Sup Veeky Forums!
Looks like I'm finally getting around to GM my own campaign! Problem is, I never really did that before, so I'm worried about screwing everything up.
What should I do?
What should I not do?
What's an appropriate first mission for (mostly) new players?
How much detail should I put into NPCs?
And so on, and so forth. Ask questions, share advice, and let's help each other get better at GMing.
>what should I do?
Give up
>what should I not do
GM
>What's an appropriate first mission for (mostly) new players?
The sample mission at the end of the core book.
>How much detail should I put into NPCs?
None, they're a name with a funny accent that will get ganked
But seriously, what game are you running? Do you have a general idea what you want to do at least? We can't give more than generic advice/trolling knowing so little.
A lot of this stuff depends on the system. It's also worth noting that storytelling is an artform. As such pretty much any piece of advice you receive will have some situation and way where it's better to go against it. Though there are some common sense things. Secondly: Everybody does it differently. Don't be afraid to experiment. Find a way that works for you and your group. Thirdly: All advice will be given on the assumption that you have a good group of players who aren't shiters. Sometimes a party is just bad and the rules don't necessarily apply to them the same way. With all that being said:
>What should I do?
Have fun and make sure the party has a good time.
Try to spread out the spotlight but if somebody just falls into a passive groove (and enjoy it) don't stress out too much. It's natural for some people to come into the foreground. As long as everybody is having a good time it isn't a problem.
Communicate like adults. If you have a problem, don't get accusatory but do bring it up. Ask players what they enjoyed and what they didn't enjoy after every session. Don't be afraid to let your players have a peek-around-the-curtain every once in a while when relevant. Every group plays differently but in some situations it's more fun to know that a scheme is being made against you. Try to get a grasp over the game your party wants to play.
Improvise. Planning is all fine and well but you probably shouldn't be planning anything long-term. Plan with the mindset that your plans wont survive first contact with the players. GMing is less about planning out and masterminding player actions, but much more about knowing the world you're running to the point where you know how it will react to player actions. Learn the setting rather than drawing out a whole bunch of maps. Planning and prepwork is fine and you'll probably have to do a little, especially if you're running a premade but you do have to be prepared to drop those plans.
Running D&D 5e for now. More specifics on the kind of game I want to run coming in a few minutes, typing.
Thanks. I've known those fuckers for years, so I'm not expecting too much shit from them.
I'm trying to set my game in essentially a colony. The world is mostly barren as far as civilisation goes, but this one kingdom is expanding overland. I want this to be a sort of a central hub area for the party to come back to and maybe, if they feel like it, get into the management and city-building side of things.
I'm not trying to make it realistic (how often does the real world get wiped out by magical apocalypses?), but at least believable. Help me with the scale of things!
How far is it from the rest of the lands? Is two weeks' travel through the wilds enough for it to reasonably be largely unpopulated and unexplored?
Who would be there? I'm thinking around 100 conscripts/serfs serving as both the army and workforce, 4 knights/minor nobles (with a couple of assistants each) managing it, and a couple of clergymen. Anything I'm missing?
How quickly would this place develop?
Here's one more rules-related: how do I keep the game's lethality reasonably low without fudging dice too much and the like? I'm worried that I'll overestimate the party and throw tougher enemies at them than they can handle, and I doubt the "the wolves take you prisoner" trick will work more than once.
>What should I do?
Plan loosely and around the world not specifics. No matter how much you think you know your group they will never follow your plans unless you force them to. So have your plans follow them instead. Also retroactive justification of plot is a great way to make players think you're brilliant. Oh yeah totally been planning that big plot point in the forest since the topic of bird watching came up 4 months ago. Yeah, you got me, master of foreshadowing everything sure does make sense now.
>What should I not do?
Strictly define solutions it just leads to 90's adventure games. Or too loosely define the world. The less you think about the world the characters are in, the less consistent it becomes, which only makes things harder for you.
>What's an appropriate first mission for (mostly) new players?
Something that isn't too crunch heavy. Now relative to the system and all that, but if they're new to the game just let them be their characters and come up with something that puts them into the world not into the numbers. I've found that the more you obfuscate the mechanical aspects of a game the more new players shine as they bring ideas to the table that aren't constrained by stats.
>How much detail should I put into NPCs?
Put enough detail into the world, and you won't need to put in any at all. Again bit system dependent, but generally more true the less attached to combat the npc is.
Send more weaker dudes, and have the enemies behave naturally. If you just killed 2 wolves one of which was the alpha, the pack scatters (even though the elf is trying desperately to keep their hp from falling out).
This is trickier with wild animals, but remember unless predators are forced to compete with people, or said people end up in the wrong neighborhood, or magic. Chances are the predator is going to use their heightened senses to avoid the odd smelling, odd looking, jingly, definitely not normal meal things walking about especially if they're in number.
You learn how CR works and give them easy encounters as per their effective APL (Assuming it works the same as 3.5/PF)
Sometimes shit just happens and you're gonna have to fudge rolls. Personally I think this kills the spirit of the game. It's practically railroading and without a chance of failure most adventures pretty much turn into "Picking a lock without distraction".
>What should I not do?
Get into the mindset that this is your story. It's the table's story. It doesn't belong to you as the GM. As such, you don't have total control of everything. This is good and it's what makes GMing wonderful.
