I know that we have this thread everyday, but i'm gonna be running my first game as DM, and actually my first game ever, I've never played a PnP RPG ever, but I gathered a group of friends to play Starfinder, and i'm currently in the middle of designing the adventure and possibly full campaign, and I'd like to get some tips from experienced players and DMs.
We're using some small custom rules, mainly custom races because they're all furfags snowflakes, and I decided to have the adventure take place on an unexplored system so that they wouldn't have to worry much about lore, i'm thinking of having multiple planets with different shit going on in them, and have their mission be to touch down somewhere and establish an outpost, with resource gathering and shit like that, and I'm thinking that I shouldn't have much combat for now since they will be starting at level 1.
Don't be surprised when the players don't do the obvious thing you tell them to do. Be ready for it, and let them do their thing otherwise
Talk to your players or learn to read them. Try to make sure everybody's having fun
What kind of advice are you looking for in particular?
Luis Gomez
>Don't be surprised when the players don't do the obvious thing you tell them to do. Be ready for it
This is something that has me a bit concerned, I guess I'll have to figure it out as we play, but i'm not sure what the right level of rail-roading is.
Like, if I have or want to kill an NPC, should I just kill it? Should I abide for the rules and leave it to the roll/give the players the option to save it?
And what do I do if the players get so far off-track that I have to start thinking plot on the go? Is that sign of bad DMing that I even allow that to happen?
Nicholas Wright
>but i'm gonna be running my first game as DM, and actually my first game ever, I've never played a PnP RPG ever >We're using some small custom rules, mainly custom races Who talked you into that? If you have no experience with RPGs, I'm not sure you have the frame of reference you should want to have before making things like custom races.
Daniel Clark
I've heard that sometimes a GM will just design encounters and have them just happen wherever the party ends up. Was the party going to be ambushed by bandits in the wilderness but they want to go to the city? Looks like a gang of thieves has their eye on them. My DM writes entire settings and just kind of lets the PCs go. We've been playing for a long time so we generally know how to cooperate or tell a story, but there's no definite "script" to what's going to happen Give things a reason to happen, but don't shoehorn encounters for no reason. You're going to have to git gud at improv, my friend
If you want to murder an NPC (or a PC), make it substantially unlikely that they'll survive an encounter, but give the PCs a chance to prevent it if they want. The party might encounter a giant who has a particular reason to dislike the NPC, for example. The PCs /might/ be able to kill the giant before it kills the NPC, but if the NPC takes more than a few hits then that's that. Then you can just end the encounter when the PCs deal a few more good hits to it
All my examples are for moderate / high fantasy settings, but you'll probably have to adapt the principles to your own setting
Jack Hill
Prep for a session but dont over prep. have like a skeleton outline
Chase Myers
Always design session by thinking what will happen in a given situation or encounter of players don't do dick. Don't expect them to do anything in particular, but make it clear that if they don't react to shit, things move forward, possibly towards a worse outcome. This way you'll never get stuck in a "players didnt act as I hoped to" predicament.
Ayden Cook
>Who talked you into that? If you have no experience with RPGs, I'm not sure you have the frame of reference you should want to have before making things like custom races.
I had to make some compromises to get my friends interested, I wasn't too comfortable doing it, but thankfully Starfinder seems to give more importance to the class than the race.
>I've heard that sometimes a GM will just design encounters and have them just happen wherever the party ends up.
That is good advice, sort of what I planned to do.
>you can just end the encounter when the PCs deal a few more good hits to it
Trough a bullshit reason I take it? Or trying to balance it so that the one that has to die is particularly disadvantage in a beatable fight?
Ian Nguyen
>I had to make some compromises to get my friends interested quite frankly, you should have picked up a lighter and easier system than starfinder. It's a reskin of D&D 3.5/Pathfinder, which are notoriously bullshitty about the rules
Brandon Perry
At first I tried with just one friend on the current D&D, but he isn't into medieval fantasy, and I figured it was a better idea to use rules designed for sci-fi from the get-go than trying to re-skin D&D into sci-fi myself.
>things move forward, possibly towards a worse outcome
Reminds me that balance is something that has me worried, the Starfinder book dues have some tips on that, but I am not sure on whether I should put the players into situations that are hard and challenging with the risk of them losing the game completely, or if easier but potentially less interesting encounters.
Dominic Nelson
>designed for sci-fi from the get-go than trying to re-skin D&D into sci-fi user, I have bad news for you... AFAIK Starfinder is exactly a reskin of D&D into scifi
>balance is something that has me worried I know the system is built around combat, but my first advice would be, shit going south doesn't have to mean fighting. Consider the ways things can get worse for the player outside of combat - insufficient supplies, angering people who then won't provide services, causing harm to machinery and infrastructures, this kind of stuff. Also think ahead. The encounter could be a few monks trying to convert a guy who doesn't have time for this. If they end up on the bad side of the monks, in the *future* the monks could start pestering them to convert. If they get on the guys bad side, it turns out his influential family that just had their family member converted away bribes locals to avoid doing business with the party. Etc.
