GM-ing advice

[quozaxx]

What kind of GM-ing advise would you have for a GM wanabe:) ?

 

What kind of mistakes have you made and then learned from;) ?

 

What are some examples of good and bad GM:p?

 

What might frustrate a newer GM:mad: ?

 

What might confuse a newer GM:confused: ?

 

What are you 5 best "must knows" about being a GM:thumbup: ?

 

What are the 5 bigest no nos for a learning GM:thumbdown ?

 

Quozaxx

[Nolgroth]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

What kind of GM-ing advise would you have for a GM wanabe:) ?

This is a "tall order" question and probably can't be answered in any single post. I'll do my best to cover the questions you asked as best as I can.

 

So advice? To GM you have to want to GM, more than any other aspect. Your players will depend upon you to be interesting, inventive, fair, knowledgeable and consistent. If you can't take that burden on, you will not be a good GM.

 

Know your rules. Whatever system you use, know it. You don't have to memorize it chapter and verse, but know the meta-rules associated with it so that you can make snap decisions.

 

What kind of mistakes have you made and then learned from;) ?

All sorts. The first mistakes any GM makes are in balancing the bad guys from the good guys. All the books in the universe mean nothing when the "slightly challenging" lieutenant boss wipes out the party. Nothing doing but to keep trying.

 

Rewards, whether they are XP or Magic Items or Techno-Gizmos or piles of cash, are often heaped too easily or perhaps too strictly. Another balancing act you will need to learn.

 

What are some examples of good and bad GM:p?

In many ways, a subjective question. I think most of us can agree that GMs with "special" NPCs that take the limelight and outshine the characters are probably among the worst sinners in Hell. GMs that railroad a plot are also not particularly favored.

 

On the other hand, a good GM entertains his players. Keeps 'em coming back for more. How he does this is up to the players and the type of game being run. Action junkies will want action, role-playing junkies want interaction, and puzzle monkeys want to solve riddles and puzzles. A good GM can balance all that out so that each person gets a little play time and limelight.

 

What might frustrate a newer GM:mad: ?

Almost anything. Not "getting it right" to player heckling to player indifference to you name it. Frustration is part of the game and it is not endemic only to newer GMs. I recently started a side campaign for my group and the opening of the game did not go as planned. The important part is to take it in stride and learn from it.

 

What are your more humerous stories:D ?

I created an NPC for a group of Shadowrun players (my old group). By the time I was done with him, just saying his name causes a grimace. The best part is that they loved the NPC, in a love to hate sort of way.

 

What was you best plot twist:eg: ?

That one is yet to come.

 

What might confuse a newer GM:confused: ?

The vast amount of rules you have to know, the massive index of NPCs and how they relate to the characters, the characters themselves. All of this is manageable. Notes are your friend.

 

What are you 5 best "must knows" about being a GM:thumbup: ?

This is a summary of above with some additions.

1. Know your rules.
   
2. Know your players.
   
3. Know your characters.
   
4. Know your NPCs.
   
5. Know where your notepad is; always.

What are the 5 bigest no nos for a learning GM:thumbdown ?

1. Treating the game as a "me vs. them" environment is a no-no. The game is about interactively telling a story to entertain. Treating it as a contest does nobody justice. Your players have elected you to a position of trust by allowing you to GM. Ultimately, by being impartial and fair, you will all have a great time.
   
2. Having your "special" NPC is a no-no. Whether it is a NPC companion or a villain, don't make it more interesting or powerful than the characters.
   
3. Railroading the plot is a no-no. The plot is in your notes and in your head. Allow for the flexibility to change at a moment's notice. If you have a time sensitive scenario, don't get frustrated because the characters chase down a red herring. Let them and then let them see a consequence.
   
4. Allowing frustration to overrule fairness and sportsmanship is a no-no.
   
5. Taking it personal is a no-no. This ties in with the above. I once had a character reincarnated as a bear. That was so against what I perceived for the character that I asked the GM to let me play an alternate character. The GM became so frustrated that I didn't want to play my newly acquired walking rug that he decreed that the Gods saw fit to punish the "ingrate" and stated that the bear character was dead. I ran a new character, but the first one was dead because I didn't agree with the GM that playing a bear "would be cool." It was not long after that I quit the group.

