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Eldpollard
2007-01-28, 12:27 PM
Any helpful advice?

Edit:starting from level 1.
allowing phb, dm guide and any monster manual.
my own world, not a published one.

InaVegt
2007-01-28, 12:30 PM
A couple of additional information would be nice.

1. What's the experience level of your PC's (or advice on this if you haven't decided yet)
2. What sources did you allow (see 1 for additional comments)
3. Do you use a published world, and if so, which one (same comments here)
4. Do you know the rules decently, and do you know where to find the rules you don't know about?
5. any additional information I might have forgotten to ask about.

Lord Lorac Silvanos
2007-01-28, 12:34 PM
Be prepared!

Read up on the rules that might come into play, abilities of monsters etc.

Get into the mind and know the motivations of any NPCs.

Try to consider what the PCs might do, but be ready to improvise if they do something unexpected.

Brauron
2007-01-28, 01:58 PM
Expect the PCs to do something completely unexpected.

shaka gl
2007-01-28, 02:36 PM
but then, you are expecting it, and the REALLY unexpected surprises you... it just never works...

Be sure to know all the rules you might use, even if theres smaal probaility of being used. And also, know how the pcs abilities work.

Create and interprent interesting, complex NPCs.

And try not to kill a lot of catgirls...

TheThan
2007-01-28, 02:59 PM
Ok let me think…

K.I.S.S keep it simple stupid, the more complicated the plot, the more railroading you may be forced to do, and nobody like being railroaded. Try to keep it simple and allow the players to discover things for themselves (you may need to prod them in the right direction, though). The more experience you get as a DM the better you can handle complicated plots.
Use the core rules only, for your first campaign. Don’t use splat books until you and the players all have a good grasp of the rules
Don’t allow a paladin and evil characters in the same part, especially if all the players are new.
make a cheat sheet (or a Dm’s screen), with modifiers for skill rolls and attack bonuses, etc. you’ll probably still have to look stuff up quite a bit, but this way you can keep the game running fairly smooth. That was my biggest problem as a beginning DM, I had to look up far too much stuff at the table.
Don’t be afraid of your players, don’t let them push you around with regards to experience and loot (things players love).
Don’t give one player preference over another, players hate favoritism, and it’ll keep you from developing into a good Dm.
Dm fiat works. If someone complains about a ruling tell him/her that your ruling will stand unless you find rules to the contrary. Don’t be afraid to correct your mistakes later, just don’t forget to tell your players about the corrected rulings (before the session begins).
have someone keep notes (and make a copy of it)
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. This site is an excellent source of info, advice and knowledge.
you also might want to read this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26454). If you can avoid doing this sort of stuff, then you’re on your way to becoming an awesome Dm and player.

Dairun Cates
2007-01-28, 03:30 PM
God, I could give you an hour lecture on this, but:

1. You will fudge roll, it's inevitable. How honest you are will determine how often you do it, but just sometimes a lucky or unlucky roll can mope out the party too early or derail the plot. However, learn to always fudge towards the benefit of being entertaining. In other words, it's okay to fudge against the players if they enjoy the session more because of it, but a lot of times you may want to fudge for their benefit. Also, don't act like an enemy critted when it didn't just because you want to see someone take a lot of damage. Your players will figure it out soon enough and HATE you for it.

2. As a friend of mine once said, "Prepare for everything, then be prepared to throw it all out the window at the drop of a hat". Don't let anyone fool you. You WILL improvise some things and make some things up at the top of your head. This is by no means an excuse not to be prepared. Quite the contrary, once you understand EXACTLY what's going on in the world, you'll be able to easier make up new things happening in it. Still, just be prepared to improvise.

3. Give every player his day in the sun. Every character should have at least an hour where they shine like crazy. Build encounters around their specific skills. Make it so the bard is NEEDED to get into the dungeon with his diplomacy. Hoarde a room with knolls for the high AC fighter. Send the Dwarf against a giant. However, also be prepared for the player not to take this bait sometimes. Still, if you do it right, they should see it most of the time.

4. Unless you're all hardcore rule nazis, fun overrides the rules. Some people argue with me on this, but most people seem to agree. If someone wants to do something that would further the enjoyment of the game that is only undoable because of a rule you find stupid anyway, or there ARE no rules for it, or it would require 10 dice rolls, make up some rolls for the occasion and make it happen. The rules are mostly guidelines, and players will probably be more entertained if they can pull off small special effects and flourishes like swinging on chandeliers, swinging across a rope and attacking their opponent in mid-swing, sliding down banisters, etc.

5. On the other hand, don't let everything go into utter chaos. I've run a few comedy campaigns, and I know how silly a session can get. There's a fine line between cheesy fun and utter chaos though. My rule of thumb is this. If your players are silly. Let them be the drive for the comedy. Make the world more serious as a foil for their characters. If the characters are serious, but you want some fun in the campaign, make a few elements of the world silly. You should almost NEVER need to make a silly world for silly characters. I suppose a better way to put it is in order to make the world fun, only provide the fun if your players aren't doing it already, but if they're having fun, don't stop them.

