SOS, MAYDAY, New DM in deep s--t, going down... *BOOM*

[Scratched_back]

Just be aware that there is a strong possiblity, that your game WILL not live up to expectations - it may indeed "suck," to turn a phrase. If it does, you will be following in the footsteps of all the DM's who ever came before you - don't let 'em tell you otherwise. Gamemastering is something that is perfected, the same way you drive a car, or play a sport or practice any other hobby.

Heheh, sound advice indeed, a very real possibility. I had considered contingency plans if everyone thought my game sucked, such as changing to another system, or another game entirely, but upon reflection, screw that. I played there's, they can play my damned game, heheh. We generally run a rota system, six months or so, sometimes longer if we're REALLY enjoying a campaign, where we swap games and give the DM a chance to play instead, for the first time, it's MY time to step up to the pedastal.

Some of my friends that game with me are into very hack/slash style games, myself, I like the story and roleplay aspect, the deeper escapism. Any tips on how I can greater encourage the party to let loose and fall into a roll more easily? I mentioned earlier that there's only going to be 3 or 4 players, and I've picked members that do enjoy the roleplay aspect, as opposed to the roll-play aspect, still though, tips would be appreciated :0)

Oh, also, nobody answered earlier when I asked if they (or their DM's) roll out in the open for the combats, or from behind a screen? Obviously, there's less control when you roll infront of the players, but sometime I've felt cheated when a DM's sat behind his screen going "Oooh, look... critical!" just after I've called him tubby for eating five donuts, heheh... I guess that's game-karma though ;0)

-Ben G. (England)

 

[Rel]

1) Get yourself a copy of Robin Laws' "Robins Laws of Good Gamemastering". Read especially carefully the section about player types, why they play and the things that will entertain them in particular. I think a big reason why many early DM's fail (I know it was true for me) is that they design a campaign that THEY think is perfect but doesn't take into account what motivates their particular set of players.

If for some reason getting that book is impractical, write down each player's name on a sheet of paper and write out three situations where they were playing and having an absolute blast. Look for commonalities between the situations you wrote down for each player and determine his general "gaming personality". Does he have the most fun when the party is kicking butt in combat? When he is getting cool rewards from the adventure? When he is solving complex puzzles? When he is roleplaying interactions with NPC's?

Tailor your campaign to be a good compromise between what you like and what each player likes. Design situations where everybody gets some of what he really enjoys out of playing.

2) You'll need to wing it from time to time as mentioned by others. Make life easier on yourself by preparing for the event. Get a list of at least 20-30 male and female names that you can use when you need to slap a moniker on an NPC that you had no idea was going to be important. Get half a dozen or so maps of various places (WotC's "Map of the Week" archive is perfect for this) that you can use as improvised adventure sites. Inns, castles, caves, dungeons, a hill fort, etc. Prepare a few "random encounters" appropriate to the PC's level and have them ready. If they throw you a curve ball, drop an encounter on them to keep them busy while you figure out what to do.

3) Use index cards. Use them to keep track of initiative order. Have one card for each PC and prepare ones for use for the bad guys. I almost never crack open my Monster Manual in the middle of combat because I jot down an abbreviated stat block for each enemy on a card and have it ready to slide into the initiative order. Then I just cycle through the cards. If somebody wants to Delay their action, I lay their card on the table in front of me so they know they can jump in any time they like.

Other people write down treasure, particularly magic items, on such cards. That way they can hand them out when the party gets the treasure. This eradicates issues of "who was carrying what treasure". Whoever has the card has the treasure.

4) "Piratecat's Rule". One of the best things I ever learned on this site was a brilliant bit of wisdom from our own Piratecat: Whenever in doubt, ask yourself this one simple question, "What is the funnest, most exciting thing that could possibly happen right NOW in the game?" It is hard to go wrong with this. Sure it can create a small consistancy problem or two down the line. So what? You can rewrite things afterwards to accomodate whatever twists or turns you caused last session by doing the fun, exciting thing.


The list above is by no means comprehensive but if you follow it you'll be 4 big lessons ahead of where I was when I started DMing some 20+ years ago.

And in answer to your other question, I like rolling in the open. I feel that it heightens the tension and makes the game feel more "real".

Good luck and relax. You'll do fine.

 

[Buttercup]

The most important thing you can bring to the table is your sense of humor. You *will* forget something. A rule, a name, something. When that happens, just laugh at yourself and move on.

For example, during our past session, the PCs IMC were being led to a large cave system with some unknown (large) number of orcs inside. One of the players asked me what the guide's name was, and I couldn't remember! Nor could I find it in my notes. The players were all looking at me expectantly, so I said, "Um, Guy. Guy the Guide." One of them wondered if Guy had a brother named Dude. We all laughed, and fell back into the game. And it was ok. Was it the best session I've ever DMed? Not by a long shot. But it wasn't horrible.

