GM crafts a beautiful setting

Good GMs make sure the spotlight is shared.

>>GM does voices

Last time I said here that good GMs do this, five autists screamed me down for posting b8. Must have been rollplayer night on Veeky Forums or something.

No. Humanity is becoming stupider and shallower. Heavy use of the internet does rewire the brain. We're fucked, and it'll probably end in nuclear holocaust.

Good to know, doomsayer user.

Woah user, chill. Is everything alright?

Dude....

Your pessimism is showing a bit.

>ITT: Things I don't do

>nuclear holocaust
When did this become a thing again? Who the hell's gonna be throwin' nukes? Seriously.

Our fucking DM man.......

He has like 4 voices he does.

>Ugh grunt ugh ugh= barb, burly guy, dumb guy, anything orcish
>squeaky annoying voice= gnome, halfling, female, any small race
>grr fuck off........ = dwarf, human guards, any kind of tribal group
>and the worst.......a jerry lewis impression that is any group not listed above

All npc's fall into one of those categories. ALL OF THEM

Jerry lewis the Inn Owner, Ugh ugh grr the blacksmith, squeaky voice merchant.....

Fuck.

It's like playing a Bethesda game :D

I used to do this. realized it’s better to just not

I’ll agree that the lack of enthusiastic players makes for a bad game. Enthusiastic players can outshine a bad GM.

>Not sure if it's a new thing,
As a guy who has been playing since the early 90s, no, it isn't.

>What else do good gms do?
They build worlds that WORK, or at least give a fascimile of doing so.
They create characters you care about, so that when something goes wrong and innocents suffer and die, it's not just "meh, I got a new shiny axe, so who cares?"
They use the rulebook as a guideline, but are at the same time consistent and fair.

And above all else, this.

I actually had to start a google doc to put down npc's names and descriptions because my players can't be assed to remember a persons name let alone what the person is actually like.

GM I had a couple of months ago actually wrote music for the final boss.

Getting the tone of the words right is always better than doing "a voice"

That's just basic acting.

So much GM advice, so little player advice.

I will start a thread for just that.

That's the best analogy ever user.

I mean give him props for attempting, and getting into the spirit of the game........but holy shit.

Cool, I'll keep an eye out.

Korea.
Idi Amin would have used one as a going away present when he got run out of office.
Batshit crazy people.

>I will start a thread for just that.

He's bluffing.

>Korea.
lol!

It's true. I mean they landed a spaceship on the surface of the fucking sun. A nuke is no problem for their tech level.

Yeah seriously. I hate it. It's been making me have panic attacks. I fucking hate the way shit has become in the past few months.

Just think, it's really convenient if you're suicidal. Takes all the pressure off.

Stinking phones are death for roleplaying.
game reference material ... ok
theme music for the bard... ok
the other 97% of the time...... funny cats?! movie trailers?!!! random texting?!
If my game is too boring, Leave My Table!
I don't like to swear, but this topic makes me want to scream obscenities.

They landed at night, duh.

There's a problem with that user : I'm not suicidal.

Ah, well, then consider taking up mountaineering. It won't save you but the view will be better.

The WW2 generation is just about gone and so is the cultural memory of what industrial warfare means. That means it's less and less understood what the stakes are when the big boys bring their best toys. That makes it more and more likely someone's going to make what they think is bold decisive action, but turns out to be as smart capping an Archduke in Sarajevo.

Meanwhile, experts are throwing "kill Russians" around as if it's serious advice. China knows that a US aligned reunified Korean peninsula makes them almost completely strategically vulnerable. A US intervention in NK is crossing all kinds of red lines. Japan's getting edgy about this whole 'we're dying off and China is rising' deal. And this is before we do a deep dive into the middle east and how many ways that shit can go out of control. All of these points could escalate damn fast, and there are nuke armed players balls deep in all of 'em.

None of those are required for good GMing. They're more of a reflection of what the GM's interests are and their personal preference. Games that have those things are not necessarily better than games that do not (I'd imagine the music one is especially contentious). It's not just a matter of whether they're done well or not, either, it's a matter of whether that extra effort has any real effect on the quality of the game being played. Hell, it's even largely dependent on whether the rest of the table even cares or notices.

