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yougi
2012-08-10, 12:33 PM
Recently, I tried out 4E with a friend of mine as a DM. There are a few things he did that I thought were really cool, and that I now use in my game. I thought, meh, the people over at GiantITP will probably have a few also, and we can all share, and get better as DMs, and then maybe the "OH I HATE MY DM" threads can stop (yes, I do know that won't happen).

Here is the kind of tricks I'm talking about:

Original: It needs to be something that not everyone has thought of. "Give your players choice" is not very original.
Audience: This is not DMing 101. This is meant to be tricks to help DMs who already master the basics of play.
Helpful: Sometimes, we do things in a particular way, just because we're all a bit OCD. However, it doesn't mean that anybody else would WANT to do it that way. Ask yourself: can this trick HELP someone become a better DM?
Positive: There are plenty of topics telling us what NOT to do as DMs. Here, we want to know what to do.
Topic: Maybe your tricks are for planning your campaign world, for planning your individual sessions, for running through your game, or a specific part of your game. It can also be group management (how do you deal with groups who can't agree on anything, or absent players, or friction within the group?). Even specific rules you have which you think can be helpful regarding snacks or time of game. Helpful advice is helpful advice.
Action, not state of mind: Advice on how to think is rarely helpful, or so I think. Telling someone to "stay open to new ideas" is of no help: how does one keep an open mind? If I'm closed minded, I can still believe my mind is open to new ideas. However, advice on action is more useful: "Ask your players to make a list of things they'd like to do, and include one of them in each sessions" is boolean (either you do it or you don't), and it's hard to tell yourself you're doing it if you aren't.


My tricks:
Initiative cards: In a combat system where order of play is fixed for the duration of an encounter, I have cards which I give my players, on which they write their initiative, and I do the same for my NPCs, and I put them together, in order. You can also write down duration of buffs on them, and tick of a square every time it's that character's turn to play.

Keeping combat snappy: I DM 3.5 D&D, which means that a round of combat is 6 seconds long. I was tired of my players talking strategy during combat, and having to go "6 seconds! 6 seconds!" all the time. I now have a timer: when it's your turn, you have X seconds to decide what you do, where X is your intelligence score (more intelligent characters thinking faster than their players). If when the timer rings, you haven't said what you'd do, you spend your turn scratching your groin-area; if you have, then we roll dice or whatever, but not decision is to be made after that. It keeps combat snappy and more "instinct" as opposed to "perfect tactical master".

Take feedback: After a game, within 24h, I ask my players individually what they thought of the game, usually over Facebook chat, or on Battle.Net. Sometimes, someone who looked like they had fun might not have appreciated the game, or maybe the opposite. I try to know what bothered them, or what made them think the game was epic, and I write that down. After 6 months in my current game, I have about half a page on each player, on what they really like and what annoys them. I take them out when planning, so I remember what to do, and what not to do.

yougi
2012-08-10, 12:34 PM
Reserved to make a list eventually, so everything is in the same place

valadil
2012-08-10, 12:38 PM
I actually have a blog for my GMing tricks. It hasn't been updated in almost a year because I haven't gamed since my son was born. The content is more discussion oriented and not everything is a trick per se, but some of it is certainly relevant. Link in sig.

Exediron
2012-08-10, 01:39 PM
Keeping combat snappy: I DM 3.5 D&D, which means that a round of combat is 6 seconds long. I was tired of my players talking strategy during combat, and having to go "6 seconds! 6 seconds!" all the time. I now have a timer: when it's your turn, you have X seconds to decide what you do, where X is your intelligence score (more intelligent characters thinking faster than their players). If when the timer rings, you haven't said what you'd do, you spend your turn scratching your groin-area; if you have, then we roll dice or whatever, but not decision is to be made after that. It keeps combat snappy and more "instinct" as opposed to "perfect tactical master".

Take feedback: After a game, within 24h, I ask my players individually what they thought of the game, usually over Facebook chat, or on Battle.Net. Sometimes, someone who looked like they had fun might not have appreciated the game, or maybe the opposite. I try to know what bothered them, or what made them think the game was epic, and I write that down. After 6 months in my current game, I have about half a page on each player, on what they really like and what annoys them. I take them out when planning, so I remember what to do, and what not to do.

Good ideas; we don't do anything so formalized on round timing, but if I feel that the player has taken too long I will tell them that they hesitated and failed to act. We also allow characters with a higher intelligence more time to think, or to ask the DM for a good idea. As for feedback, I know my group well enough that I don't really need to ask, but it's certainly a good idea to know what your players like and don't like.

The only one I have to add right now is on the subject of initiative: A system I've found works much better than the way a lot of people take down the order. It may already be common knowledge, but I've played with several groups who don't use it and would be faster if they did.

Spacial Initiative Chart (for lack of a better term): The idea is to allow the initiative to be taken in any arbitrary order with as many last-minute additions as required, without messing up the order or forcing you to right little numbers to the side for the order.

To begin, you need a good idea of the spread of possible initiatives. I usually assume 1 to 60, but that won't be true at lower levels. Let's say 1 to 30 here. When the first player submits their initiative - a 17, for the sake of example - you write it down just slightly above halfway on your initiative chart. The next one is a 3 - that goes almost at the bottom, followed by a 24, which goes about midway between the 17 and the top.

In this fashion, it's easy to assemble the chart without having to worry about the order the players submit their initiatives in - the chart will always read accurately from top to bottom. Mostly useful if you're running a particularly large group or encounter. Sometimes, to speed it up further, I'll print out a piece of paper with numbers for each possible initiative in the range and then just fill the characters into it.

Ulysses WkAmil
2012-08-10, 01:53 PM
Something I picked up from a Vet:

Colour Rings: Basically, the little rings on bottles of soda or water can be taken off and used to display current effects on monsters, PC's, and sometimes terrain. Red for bloodied, Silver for buff, Orange for DoT Fire, ect. ect. Not sure if this is uncommon or not, I don't venture much outside my highschool group. Sorry if it is.

Xiander
2012-08-10, 03:45 PM
During my time as a player and a GM I have bumped into several usefull ways to think about dicerolls.
Including:

Not asking for dicerolls: If you want your players characters to find a certain item, spot a certain building or path or think of something plot importance, don't ask for a roll that they have a chance to fail.
It can be ruthlessly annoying when the plot grinds to a halt, because every single player rolls natural ones.

Asking for dicerolls which will have no effect If you only ask for spotchecks when there is something to spot, your players might react to the checks by being more carefull or doing things they would not if they had not gotten a roll, even if the fail the roll.
Asking for pointless checks might of course just make them do this even more, which is why I normally state blatantly in front of my players that i do this, so that i can build suspense by throwing red herring rolls at them.
(an alternative is rolling some checks for them, but generally players like rolling their dice themselves, and the GM has enough dice to roll without stealing the players').

Deciding what the npc rolls: For this one i'll go for an anecdote. I ran a shortlived 4th edition game. One of my players had invested in a very high alertness, making his passive spot and listen check intimidating. At a point in the plot, it made sense to have someone make an attempt on the life of this particular character. I did not actually want the assassin to succeed, so when he snuck into the characters bedroom in the middle of the night, i rolled a dice behind my screen and asked for the characters passive listen check. He gave it to me, I looked at the dice, cursed and exclaimed: Failed by one!
I don't remember what i actually rolled, but the point was that the character succeede in something his character was supposed to be good at, and it was close enough that he appreciated his specialization. This trick is a nice way of rewarding a player for making his character good at something, while making sure the scene proceeds as planned.


Thats a start, if I think of more, i'll post em right up.

NichG
2012-08-10, 04:56 PM
Use Themes when Improvising: One of the difficulties of improvising is to make it seem like you had everything planned out. Its satisfying as a player when things connect and click and seem natural. One way to kind of fake this is to build things on a theme. For instance, say 'The theme of this game is going to be What Will People do for Resources?' and then when you need a new element or to work something in, have it fall along that theme. This may not make individual things line up, but it will make it feel like there's more of a consistent thing going on.

Use your Troublemaker: Almost every party has one PC who just likes to make trouble. Sometimes this can cause a game to fall apart if its too random or annoying to other PCs or breaks a rigid plot or whatever. A better thing to do is recognize who this is early on, and give them lots of opportunities to break things. The things you want to be broken to help move plot ahead. Often if these things come with personal power (or better yet, power for the party), it'll soften the blow to the other PCs of 'what did you just do?!' and it'll help guide the destructive behavior usefully.