The other piece of advice I'd have about combat balance... Is fuck balance. Give your players a good estimate of their foes when they see them, and if they decide to fight them, it's on them if they die. HOWEVER, since >they're all furfags snowflakes that could mean they will get super attached, plus making a character in that game is a chore... If anything, always try to give them a way out, like if someone has a good idea to de-escalate the fight, go for it, or let them run. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.
Third thing about combat is... Morale and behavior. Common thugs won't fight to the death. An average predator won't attack something that has a good chance of maiming them, because they need to be fit to hunt the next meal. If it comes to a fight, the enemy needs to have a goal and be reasonable about it. Sometimes even a firefight isn't to the death, either - you could be laying some sparse fire just to stop enemys advance and distance yourself from them before legging it.
Joshua Baker
>The other piece of advice I'd have about combat balance... Is fuck balance. Give your players a good estimate of their foes when they see them
And what about surprise encounters? I was kind of thinking of infestating one of the planets with not-Xenomorphs, and tho idk if they will even go there during the game, I am thinking about what kind of encounters or problems they would run into in that place.
>That could mean they will get super attached, plus making a character in that game is a chore...
Not too concerned about them getting too attached, but i'm sure none of them will be happy to lose their characters, besides yeah, it took us about 3 days per person to go trough all the bullshit of character creation on Starfinder, and that considering I had already more or less memorized the D&D rules.
Brayden Ramirez
>Not too concerned about them getting too attached, but i'm sure none of them will be happy to lose their characters, besides yeah, it took us about 3 days per person to go trough all the bullshit of character creation on Starfinder, and that considering I had already more or less memorized the D&D rules. thats why it's not a great game. OP, I promise there are easier games, some as short as one page of light rules for easy pick up and play.
>And what about surprise encounters? foreshoadowing. give them clues that could make them realize theyre about to get ambushed. If you ask them to roll, don't make the roll result either a success or a failure, don't hinge the entire scene on a result of the roll - that's the key to positively direct the action. If you want them to notice something, make them - but make them roll to see how much the notice. A success means they see a shadow scurry in the far-off corridor, a failure means they jsut hear something odd in the distance - possibly more than one creature. Creature, because no human makes such sounds. That goes for anything and everything - sometimes a failure can be a partial success - not a complete roadblock, but a sign pointing to a detour. Also, let them run. At least let them try to run. If they jsut run from a cheetah in a straight line and get caught, tough shit, but if they play smart, close hatches behind, throw shit on the ground, etc., that increases their odds. Oh, and for the love of god, for chase scenes do not just use flat movement rates. Have them be a pointer to gerneral speediness, but dont have everyone just move their flat rate every turn. Have characters make STR checks for sprints, CON checks for marathons, DEX checks for obstacle runs, etc.
William Campbell
Also figure out what guides and drives those xenomorph creatures. Let the party try to figure it out, too. Let them use this knowledge. If they know the xenos shit pink noodles, then pink noodles on an office desk should raise some questions.
Andrew Perez
>If you want them to notice something, make them alternatively, if there's no FUCKING way for them to do something, flat out don't let them. They shouldn't be able to sweettalk someone who holds them in morbid contempt into helping, BUT IF THEY INSIST, a successful roll coupled with a good argument could make that NPC hate them less.
Jacob Lee
>I promise there are easier games, some as short as one page of light rules for easy pick up and play.
I could use suggestions, to take a look at least, even tho I'll probably just roll with this one since we already created the characters. I'd like to have at least some starship and gun rules to go off of.
>don't make the roll result either a success or a failure, don't hinge the entire scene on a result of the roll - that's the key to positively direct the action
That's a good idea (and also makes me kind of realize why the scores are so high compared to the DCs in this game)
>dont have everyone just move their flat rate every turn. Have characters make STR checks for sprints, CON checks for marathons, DEX checks for obstacle runs, etc.
It hadn't occurred to me, definitely sounds like a good way to make a chase interesting! I should think more on what will be rolls and what won't.
>a successful roll coupled with a good argument could make that NPC hate them less.
That's what natural 20s are for I suppose, tho I've also seen people here complain about crit successes and failures having extreme effects.
Wyatt Butler
>I could use suggestions >I'd like to have at least some starship and gun rules to go off of Two choices off the top of my head would be:
>Savage Worlds It's a generic system that I have a bias towards, in which it is outright assumed that Heroes are larger than life, but a well landed shot from an unskilled opponent will still murderkill them. Emphasis on horizontal advancement, characters get new tricks up their sleeve rather than bigger and bigger number, the core rulebook is ~170pgs long, but the gist of it fits in a brochure. You'd need to either find a sparate setting, or hell, make up your own, it's a toolbox really. Has nifty race creation tools for your furfags. Regularly brought up as the paragon of rules-medium games.