It's for reasons like that that it's hard to nail down an unqualified list of "THINGS THAT ARE ALWAYS GOOD" for an activity as big and diverse as tabletop RPGs. Some groups, games, or settings love atmospheric music. Some don't. Some games benefit hugely from a custom, intricate, thought-out and unique setting. Many games won't see it make much of a difference, or even come with pre-made settings designed to suit their mechanics. Ultimately every game's quality is measured by the enjoyment derived from it by the people at the table, which makes "GOOD THING" a hugely subjective category.

So I guess, if I had to pick a thing that a "good" GM does, it would be to be able to play to their audience and have fun doing it--that's right, I would argue that a game's quality is in part determined by how much enjoyment the GM is getting out of it, not just the players. It's a shitty game if one guy at the table absolutely loathes coming to it every week. Hell, we can even take that a bit further and say that an important skill for a GM (or any member of a group, really) to have is to put together a group that's compatible enough with their interests to create a good game in the first place. That right there might be the hardest part of tabletop games.

this

Always present 3 or 4 options for where they can go but only have one that's the "real" option, or else adapt what you had to where they decide to go

Holy shit this. First time I dm'd, I tried to set up a whole map with a bunch of interesting locations, and basically let the players loose. First thing they did upon finding out that they actually had free reign was to pretend they were in a Bethesda RPG and slaughter the starting town, thereby making them outlaws across the entire fucking duchy. Then they get mad at me for giving consequences to their actions, and demand I ignore the fact that they just burned a town to the ground.

You could have a few different paths, but have them all interact in some way. Like, there's a Lich dungeon, a merchant city, and a local duke, and all three WILL get involved in the story, depending on how and what path you take. Help the merchant city, the Duke gets angry, fight the Duke, the Lich gets bold and takes over, etc.

Bad GM detected.

You'll learn.

I've noticed this in my games, but I semi punish that bad behavior. If they forget an NPC's name or other relevant information about that NPC I won't fill them in, and I'll have the NPC react offended that the PC's couldn't remember who they were.

I spent a solid day amassing some solid songs, but one player of mine bitched aboutnit being too distracting.... bext session he plays a song (with chanting) during his spell prepping......

Already have mate. I've got your number.

Based on what's causing me to have difficulty doing a session right (even if my players think otherwise) is prep time. I wing so many things I feel I'm in orbit and gravity is being whimsical. Unless you're doing a slaughterfest with vague justifications, you'll have to put a lot of work into your plot and NPCs, all the while trying not to be too obvious but not so quiet your players don't notice.

Another issue is player desire vs player ability. I've learned that asking how much combat/RP they want is pointless. I should have asked "are you good at investigations", "can you manage to be alert most of the session", and most importantly "are you willing and able to communicate your thoughts with the rest of the group". Some browse Veeky Forums so I dare not specify, but we're playing a 40k game and they are absolutely oblivious to the warning signs and they rarely try to delve deep into what is going on. I mean, when you see an item with green glowing runes you're kinda expected to say "oh fuck, Necrons" as a player. Playing matchmaker between clues and the players is a bitch.

That's why I don't voice act for my npc's unless it's someone they meet more than once/someone important.
For example, when I do a shitty texan/southern accent, my players don't groan, they go "Oh hey, it's Teddy, our favorite traveling merchant!"

Teddy's the only merchant I voice act for, so hearing HIS voice is special to my players, even though my voice acting is...not so special.

It's what's special to the group as a whole, not the skill involved. Having fun = best.

I have been told I do all of the stuff in the OP so that feels nice.
I have recently had a problem with our that guy with the music thing since he bought some of those headphones that also function as speakers.
He spent the whole session playing shitty pop music by people like Miley Cyrus and as he put it fucking Wiz 'Kefka' over the setting appropriate music until we finally told him to fucking quit it.

Anyway good DMs always need to have an endgame in mind.
If you dont have an idea of where you want this to eventually go you will just end up sending your party on endless pointless quests until the campaign fizzles out.

My cousin has this problem.
His NPCs have four voices.
His normal voice.
Stereotypical black guy.
Deep gravelly southern voice.
Deep vaguely mentally handicapped surfer voice.

>What else do good gms do?
Kill characters. Make them retreat. Provide a challenge.

While it's super obvious and bad to go too far and make a frustrating game that pisses off you players, I've had too many DM's that are just pussies. They suck the cock of their players so hard that I'm pretty sure we're all immortal and even if we did the stupidest thing imaginable, we'd pull it off somehow. It really just subtracts from it all, you know?