Have a Why Ready: It gets old if its done too much, but it can be neat if you have an in-setting reason in mind for some of the quirks and oddities of your game system. Even if this reason is not known generally by people in the setting, when the PCs discover it it can generate an aha moment. For example: I decide that hitpoints are actually little spiritual entities that accrete on people based on the importance of their deeds, and they're quantized because each one is an individual spirit. It isn't known or advertised to the PCs, but maybe one of the more spiritually sensitive PCs sees some kind of evidence of it or it gets integrated into the plot somehow and there's the 'aha'.

WarKitty
2012-08-10, 05:07 PM
Let Your Players Build the World: This is surprisingly helpful. I provide a very basic outline of the world, then ask my players who they would like to be. If you have creative players, let them run loose. My player is from such-and-such a city? I put that city on the map. Lost their village to roaming orcs? One of the major conflicts is the decaying kingdom's inability to keep the orc marauders out. It helps build characters that belong in the world without hampering the players' sense of control. And makes the GM's job easier.

Totally Guy
2012-08-10, 06:18 PM
Big Four Things Required for Legit Dice Rolls
GM should consider the following prior to dice rolls;
Intent: What does the player expect to happen on a successful roll?
Task: How is the character trying to accomplish the intent? Does this action match the expectation from the intent?
Engage System: What does the player roll? Know what result is required for success.
Failure Consequences: What is at stake here? Does the player have an expectation of what failure would cost?

If task and intent do not align then question the player's goal and their method until they do match or the player decides to do something different.
It may be that nothing is at stake, most games have a rule for when to roll dice that may discuss this, you might be familiar with "Take 10", "Take 20" or "Say Yes or Roll the Dice".

falloutimperial
2012-08-10, 07:39 PM
It's the little things- Making sure there are many small and almost useless objects everywhere it makes sense for them to be is important to preserve the feel of the world and thwart accidental metagaming. "He mentioned a pen? It must be meaningful." In addition, it subtly encourages players to be inventive in encounters. Saving the world is infinitely more satisfying when done with a tea kettle and some string than a magic sword.

An open field- If an encounter is imminent, I try to ensure the surroundings are interesting and varied. Most players would prefer to scale the Eternal Staircase of Ytrour while dodging the lions of Opulence to combating them in the forest clearing. Battles are won and lost due to the terrain they are fought on, and allowing players another depth of tactical savvy.

What's in a name?- In most settings, everyone has a name. Don't be afraid to use them. It will create characters who may later appear and give depth to one-offs. A list of generic setting-appropriate names is a valuable tool.

Demon's Run-on- Many settings involve an evil organization with a long and sneaky plan. It is imperative that the plan not only seem puzzling to the players as they discover each part, but that is makes logical sense from the plotters' perspectives. Ensure that there is not an easier plan that the antagonists could come up with.

WarKitty
2012-08-10, 08:58 PM
Naming Conventions: Pick a dead or really obscure language for each culture. Go on a baby name site and look for names from that origin. Use for people, places, etc. For more variety, think up a few common prefixes/suffixes for different things. For example, in one culture, all last names are the parent's name followed by -ma or -no. In another, the prefix "kite-" means city.

Gamer Girl
2012-08-10, 10:18 PM
Just Use the Stats Need a creature to encounter but don't have one handy? Just use the stats for anything! Say you feel like having a skeletal warrior around the next corner, but don't have one ready. Just flip open any book and use some random stats. 'Fire Giant' works just fine for a skeletal warrior. And it's even more fun if the 'skeletal warrior' as the ability of say a basilisk.

Keep A Database of Names of People, Places and Things. You don't need details, just a ton of names. Then when you need to name something, just pick off the list.

Take NotesRead a book, read the paper, watch a movie or TV show, write down any interesting names.

KnightOfV
2012-08-10, 11:38 PM
Just Use the Stats Need a creature to encounter but don't have one handy? Just use the stats for anything! Say you feel like having a skeletal warrior around the next corner, but don't have one ready. Just flip open any book and use some random stats. 'Fire Giant' works just fine for a skeletal warrior. And it's even more fun if the 'skeletal warrior' as the ability of say a basilisk.

So much this. Not only does this keep things more interesting and unique, but it prevents a lot of metagaming on monster stats and makes those knowledge checks to find weaknesses more useful. Recently stated up a Lamia Matriarch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/lamia/lamia-matriarch) as the enchanting and tricky Erlkonig (Elf King), and all I had to do was change the creature type to fey and be descriptive!

Kelb_Panthera
2012-08-11, 02:13 AM
For D&D:

Ready Cards
Take a pack of 3X5's and when someone, player or GM, wants to ready an action, have them write the action they're readying on the card, then lay it face down on the table. When the trigger event occurs flip the card and resolve the action.

It's done wonders for reducing the metagaming thoughts on readied actions at my table, though you wanna make sure your players have a good idea of how specific the action they write has to be for it to be acceptable.

The Random NPC
2012-08-11, 06:26 AM
This is more for the players, but since is benefits the DM,
Have a reason to be a party
For example, I'm playing a Evil rogue in a party with a paladin. Why am I with the paladin? Because they are easy to manipulate. Why is the paladin with me? Because he's trying to keep me from doing evil and redeem me in the process.

Eldan
2012-08-11, 06:47 AM
Keep A Database of Names of People, Places and Things. You don't need details, just a ton of names. Then when you need to name something, just pick off the list..


This is a really good one. I am really bad at coming up with names quickly, so I printed out a list of 100 random names from a generator. For a commoner, pick one, for a noble pick three that sound noble-y. Done.

When I had a cleptomanic character, I made a list of "100 small items a commoner may have in his pockets". Two hours later, the character had a collection of sewing needles, fish hooks, twine and bent cutlery.

Addendum: Another one.

Just go with it
This happened to me once or twice. You write a story of intrigue, surprises, twists and turns, or so you think. Your players start collecting their clues, they come closer to the goal, and then one of them explains his theory. And it is so good. Why didn't you think of that? Of course this entire story makes more sense if X did Y! Z makes the much better culprit! Involving religious sect Q means you can immediately segue into a story of international cloak-and-daggery! Brilliant!
At this point, sometimes it's just better to chuck half your notes away and go with your player's idea. Then throw another twist on top, so it doesn't get too predictable. Not only will your player feel smart and content for partially figuring it out early, the story was quite likely better than yours.

yougi
2012-08-11, 11:09 AM
Use your Troublemaker: Almost every party has one PC who just likes to make trouble. Sometimes this can cause a game to fall apart if its too random or annoying to other PCs or breaks a rigid plot or whatever. A better thing to do is recognize who this is early on, and give them lots of opportunities to break things. The things you want to be broken to help move plot ahead. Often if these things come with personal power (or better yet, power for the party), it'll soften the blow to the other PCs of 'what did you just do?!' and it'll help guide the destructive behavior usefully.

I'm not sure I understand this one: would you care to elaborate, to give us an example?


For D&D:

Ready Cards
Take a pack of 3X5's and when someone, player or GM, wants to ready an action, have them write the action they're readying on the card, then lay it face down on the table. When the trigger event occurs flip the card and resolve the action.

It's done wonders for reducing the metagaming thoughts on readied actions at my table, though you wanna make sure your players have a good idea of how specific the action they write has to be for it to be acceptable.

Once again, I'm not sure what problem this helps solve. Could you enlighten me?

Eldan
2012-08-11, 11:32 AM
"I ready an action to shoot the next person coming through hte door!"
"Hah, sucker! The goblins are all coming through the window instead!"

Which I guess is a bit extreme, but similar, if less adversarial thoughts can go through a DM's mind.

NichG
2012-08-11, 12:58 PM
I'm not sure I understand this one: would you care to elaborate, to give us an example?


Sure. In my last campaign I had a player that was very power-hungry, liked to dominate NPCs and PCs alike, generally had a 'my way or you all die' attitude, and generally got into trouble from overreaching.

So I could've just crushed him at every turn, but then he'd not have fun and I'd be losing an opportunity.

Instead, I dropped items into the game that no sane player would ever use, but which were very powerful. A gauntlet that permanently lowers your maxhp by a bit when you fire it, but utterly removes the target from reality (i.e. the damage it does does the same to the target, so if you kill it that way it can't be revived). An addictive potion distilled from the corruption of people's ideals that makes you powerful when you use it. Things like that. I knew that out of the entire party, he'd be the one to use those things (and more to the point, his presence meant they would reliably get used), so I could tie those objects and their use into the plot. Basically, I could do an honest 'its the PCs fault' plot sometimes without having to make it a hidden gotcha from an innocent action. None of those actions were innocent or sensible, and everyone knew it

He also managed to start a somewhat plotty war between four or five nations, and that one was entirely me just reacting to what he did. Basically with him as a player I didn't have to plan sessions half the time, I just had to use whatever he did in downtime as a plot hook.

