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View Full Version : Boring mechanical stuff to help out a new GM



Thoughtbot360
2007-04-11, 07:43 PM
I've yet to DM a game, but somethings come up that might have me GMing a one-shot at the D&D meet (they are asking for volunteers to respond as quickly as possible Meet is this Saturday and the call for DMs came out yesterday) in my town. I believe I need some tips on doing the following things:

1) Controlling large amounts of NPCs (mostly 1st level mooks with similar stats but info on keeping a diverse mob of more complicated characters would be good to.)
2) How to keep track of time (particularly useful for the durations of 1 min/level spells)
3) Keeping the players sweating and the game moving
4) Generic improvisation tips (because nobody wants to be railroaded)

I'm not sure if the DMG has something on all of this, since I lent my DMG to a friend a while ago.

I'd appreciate some information tonight, but don't rush yourselves.

Thank you for all your help.

Grug
2007-04-11, 08:06 PM
If it's all similar people and it's combat, try using the Mob template. It's like Swarm but with 24 people.

Bag_of_Holding
2007-04-11, 08:26 PM
1) Controlling large amounts of NPCs (mostly 1st level mooks with similar stats but info on keeping a diverse mob of more complicated characters would be good to.)
For the purpose of random encounter, either treat them as a mob or try to synchronise their actions- rolling one initiative roll for all the low-level NPC's, for example.


2) How to keep track of time (particularly useful for the durations of 1 min/level spells)
I'd say it's strictly the DM's call. For 1 round/level spells, it'd be easier to keep track during the battle, but 1 min/level or even 1hr/level spells are up to the DM as to how long the time progresses as the PC's are travelling/resting etc etc.


3) Keeping the players sweating and the game moving
Let them do what they think they need to do. It's a great (possibly ultimate) skill a DM can use to make the PC's think they are doing what they want to do while they actually follow your general plans.

Perhaps giving them a sense of responsibility might help: make them a member of an important organisation, let their loved ones get into trouble etc etc. Don't just say "Oh, the Guildmaster tells you to go there and get something.", but try to make it as benefitial to the PC's (make them think it's the best choice there) by saying:

"There's a rumour amongst the guild members that there had been a diplomatic envoy from an opposing clan/guild." ... "After a while, a stranger comes and shows the guildmaster's sign and calls them for a secret meeting..." and so on.

Make the PC's think they are important, that they are the "chosen" ones and they are the only one who can do the things that you want them to do. Also, you can plant a sense of danger amongst the PC's by stealing valuables etc. However, in my experience, severely disabling a PC's ability (such as stealing the wizard's spellbook) often tend to aggravate the PC and make them do some stupid things.

Make them do things for you. *Manipulate* them! Mwahahahahahahaha!! :smallamused:



4) Generic improvisation tips (because nobody wants to be railroaded)

See the note for the 3rd question. Make them do what they want to do; but keep them under control by the use of the whip (sense of responsibility, danger etc) and the carrot (rewards, sense of goodness/evilness, and/or good hack-and-slash battle sometimes gets them to their feet.). A good DM can drive the PC's without railroading them, you know.

Make them feel *as if* they are missing out if they don't cooperate (but try to reward them equally, so he/she doesn't get crossed) and utilise the use of various spells to keep some kind of mysterious air in the campaign.

For example, the PC's need to find a specific NPC and they want to use Divination (which is clever of them), but you can use Sequester (which prevents any use of divination to find the subject) to tell them "Yes, your divination searches for ***... but it is blocked by something... no, it is more like as if *** does not exist anymore..." and have an NPC say "But I can *feel* him/her/it!" etc etc.

It makes them feel very mysterious and will make them curious. Of course some PC's would know what kind of spells can do that, and will ask if it is so. Lie to them. Say that it is not so! Make them roll whatever Knoweldge check you want and make them *recall* a powerful artifact that erases one's presence from the world. It'll make them want the artifact, also will make them want to know more about this artifact and thus the NPC, too.

Ta, you've got a plot hook which will make many PC's *want* to get involved! (Hey, who wouldn't want to be totally undetectable?)