Or have one super specific near retarded NPC that people fall in love with for the sheer novelty of it. Thats also an option.

>If you dont have an idea of where you want this to eventually go you will just end up sending your party on endless pointless quests until the campaign fizzles out.

This.
I had a GM mention, some half dozen sessions into the campaign, that it was ultimately going to become more horror-themed.
A dozen sessions in, I find out he's just started reading Lovecraft.
We're some two dozen sessions in, and I've seen neither horror nor Lovecraft, despite him maintaining that both are "ongoing"

Know what you want to do before you go in, and do your research. Get started on the right foot. Don't put it off until later in the game. As Poor Richard says, "One today is worth two tomorrows"

Music to set a tone is never a bad thing. Ever. Dank sewer music for a sewer. Tense fight music for a big bad. Jovial music for a town fare.

You severely underestimate the effect of such simple sounds to affect player mentality on the table. And the ability to suddenly stop them and switch to something else adds a layer to it that will put the players on edge when and if it happens.

Perhaps they are at a jovial town fair, the fair music is going, but not distracting, and the DM all of a sudden changes the music to a large crashing sound effect, with a few civilian screams mixed in. The players are immediately on guard because shit is happening and they are not in control as of yet.

Music played correctly over situations is one of the cornerstones of setting a proper mood.

I do some of these things and I keep doubting myself. I feel like I'm walking talking out of /r9k/ sometimes.
If some people here think that is what a good GM does well consider my self-esteem boosted. I spend hours a week prepping for the campaign. I do voices, I play background noise and music. And I try to make each encounter somewhat challenging.

Also I can't kill my players because I'm a huge pussy about ending their stories. I don't know if that is good or bad anymore.

I feel like sharing a little sob story not that anybody cares but just to vent because I got nobody else to tell it too. Eh...

Agreed I'm not a scary person, but when you put on some ambient creepy stuff in the background and start describing the environment to them.
SPOOKEE!

>Roleplays npcs, but not every person on the planet
I'm new and looking to DM one day (small city; we need DMs). What does this mean? I thought role playing every person the group interacts with makes for better immersion?

It can, but its also a drag on playtime. Keep it to people with relevant roles to the story or important positions. Kings, quest givers, and occasionally the interesting merchant or random NPC.

As someone that has seen people squander entire sessions of time on simply getting their shit made or enchanted or buying the most mundane shit, it really does drag things down badly if every character has to have a voice.

i always worry that i'll end up doing this, which is why i try to make each voice distinct
also why i'm usually the first to point out when two voices sound too similarly to one another
exception being unnamed local npcs, they all have the same accent, so they all have mostly the same voice

This is probably the best post.

Some one makes a well thought out argument and that's all you can muster in response? Not sure if bait or badwrongfun.

I try to figure out what exactly i want from a character, or i pull a random verbal tick out of my ass.

I had one old lady say "Yes, yes, yes" constantly. I made a fancy ass french demon chef and my players fuckin loved it.

I thought my characters were all shit, but apparently my group loved them. Moral of the story, just give it a shot, and try to be diverse. Worst case scenario, you just don't voice some characters.

Doing voices is absolutely not necessary, but if GM does them well, it's a good addition.

Making sure the player characters have ties to the setting and stakes in the adventure. One of the best campaigns I've played in was a Mutants and Masterminds game where the GM worked with the players and the backstories they gave him to tie them all together with the plot of the main villain, giving everyone personal reasons to want to stop him and get revenge. All I did was send the GM a backstory, with an unnamed evil organization / corporation / government agency in it, asked him if he had anything that could fit that role, and left the rest to him. It's one of the few campaigns l've played in where my character didn't feel like just a random person who happened to be at the right place at the right time to get dragged into the plot.

So you're saying its something a good GM would do? Isn't that the point of the thread?

no, the point is that a good GM should have a fair idea of their limits and boundaries in so far as what they are capable of.

If you can't do voices, don't. IF you can, do.

If you can't get a head for tonal music, don't. IF you can, do.

Thats what a truly good DM does.

I'm not so sure, me and at least one of my players don't like having background music, I used to use it but stopped since it got on my nerves

to each their own, i suppose.

Still, the use of music to set tone is an indispensable tool, for media in general. I hate to say it, but you and your player are probably heavily in the minority in general.

