyte kept blathering on and on while the PC was watching the woman in the courtyard outside go through her morning exercises.Remember the following thing, and make sure the players understand it also: YOU are the ultimate arbiter of decisions, and they should trust you as much as you trust them to keep accurate track of consumables and hit points.The Second Big Rule:No campaign/adventure/encounter survives 1 round of contact with the PC's.This means you need to familiarize yourself with the player's habits and thought processes, familiarize yourself with their playing style and how they utilize their abilities. This will allow you to keep a step or two ahead of them.DO NOT USE THIS TO GIVE THE OPPONENTS AN EDGE! This allows you to accurately predict the outcomes of fights. Remain fair and impartial, and use it your advance planning to figure out what your NPCs will do.That may sound contradictory, but here's a good rule of thumb:A Monster/NPC has roughly 5% chance of correctly predicting an opponent's actions per CR/Level.By deciding in advance what a monster/NPC is going to do, when a PC asks "What does it look like XXXXX intends" you can answer firmly. The same goes for monsters, but it requires either a Knowledge (Tactics) [A skill I highly recommend be transferred from d20 Modern, along with the Teamwork feat] with a DC of 15+PC's level, or a die roll of 25-creatures Level/CR.Eventually, you'll be able to adjudicate this in your head logically.Rule #3:The player's don't exist in a vacuum and their actions have effects.This produces two effects:#1: The PLAYERS feel like their actions make a difference. Keep a reputation modifier (snatch it out of the d20 Modern SRD) in your notes, and there's a chance that the PC's are recognized, with good AND ill effects.#2: Foolish or self-destructive actions come back and bite them, making it so that they will think about it.To further it, you can handle Munchkins in the setting without destroying the game: Use the Old Gunslinger parable. These tough guys hear of the munchkin, and go out to prove their better than the PC. YOU have an unlimited amount of these wannabe gunslingers, the Munchkin will eventually learn his lesson. See, the wannabe doesn't call out the whole party, just the Munchkin.Rule #4Make things logically extend. Is the city a haven for mages? Add rival guilds and political power groups, random monsters that break loose and rampage until stopped. Laws regarding magic.</blockquote>

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