ShneekeyTheLost
2012-08-11, 01:02 PM
Remember, your goal is their entertainment..
If they insist on knowing when the next game is before leaving the table for the evening... you did something right.

Remember fellahs, this is a game. If people aren't having fun, then there's something wrong.

A Gm facilitates the entertainment by providing plot and challenges to overcome. The players provide the characters and the motivating force.

The highest compliment you can be paid as a GM is "Aw, come on man, just one more scene before we quit for the evening".

WarKitty
2012-08-11, 02:40 PM
Remember, your goal is their entertainment..
If they insist on knowing when the next game is before leaving the table for the evening... you did something right.

Remember fellahs, this is a game. If people aren't having fun, then there's something wrong.

A Gm facilitates the entertainment by providing plot and challenges to overcome. The players provide the characters and the motivating force.

The highest compliment you can be paid as a GM is "Aw, come on man, just one more scene before we quit for the evening".

Corollary: Don't Bore Yourself: Not only does it mean you're not having fun, but a bored or uninterested GM is usually not a very good GM.

Give Them some Plot Beforehand: This is something that's saved me a lot of headache. Tell the players before character creation what the first plot hook is. All PC's come to the table having agreed to take on the quest/accept employment/whatever. Why they're there is their problem. Saves a lot of time that would be wasted on "but my character wouldn't do that!"

Kelb_Panthera
2012-08-11, 02:42 PM
I'm not sure I understand this one: would you care to elaborate, to give us an example?



Once again, I'm not sure what problem this helps solve. Could you enlighten me?

It's a relatively minor problem of meta-gaming. Using this makes it less likely that a person will change their action because based on the fact that someone else readied. For instance, if a player likes to open combat with a charge, but the badguy wins initiative, he's more likely to charge if the DM just says that baddy X readies an action, rather than that baddy X readies his weapon against a charge. That enemy could just as easily be readying his action to throw a weapon at the spellcaster when he begins casting, or to use some alchemical item once an enemy is within range, etc.

The player has every right to ask for a sense-motive check to determine his enemy's intent.

Gamer Girl
2012-08-11, 05:29 PM
Don't get too caught up in the rules Say you want to have a wall of energy that zaps a person into time. But you can't find any thing in any rule book that even comes close. Just do it anyway!


Try to Over-describe This is lots of fun. Get ready with your dictionary, thesaurus and such. Then when you need to describe something, don't go ''it's a guy with a sword'', say ''the vile and dark looking near humanoid with gray skin and glowing red eyes brandishes a long slim blade that reflects the firelight''

Add lots of Flavor and Spice A 'flaming sword' by the rules just catches on fire...boring. How about ''the blade of the sword is covered with flame, and from the flame tiny several inch long dragons made out of flame whirl around the sword''. They don't even need to 'do' anything, except look cool.

Or ''Your magic bolt flies at the demon...who holds out his hand and catches your spell in a glowing green ball of light, then he 'eat's that light and glows green for just a second''. What happened? The demon make a save, or a spell resistance roll or what ever.....but it sure sounded a lot worse then that, eh?

Techwarrior
2012-08-11, 09:45 PM
Voice The GM who has the Lizardfolk actually splutter and hiss is a lot more fun than the GM who you have to ask who's talking when he speaks. Practice several different voices and noises. If you have to stop and say "The first fisherman says..." and then "The other fisherman replies..." it ruins immersion. When you're describing what they hear on the other side of the door, and the party says "It's <name of the BBEG>" you know you're doing it right.

On a similar note:
Make the Villain Special Even if all you do is give them a distinctive voice, or a special power never seen before, you want your big bad to be something that people remember. Even 'Evil Cleric of Slaughter' can be something special, given the right quirks.

Finally
Only say it once I've seen a lot GM's that get overrun by some of their players. If you're talking, and the other players start saying stuff to each other, or goofing off, just keep talking. Then, when the players ask the NPC to repeat what he said, roleplay him getting upset with them for not paying attention. If you were describing the room, tell them they weren't paying attention to the room and didn't notice anything. Appropriately done, you can easily condition your players to stop when you start describing.

WarKitty
2012-08-11, 11:11 PM
.
Only say it once I've seen a lot GM's that get overrun by some of their players. If you're talking, and the other players start saying stuff to each other, or goofing off, just keep talking. Then, when the players ask the NPC to repeat what he said, roleplay him getting upset with them for not paying attention. If you were describing the room, tell them they weren't paying attention to the room and didn't notice anything. Appropriately done, you can easily condition your players to stop when you start describing.

Please don't do this. The only players it hurts are the ones that actually want to roleplay.

The New Bruceski
2012-08-12, 12:45 AM
Voice The GM who has the Lizardfolk actually splutter and hiss is a lot more fun than the GM who you have to ask who's talking when he speaks. Practice several different voices and noises. If you have to stop and say "The first fisherman says..." and then "The other fisherman replies..." it ruins immersion. When you're describing what they hear on the other side of the door, and the party says "It's <name of the BBEG>" you know you're doing it right.


Just be careful with that, an over-the-top voice can ruin any sense of seriousness in an interaction. How far is "too far" heavily depends on the GM and the players, it's just something to be aware of. If it would fit in fine with Monty Python (welease Wodewick!) it's probably too much.

falloutimperial
2012-08-12, 11:29 AM
With voices, less is more. Giving everyone a dstinct voice can mix you up, and when the young girl talks like your antagonist, the immersion is broken. So just put the right amount of "voice" in.

Slipperychicken
2012-08-12, 11:42 AM
Only say it once I've seen a lot GM's that get overrun by some of their players. If you're talking, and the other players start saying stuff to each other, or goofing off, just keep talking. Then, when the players ask the NPC to repeat what he said, roleplay him getting upset with them for not paying attention. If you were describing the room, tell them they weren't paying attention to the room and didn't notice anything. Appropriately done, you can easily condition your players to stop when you start describing.

I personally have trouble hearing in real life, even while paying attention, and often need to ask people to repeat themselves. People are usually willing to repeat themselves when it matters. I figure that's why there's a Listen DC for hearing people talk. And yes, that does cause problems for me in real life. But that's part of why I play tabletops; to escape from my real-life problems.


If no-one's going to repeat it for me (in-character or out), I'll just dump CHA and WIS on my next character, and play as a socially-retarded violent Barbarian who knows nothing but combat. And whose first reaction is to hit the thing giving him problems until it stops moving. Acting in-character will be a breeze then, especially if I don't hear everything.

WarKitty
2012-08-12, 12:20 PM
I personally have trouble hearing in real life, even while paying attention, and often need to ask people to repeat themselves. People are usually willing to repeat themselves when it matters. I figure that's why there's a Listen DC for hearing people talk. And yes, that does cause problems for me in real life. But that's part of why I play tabletops; to escape from my real-life problems.


If no-one's going to repeat it for me (in-character or out), I'll just dump CHA and WIS on my next character, and play as a socially-retarded violent Barbarian who knows nothing but combat. And whose first reaction is to hit the thing giving him problems until it stops moving. Acting in-character will be a breeze then, especially if I don't hear everything.

This might be just a tad unfair to the OP. I'm sure he didn't mean it to apply to people that have a harder time hearing, or even when there's a reasonable distraction (being often in charge of the cooking during the game I run into those a lot). It sounds more like the concern is when players are goofing off when the DM is talking and then want things repeated. Which I agree is a problem, though my worry is that the players that want things repeated and the players that were talking often aren't the same set! Honestly, I'd just handle that OOC.

kyoryu
2012-08-12, 12:26 PM
Follow your players

Let's say you've got a questgiver NPC working for the local king or whatever. He's on the up-and-up, and is getting the PCs to work for the king/whatever and promoting whatever cause he seems to be.

But the PCs are *convinced* he's corrupt.

Let them be right. Rework your plot so that he is corrupt. The players are telling you they want a game about a corrupt person, so give it to them.

Similarly, if they keep making noises about getting on a boat, give them an excuse to do so. They're clearly telling you what they want, why not give it to them?