In the end however, they'll find that there was no artifact after all. Reward them well with good golds, nice XP's and/or some other curious hooks. They won't remember a thing if they hear "hey, there's a huge pile of gold there!".

Hahaha, have fun :smallwink:

TomTheRat
2007-04-11, 08:27 PM
1) Controlling large amounts of NPCs (mostly 1st level mooks with similar stats but info on keeping a diverse mob of more complicated characters would be good to.)

Fake it. 7th Sea, a delicious game about pirates, has a tiered system for emeny critters. The lowest level of critters die in one hit. Just toss a bunch of them on the table, roll dice behind your screen and ignore the results. Have them get in the way a lot, die in one hit, and only do damage if it seems appropriate. The players won't know, and it lets you have a direct hand in the flow of the battle. Abuse it and they'll get wise to you, so make sure anything that doesn't qualify as a grunt gets the proper rules treatment.


2) How to keep track of time (particularly useful for the durations of 1 min/level spells)

If its 1 min/level, then they'll likely last the length of the combat. Why worry about it past there? If you have to, keep a cheat sheet of important buffs behind your screen and check it every now and again. Otherwise forget about the buffs and trust your players to remember.


3) Keeping the players sweating and the game moving

4) Generic improvisation tips (because nobody wants to be railroaded)

Roll dice. A lot. Chuckle to yourself.

Plan 5-10 ultra-mini encounters for every area. By ultra mini I mean innocuous little moments, a black cat running across their path, a small child staring at them, the town drunk stumbling into the group, the slight rumble of a mini-earthquake loosing some dirt on the party's heads etc. When one player seems bored or left out of the roleplaying, bust it out on that player. It helps the people who's attention may be waning get right back into the action, and helps make your scenes more robust.

Have 5-10 plot pushers ready for any time. This is an event that isn't necessarily critical to the advancement of the plot, but that will emphasize an aspect of the story that you feel needs enhancing. I guess I can't generalize, given as they'd be wildly different for every game, but just imagine the moment where every player gets quiet for a second and looks around, waiting for something to happen. Having something relevant, right at that moment, lets you toss something appropriate out, and will definitely help you not get caught flat-footed when the players miss every obvious clue and head off in the wrong direction.

Roll dice. A lot. Chuckle to yourself.

Most importantly, remember that the least likely outcome of an encounter is what you expect, and the most likely direction is away from your carefully crafted encounters. Players hate nothing more than being railroaded into a particular direction.

Hrm... hope that helps.

Rigeld2
2007-04-12, 06:12 AM
Hrm... hope that helps.
Dont forget to roll dice. A lot. Chuckle to yourself.

Ranis
2007-04-12, 07:31 AM
1) Controlling large amounts of NPCs (mostly 1st level mooks with similar stats but info on keeping a diverse mob of more complicated characters would be good to.)
Use dice instead of miniatures for them. If you have them, just gather up the d20's and mark each in a notebook as "Mook1" and "Mook2", and just correspond to them with dice on the board. This can also help prevent what can become a minis orgy, and everyone getting confused about one thing or another.


2) How to keep track of time (particularly useful for the durations of 1 min/level spells)
BS it. When they ask you how long it's been, just give a number of minutes/hours equivalent to how long they've been taking to complete tasks. Also, if anyone takes 10 or 20 to do something, don't forget to take this into account.


3) Keeping the players sweating and the game moving
Keep the action going. If they go off on a tangent or if someone's being disruptive, sick the Off-Topic Wraith on them, or rule that everything they just said is in-character; it'll make them shut up. I promise. But if they are lagging due to the lack of a clear leader, then grab the reins or hint toward something, then let them loose again.


4) Generic improvisation tips (because nobody wants to be railroaded)
Coming up with things on the fly is definitely a learned art, and there's no way to 'learn' it other than simply practicing. My advice to you is that if it's not an actual part of the dungeon itself, or something extremely vital, then leave it out. If you're good at it, you'll look like you've prepared much, much more than you have and it'll look really good on you.

