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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thanlis" data-source="post: 5208070" data-attributes="member: 6011">First: thank you for doing this. GMing in public is such an awesome way to give back to the hobby. It's a pain sometimes, it can be frustrating, but I always feel good about myself when I run Encounters for new players.OK, specific tips, based on running the first season...I went into every evening with a game plan for integrating new PCs and explaining why old PCs weren't there. It may be easier in some ways for this season, because of the pregens -- you can hand a new player the pregen used by the guy who didn't show up this week. On the other hand, that kind of affects continuity, so I don't know. And I haven't seen the Dark Sun module yet, since I'm starting the season a bit later. But for the first season, yeah. I knew how I'd explain new characters showing up, and I had the party's employer react to the new PCs, so it all felt coherent to the players. They seemed to appreciate it.Have people introduce themselves each night if you have even one new player. It makes them feel like they're on equal footing with the people who've been coming all along. Also, introduce yourself. Be on good terms with the store owner. You may get a problem player, and if so, it's the owner/manager who needs to help you deal with it. You want to be comfortable in the space, and you want to be able to ask for anything you need.Make calls on the fly; don't worry about looking rules up. That'll make the combats go faster. You should have the powers at hand, so it's OK to check those. Encourage ad libbing. I'm more liberal running Encounters than I am running my home game because I want people to feel like they can take risks. Don't be afraid to tell experienced players to back off advising inexperienced players if it's turning into dictation, if you know what I mean. Advice is usually welcome; telling someone what to do is bad. There's this trick where you ask the inexperienced player to express an opinion, because you don't want him to feel like two veterans are arguing over him (or her) -- you want to give the new player room to be assertive, rather than being assertive on his behalf.</blockquote>

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