As I said, this is a subject that books have been written upon. I doubt any one post will clue you in. Instead, I suggest that you find some specific target questions and ask them. We here love to blather on and we'd be happy to respond.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Here's a classic forum thread on this very subject: Tips for New GMs.

[JimLotFP]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Having your "special" NPC is a no-no. Whether it is a NPC companion or a villain' date=' don't make it more interesting or powerful than the characters.[/quote']

 

This is important. Remember that while there may be more powerful people in the world, and more important people in the world, the game you are playing is always always always always always always about the PCs. If NPCs are doing stuff that PCs can not do anything about, keep it in the background and out of the game.

[lensman]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

What kind of GM-ing advise would you have for a GM wanabe ?

 

GM as noun. Your job is setting, mood and character.

GM as verb. Motive is your engine. Characters act based on motives, theor own and those they are exposed to in others.

The battle that could become war because men clashed after being moved by a political figure, who in turn ordered those men in response to a sleight that offended his sense of civility.

 

What kind of mistakes have you made and then learned from ?

 

Hoarding information. Being so tricky and plot-wise, having many arcane twisting plots and interconnected secretive NPC’s, that players never felt like they could ever penetrate to the truth.

I learned from Joss Whedon, the bad guys make mistakes & misjudgments as well as the players do.

 

What are some examples of good and bad GM?

 

Over prepared (read: Railroad), under prepared (read: no sense of continuity or serial elements.)

 

What might frustrate a newer GM ?

 

Players going in a different direction than expected. Players constructing a ludicrous (‘cause they don’t have the script) scenario that completely misreads what has happened and is happening or will happen.

 

What are your more humorous stories ?

 

A villain that kept rolled 18 for hit location. I ended up renaming the character ‘Toe cutter’

 

A PC was being interrogated by a Inquisitor. The PC had cultivated a persona so obtuse and ‘touched’ that a trained Inquisitor could not squeeze any information out of him. A fellow character spying on the interrogation reported back to the group, “Tim 1, Inquisitor Zero.” Much too the delight of the PC’s.

 

Once in a Champions game, PC heroes were attempting to stop a fellow in his ‘suped’ up vehicle from evading the law and entering a foreign embassy and seeking asylum. At the gates, the vehicle was stopped, to the guards one character uttered, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just a repossession.”

 

Alright, that last one may not seem funny, but it was hilarious at the time.

 

What was you best plot twist ?

 

In a Wild Martial Arts campaign set in and around Asia. One player took over a criminal enterprise and ran it. Another player had been harassing local gangs.

Well for a long while I played middle man and as one player tried to shut down said criminal activities, I fed the loses to the player who was trying to shift the focus of the criminal enterprise from illegal to legal activity. In turn each made moves and counter moves without the players ever knowing it was each other the whole time.

 

What might confuse a newer GM ?

 

Players who ask for things that seem within the realm of possibility and reason for their character but those very same things kill game balance or system balance or campaign genre.

 

What are you 5 best "must knows" about being a GM ?

 

1. Be a pace monster. Always have events, people, activities that are happening no matter where / what the players do..

 

2. When building a plot, know the bones, some muscle and a few organs. Let the players add some flesh, ligaments and skin on their own.

 

3. Know and love the genre you are running. No good at Horror, don’t run a horror game.

 

4. Know the character skills / powers better than the payers. That way you can make sure you as GM know how to apply them to any situation when the player asks.

 

5. Know when too much is too much. Players can often ask for too much detail or knowledge from a situation. Balance a really great roll or application of skill to a poor resource and the reciprocal.

[GreyGuardian]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering

 

Other than that - Keep the plot simple - especially at first. The players should feel like their characters are at risk, are overcoming various conflicts, and making some progress. Make it too easy and they will be bored, make it too hard or so that they don't think they can change anything and it will be bad.