Things to remember about improvisation:
1) Don't BS anything, and make sure you can give something in D&D an excuse. Don't just say, "Because I said so, this happens." Make sure you enforce the Divine Hand reasons with in-game rules.
2) Take how players will feel about the decisions you make into account before you make them. This is a one-shot, so it probably won't be a big deal either way.
3) Let absolutely nothing take you by surprise. Once again, this is a one-shot, so you make the characters they play with, and as such nothing should overtly surprise you. Nonetheless, be aware of what your PC's are capable of doing.
4) Have fun! It's never a bad thing to add humor to the game, you're all there to have fun in the first place, right?

I hope this helped! Have fun and good luck!

Thoughtbot360
2007-04-12, 03:20 PM
Thanks for all your help, but it looks like someone else had already volunteered to help with the D&D meet. You can still post tips, but there's no urgency now. Besides, I'm still working on a campaign setting in homebrew.

I feel compelled to respond to some of your tips since I have a little extra time to do so.

Thanks for pointing out the Mob template, Grub, I'll look into it. I don't mind the 7th sea version by Tom the Rat, either, but worry about higher levels with DR.

A lot of people have recommended to BS timekeeping, and I guess I'll do that. One minor thing I disagree on is something TomtheRat said:


If its 1 min/level, then they'll likely last the length of the combat. Why worry about it past there?

Well, a minute is 10 combat rounds, and its unlikely any combat is going to take 40 rounds, so theres a *chance* a fourth level character (to say nothing of a 20th) would have his shield/invisibility/etc. buffs last until the next combat.

gtg,
TB

Telonius
2007-04-12, 03:23 PM
#3. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Matthew
2007-04-12, 06:06 PM
Consider having Mooks 'take 10' for Initiative. It can cut down on bookeeping nicely. Use 1D100 to keep track of Minutes/Level Spell Durations and 1D10 to keep track of Rounds/Level Spell Durations.

Ranis
2007-04-12, 06:19 PM
Use 1D100 to keep track of Minutes/Level Spell Durations and 1D10 to keep track of Rounds/Level Spell Durations.

See, no. Let's say PCs get into a fight that lasts 10 rounds, a huge fight. Five minutes later, when the PC asks how long is left on his duration, you can't roll 1d100 and say that 76 minutes have gone by. It doesn't work that way. You can't let dice rolling get in the way of logic.

Matthew
2007-04-12, 06:21 PM
What are you talking about? You set the 1D100 to the appropriate score and you move it down one by one. [i.e. 9 Minute Duration = 90 Rounds, set 1D100 to 90 and move it down one every round or 10 every minute].

Ranis
2007-04-12, 06:25 PM
Oh! See, the way you worded that, I thought you meant to just roll randomly when someone casted a spell with a round/level cast time.

Sorry, man. And, that is a good idea.

Matthew
2007-04-12, 06:27 PM
Oh, I see. Not to worry.

Thoughtbot360
2007-04-12, 06:45 PM
Wow. I can't leave you kids alone for 10 seconds.

TomTheRat
2007-04-12, 07:26 PM
Dont forget to roll dice. A lot. Chuckle to yourself.

It keeps the players sweating!

Ishkahl
2007-04-12, 08:08 PM
Have 5-10 plot pushers ready for any time. This is an event that isn't necessarily critical to the advancement of the plot, but that will emphasize an aspect of the story that you feel needs enhancing. I guess I can't generalize, given as they'd be wildly different for every game, but just imagine the moment where every player gets quiet for a second and looks around, waiting for something to happen. Having something relevant, right at that moment, lets you toss something appropriate out, and will definitely help you not get caught flat-footed when the players miss every obvious clue and head off in the wrong direction.

Your post honestly had some really good advice TomTheRat. It helped give me some ideas on things I had been trying to work on. Only thing though, what do you mean by plot pushers? Just something semi envolved with the plot but not necessarily related to the adventure .. as in, say for example, a random dead body marked with the tag of a known killer in a game where the PCs are hired to hunt down said killer?