Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="fireinthedust" data-source="post: 5444177" data-attributes="member: 51930">I have been doing this for about... gosh, 13 years.&nbsp; Live games are rare for me unless I run them, so pbp!1)&nbsp; IME, the best games tend to be funny.&nbsp; An L4W game here I played in, the DM was my fave of all time; players disappeared without a trace, but the GM was fantastic.&nbsp; The descriptions, the characers, were hilarious.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The reason, I think, is that &quot;serious&quot; games get too serious and depressing.&nbsp; Funny keeps people coming back.2)&nbsp; Start higher level, or at least with &quot;stuff&quot;.&nbsp; Unless the game is apprentice level, it's a waste of time to make players wait until their characters &quot;get good&quot;.&nbsp; I'm in a neat Age of Worms with a build I know will be fantastic, but for now he's an Int-based warrior with a dex sword and no damage bonus worth mentioning.&nbsp; I know he'll be fantastic when I get up there (Eldritch knight abjurer), but for now I'm kicking myself for not just being, I dunno, a smash barbarian or something.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Compare this to my 20th level Pathfinder game, and my players have their final concepts ready already: the wizard is an archmage, the ranger is an uber ranger, the rogue can zip around like Nightcrawler, etc. etc.&nbsp; I'm having a great time with it myself, as I don't have to wait to throw giant dragons at them.If you ever want to see key monsters, like Dragons or Beholders, start higher level.&nbsp; Even 5th.&nbsp; You're waiting weeks per combat, and you will rarely if ever need to level your PCs before the game fizzles.3)&nbsp; Game fizzle/player dropout is high.&nbsp; I promise one scenario per campaign, and I've actually finished ONE GAME in 13 years.&nbsp; Well, another one made it through three adventures before the party fizzled, and for another the GM added a lot for kicks that was fantastic.&nbsp; Still, for the most part, I've only finished one as a GM.&nbsp; Its the nature of the beast.&nbsp; Lots of good game start ups, but lots of fizzles, and precious few finished adventures (bbeg's).4)&nbsp; No one wants to do anything other than D&amp;D and M&amp;M, and maaaaaybe Star Wars.&nbsp; I don't know how GMs of other systems keep them going, but I can never make them work.5)&nbsp; Make minions fun.&nbsp; Make all NPCs fun.&nbsp; You'll see them waaaay more than anyone else, so enjoy every second of game time.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because every second will take a while in-game.&nbsp; Pathfinder goblins were a hit because they were fun goblins, rather than just goblins.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="fireinthedust, post: 5444177, member: 51930"] I have been doing this for about... gosh, 13 years. Live games are rare for me unless I run them, so pbp! 1) IME, the best games tend to be funny. An L4W game here I played in, the DM was my fave of all time; players disappeared without a trace, but the GM was fantastic. The descriptions, the characers, were hilarious. The reason, I think, is that "serious" games get too serious and depressing. Funny keeps people coming back. 2) Start higher level, or at least with "stuff". Unless the game is apprentice level, it's a waste of time to make players wait until their characters "get good". I'm in a neat Age of Worms with a build I know will be fantastic, but for now he's an Int-based warrior with a dex sword and no damage bonus worth mentioning. I know he'll be fantastic when I get up there (Eldritch knight abjurer), but for now I'm kicking myself for not just being, I dunno, a smash barbarian or something. Compare this to my 20th level Pathfinder game, and my players have their final concepts ready already: the wizard is an archmage, the ranger is an uber ranger, the rogue can zip around like Nightcrawler, etc. etc. I'm having a great time with it myself, as I don't have to wait to throw giant dragons at them. If you ever want to see key monsters, like Dragons or Beholders, start higher level. Even 5th. You're waiting weeks per combat, and you will rarely if ever need to level your PCs before the game fizzles. 3) Game fizzle/player dropout is high. I promise one scenario per campaign, and I've actually finished ONE GAME in 13 years. Well, another one made it through three adventures before the party fizzled, and for another the GM added a lot for kicks that was fantastic. Still, for the most part, I've only finished one as a GM. Its the nature of the beast. Lots of good game start ups, but lots of fizzles, and precious few finished adventures (bbeg's). 4) No one wants to do anything other than D&D and M&M, and maaaaaybe Star Wars. I don't know how GMs of other systems keep them going, but I can never make them work. 5) Make minions fun. Make all NPCs fun. You'll see them waaaay more than anyone else, so enjoy every second of game time. Why? Because every second will take a while in-game. Pathfinder goblins were a hit because they were fun goblins, rather than just goblins. [/QUOTE]

Verification