Just relax and have fun. You've done your homework. You're ready. Now go forth and DM!

 

[MerakSpielman]

, I've spent the last two months writing plot hooks, buying sourcebooks and maps, figuring a good setting etc. I've even bought and conquered that elusive text known as the Dungeon Master's Guide. Amazing.

Careful, don't overextend yourself. A member of my group wanted to start up her own campaign... and declared it a bust after 4 sessions. She bit off more than she could chew - made the world too large and complex, the plot too devious, and had too many players. It was too too too much for a newbie DM to deal with all at once, especially when the players didn't notice the clues she was dropping and kept heading off in the wrong direction or missing out on important information.

Use first level, normal-PHB characters. A simple dungeon crawl near town. No complex plot from the beginning - your players and yourself can slowly work your way up to the more world-shattering stuff. Keep it simple for your first time. You know, just like the first time you [potentially grandmother inappropriate metaphor deleted], you didn't use props and stuff, right?

 

[Ferret]

Murphy's law: Anything wrong that can happen will. Anything wrong that can't happen will.

Don't worry if not everything is covered things go wrong first time and you can't change that; but by the way you described it the worst that could happen is a sneeze at most, maybe a cough.

 

[Ferox4]

To answer your dice rolling question:

I roll all skill checks behind the screen, It's too easy for someone to grimace at a low roll or raise their eyebrows at a high one. When the Rogue fails his Search check to find the trap, you want to be able to say, "You do not detct any traps," without him realizing it's because you rolled a 4 on his check. Essentially any rolls that I want to keep secret get rolled behind the screen (duh?). SR checks, % off target for Plane Shift, Teleport %, et cetera.

Combat and saves I roll in the open.

Keeping track of spell durations can also be tricky. At lower levels it's not a big deal because there's not too much magic, but as the PCs become more powerful it can become confusing. I play in a group where I swap the DM chores with one other guy. When I'm not DMing I keep a round by round tabulation of PC actions. It's very helpful.

If you want to encourage better roleplay be sure to reward them for it (modest XP awards) and penalize them for poor roleplay (higher prices at the market, negative modifiers to Diplomacy or Bluff, -2 or as the situation dictates).

It's good that you're nervous - it means you care. Don't be discouraged after the first few sessions. You will likely feel inadequate. Be flexible, avoid linear adventures and try your damnest to look like it's all part of the plot when you're totally winging it.

Best of luck, man.

F4

p.s. You never master the DMG. You are its bitch now and for all time.......

Cheers

 

[Mystery Man]

p.s. You never master the DMG. You are its bitch now and for all time.......

Aint that the truth!

 

[barsoomcore]

Prep.

Run.

Prep some more, and run some more.

Read Robert Silverberg. You'll feel smarter. Listen to the soundtrack to Lawrence of Arabia. You'll feel more epic. Study Frank Frazetta. You'll feel more savage. Watch Miller's Crossing. You'll feel cool.

Run your game, then come here and talk about how it went. You'll feel understood.

I roll the big ones, the ones that everyone's holding their breath for, out in the open. The others I don't worry about. But there's something so entertaining about, "He raises his staff and a beam erupts from the tip, lancing towards you..." while shaking that d20 in your hand, watching your player sweat. Who cares what the roll is?

XP for roleplaying? Long, long debate. I say no. But regardless, the best way to encourage roleplaying is to be a good roleplayer. If you play your NPCs, your players will play their characters. I personally guarantee it.

DMs are weird because they have to be profoundly casual about everything at the same time as being obsessively uptight about everything. You have to be willing to spend HOURS agonizing over details that you also have to be willing to drop the second it becomes clear they won't work.

But hey, that's show biz!

 

[Nightfall]

My advice, focus on your strengths, acknowledge your weaknesses, keep player input but toss out player direct threats, cajoling, and/or things that will negatively reflect on the game. Finally have FUN with it. Enjoy the moments. Enjoy the fears of the players, reveal in bright destruction...and laugh a lot.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

The best bit of DM advice I ever saw was this:

Don't plot stories, set up situations.

What this means is that when you're trying to prepare a campaign, don't assume what will happen. Instead of planning a campaign where the players a) discover a plot to kill the king, b) work through a list of suspects and c) prevent it - what you should do is set up a timeline during which the king dies and let the players work out how to stop it all by themselves. Don't assume they'll find all the clues, just make sure that if they play smart and reasonably well they'll have some sort of chance to win.

And I love the Pkitty advice. Choose the most fun thing that could happen.