Serafina
2012-08-12, 12:44 PM
Drop hints and information about things that aren't part of the plot.
Not only does it make the world seem more alive, it also counters metagaming.
But more importantly, many players have a tendency to connect those things to the actual plot in a way you would have never thought off. As said before, just go with it - it gives your players the satisfaction of figuring out a clue, and it keeps the story fluid and interesting.


Use the backstory of your players characters.
Can't think of any plot? Well, with luck you don't have to, because one of your players already did! Lost families, old mentors, mysterious power-granting artifacts, raided villages and so on - all are perfect plot hooks. Using them will involve your players more than usual to boot.

Connect the backstories of your players characters
So your parents were murdered for an ancient family treasure, and the other player was the apprentice of a powerful elven wizard? Bäm, the treasure was cursed by said Wizard!
Your village was raided by Orcs, and the other player is a member of an order of Paladins? Bäm, the Paladins go to war with the Orcs.
This can give the players a common cause or cause some conflict (if your group can handle that), and ultimately makes their characters more interesting and alive, and after all any story is about characters.

erikun
2012-08-12, 01:23 PM
Reward Your Players.
Players will sometimes go off the tracks. They'll spend a lot of time focusing on one item in the room, or a certain detail you describe, or following a particular NPC or animal. There's nothing there, you know there's nothing there, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the plot.

When they do take such time focusing on such a detail, go ahead and reward them for their work. They find a loose stone with some coins behind it, or a minor magical trinket, or the NPC has something useful to say. Never anything big - probably about as much spare GP as a individual creature is carrying, along with some RP XP for it. However, if the players have just spend 15 minutes working with something and actually rolled well, they should feel like their time has at least been spent accomplishing something... even if that something is just a few GP.

graymagiker
2012-08-12, 02:19 PM
I am going to break with the trend here regarding Follow your players

Let's say you've got a questgiver NPC working for the local king or whatever. He's on the up-and-up, and is getting the PCs to work for the king/whatever and promoting whatever cause he seems to be.

But the PCs are *convinced* he's corrupt.

Let them be right. Rework your plot so that he is corrupt. The players are telling you they want a game about a corrupt person, so give it to them.

Similarly, if they keep making noises about getting on a boat, give them an excuse to do so. They're clearly telling you what they want, why not give it to them?

Don't follow your players too much

If they have a great idea for the solution of the plot, and you like it go ahead and change the ending of the story. But if you do this everytime it becomes just as boring as if you never vary from the story you created in advance. Players will begin to expect it, and the mystery will loose it's charm.

kyoryu
2012-08-12, 10:44 PM
Don't follow your players too much


Actually, I agree with you. You'll notice that my examples are more about the direction the game heads, while your warnings (which are totally valid) are about allowing all player solutions to be "correct" regardless of what was originally going on.

"Following your players" means taking input from them on the *direction* of the overall game. It shouldn't mean that everything they do automatically wins 100% of the time, because hey, what's the fun of that?

graymagiker
2012-08-12, 10:56 PM
Actually, I agree with you. You'll notice that my examples are more about the direction the game heads, while your warnings (which are totally valid) are about allowing all player solutions to be "correct" regardless of what was originally going on.

"Following your players" means taking input from them on the *direction* of the overall game. It shouldn't mean that everything they do automatically wins 100% of the time, because hey, what's the fun of that?

Of course, and I don't mean to say deny players agency. I think it can be fun if


the PCs are *convinced* he's corrupt.

and they end up wrong. Especially if the big reveal shows clearly he is not corrupt. To me a as a player, this strikes me as a world that obeys it's own laws which I have to figure out, not create.

As for taking direction from your players: I totally and firmly agree. I prefer to take such direction explicitly and OOC. Thus I offer this GM trick

Seek and Take Direction from your players Ask your players straight up what type of game they want to play, and what types of plots they like. Ask them every few game sessions what they liked and didn't like. Of course it almost goes without saying that once you have this feedback, you should act on it.

KnightOfV
2012-08-13, 01:30 AM
Only say it once I've seen a lot GM's that get overrun by some of their players. If you're talking, and the other players start saying stuff to each other, or goofing off, just keep talking. Then, when the players ask the NPC to repeat what he said, roleplay him getting upset with them for not paying attention. If you were describing the room, tell them they weren't paying attention to the room and didn't notice anything. Appropriately done, you can easily condition your players to stop when you start describing.

Depends on your group, I suppose. I use this one myself all the time. It amazes me how much more immersed people are when they realize that the game does not stop if they stop paying attention. This adds so much to the game and really keeps people from checking their smartphones/talking out of character/ other distractions that are better done over food, or before the session. It's about knowing your group though, and how far you can push that. Some people enjoy D&D that is a little more casual, while some enjoy the extra immersion.

WarKitty
2012-08-14, 12:12 AM
Depends on your group, I suppose. I use this one myself all the time. It amazes me how much more immersed people are when they realize that the game does not stop if they stop paying attention. This adds so much to the game and really keeps people from checking their smartphones/talking out of character/ other distractions that are better done over food, or before the session. It's about knowing your group though, and how far you can push that. Some people enjoy D&D that is a little more casual, while some enjoy the extra immersion.

Depends on knowing your players too. I like the immersion, but I have some difficulty in rl picking out words if the environment is noisy, and I've played with GM's that thought that meant my characters all had to be inattentive or hard of hearing or something. Because I couldn't roleplay listening right otherwise, and had to ask people to repeat things and whatnot.

Mikeavelli
2012-08-14, 01:05 AM
Insert a blank The Players figure out a solution to this problem:

I do it time and again, set up some puzzle or encounter or situation, think up a few easy solutions that either won't work, or will lead to an unsatisfying conclusion, and then let them go wild. This serves to get you out of the rut of the "one true solution" that puzzles can sometimes have.

So I'll do things like come up with a Riddle without an actual answer, the players talk it over, and give up an answer that fits with most of the clues, I say, that's amazing! You got it without me throwing you any hints!

Another really adventure came from: "A serial killer is wandering around taking revenge for various reasons. He really wants to kill person X, but can't because X is too well guarded. The players investigate, discover this somehow, and catch him somehow. Surprise me."

Gamer Girl
2012-08-14, 03:32 AM
Seek and Take Direction from your players


Oh, but be careful and take anything a player says with a grain of salt. First of, most players will lie about what they like and what they want. But even worse, most players don't know what they want other then something vague like 'have fun'. And even worse, most players will never, ever get this...


Take the simple problem: The player lies and says ''I like half role play and half roll play/half fluff and half combat.'' Though like clockwork, after the first thirty minutes or so of all role playing(where the characters get some plot and a quest and such) they will start to whine and say 'where is the combat?' And even when they spend thirty minutes on a massive complicated encounter, it will only be five minutes later that someone says 'there is not enough combat'.

So you really need to get to know your players and give them what they want...not what they say they want.

Silus
2012-08-14, 03:55 AM
Oh God I don't know what's next aka Keep'em guessing
This was sort of an issue I had when I ran my first game. There was this guy that had this uncanny ability to forsee what was gonna happen in game. Then I ran my game and kept him on his toes due to making up next to everything on the fly.

Tips for this are simple:
1. Have a decent ability to improv. Seriously, bad improv can make a serious game very, very silly. Storming an orc garrison, and suddenly Asmodaeus shows up wanting an Orc horde. Oh, and the Orc warboss' pet T-Rex gets loose. Yeah, too silly.

2. Have a basic outline. Stat up some monsters, an encounter or two and a general idea of what's gonna happen and where. Aside from that, make it up as you go. PCs have that knack to derail plots with little effort, so don't put anything concrete for them to derail.

3. Be flexible. More of a tie in to #1, but stuff happens, so learn to adapt.

The players are insane
This is a simple thing I learned the hard way. Keep an eye on the PC's characters and what they are capable of. 'Cause that one little spell-like ability or thing they have that people will just dismiss will turn out to be the one thing that steamrolls your boss-fight (Daylight vs shadow-melding Wright-Rogue and Shadows = oh God why).

NichG
2012-08-14, 04:49 AM
Emphasize Concept over Details: Some of the previous comments about how to go about making interesting monsters/encounters makes me think of this one. It took me awhile to internalize this idea as a GM, but its very important.

Basically, the important thing in an encounter or scenario is the broad concept behind it. If this is buried by other details, or if you sacrifice this for the details, you get something that isn't as memorable (I feel). So if you're statting up a fight, its easy to get focused on 'what feats does this monster have that best optimize its numbers?' or 'how many HD should this thing be advanced?' or 'what template should I give this so the PCs are challenged' or whatever. But I'd say instead one should pick maybe one or two strong ideas for the encounter and then build from there. For example:

- This encounter is going to be able PCs staying out of dangerous areas - unstable terrain, firing lines of a very overpowered ability, etc.