>Stars WIthout Numbers A starfaring game in the oldschool revival style, it aims to feel and play a lot like very old D&Ds. IMO it has too many character skills to achieve that, but it plays well, and despite the book being lengthy is pretty rules-light - most of the writing is fluff. Haven't played it for long, but I liked it enough. IIRC supports only humans, so you'll need some homebrewing. On the upside, homebrewing races for it should take you a couple minutes at best.
I also know that a lot of anons swear by Mongoose Publishing's Traveller, but I cannot speak much of it, having never read or played that. You could also make a thread asking about some system recommendations.
Luke Parker
>That's what natural 20s are for I suppose IIRC, rules-as-written, natural 20s do nothing on skillchecks. That's also brought up often.
Levi Campbell
Got any links? I might check them out, savage worlds sounds nice, tho i'm not sure what edition to look for or where.
>IIRC, rules-as-written, natural 20s do nothing on skillchecks. That's also brought up often.
I believe Starfinder does make mention of it .
Cameron Howard
>I've never played a PnP RPG ever >designing the adventure and possibly full campaign >custom rules >they're all furfags Only thing I can say is... good fucking luck.
Liam Long
Introduce lots of characters. It's the most direct way to interact with your world.
Michael Gonzalez
>I'd like to get some tips from experienced players and DMs. DON’T FUCKING MAKE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE FOR YOUR FIRST GAME ESPECIALLY NOT A CAMPAIGN THERE ARE STARTER ADVENTURES FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE FUCKING USE THEM
Landon Lewis
There are scifi rpgs that do not have retarded rules bloat.
Wyatt Brown
I don't wanna use a Starfinder official adventure because I don't want my players to worry about the lore.
Got any examples?
Hunter Butler
Nah. Doing your own adventure to begin with is fine, just remember to keep it simple. Don't expect your first games to be amazing. Just churn through some cliche stuff and keep the better ideas for later, when you get the hang of it. Every GM has their own gobli-infested cave to clear out. If anything, prepping your own scenarios is better in the long run because you will learn how to handle scene design and improv faster, instead of relying on premade shit.
>believe Starfinder does make mention of it if it does, so be it
Veeky Forums has a hate boner for 3.5 and anything paizo does so please take all the opinions of people shitting on the system with a grain of salt. The fan base is a bunch of weebs and game has lots of rules but in general is a good system. As someone that came into the hobby when 3.5 was newish I just can't enjoy super rules light systems. every character feels like they were made with a cookie cutter.
Now as far as DM advice goes getting players to do what you expect is hard sometime. And player WILL get caught up on an unimportant details. The best way to deal with that when it happens is to find a way to make the retarded beggar they took such interest in be important. Maybe his business was shut down by the corrupt mayor or their is a gang in town that killed his wife and he lost everything because depression drove him to drugs, ect.
William Russell
>but in general is a good system.
Henry Lee
Been eyeing the basic rules, it seems to be essentially a simplified version of what D&D and Starfinder do, it's kind of interesting, I will prob ask my group if they're ok with switching or if they prefer with keep going with what we currently have.
I'll give it a read, I have the skeleton for a sci-fi setting on my mind already, but that might help me flesh it out a bit more (I'm personally more of a medieval guy myself, but welp, gotta make it fun for the players too).
Starfinder doesn't seem bad, it seems a bit rigid, but it has so many examples of play and so much structure that it was actually kind of relaxing (for me as DM) because I knew I wouldn't have to think too hard about whether a situation requires a roll, and what kind of roll.
Dylan Hughes
I'm glad SW seems up your alley, but >essentially a simplified version of what D&D and Starfinder do ...how? it's completely different in almost every way you can name. Please explain how did you arrive at this conclusion and what did you mean, I'm legit curious
Noah Sullivan
I had mostly read the titles, and the first part where it talks about skills tho it's not that different either, at least for a noobie like me.
Nathaniel Ross
Starfinder is bad. And this is coming from someone who likes Pathfinder. Everyone at Paizo who knew what they were doing left a long time ago, and the chucklefucks who threw Starfinder together...well among other things, they made the Truenamer mistake. They didn't even care enough about the game you were making to learn about one of the greatest failures of the game it's based on.
Noah Howard
you'll see soon. Everything from lack of classes, to combat abilities being skills like any other, to rolling various dice over 4, to acing and spending bennies, to card-based initiative, to having 3 wounds - no more no less; it's its own, wholly separate thing it's only really similar in the way of having skills and stats and players and a gamemaster, but thats extremely superficial