 

For a first time GM a familiar setting can be very helpful - a current day setting (modern) means you don't have to explain everything about the setting to the players. For example modern day setting - you need to get a coil of wire for something - ok I stop at a hardware store. Fantasy setting you need a coil of wire, as a player you... ask the gm if you know of a wire source etc... because as a player you have no idea unless it was covered in the setting documentation the players got (and that assumes the players read it). Not insurmountable, but it adds a layer of complexity that you don't need to deal with when running your first games.

[CourtFool]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Let the PCs do cool stuff.

 

I think that single concept is what made all of my most memorable gaming experiences.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Let the PCs do cool stuff.

 

I think that single concept is what made all of my most memorable gaming experiences.

 

Very true. Make sure you know what each of your players think is cool stuff and then let them do what they think is cool. let everyone have their moments and their place in the PC ecology. Remember its their tale. They are the main characters and while NPCs can be helpful and active, never forget who the stars of the show are. Try to communicate with your players and run the game they want to play. Try to create a world everyone including yourself thinks is cool and more joy will follow.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: GM-ing advise

 

Don't railroad. But have a structure and a plan for where you see the PCs heading. Don't make NPCs who dominate everything. But make sure their allies and enemies are interesting and memorable. Don't make your villains too powerful. But make them challenging. Don't set up your party to fail. But set them up for a challenge, and create consequences for poor decisionmaking.

 

Walk that line, and you'll do fine. But overall, remember: you're on their side. All of you are in it for fun, so that, above all, is your goal.

 

From a semi-newbie to a newbie, that's all I got. ^ v ^

 

(Details? Not so important, in the long run.)

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

Don't make the characters roll to find the clue, because inevitably they'll all fail, and you'll just give them the clue anyway (or else the game stalls). Make the rolls meaningful under the assumption that they'll get the clue; maybe it takes longer, maybe they're trying to find the clue first, maybe something else.

 

Along the same lines, don't make them roll to open the door if the plot lies on the other side, because inevitably they'll all fail, etc. Or they'll keep rolling until they succeed, which is as bad. "Did I open it yet?" "Not yet." "Now?" "Keep going..."

 

Don't hide information from them pending them asking just the right question in just the right way, or asking for just the right individual piece. "You didn't specify you were searching the third ceiling tile!" just frustrates players to no end.

 

Finally, don't make players roll unless something's at stake, and both success and failure are meaningful toward the game, or at least interesting.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

Oh. Uhhh... let the players win, but also let them lose. Let their wins be meaningful; if they beat the villain, then they beat him; he doesn't just escape at the beginning of next session. Likewise if they lose; these have an effect on the game and the story.

[JimLotFP]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

The players will tell you what kind of game they want to play according to the characters they make.

 

If a character makes a speedster, then he wants to be put in situations where moving really fast is important.

 

If a character makes a brick, then he wants to be put in situations where lifting great weight and being able to shrug off lots of punishment is important.

 

etc.

 

When designing adventures that will challenge them and their abilities, make sure you also have situations that don't challenge them, where their powers let them breeze right through the situation.

 

Look at the disadvantages as well. Players are still telling you what kinds of conflict the character wants to have. If they pick "Psych Lim: Fear of Cherry Trees", then cherry trees are important for the character. Make sure you develop that, not just in the terms of "I have to use this disad every so often so it wasn't just free points," but in terms of "if the player didn't want this to be part of the character's story, he wouldn't have chosen it."

[Cancer]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

As someone who has done his:

 

If you try GMing, and no one is having fun, bail. Let someone else go behind the shield, and try to wrap your mind around the problems that happened. But you're doing everyone (including The Hobby as a whole) a disservice if you persist knowingly in running a campaign badly.

[archermoo]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

You aren't trying to beat the PCs; you aren't their enemy. You are working with them to create an enjoyable play experience for everyone. The way a Ref "wins" is by having the players chomping at the bit for the next session.

 

The Ref as an opponent is an easy trap to fall into. You play all the "bad guys", so it isn't hard for the PCs to look at you as the bad guy yourself. But you also control all the "good guys" that aren't the PCs. And nature itself.