- This encounter is going to be about a timing gimmick, where the enemies are most dangerous offensively every other turn and are powerful defensively on the other turns.

- This encounter is going to be about locating the enemy in a large area, while the enemy can hide in some special way and snipe.

Starting from strong themes, you can improvise the details or grab them from books or whatever you want, but the thing will be more memorable and distinctive overall. It also helps address the metagame thing a bit if you do this strongly, because then monsters only really need the abilities pertinent to your theme (and players figuring out the theme can be part of the puzzle of the encounter, or it can be obvious). More concretely: if you're using a monster that is, for example, fire immune, you should take advantage of that fact in the overall encounter design in such a way that may render it obvious - the encounter takes place over lava, in the presence of traps that jet fire around, in a place where the sun is so bright that anyone not in shade takes damage, etc...

kyoryu
2012-08-14, 10:53 AM
So you really need to get to know your players and give them what they want...not what they say they want.

Totally agreed. Take direction from what they *do*, not necessarily what they *say*. Watch for what gets them sitting on the edge of their seats vs. slumped down. Watch for when their voices get excited and a bit louder. Those are the things that they enjoy. Give them more of it.

Gamer Girl
2012-08-14, 11:06 AM
Over Describe Everything In short you want your game to be as overly descriptive as a radio show. (I recommend you listen to a radio show) The idea is simple, no one can see what is happening. So the only way for everyone to know what is happening is for everything to be overly described. Avoid the quick ''I walk over there'' or ''I pick it up'' and instead say ''I reach down and pick up the broken sword with my left hand and place it in the saddle bag''. It does not take as long as you think, and it lets everyone know what is going on and lets them follow easily.


Repeat Everything Described Again like radio shows, but also books too. For example, you should add the NPCs race (if known to the players) about every three sentences. The same way you should say 'the old wooden tavern' several times or ''the long black bladed sword''. It's easy to work this type of stuff into speech: ''Guard Dugan says you may pass as he pats the hilt of his long back bladed sword''. This is a simple way of reminding everyone what everything is...and you won't get a shocked game stopping moment later when a player says ''wait Messy is an orc?!?!""

Make Most NPCs Overly Talkative Simple enough. Avoid the quiet NPC. They should always say 'too much'. Don't do the ''the innkeeper says well met'', do more Innkeeper-"Welcome to the Lost Boot, finest inn north of Dagmare, recording to Wester's Travel journal, we have plenty of duck in the kitchen so let me know if your hungry. I'm Guntel Markenen and I'll be your host for your stay here, by the way..." This is one of the best ways to 'slip' information to the players with very little fanfare.

NichG
2012-08-14, 02:56 PM
Here's one that came up last session I ran:

NPCs should react differently to different PCs: If an NPC reacts differently to the halfling with an evil glint in his eye than the big, friendly warrior, it helps cement that NPC as a character instead of just a spigot for information/plot/quests. I had an NPC in my last session I expected the party to just uniformly dislike - she had one sort of solid rule, which is that if someone was nobility or couldn't be distinguished from nobility then she liked them, otherwise she responded with scorn. I now have one player in a prank war with this NPC, another player fast friends with her, and a third player having fun messing with her by dressing like nobility and never being very concrete about whether he is or not, with a fourth player trying to steal random inconsequential things from her and a fifth player awkwardly avoiding her because the NPC has a crush on the character.

zanetheinsane
2012-08-17, 04:17 AM
Refer to your players by their character name

Whenever I need a player to react to something suddenly, sometimes I'll describe what is happening say something like, "Bazzo! What do you do?" You can catch them off-guard and instead of thinking "what would I do" most times the player really will think "what would Bazzo do in this situation?"

I find that this not only helps players feel more immersed with their character but it helps out a lot of the other players at the table, who often times don't even know the names of the other players' characters that are at the table (and this is after 5+ sessions together).

For some reason, especially in combat, this really helps tie the identity of the character together.

Baka Nikujaga
2012-08-17, 07:02 AM
Let Your Players Build the World: This is surprisingly helpful. I provide a very basic outline of the world, then ask my players who they would like to be. If you have creative players, let them run loose. My player is from such-and-such a city? I put that city on the map. Lost their village to roaming orcs? One of the major conflicts is the decaying kingdom's inability to keep the orc marauders out. It helps build characters that belong in the world without hampering the players' sense of control. And makes the GM's job easier.

I've only ever had a single IRL group where everyone worked together to construct the basic outline of the world with the GM. I think we wound up losing a lot of session time because we became engrossed with making the world work rather than wanting to play the actual game.

A slight addition to "don't get too caught up in the rules."
Keeping the Rules Handy -
If your players aren't used to the mechanics of the game yet (or don't want to memorize something confusing like Grappling), then keep a small binder handy that contains a simplified explanation of the rules (a sentence or two at best) that is easily accessible to the players (not a DM screen :P). Common examples in my case tend to be conditions, action types, stacking rules, and size benefits or penalties (for actions). Others that have occasionally seen use (but not as often) are interactions of spells, SLA's, and SU's in anti-magic zones, benefits and penalties for types and subtypes, and a list of templates for Summon Monster creatures.
Also, if house rules are in effect, be sure to keep a printed version of them handy as well since players may be used to thinking in RAW.

Spell Cards -
Bomb button! Bomb button! We need to maximize our score for this stage!
If one of the NPC's is a caster of any sort, be sure to the affects of his or her spell printed out in addition to the list of spells memorized or available. I know this probably should go without saying but I've been in a number of sessions where the DM's spend half of their combat time shifting through the PHB (or whatever source a spell comes from) before being ready to describe it. Similarly, if an NPC is capable of changing shapes, be sure to include a card with the necessary modifiers written on it.

Lentrax
2012-08-17, 07:19 AM
Let Your Players Build the World: This is surprisingly helpful. I provide a very basic outline of the world, then ask my players who they would like to be. If you have creative players, let them run loose. My player is from such-and-such a city? I put that city on the map. Lost their village to roaming orcs? One of the major conflicts is the decaying kingdom's inability to keep the orc marauders out. It helps build characters that belong in the world without hampering the players' sense of control. And makes the GM's job easier.

That is always a good one, and it can give a good hook for later adventures.

World-building can be a pain in the rear, especially if you are asked to run a specialty game and you don't have alot of prep time to run up the campaign.

Of course, that brings me to my tip:

Don't Be Afraid To Recycle

This has more than a few benefits. First, recycling old material means you don't have to do so much prep. Change a couple of names, some places, items, etc. and voila: Instant adventure to last a couple of sessions while you work on more original material. Second, just recycling the world can be an entertaining boon for your players. Say you ran a campaign that everyone loved. (or hated.) Now you have an environment everyone is more or less familiar with. Maybe the sequel gets introduced after some kind of cataclysm, did their favorite NPCs survive? Or is this several generations removed? Did Princess X you saved in the last game ever confront her evil father and turn her kingdom into a utopia? Sometimes its nice to revisit old places.

And finally, its a great way to know exactly whats going on in the world, because youve used it before. You know what was broken, what was too powerful, and what just didn't work and you can avoid those pitfalls this time around.

Savannah
2012-08-17, 08:55 PM
If you're going to run a mystery, look up the Three Clue Rule (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule). Actually, read it if you ever want the players to come to a conclusion about anything.

Jack of Spades
2012-08-17, 10:01 PM
Follow your players

Let's say you've got a questgiver NPC working for the local king or whatever. He's on the up-and-up, and is getting the PCs to work for the king/whatever and promoting whatever cause he seems to be.

But the PCs are *convinced* he's corrupt.

Let them be right. Rework your plot so that he is corrupt. The players are telling you they want a game about a corrupt person, so give it to them.

It seems like the better route to go with a group's assumptions is to subvert them. They're sure the questgiver is corrupt? Let them think so. It'll make the realization that the questgiver is an honest and hard-working man under the banner of a corrupt king all the more impactful.

Or, the local bank is trying to corrupt him but he has yet to give in. All of the evidence that the players collect supporting their claim to corruption is missing the very small but very important detail of "...and he refused the money." The bank has been leaving those clues in an attempt to cycle out the functionary so that a more sympathetic figurehead can be put in place.