6. Learn other systems. Doesn't seem too helpful, but other systems can give you GREAT ideas and understanding other systems allows you to understand the overall structure of RPG's and GMing better.

7. A warm-up may be in order. If you're not confident, run another system as a one-shot as a warm-up to get used to your group. Might I suggest Risus (which is free) or Paranoia XP.

8. Which brings up another important point; play to your players. The mood should always suit your players' tastes. If your players like battle more, make a lot of your twists and gimmicks based around the system. If they like role-playing, make the twists around character developments and villain personalities. If your players are cheesy, play cheesy. If they're serious, play Vampire: the Masquerade. :smallwink:

9. Most importantly, have fun yourself. If you have fun, your players will have fun.

clericwithnogod
2007-01-28, 04:10 PM
Well... The most important thing is to have a balanced game, so you have to remember:

Wizards, Sorcerors, Clerics, Druids and Monks are overpowered, so don't let any of your players use them.

Fighters, Bards, Monks, Paladins, Rangers and Rogues are underpowered, so don't let any of your characters use them either.

The game is broken at high levels, so don't let any of your characters gain levels.

Multi-classing and prestige classes are for munchkins, so don't let your players multi-class or take prestige classes. If you follow my advice about levels, this shouldn't be a problem.

Oh, wait, the most important thing is to have have fun. Ignore all that balance BS, play the game and have fun.

The best advice I can give you as a new DM is to give the rules as written a chance. Over time, and keeping an open mind, you'll find out that things work quite well and that the game is a lot of fun as it is.

Little tips though...

1) Have a couple gold stars on hand - or something that conveys the same meaning. If something comes up that's really going to break your adventure (e.g. a divination spell that solves the entire plot line or a spell that makes the entire need for the adventure disappear), give the player a gold star as a reward for winning the game, explain to him you're not going to allow it in this instance and move on (if possible covering it with an in-game explanation, but don't get hung up on it - a bad, drawn-out, in-game explanation can break suspension of disbelief worse than a quick, out-of-game explanation).

2) Create and keep ready a few enemies that you can bring into an encounter as a reserve. If something happens to make a battle easier than you expected, in most cases let it go. If you really feel the need - as it's an important encounter or it's not going to be any fun, have a couple pre-made reinforcements arrive a little later in the battle to make the encounter more of a challenge. Sometimes it's worthwhile to let a nice roll (or series of rolls) or clever tactic be rewarded with a quick win or high body count, but sometimes it's nice to get your nose bloodied in a fight too. Getting scuffed up builds character. The Wizards site has pre-made mini-encounters, web enhancements, monster examples and such that make a nice resource for reserves.

3) Grab some pre-made maps (the dunjinni website has a bunch of community created things and the Wizards site has maps as well). Then when your players veer off into a building or area you weren't counting on (sudden stops at a church or shop, resting in an odd spot of the map, etc.) or you need a random encounter, you aren't stuck scribbling on a piece of note paper or using something over and over that looks nothing like what you're trying to convey. A nice preprinted color map can make it look like you really fleshed out a world you're just starting to build. Combined with your reinforcements and some encounters you can pull piecemeal out of modules or from the Wizards site to use in response to the unexpected, you'll come off more polished than a lot of experienced DMs. Nothing kills the sense of adventure like, "You can't go there."

Deathcow
2007-01-28, 04:44 PM
Monks are overpowered? Eh? Well, if you say so...

Get good at making stuff up on the spot. I've DM'd entire sessions with just vague ideas at best of what I want to happen, and just make it all up from there (including NPC levels/skill bonuses, NPC personalities, etc). Plus, whenever your players do something unexpected (which will happen a lot, trust me), then you'll be able to continue with the story without an embarassing break so you can think stuff up.

Also, don't railroad. At all. If the PCs come up with a creative way of solving a problem, they should be rewarded. Likewise, if they miss what seems like a painfully obvious plot piece, it's their own damn fault and they miss out.

Aside from that, just do your best to help everyone have fun.

clericwithnogod
2007-01-28, 05:34 PM
Monks are overpowered? Eh? Well, if you say so...


Note that monks made both the over and under list. For some reason there always seem to be monks are overpowered threads popping up across the various boards.

Matthew
2007-01-28, 06:56 PM
For D&D be *very* familiar with the combat rules. Later on you are going to have to be *very* familiar with the magic rules.

Mewtarthio
2007-01-28, 07:50 PM
1) Have a couple gold stars on hand - or something that conveys the same meaning. If something comes up that's really going to break your adventure (e.g. a divination spell that solves the entire plot line or a spell that makes the entire need for the adventure disappear), give the player a gold star as a reward for winning the game, explain to him you're not going to allow it in this instance and move on (if possible covering it with an in-game explanation, but don't get hung up on it - a bad, drawn-out, in-game explanation can break suspension of disbelief worse than a quick, out-of-game explanation).

Isn't it better to just let them go ahead and finish off one thing more quickly than you intended? That idea looks like railroading.