Become a nazi. So many GMs particularly DnD GMs will get into this very babysitter mindset where they have to control and be above the players. You shouldn't be 'punishing' players In a non-game design sense anyway. But generally everything that hinders the player should have an in-universe reason. You don't need to have this 'karmic balance' of boons and negatives. Don't be afraid to give players right answers. You don't always need to challenge them. And you don't always need to challenge their solutions to your challenges. This may be different in DnD. I don't know. , you shouldn't be enforcing rules at the table (NO PHONES EVER, DON'T INTERRUPT THE VILLAIN'S MONOLOGUE IN CHARACTER) and you sure as fuck shouldn't act superior to people because of it. If you feel you have to do any of these things and have already approach the thing in question with communication, chances are you're playing with the wrong group. Refer to my earlier statement about shiters or they may simply be people that don't want to play. These people are your friends. Act like it. Don't go mad with power.
Try to force the players into a playstyle they don't want to play. You see threads all the time about "How to I get my party to RP!?" when the party, pretty clearly, doesn't want to RP. This is a valid playstyle and forcing them to play the game you want is just as silly as them forcing you to play the game they want. [cont.]
... Compromises can be a thing, sure. But if you have to constantly poke a player or give them a carrot on the stick. For example, you don't need mechanical incentive for good RP. Players that want to do things will do it anyway, regardless of the incentive. By providing the incentive all you're doing is making players do things they don't want to do. This isn't to say there should be no mechanical bonuses to RPing. If you don't ask for a discount, you're not going to get one. Just that you shouldn't be leading them by the nose. With that being said though:
Your players will probably have to learn to play tabletop games. It can be a bit jarring and feel embarrassing if they haven't RPed before. A bit of encouragement goes a long way. Try not to be patronising, of course, but do let players know when they're doing a good job if they're a bit embarrassed or anxious or whatever. Or if they're obviously putting in effort. You may run into the pretty standard thing of "I tell them X" or "I ask for X". There are times when this is a useful tool for saving time, however a lot of nervous players will use it as means of RPing without really RPing. At times when you think is appropriate perhaps gently nudge them to elaborate on how they ask. Don't be afraid to guide them a little as to the phrasing or take it slow. Try to create a chill table. It doesn't matter if the game goes a bit slowly if everyone if having a good time. There's no pressure. Nobody is trying to win. Take your time and play at a pace where everybody has fun.
I really gotta go so I wont be able to finish your list but the one last one before I go:
Avoid bottlenecking, especially when random chance is involved. You should do a dedicated check for this once you have the idea out in front of you. If the game stops entirely when the party fails a notice roll either create another avenue or make it not require a roll in the first place.
See you! Hope it goes well!
Great advice. Thank you!
That's kind of the thing. I don't know how to handle character death. I want a game where it's definitely possible, but I'm not sure how the players are going to take it. At the very least, I'm not planning on a grand character-driven plot (at least initially), so I'm not as worried about maintaining motivation through several "generations".
I guess this is shaping up to be a hexcrawl. Any advice on those?
Have a session zero and develope the answers to these questions with your players op. Bring a big piece of paper and just get everyone to start putting down stuff on it. Collaborative world building is best when you do it with the peoe who will be playing and not when you do it on Veeky Forums. You should be having a session zero for your players to make character together anyway.
As a fairly recent GM let me tell you, you're going to make mistakes, you're gonna fuck up. You're gonna trust the rules over instinct. You're gonna upset players.
All these things are inevitable, but its natural, you won't start off as good as the GM you had for your first game. So don't beat yourself up of the first session(s) didnt go as hoped or expected.
And above all else remember it's a game to have fun with your friends.
Oh and combat does not equal content, common mistake, keep the combat to only when necessary not 5 times just cause.
Now you too are ready to disappoint and be disappointed in the world of Traditional Gaming!
Definitely planning a session zero. I'm generally the one to suggest questions like "do YOU know anyone here?" and "what's the place you're from like?", I have my doubts for this case. The players never played before and are mostly coming from vidya and I don't want to overwhelm them with agency.
Of course, I'll try it and use more if they take to it. But before I get there, I'd like to make sure I'm at least right about the scale.
If you mind control someone into fellating you are you still technically sucking yourself off?
I know it seems off topic but it's not
How is this not off topic?
And I wouldn't deem so, they're still sucking you off by your command
Shameless bump.
And another.
This guy is right for the most part but also remember while it is the table's story, don't let the players walk all over you. If you feel like you don't want to play the game the players want, just stop. If you continue to service them while getting no enjoyment out of it you're gonna get angry at them. Your enjoyment is just as important as theirs.
Last one before I head to bed.
Have a handy dandy screencap.
Players die. It would be boring if they didn't.
Thanks. Looks like I'm pretty close to that advice already. I plan to have the first few sessions run as
>alright lads, there's this bounty posted for dealing with a threat to the colony
>or there's this place you can investigate for things to use or sell
>and while you prepare, these things are happening at the camp that you can get involved in
while we get comfortable with the game. As we get a feel for where the game goes, I'll see what kind of BBEG they'd like and introduce them.
Is gud?
Now, to explain that to the players. Something tells me
>there goes your final death save, and you are dead! Time to roll a new character. This is fun. You're having fun
is not going to work very well. Especially when I also have to explain why the goblin decided to kill them instead of going after the fighter who's already engaged with three of its mates.