Naming Conventions: Pick a dead or really obscure language for each culture. Go on a baby name site and look for names from that origin. Use for people, places, etc. For more variety, think up a few common prefixes/suffixes for different things. For example, in one culture, all last names are the parent's name followed by -ma or -no. In another, the prefix "kite-" means city.

My next character: Jimnomamamamamamanononomanomanomama Jimnomamamamamamanononomanomanomamano :smallwink:

And, a general hint that honestly applies a bit more in the board and video game design worlds: The players don't know what they want.

In RPG's, this mostly matters in the case of power gamers. In general, people make "fun" suggestions that are mostly directed at their own, individual fun. While "fun" is an important thing, it is equally as important as "immersion" and nowhere near as important as "engagement." Fun is a component of engagement, and by building for fun alone you'll end up with a fun campaign that ends up being a two- or three-off. Power gamers are the worst at this, because their "fun" suggestions will all be either the situations they built their character around or things they believe will make said build even more powerful.

Now, suggestions are great, and the bolded bit is by no means meant as law. Just a slightly more catchy way of putting what I wanted to say.

Endarire
2012-08-20, 01:24 AM
Be Prepared! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHP4VbhtGJ4)
It's probably no trick and no secret that 'greatest involvement wins.' That is, whoever cares most about something will do the most to foster that cause and will be the most successful. (Occasional exceptions exist.) Want to floor your players? Involve yourself and them more!

This also means preparing more. Like, writing more notes and stuff. Like, writing dialog trees for your NPCs. Like, carefully selecting what music you want to have at each moment. Like, knowing the rules thoroughly. Like, fully determining a creature's stats before using it in a game.

But why even mention this? If you're well-versed in your campaign world, you can more easily improvise while keeping things consistent. Characters will be more believable. You can connect events in ways not otherwise possible.

For example, let's assume you have some important NPC you want in the party for awhile, but you don't want him around too long. You want a logical reason for him to disappear. Once he gets to the designated area, have him run off in the middle of the night and possibly make it seem like he was kidnapped. Know where he goes and know where you were encouraging your PCs to go. They may even align!

Another example is the common complaint that, "Teleport wrecks worlds!" One way to deal with this is to have NPCs and PCs access a similar level of 'tech' (spells, powers, etc.), and when the PC Wizard/Sorcerer/etc. is on the verge of getting L5 spells, wreck the world anyway, or find reasons that teleport is handy and convenient, or even necessary.

My experience: One of my players didn't care much about the game until she got to talk about the world's history with a scholar. After years of being 'meh' about the game, she cared! In that same game, the loud attention hog heard one of the plot points, was surprised how this very powerful item got there, realized no one checked the NPC with them, and was silent for a short while. Were I trying to these things on the fly, they would not align, and my players wouldn't take me nearly as seriously. Initially, I warned my group that their actions would have consequences, and boy were they surprised at some things!

Slipperychicken
2012-08-21, 01:47 AM
Be Prepared! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHP4VbhtGJ4)


Here's how it looks to me as a player: As not only the player's eyes and ears in the world, but also the world itself, you kind of have to be. The DM is basically sharing the world-concept in his head, but he can only communicate it as a game once he has it sufficiently fleshed out (not just that there's a war going between X and Z, but how the war's been presented to the public, people's impressions of it, who thinks which side will win, how it'll impact the PCs, and how these things might be reflected in the PCs interactions with the world). Otherwise, things might not be presented in the best way, or the wrong things might be emphasized, as the DM is still forming the world-concept while he's delivering it to the PCs.

NichG
2012-08-21, 06:05 AM
I'd like to say that 'Be Prepared' isn't the only way to fly and still have things hang together. The alternative is something I'd call 'Derive Derive Derive!':

Rather than listing off little facts about everything to try to paint your own information-image of the setting, use broad strokes that have lots of implications. Don't say 'this guy is rich and well placed and feels like X about the war and Y about salmon and Z about magic', say 'This guy is kinda like a ante-bellum southern gentleman' and then figure out what that means about his feelings on war, salmon, and magic on the spot as needed.

Similarly, its not necessary to say 'this kingdom owns mines X, Y, and Z at locations P, Q, R'. Say 'This kingdom has lots of mineral wealth', then logically locate mines in places you'd expect to find mines when the need or opportunity arises.

You can even do this to do shorthands for NPC personalities, styles of dress, etc. Take two characters from media that you know well, and say 'this NPC is a bit like these two characters'. If someone asks how they're dressed, you can fall back on one or the other (real people have more than one outfit!). I say two characters because that keeps them from being identifiable as a carbon-copy. Three is even better if you can hold it all in your head, but then you can easily start forgetting which bit of which character you stole for what aspect and it'll fall apart.

Its also fine to modify things on the fly if it feels more natural. If you decide on the spot 'this scene would be really awesome if this guy the PCs are talking to spontaneously decides that PC #3 looks like his son, and takes a shine to them irrationally' then go for it! As far as the players are concerned, they have no idea if the guy has a son, a daughter, or just twenty cats until you actually say something about it.

The corollary to this argument is, there are some things that you do in fact need to prepare: the broad strokes from which you derive the details. Recognizing what those are and whether they need more content or not is the key skill for this style of GMing.

hymer
2012-08-23, 07:28 AM
@ NichG: While I like your advice, I'd like to attach a little rider if you will.
I had a GM, who painted in very broad strokes. Things or concepts were usually like this thing or concept he'd seen in a movie or got from a show of some sort. If just one player had seen the show/movie/whatever, frequently that would be all the description we got - meaning we weren't really on the same page a lot of the time.
Another problem is that it tends to get players to think in stereotypes. This may or may not be what you want.
So a little reflection is nice, of course.

NichG
2012-08-23, 05:57 PM
@ NichG: While I like your advice, I'd like to attach a little rider if you will.
I had a GM, who painted in very broad strokes. Things or concepts were usually like this thing or concept he'd seen in a movie or got from a show of some sort. If just one player had seen the show/movie/whatever, frequently that would be all the description we got - meaning we weren't really on the same page a lot of the time.
Another problem is that it tends to get players to think in stereotypes. This may or may not be what you want.
So a little reflection is nice, of course.

Its more supposed to be for internal use. You fill in the details when you describe things to the players, but you do it by referencing something that you remember strongly so you don't have to actually remember an additional set of details. For instance, lets say I say 'this guy is going to be a cross between Severus Snape and Dr. Emett Brown'. To players I might then describe him as a tall, gaunt man with black hair and a perpetual frown, who keeps getting drummed out of academic or research circles due to his wild theories and inability to accept criticism of any sort. He habitually undercuts his critics with sharp, sarcastic comments. Secretly, he's trying to go back in time to save someone he loved.

If I forget all those details, I can just think in the future 'Emett Brown with Snape's personality, backstory, and appearance' and I can probably figure out what I was going for. But if I said 'Emett Brown crossed with Snape' to the players, then I'd lose the illusion of having lots of stuff prepared.

Jay R
2012-08-24, 11:28 AM
On the subject of repeating descriptions:

Yes, it's tedious.

Yes, some players use it as an excuse to not listen.

I don't care.

It's easier for a character to see a room than for a player to listen to a description. And it's often easier for a character to take part in a conversation with an NPC they are looking at than for a player to simulate one with a DM.

If it's something that is still available for them to observe, they can legitimately ask for another description, just as you can look around a room and take in details after you've been there for hours.

My general rule is to repeat anything that's still available, and sometimes even to volunteer information that might suddenly become important. "You suddenly realize that the guards are standing under the large wrought-iron chandelier."

I will not repeat a description of a room they are no longer in, or a statement somebody already said, unless they make the appropriate roll.

And I won't interrupt a conversation in progress to recount it. They can ask the NPC to repeat his words, but not interrupt the discussion for meta-gaming. (And yes, asking the DM to repeat words in a conversation, while it's still going on, is meta-gaming. It's having the players use a resource that is not available to the characters.)

Fortunately, there are several players in the average group. They can discuss it among themselves afterwards, and get all the details that any of them remember. A detail that six players fail to catch is a detail that six characters failed to catch.

They can even make a roll to see if the character noticed an important detail that the players missed.

(And of course, really important information will be repeated further along the trail. My general rule is that hints get more obvious as the danger grows.)

Shoot Da Moon
2012-08-26, 09:58 AM
Hold Me - be mindful of when to focus your players' attention. Sometimes, it might be better to fade into the background as your players discuss things while you work on upcoming events. Other times, fire questions and lead them to ask questions in return. It helps with the dramatic pacing, ya know. Best way to know what the player is focused on, is to watch their eye contact.

