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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Piratecat" data-source="post: 2002069" data-attributes="member: 2">Tracked them down - <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=1557857&postcount=710" target="_blank">post # 710</a> of my story hour.  Lela had asked what my personal DMing rules are.Rule 1: Don't believe hype or take yourself too seriously. It's a game, not the cure for world hunger, and pretentious ego-bloated DMing isn't a lot of fun for anyone. Most importantly, play with friends who you'd want to spend time with outside of the game.Rule 2: Give the players opportunities to use their cool abilities, because a neat class ability or spell that doesn't get used isn't fun. For this reason, I tried to cut off PC limbs for months after Velendo got access to regeneration. You can be sure that if the group had a rogue, this last adventure would have been laden with more rogue-tastic opportunities.Rule 3: Don't over-prepare. It makes my games more boring and my thinking too rigid. On the other hand, document NPCs and game history scrupulously, and tie it into later adventures.Rule 4: Demand that your players bring nasty, unidentifiable Japanese candy to each game. This creates group bonding when the candy is tried and evaluated. An actual quote:"This salted plum-flavored candy tastes like Worcestershire Sauce-covered cigarette butts! It's utterly revolting! Here, try one."Rule 5: Plan far ahead, and build on what has come before. This allows you to steer the game towards cool occurrences and to successfully foreshadow.Rule 6: Scatter plot hooks near and far, dozens of them, then only use the ones that seem like fun.Rule 7: Give every player/PC screen time and story focus, spreading the attention out equally. I really learned this from Sagiro, who is astonishing at giving each PC their time in the spotlight.Rule 8: Ask your players for regular feedback on how you're doing, at least once a year. When you get bad news, which is inevitable, embrace it and work to improve those rough edges. Ask your group for ideas on how to improve problem areas (such as slow combat), especially when they can be part of the solution.Rule 9: Long epic-ish plot arcs are great, but only if they're broken up with fun side-adventures that are unrelated. Too much of anything (including grim despair or fear of death or in-game humor) gets old fast.Rule 10: Make the world change as a result of the PCs' actions, even when the group isn't around. Houses burn down and get built, babies get born and elderly people die. Revolutions occur and politicians connive, other heroes make names for themselves, and the seasons turn. This sense of time passing can help make a game come alive.</blockquote>

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