Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering

[ColonelHardisson]

I can't find links to the Robin Laws stuff I seem to remember, but check out Johnn Four's site:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/

You can download past issues for reading offline; I highly recommend it.

 

[Rune]

Re: My cat's breath smell's like cat food.

The best DMing advice I get is from these boards right here, and unless Morrus decides to become chaotic evil and charge a $200 a month charge for using this heavenly realm, I won't pay money to get them in a book. In a thred somewhere recently P-Kitty posted a ton of great tips that make him the 'superjudge' that he is. I can't find it at the moment however.

That thread would be here.

 

[mmadsen]

For anyone interested in PirateCat's tips, here they are:

• We have an agreed-upon method for rules lawyering. When a rules question comes up, either I rule on the fly or we take 2 minutes (tops) to try and find it. The player gives their opinion, other players give theirs, and I rule based on what I think is fair. Just don't stop the game's momentum to look up relatively unimportant details.
• The pig. We have a piggy bank, with miniscule fines for out of game chatter. It keeps people focused most of the time, and helps pay for soda!
• Make combat go fast. Slow combat is deadly boring. Use index cards sorted by initiative, warn people who is up next, and encourage fast actions. That way, things stay exciting.
• I'm decent at accents, body language, and NPC characterizations.
• Physical handouts, such as notes on aged paper (soak it in coffee to turn it brown), are cool.
• Describe sounds and smells to help make a scene vivid.
• I try to get an understanding of what the players enjoy and want to see in their game. I regularly ask my players whether they want more or less combat, intrigue, puzzles, traps, role playing, politics, etc. Then I try to find a balance that makes everyone happy.
• Have a willingness to let the players win and the flexibility to let them go where they go. Them saying "we go that way!" means that that way is fun for them. Being willing to swallow your clever ideas and plot to let the party lead, then gently leading them back to the plot in another method, is important.
• Have a world that reacts. Never say "you can't do that." Instead, say "Okay, you did that, here's how the world responds." This is both negative and positive responses; your actions may make you enemies, but it may also gets you fame and rewards. Too many DMs forget the positive reactions.
• Don't be afraid to tell the players when they do something clever, or something that you didn't think of. Everyone loves that feeling!
• You are not competing with the players, you're telling the story together. Don't get too attached to your NPCs, and learn to love it when they outwit you.
• Give each player their moment in the sun. Have plots that focus on one or two particular PCs, then move on to other PCs.
• Let the PCs use their cool abilities. What's the point in having a cool spell or power if you never get to use it? When a cleric in my game first got regenerate, I tried really hard to cut a limb off of a PC.... So, don't try to circumvent their clever plans, let them use their powers to solve the adventure, then throw in an additional complication or two. (You see this problem most with DMs who are scared of divination spells and clever/effective PC tactics.)
• Try not to label your monsters by name. Mystery builds excitement; familiarity encourages metagaming. Don't be afraid to keep monster stats the same and change the appearance, just to keep the PCs guessing!
• Finally, don't be afraid to shake things up. Kill a king, invade a country, have an earthquake; when things get predictable, toss in some major change and then watch the repercussions.

 

[mmadsen]

I can't find links to the Robin Laws stuff I seem to remember, but check out Johnn Four's site:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/

You can download past issues for reading offline; I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the tip, ColonelHardisson. I've already enjoyed a few tidbits (re: ancient traps, magic weapon names).

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

ACK! I forgot about Johnn Four's site! That place has to be one of my favorite spots on the web--sign up for his weekly roleplaying tips newsletter--it's wonderful! It's found me so much useful stuff that I can't begin to explain. I am halfway organized as a DM because of his articles on DM binders and his link to a great little program called Milenix MyInfo (www.milenix.com if my memory serves me right--amazing for organizing all your DM-y goodness)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

The weekly e-mailing of Jonn Four's tips is something I look forward to. Also, download the zips of all the earlier issues, and look around the site for material by other folk:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/articles_sorted_by_date.php

 

[mmadsen]

On the original topic, it looks like Falcon and RichGreen bought and enjoyed Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering. Anyone else? And ColonelHardisson browsed through it and thought he'd seen most of it before, probably on-line.

 

[mmadsen]

Can anyone find any articles by Robin Laws on-line? (Sorry, ColonelHardisson, I'm not trying to make you look bad.)

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Is it possible they were pulled when the book was first being published? That seems like a good explanation, because I'm pretty sure I saw some of the stuff from that book online at one time. I also know that I got a link from these message boards originally that led me to a site with various RPG essays, which is where I believe I saw the material in question.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Wow, I would like to thank mmadsen for posting those DMing tips, and PirateCat for writing them up in the first place. Those are some of the best tips for DMs I've seen. I'll definately have to take that advice to heart.