Thrill Me - have a carrot. What media and stories do your players like? Put that in your game, just enough to catch their interest and use that as a springboard.

Kiss Me - reward your players on an emotional level. Provoke them to hate characters and give them an oppotunity to prove themselves against those characters. Give them NPCs who are likable and like your PCs in return - populating the gameworld with jerks, fools, backstabbers, manipulators and conmen may seem like an easy way to build tension and motivate players, but in the end it will eventually fatigue them. Who wants to explore an unsympathetic reality that actively antagonises them at every oppotunity for too long?

Kill Me - always endanger the PCs or raise the stakes once per session, if you can. Threats to the PCs or what they value keep the action moving.

rkarnes
2012-08-27, 04:53 PM
Keep It Simple, Stupid: A great man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry) once said, "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Simplifying your story does not water it down, but strengthens it. When I design a convoluted plot about conspirators and plans that would never work, I stop and say to myself "KISS".

Always Plan Ahead Have a few things in mind when you start the game, and have notes with you when you begin. Even someone is great at improv benefits greatly by having put effort into his game.
Plan to Improv: Have a few stock NPCs fleshed out and ready to "Drag and Drop" at a moment's notice. NPCs are more than stats, they are accents and affect. Accent is the litteral tone of voice you use to speak in his character, and affect is the way he treats the characters. The equation "[stats/rules] + [affect] + [accent] = entertaining & useful NPC" has served me well.
Rule of 3 Random Encounters: Always have three level appropriate random encounters prepared when you go into a game. If things derail, throw a wandering wyvern at them until you get a chance to recover.

PaintByBlood
2012-08-27, 09:28 PM
This one has always bugged me. I guess I'd call it
Make sure character's strengths matter: When your supernaturally swift rogue player sneaks up behind a large dragon, attacks it, and "misses"... do not say "you missed the dragon". Recall that (in D&D3.5 at least, but I'm sure others have similar) armor class represents both the possibility of avoiding a blow (dexterity, dodge, deflection bonuses), and the chance that the blow won't have much effect (shield, armor, natural armor bonuses).

If aforementioned high-dexterity rogue misses the massive target before them that gets no dexterity bonus, that simply undermines their character, and potentially the player's immersion in the world. I think it is much better to tell a character something more like what they want to hear in this instance: the rogue never "misses" their target, but instead their blows don't pass the enemy's armor. Likewise, the powerful fighter misses his target - when he hits, his heavy two handed sword shouldn't just clink off the enemy's armor.

Of course, there are cases where you ought to go against this, but using this otherwise just makes that all the more powerful. When the rogue finally finds someone they can't seem to even touch? They know that this enemy is quick.

If it isn't clear when to use one or the other, here's a trick provided you are using a D&D-like system: when you compare the PCs attack against the foes AC, first check the touch AC to see if you want to call it a hit or a miss, then the full AC to see if it gets through any armor.

Siegel
2012-08-28, 06:44 AM
What System are we talking about? GMing DnD is different then Vampire then PTA then Mouse Guard then Apocalypse World then CoC...

Gamer Girl
2012-08-28, 09:03 AM
This one has always bugged me. I guess I'd call it
Make sure character's strengths matter: When your supernaturally swift rogue player sneaks up behind a large dragon, attacks it, and "misses"... do not say "you missed the dragon". Recall that (in D&D3.5 at least, but I'm sure others have similar) armor class represents both the possibility of avoiding a blow (dexterity, dodge, deflection bonuses), and the chance that the blow won't have much effect (shield, armor, natural armor bonuses).


This is so nit-picky. I'd really hate this type of player...but they would not game with me for long anyway(they would not likely make it through a single game session). Any player that needs their hand held this badly, might want to go play another game where 'you can't loose'(like where both sides get the point no matter who scores so the game is always and automatic tie and 'everyone wins'(but oddly looses at the same time too).

kyoryu
2012-08-28, 09:10 AM
This is so nit-picky. I'd really hate this type of player...but they would not game with me for long anyway(they would not likely make it through a single game session). Any player that needs their hand held this badly, might want to go play another game where 'you can't loose'(like where both sides get the point no matter who scores so the game is always and automatic tie and 'everyone wins'(but oddly looses at the same time too).

Mmmm, depends on the type of game. For an old-school type of game, I totally agree with you. The world is what it is, and the challenges are what they are. The fact that a player chose certain abilities is irrelevant.

For a narrative-style game, investing in those areas is a way of saying what you want the story to be, and it's somewhat rude of the GM to ignore it.

I"d try to avoid judging narrative games by old-school criteria, though. It's every bit as irrelevant as judging old-school games by narrative game criteria.

Eldan
2012-08-28, 10:05 AM
I don't see either handholding or whining here. It's a simple matter of rephrasing. The actual rules don't change, the chance of success doesn't change, the miss is still a miss, it is just described in more fitting and interesting terms.

What exactly is the offence here?

Savannah
2012-08-28, 10:20 AM
If it isn't clear when to use one or the other, here's a trick provided you are using a D&D-like system: when you compare the PCs attack against the foes AC, first check the touch AC to see if you want to call it a hit or a miss, then the full AC to see if it gets through any armor.

....that is brilliant! I've been wanting a simple way to remember to describe some misses as glancing blows, but somehow I've never thought to just look at touch AC in addition to full.

Siegel
2012-08-28, 10:25 AM
To quote the excelent Apocalypse World Principles

• Make the players’ characters’ lives not boring.
• Play to find out what happens.

THE PRINCIPLES
• Address yourself to the characters, not the players.
• Look through crosshairs.
• Name everyone, make everyone human.
• Ask provocative questions and build on the answers.
• Respond with ****ery and intermittent rewards.
• Be a fan of the players’ characters.
• think offscreen too.
• Sometimes, disclaim decision-making.

Tyndmyr
2012-08-28, 11:29 AM
My tricks?

There is no "plot". There is only a world with lots and lots of hooks. They lead to multiple overlapping plots. Whichever one the players grab and pursue, convinced it's the "main" plot? Well, that's the one they're inevitably going to learn more about. So yeah, to them, it will be.

For anything of fairly critical significance, use the rule of three. At least three entirely separate ways to overcome the challenge/locate the info/whatever must exist.

Use those, and railroading/waiting for hooks basically just vanishes.

PaintByBlood
2012-08-28, 12:35 PM
This is so nit-picky. I'd really hate this type of player...but they would not game with me for long anyway(they would not likely make it through a single game session). Any player that needs their hand held this badly, might want to go play another game where 'you can't loose'(like where both sides get the point no matter who scores so the game is always and automatic tie and 'everyone wins'(but oddly looses at the same time too).
Uh, what?
I'm not saying that someone should always hit and kill enemies because they would feel bad if they didn't...
It's just a correction of language - the rogue may fail to hurt a lumbering giant, but obviously can hit it - that I think goes a long way to keeping players comfortable with the way the world around their character works. It reacts reasonably to their choices.
It also adds some variety to what goes on. Instead of players just swinging misses all the time, sometimes they have hits that don't go through armor - exactly what D&D says happens.
I see no reason to refuse a player the feeling of a world being real and consistent. Isn't that half the point of the rules of the game? Half the point of playing the game in the first place? (Or all of it.)

PaintByBlood
2012-08-28, 12:44 PM
....that is brilliant! I've been wanting a simple way to remember to describe some misses as glancing blows, but somehow I've never thought to just look at touch AC in addition to full.
Honestly, I had been too for the longest time. I was thinking just go with what makes the most sense for different characters, and maybe sometimes flip a coin... and it wasn't until right then when I was about to post that I went "wait... isn't there a thing for this?"

Edit: Also, sorry for the double post. Not sure if that gets anyone up in arms about around here, but I promise it was an accident! (Don't hurt me!)

RFLS
2012-08-28, 03:40 PM
This is so nit-picky. I'd really hate this type of player...but they would not game with me for long anyway(they would not likely make it through a single game session). Any player that needs their hand held this badly, might want to go play another game where 'you can't loose'(like where both sides get the point no matter who scores so the game is always and automatic tie and 'everyone wins'(but oddly looses at the same time too).

I think you missed the point... again. He's not saying "Make sure everyone always wins," he's saying "make sure your players don't feel worthless by occasionally including a situation that they would be good at."

In other words, don't go out of your way to screw with your players.

Siegel
2012-08-29, 01:05 AM
I think you missed the point... again. He's not saying "Make sure everyone always wins," he's saying "make sure your players don't feel worthless by occasionally including a situation that they would be good at."