That said, even small sound effects can go a long way to setting the tone for something. Using my earlier example, a crash and a scream is pretty effective on its own, even without the fair music. The fair music just adds an added layer to help disconcert the player when things go down.

I like when DMs file away things for later use. Like recalling minor roleplay details and bringing up chances to explore them. Or introducing minor worldbuilding/choices with big callbacks later. It helps make worlds feel huge.

That's just immature players. The murdering part, I mean. Although it is true that when given the freedom to do essentially anything, players of open-world video games will do essentially nothing.
Another example like yours: My friend GM'd a game when young and inexperienced with shitty players. Started them out on an island with lots of towns, NPCs, and plots he wrote. First thing the PCs do is get a boat and leave the island. They even flat-out told NPCs "Yeah, we don't care" when they started any kind of plot hook. So, not yet a good GM back then, my friend sent a kraken when they got out to sea and just killed them all.

I had been thinking about using music before seeing this thread, now I really want to do something in the background. What would be appropriate, is there a resource online for ambient music?

What sort of thing are you needing music for?

Steal game soundtracks. Those are pretty much designed for what you're doing: to accompany gameplay.

Good GM's (and players) remember that the story is a cooperative one.

I'm all for the GM having a plan, and especially love a 'living world' where shit keeps happening in various places without the character's involvement. As long as he remembers that players might stray from it from it more or less, and tries to accommodate their forays.

Meanwhile players have to remember that the GM needs to have fun too, and often that involves telling an interesting and compelling story, which doesn't mean they should cater to the player's whims at all times.

>censoring names

Begone, infant.

like said, video game soundtracks are great.

I'd also look into movies and anime, among other things. People have already done the heavy lifting for you. Its your job to choose stuff thats just generic enough to be "Oh i know this song" and ambient enough regardless to fit a mood.

If you are playing on roll20 as an example, there's a lot of sound effects and such on fanburst, and you can put what you need on fanburst yourself if you were so inclined. I've found rats squeaking, towns doing thing, sewers. all sorts of ambient music.

Just remember that your music is supposed to add to the ambience, not draw attention. Try to be subtle. A good track will not actively draw attention to itself, but will help set a tone, whether players notice it or not.

The first session this can be important though. Get them a feel for the setting. But only if you aredoing something out of the box. A setting without coinage or something means the players need to figure out what they offer in trade. Or if they are in a culture that isn't strictly "every typical fantasy ever". Maybe the blacksmith isn't working for himself, ´but you need to go to the lord to have your sword made.
Or you place an order within the guild. And so on.
But after the 1st session. Then they know. Then it is routine. So unless they want to know and like the character.. No. Then the blacksmith is forever silen unless Plot happens.

sorry, just generic enough to NOT be "Oh, I know this song"

True, but even then you restrict it to people that the party is trying to actively talk to. for example, if they ask for directions from a random passerby, you don't need to voice that unless you want them to be important.

There are any number of completely menial things that take up much more time than they should simply by talking, instead of telling the players the information straight, even in settings like the aforementioned ones.

ambient-mixer.com/
tabletopaudio.com/

Just basic ambience, walking through a Forrest or being in town, I'd like to find some stormy sounds for next week when I have my players on a boat at sea in a storm, maybe some background noise of light swords clanging when a bigger battle is happening or something.

Video game music is a good idea, never thought of that

Well start working on it. Improvement start with recognizing shortcomings.

>walking through a Forrest
Forest of Eternity by Depressive Silence.

Depressive Silence in general, really.

FoS is the first 9:20 of this: youtube.com/watch?v=Q-bTcOEHkqg

desu I wouldn't worry about it too much. The only real threat right now is North Korea and they are literally too incompetent to be a danger to anybody but themselves.
If a war broke out between the Norks and the U.S. the worst thing that's going to happen is that the South Korea might get shelled with nerve gas or possibly tactical nukes while the Nork army throws massive waves of infantry at fortified positions in the South before China moves in and shuts them down.
It would be a mess, but nowhere near apocalyptic.

>build a setting and world for the campaign
>draw a map and write a quick rundown for my players
>they don't care about the setting and world, barely look at the quick rundown
>my long-term plans sort of rely on them being interested in the world
>initiate plan B and introduce a not!Sauron character
>they feel vaguely compelled to do things but refer to the corrupted and semi-undead minions of the dark lord as "Dark Souls guys"

Your quick rundown is too long

It was only 900 words