How can I be a good DM? I finally found a group to play but I think the others have even less experience than me in RPGs and I've played 4 games in my entire life. However I've played some infinity engine games and watched all the Counter Monkey videos if that's worth anything. We're going to play shadowrun.
How to DM?
Jason Lee
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Jonathan Thompson
Firstly
Good on you, every DM starts somewhere and theres always a need for more.
Shadowrun can be a bit technical, but isnt a bad starting point. What edition?
If you want some ideas of where to start, Food Fight is a good scenario and theres nothing wrong with running a pre made scenario.
Basically I would encourage you to run premades until youre group has a solid grip on the rules and setting and then you can start expanding into your own stories.
As for actually running it?
just have a firm understanding of 1)when and how to make skill checks and how they work 2)the basics of combat 3)who the people the party encounter are
dont be to restrictive on your players, let them screw with things and even fuck up, just try and let the story shape around them as they move through the world you control
Juan Russell
Thank you.
>What edition?
Not sure. I'm doing my research right now. It'll probably come down to whatever I find in the store.
Easton Green
This nerd has been helping me out with ideas.
Levi Taylor
Haha, i was just about to recommend that channel. But I guess I was too slow.
I've really learned a lot from those vids and all of them are really good because they focus on the storytelling, instead of game mechanics.
Thomas Reed
Don't listen to the autistic neckbeards on Veeky Forums who insist that having any story whatsoever and a world more restrictive than a murderhobo sandbox is bad GMing.
Matthew Murphy
This
Luis Edwards
This is also true.
Just make sure youre ready for your Players to act against the grain or just completely cut through your plot.
A good way of handling it is having a story where it doesnt really matter what path they choose they are still following your general goal. Like it doesnt matter if they take that left or right fork, the path they end up on still ends up being the one with the princess being set upon by brigands and what not.
Basically, players dont really mind rails if they never notice them.
Charles Bailey
matt colville and the geek and sundry channels, have playlists on youtube, are pretty decent
i dont have the exact links but they could probably help you, though i feel like they more so lean towards being better for dnd, but i do feel like they are still pretty good to watch, even if for tips here and there
some advice from me personally, learn the map. whether it be star wars rpg or dnd or shadowrun or call of cthulu, you need to learn the map. if not learn then make sure your players will know the map that you made/drew up during session 1. they do not always need to know it before session 1, sometimes they do, sometimes they dont, but it really all depends on how much time they'll spend there, what their back stories are for being there, or how long they will be staying there.
learn the deities or gods or whatever game the term is for them. so that not only can the players properly know them (you dont have to always have them know them, but just make sure the players know that they exist and in what basic capacity they interact in the world, but even that is a possibility) but how you will have to (possibly) portray them. in dnd there are many, so you dont have to know them exactly, but be prepared with at least either cliffnotes or knowing what page you can find them on
knowing how weapons, magic, and armor work are pretty basic things, just make sure your players know and if something seems awry than you can look it up while "nothing" is happening
i wouldnt put too much thought and effort into food unless either youre playing a game where that is a part of it in a major way or unless that somehow becomes a major plot point
i havent ever used this image before so im gonna use it here, it is kinda funny, well at least a little bit funny to me
Christian Thompson
I have a hard rule at my table. I have a story for you to interact with. If you treat me or my story as an enemy to be defeated through derailment or purposeful sabotage you're out. Tangents are fine, side shenanigans are fine, skipping a plot point through clever or unexpected play is fine. I am flexible enough to make it work. Being contrarian just to be a prick won't fly.
Kayden Jackson
You can do it, Veeky Forums believes in you
Ayden Peterson
People get buttflustered whenever I mention him on Veeky Forums but TheAngryGM unironically provides excellent GMing advice.
Carter Cook
If you don't play with a map, you should be able to describe your scene very well. Get descriptive, but don't ramble on.
Anyone who tells you that you a map is absolutely necessary is an autist who can't imagine anything for shit. That being said, it depends on the system too; some systems don't lend too well to map-less play.
Jose Cooper
if you want your players to follow certain plotpoints, you should ideally consider if a real human would want to follow it through. I ignored my first call to adventure because he didnt provide any reason why i should, but eventually the GM noticed and shoved my character straight into the plot by baiting him into an "easy" job that eventually turned into a crazy treasure hunt
Gabriel Carter
>How can I be a good DM?
