Hey Guys,
Some friends and I want to work up a list of ideas or tips for how to improve yourself as both a player and a GM. We've seen plenty of 'Advice for new Player/DMs' type podcasts, videos and lists. We're looking for things that will take us the next step, from Novice to Intermediate.
What can you offer, fa/tg/uys and ca/tg/irls? What advanced wisdom or advice have you garnered that most people don't consider?
Some examples to get people started, based on others I've asked:
1. Player Autonomy. Don't be afraid of it. If they've come up with a better solution to your puzzle than what you thought of, don't be afraid to lie and say "You're right, well done." There's nothing wrong with using the players ideas if they make the game better.
2. When in doubt or unsure how to proceed, it's okay to ask for a momentary break. You're one person, they're multiple. Tell them to get a sandwich while you think about what should come next. You won't have thought of every possible reaction or result to what they're doing, so don't act like you have.
Involve as many senses in description of areas as you can. Instead of "You enter the forest", do somethin like "Dead leaves crunch under your boots as you enter the forestl, the potent smell of the fauna and flora threatening to overwhelm you.
A good place to start with GMing advice is to read the Game Master's Guide section of the RPG you wish to play. The guide should include how to run the game.
From there, familiarize yourself with the rules of the game.
Your first game is going to be awful. There is no avoiding your first game sucking, nor your second. How a GM gets good, is by practicing for years on end.
Also, try playing with a group that has no idea how to play RPGs either. They're not going to notice the difference between a good and a bad GM. But if you play together long enough, you'll all improve.
Your job as the GM is to run the game. As you get lazier, you'll find yourself finding shortcuts to making things easier and easier.
Once you get familiar with being in the GM's shoes, that's when all the GM advice stuff will really start to make sense.
Just remember, the players as a whole want to like you and your game. They will do what they can to have fun in your game. Just remember that you as the GM need to be having fun too.
GMing is like sex, you don't have to be good at it to enjoy it.
Steal everything and discard what doesn't work for you. JKD at every level.
>GMing is like sex, you don't have to be good at it to enjoy it.
Mind if we use this line?
Not at all.
I have a player that keeps trying to contradict me over trite shit. It's mostly minor things and I definitely make judgement calls in their favor more often than against him. This player threatened to quit after the first session because his rolls were bad. After the second session he said he had a blast (coincidentally his rolls were good that night) but it rubbed me the wrong way that he kept arguing with me.
For example, I made the party roll to recognize an extremely old, worn figurine. The figurine was the cleric's chosen diety and the player (who is the party's druid) started bitching that they shouldn't have rolled because the cleric would have recognized it. Just pointless nitpicking when I was trying to establish how seriously old and worn the items were. Later I told him that the gelatinous cube that engulfed him extinguished his produce flame effect which was also the party's only light source. He whined and argued that it wasn't fair for a full minute. This kind of thing happened throughout the night.
My question is, how do you guys typically handle people that seem to throw a fit every time the slightest thing doesn't go their way? I don't want to kick him from the table but I'm not okay with being contradicted every time he decides he doesn't like how I'm DMing. If I make a mistake with the rules I welcome being corrected but it breaks immersion for everyone when this guy interrupts every single action telling me how he would do it differently.
> my friends and I want to create something but we're shit at it so we want Veeky Forums to do it for us.
This can actually be off-putting to some players, because not everyone enjoys lengthy descriptions. It's not a bad notion, but it's one that can be detrimental if the group isn't into it.
I think any advice in this thread always needs to be tapered with the idea that no two groups are identical, and the most important aspects of being a good GM are simply the ones that make you a good person.
Pay attention to your players and their moods, and learn as much as you can about them. Be sensitive. Fair. Caring. And all those other platitudes.
As far as advanced tips, part of being a good GM is being able to play a diverse range of characters, and an easy way to train that is to just turn on the television, flip through the channels, and any time you hear someone talking, take a moment to try imitating them. In fact, any acting exercises tend to be extremely helpful, and picking up books and instructional videos on acting might be all a person needs to take their game to the "next level."