In other words, don't go out of your way to screw with your players.

It's also called

"Being a Fan of the Player's Characters"

yougi
2012-08-29, 02:20 AM
What System are we talking about? GMing DnD is different then Vampire then PTA then Mouse Guard then Apocalypse World then CoC...

Either general or specific. I'm sure your trick could be useful to someone!


If it isn't clear when to use one or the other, here's a trick provided you are using a D&D-like system: when you compare the PCs attack against the foes AC, first check the touch AC to see if you want to call it a hit or a miss, then the full AC to see if it gets through any armor.

Or do you look at Flat Footed AC to see if the hit is strong enough to go through armor, and then add Dex to see if they can dodge the hit? Which would take precedence?

For me, I go with this: I say miss, unless it was a really close call (within a point or two), where I go to some detail to describe how close it was ("it hits your shield so hard you still feel the hit through it", or "last second dodge, I think your hair got shorter"). In terms of what actually prevents the hit, I wing it, sometimes too much ("What shield? Using a Greatsword, dude!" has happened to me, to which my answer was "oh.. well I guess that was a hit then". Little brats, will teach them to argue with me).

PaintByBlood
2012-08-29, 06:52 AM
Or do you look at Flat Footed AC to see if the hit is strong enough to go through armor, and then add Dex to see if they can dodge the hit? Which would take precedence?

For me, I go with this: I say miss, unless it was a really close call (within a point or two), where I go to some detail to describe how close it was ("it hits your shield so hard you still feel the hit through it", or "last second dodge, I think your hair got shorter"). In terms of what actually prevents the hit, I wing it, sometimes too much ("What shield? Using a Greatsword, dude!" has happened to me, to which my answer was "oh.. well I guess that was a hit then". Little brats, will teach them to argue with me).
I think touch would take precedence, since logically you need to touch them to have anything go through armor, and otherwise the description might be a little... mean. "Your hit would have gone through their armor... except they dodged it!"
Also, don't forget that flat-footed is a special case on the part of the defender, while touch is a special case on the part of the attacker. You could be looking at the touch AC for a target that is flat-footed (or otherwise denied their dexterity). (I'm pretty sure this is the case... though I don't think I've ever seen it pointed out by a book.)

While the method of "miss, unless within 2 points" adds some variety, I think it ignores the whole "AC comes from armor and evasion both" detail I'm focused on. It makes enough sense in the case of trying to hit an otherwise lightly armored speedster, but when your party's dexterous fighter starts missing a stone golem it becomes a lot less reasonable.

Rallicus
2012-08-29, 09:01 AM
Let Your Players Build the World:

I'm a little late responding to this, but an interesting way to accomplish player built worlds is to run Dawn of Worlds (http://www.clanwebsite.org/games/rpg/Dawn_of_Worlds_game_1_0Final.pdf) for the first few sessions.

Just throw down a blank continent or continents and let the players go wild.

It's actually a pretty fun game in itself.

Lentrax
2012-08-29, 10:33 AM
I'm a little late responding to this, but an interesting way to accomplish player built worlds is to run Dawn of Worlds (http://www.clanwebsite.org/games/rpg/Dawn_of_Worlds_game_1_0Final.pdf) for the first few sessions.

Just throw down a blank continent or continents and let the players go wild.

It's actually a pretty fun game in itself.

That is just for lack of any better words at the moment, awesome.

NichG
2012-08-29, 06:16 PM
So I don't really think its necessary to use a mechanical technique to describe something as a glancing blow or a complete miss. It has no mechanical effect afterall - go for the description that best encourages the dramatic situation.

If you've got a villain who is all dodgy and shadowy and quick, describe it as a miss. If you've got a giant dragon or something that is the size of a barn, describe it as a deflected blow. More importantly, if you have an enemy with certain weak spots and strong spots, you can use the description to help the players figure out what those are. For instance, even a blow that misses a troll due to AC could be described as creating a wound that instantly heals as it is being cut.

Poison and the like complicate this, so you want to be careful there I guess.

Doc_Pippin
2012-08-29, 08:54 PM
Plan to Improv: Have a few stock NPCs fleshed out and ready to "Drag and Drop" at a moment's notice. NPCs are more than stats, they are accents and affect. Accent is the litteral tone of voice you use to speak in his character, and affect is the way he treats the characters. The equation "[stats/rules] + [affect] + [accent] = entertaining & useful NPC" has served me well.


You used the word Affect incorrectly. It is ones body and facial expressions not their attitude or demeanor. Its a clinical term used by folks (like me) in the Psychiatric field

A clinical example would be (Directly from my Patient follow on template)

Mood and affect were euthymic. He made adequate eye contact throughout the interview. His speech was normal in rate, rhythm, and volume. He presented with intact reality testing and a sense of right and wrong. He endorses a "good" mood, increased concentration, occasional racing thoughts, increased motivation, and general overall happiness. There was no overt evidence of hopelessness or helplessness, anxiety or panic, obsessive thoughts, elevated mood, hostility or aggression.

Note that Affect and mood are clumped together its because Affect if the outward expression of one mood as observed by others through body language and facial expressions.

RFLS
2012-08-29, 10:00 PM
Heh. Heheh. Heheheh.


You used the word Affect incorrectly. It is ones body and facial expressions not their attitude or demeanor. Its a clinical term used by folks (like me) in the Psychiatric field


Its

You used the word "its" incorrectly. Your "ones" needs an apostrophe.


Note that Affect and mood are clumped together its because Affect if the outward expression of one mood as observed by others through body language and facial expressions.

You misused "its" again. You also used a run-on sentence of impressive magnitude.

Don't capitalize so many nouns. Although, given that you did, I have to ask. Are you a native German speaker, or a native speaker of another, similar language?

/grammar-police

kardar233
2012-08-30, 08:47 AM
My tricks?

There is no "plot". There is only a world with lots and lots of hooks. They lead to multiple overlapping plots. Whichever one the players grab and pursue, convinced it's the "main" plot? Well, that's the one they're inevitably going to learn more about. So yeah, to them, it will be.

For anything of fairly critical significance, use the rule of three. At least three entirely separate ways to overcome the challenge/locate the info/whatever must exist.

Use those, and railroading/waiting for hooks basically just vanishes.

This is my favourite way to DM and to play under. It's even better when it's a world that the players know fairly well, as they can engineer their own plots by setting goals and figuring out how to achieve them.

Siegel
2012-08-30, 09:23 AM
This is my favourite way to DM and to play under. It's even better when it's a world that the players know fairly well, as they can engineer their own plots by setting goals and figuring out how to achieve them.

That is why i love Apocalypse World!

Der_DWSage
2012-09-04, 01:54 AM
I'm a little late to the party, but I also want to throw my own 2 copper into this...

Use props
The use of props can be a real dealbreaker for immersion sometimes, and it has to be done just right. A few examples include...

An enemy commander's journal done entirely in code, which the party's Cleric attempted to decipher. It took Out of Character days, but he was determined to not let this thing get the better of him. In addition was a mage's spellbook that actually had long, flowing, hard-to-read script that described each of his spells, which actually got the party mage to start keeping his own spells in the book...

The use of sound effects to let the party know when they were about to be ambushed. Great metal footsteps? Magitek armor! The howls of wolves? Everyone start getting back to back...seeing the dawning realization over their eyes really sold me on this one, and I never looked back from it. Keep it sparse though, so that the few times you use it becomes all that much more memorable.

Giving the unofficial party leader a 'holy symbol' (A Celtic Four bought from the Ren Faire, in truth) that he can choose to display when he uses his special abilities to give them that little extra 'oomph.'

Music. Namely, shifting music. While it can be tough to make a scene seem to shift from, say, a bar that's normal to a bar when The Great Villain walks in can be difficult to do without making it glaringly obvious, while a slow fade-out from a current song to a more foreboding one can actually make this quite rewarding in of itself. It can be a bit hit or miss, but again, that dawning realization in the player's face? So worth it.


...I thought I had something more to add to it, but it's all been covered already! I will add that I actually have this thread bookmarked for whenever I need a reminder...

Doc_Pippin
2012-09-06, 02:31 AM
Heh. Heheh. Heheheh.





You used the word "its" incorrectly. Your "ones" needs an apostrophe.



You misused "its" again. You also used a run-on sentence of impressive magnitude.

Don't capitalize so many nouns. Although, given that you did, I have to ask. Are you a native German speaker, or a native speaker of another, similar language?

/grammar-police



Japanese Actually