Do some actual DMing. Like everything else, it gets better with practice. A lot better, provided you try to find flaws in it and correcting them. Listening to feedback helps a lot too.
Anthony Johnson
>Listening to feedback helps a lot too.
Provided they give any...
Mason Morris
I find this is player dependent. Some take the bait more easily than others and that's okay.
Benjamin Fisher
What version should I run for new players?
>inb4 B/X
Something a little more relevant to modern RPGs
Henry Powell
Fate is a good start, very easy to get into.
Cooper Murphy
If everyone is new at the table, then you're going to have a blast. Trust me, no one knows what a good DM looks like - all your mistakes will be forgotten and good times will be remembered. Just focus on telling a fun story with friends and having fun being around them.
If you want a nice, structured way to do a campaign, pic related isn't a bad start.
Adrian Richardson
Whatever you do, do NOT add major stuff to your campaign/story at the last minute unless you are absolutely confident you can play it off as intentional. Improvising minor changes based on player behavior is one thing, straight up adding shit you are in no way prepared for is another, and it WILL bite you in the ass.
This sounds obvious but when you're running the game and you get paranoid that the players aren't having fun, it's incredibly easy to throw out that half baked idea you randomly had two minutes before primetime. Resist this urge, trust your players.
John Diaz
for Shadowrun specifically:
don't stat your mooks, give them dice pools
give lots of 1-3 die bonuses and maluses for situational pros/cons
don't have the johnson screw them over for at least a few runs
ban quickening, posession, and mind control - srsly
rule of 12 - someone who is decently good at something gets 12 dice to do it..as in, a normal security guard would get 12 dice to shoot his pistol, assuming he is not a scrub
encourage edge usage by gifting it back to your players for doing something cool, roleplaying well, or finding a novel solution
Gavin Cooper
I kind of like the simplicity system, but I'm not a fan of the fate points
Juan Diaz
Heh, my group finally gave me some feedback for the first time in like 5 years. It was something I knew already: "work on your delivery". It was unsolicited feedback, too, just out of the blue while we were group chatting in discord (it's an IRL group).
Justin Hall
He's too longwinded and takes forever to make a point.
Henry Davis
not same guy, but agreed
he DOES have points to make and good advice, certainly more than the "GM advice" videos that just state the obvious or give you unimaginative "ideas" but he is to long winded and kind of boring to listen to in order to get to the actual advice
Leo Martinez
Define modern, also what kind of game you want to run. We'll always recommend B/X for dungeoncrawls and wilderness exploration.
Zachary Bennett
That's funny, because the Fate points are what make it interesting for me. I can see you feeling like it's a dissociative mechanic, but that's because you need to approach the game a little bit differently. I wouldn't call Fate an rpg as much as I'd call it a storytelling game.
Parker Edwards
On the other hand, don't plan out moments, plan out people, their motivations, their personalities, the places and people they interact with, and the conflicts that arise from those. If you get stuck on a moment you really want to have happen well into the campaign when you're still running the beginning of the game, you're going to find yourself steering the players in really heavy handed ways. This will frustrate all but the most passive players.
Luke Ortiz
Also the shorter the game, the more you can get away with railroading the players and planning out moments. A game that is 8 hours total can be pretty scripted, but a sprawling 200 hour epic needs player agency.
Luke Howard
Meant to reply to
Kayden Diaz
I've planned for no railroading at all, while there are hooks and encounters and such, they're all randomly spread throughout a detailed world, and I don't really expect my players to follow any sort of particular order when playing.
Joshua Fisher
>don’t prepare, make shit up as you go, this will train your brain so cardiovascular issues or lung inflamation get you before you develop alzheimer. Trust me, you don6t wanna die of alzheimer
>don’t bother learning the rules, relly on players learning the rules. Your players need protection form alzheimer too.
>give players very general misson goals that can be accomplished in very numerous ways palyers can invest.
Jaxon Davis
Is the OP even monitoring this thread anymore?
>Counter Monkey
Spoony is a cunt. Setting aside whether or not his players had fun, he's utterly dismissive of other peoples' ideas about RPGs. He is not the kwisatz haderach of tabletop roleplaying.
Angel Evans
When describing things say what they see, not what is there
Get good tools, lists, charts.
Like an Elf Name list for example, in case you need a name for an elf npc.
Don't fudge rules in any way
Depending on what kind of game you want to run make plans, but don't get too attached for them.
Talk to your players.
Aaron Phillips
Regarding railroading