[quozaxx]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

Thanks for all the advise.

 

There seems to be a gap in the most humous and best plot twist questions.

 

Should I separate some of the questions for numeous posts?

 

It is a lot of questions, and I added the humorous and plot twist question for fun.

 

Quozaxx

[Nolgroth]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

Thanks for all the advise.

 

There seems to be a gap in the most humous and best plot twist questions.

 

Should I separate some of the questions for numeous posts?

 

It is a lot of questions, and I added the humorous and plot twist question for fun.

 

Quozaxx

Sure, post a new thread in General Roleplaying about Plot Twists and another for Humorous Moments. Everybody here has a great time with threads like those. We've had a bunch, but I don't think anybody really gets tired of telling their stories.

[CourtFool]

Ain't that the truth

 

We've had a bunch' date=' but I don't think anybody really gets tired of telling their stories. [/quote']

 

Truer words are rarely spoken.

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Ain't that the truth

 

Yeah, if I see a big block of questions in the serious threads (or even the not-so-serious ones), I'll usually get the general idea of the line of questioning, and answer the intent. Too many questions confuse me and get me repeating myself, especially toward the end of the week when the sleep debt's all piled up.

 

I will say this about plot twists and funny developments: they can't be planned too carefully. Players often have a different opinion of what's cool, clever or funny than the GM, so trying to impress upon them, "No, this is funny! Don't you get it?" is an exercise in futility. I haven't even tried, because I get so embarrassed when a joke falls flat.

[Tech]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

I'll try to answer these without having looked at anyone else's answers.

 

What kind of GM-ing advise would you have for a GM wanabe:) ?

See the below answers.

 

What kind of mistakes have you made and then learned from;) ?

Just because you're the GM doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to player characters and the story. People are playing these characters. Sometimes people have created, what is to them, a piece of art. No one likes having their art stepped on and tossed around. Treat players as people, as a host would treat guests.

 

What are some examples of good and bad GM:p?

Some examples for a good GM would be: one that takes into account the desires and personalities of his players and creates episodes and stories for them, not for himself. A good GM encourages roleplaying a character, not roleplaying a bunch of statistics. A bad GM does a 'I am the GM, you must obey my decisions or else' - get real. People are people and if you as GM act like a jerk, it's because you as a person are acting like a jerk.

 

What might frustrate a newer GM:mad: ?

A newer GM might feel that he has to go a fabulous job the first time through. It puts pressure on you unnecessarily. Let the players know you're a new GM and that you'll be learning so you can create better episodes each time. Some of my first episodes were the hero stopping a bank robbery, which meant the episode lasted less than 15 minutes.

 

What might confuse a newer GM:confused: ?

Not knowing the rules will confuse GMs and players alike. Learn them well.

Having players upset at you could confuse new and experienced GMs - the key is to find out why a player is upset and to work things out.

 

What are you 5 best "must knows" about being a GM:thumbup: ?

1. Know the Hero System, even the little rules if you can

2. Know your players, their likes and dislikes. It helps.. it really helps.

3. Know your campaign. What's it going to be like? If you don't know, how are your players supposed to know.

4. Know your time limit. Not everyone can stay for 4 hours of gaming.

5. Know how to keep things interesting for all the players, not just some.

 

What are the 5 bigest no nos for a learning GM:thumbdown ?

1. Do not act like king or queen. Know when to be flexible and change a ruling.

2. Do not cater to a particular player character, i.e. don't favor one player over another.

3. Do not keep doing the same type of episode over and over. It gets boring.

4. Do not use rules that the players can't stand. Try it and I guarantee arguments.

5. Do not hold things that players do to your villains personally. If they royally stomp your villains through team-work and breeze through your episode, it means you have good players and you have to work harder. Don't be upset that they 'ruined' your great storyline - if they enjoyed it, great! Some of the very best remembered episodes my group's had was when they breezed through an episode.

 

Quozaxx

That you are.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: GM-ing advice

 

Disadvantages are not for the GM to use to take away a player's control of his character. Disadvantages are for the GM to use to make the character heroic, and to make an interesting story.