a few DM tips?

[Belzyk]

Hello all. I currently don't have a group but am building a world in which I will DM once I am able to get a few players. Anyone have Some decent tips? Also I'd like to have a NPC party member that acts as my pawn to help out in game. What would be a good class for this NPC. I was considering using the Hellfire wyrm class that was made on a forum. (Don't remember If its here or on brilliant) and use him as a story character.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

The more info you can give on what you're thinking of doing, the better the tips will probably be.

[IcarusWulfe]

My piece of advice, organize and prepare for a gaming session ahead of time. It is always a good idea to keep notes in a binder so that play isn't broken up by searching for some NPCs stats or rolling on a treasure table.

[Belzyk]

The more info you can give on what you're thinking of doing, the better the tcips will probably be.

Ok so in my world. Alignment isn't Disney cut black and white. Evil to one person may not be evil to another group. My multiverse has multiple planets ruled by a single oppressing magical and technalogically advanced empire. The gods have turned their backs to all but the most devout because of the empires actions.

Also the empire has heard tale of a ancient super weapon capable to exterminating the gods ( yeah elder evil Guy). My game is going to start on a backwater (midevil) planet.

It will be a 18 17 16 15 14 13 spread. Spellcasting will be using the power point system of psions. And all books will be allowed. With homebrew needing to go through me.

[SangoProduction]

My advice:
1) Lay out the rules of your game very clearly. Don't like people playing sex-crazed bards? Say so. Got some homebrew? Say so. You have a particular setting, or you want only "non-evil" characters? Say so. Talking before the game starts is the best way to ensure your time in the game is the most fun possible.

1.5) Hold session 0s. These are where everyone makes their characters and interweaves their backstories. This is where the setting is decided (if the game is offline). And so much more. Just search "session 0 D&D" on youtube to get the idea. As mentioned in 1, talking before the game ensures that you have the most fun possible.

2) Don't over prepare. How can you come up with every possible detail of every possible outcome? You just straight up can't. You don't need but a list of names to draw from, and some stats for things you expect the party to encounter.

3) Don't under prepare. Yeah, you can't come up with everything, but you do need to come up with something, whether a plot hook or just full on plot. As well as some stats for certain things.

4) You may be king, but the players are the dukes; let them do the work. Often times, players, when presented with something, will try and come up with the wildest things - things that will make your mind explode. So long as you can improvise (and I highly recommend building that skill), then that's basically work that they did for you. Give them small stuff (like, say "The traders were killed over the last month, please help"), and see what they come up with.

5) Watch "How to be a better GM" on youtube.

[martixy]

Ok so in my world. Alignment isn't Disney cut black and white. Evil to one person may not be evil to another group. My multiverse has multiple planets ruled by a single oppressing magical and technalogically advanced empire. The gods have turned their backs to all but the most devout because of the empires actions.

Also the empire has heard tale of a ancient super weapon capable to exterminating the gods ( yeah elder evil Guy). My game is going to start on a backwater (midevil) planet.

It will be a 18 17 16 15 14 13 spread. Spellcasting will be using the power point system of psions. And all books will be allowed. With homebrew needing to go through me.

Can I play? :smallbiggrin:

Also, DM tips:
1. Set expectations:
What are you likely to say no to? How lethal do you want to make the game? Do you do public DM rolls or do you plan on fudging the occasional roll for your(or their benefit).
Ask the players to tell you theirs. What do they expect of you? Or of the story?

2. Social contract:
Since you're being generous with material and stats, see if you can reach an agreement on not breaking the game, just because they can. Since balance inside the game can be easily broken, balance outside of the game.
Coordinate the character creation so people don't end up in a party with wildly varying power-levels.
Explain that it is not a player-vs-DM kind of deal, but a player-and-DM together making a cool story.

3. Flesh out your world:
Make sure they have something to do. Don't make it so that the world is so bland and uninteresting, that they have no other choice but to follow your main plot line.
Sprinkle odd details here and there, feed your creativity with the creativity of your players. A player's completely off-the-cuff remark to some small inconsequential bit might be all the inspiration you need to develop an interesting new side quest.

4. Let the players feel cool:
Know what your players can do. If someone has invested in an obscure skill, put in a thing or two that makes use of that skill.
Make obstacles broad. Don't craft them in terms of game mechanics. When you design a dungeon, don't think in terms of DCs and CRs.
Never let a single die roll stop progress. Dice can roll low.

Don't be afraid to NOT roll dice - when the DM says "Yea, don't even bother rolling" it makes the players feel cool and powerful, when your character becomes too cool for rolling, it makes like all that time you spent building him to be extremely good at this thing was worth it.

[Fouredged Sword]

Have a CR appropriate random encounter in your back pocket ready to throw at your party to buy yourself half a session to plan if they go off the rails. It can mean the difference between them breaking your plot and you guiding them gently back onto the plot.

[martixy]

Have a CR appropriate random encounter in your back pocket ready to throw at your party to buy yourself half a session to plan if they go off the rails. It can mean the difference between them breaking your plot and you guiding them gently back onto the plot.

On that note:

5. Don't railroad:
Don't plan the rails. Plan cause and effect. Plan motivation and desire.
Don't put invisible walls(in the form of insurmountable obstacles or annoying NPCs) in front of them, like video games do for example. That's why this is D&D and not a video game.

Do put in stakes. That should be the only guiding device you ever use.

If they can't keep focus and constantly display the attention span of a goldfish, feel free to "break character" as it were and remind them what is likely to happen if they keep cavorting about.

[Belzyk]

Thank you all and I forgot to mention I wont be allowing power gaming. But powerful characters will be welcome as long as everyone is around the same power. Over Deity Pun-Pun dictates who can power game lol.

And yes if you live in south west Louisiana you can happily play lol

[martixy]

Sadly no :(

But one last thing: If you do not know what "The Stormwind Fallacy" is, go read up.

[Belzyk]

Sadly no :(

But one last thing: If you do not know what "The Stormwind Fallacy" is, go read up.

Thank you just read up on it. With all likelyhood the people I get to play are not gonna optimize. It'll include my other half who is completly new and prolly a few friends if they want. Who all have alot less experience then me.

[SangoProduction]

Also, about the DM PC: just avoid it, especially for new GMs. You have a truly infinite number of characters you need to work with already.

Found a video that I could link instead of going on and on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsa9YXcsYtI

[Crake]

Thank you all and I forgot to mention I wont be allowing power gaming. But powerful characters will be welcome as long as everyone is around the same power. Over Deity Pun-Pun dictates who can power game lol.

Please don't be like one of my previous DMs who heard from my friends that I knew a lot about the system and could make outrageous and broken things, and just assumed I was incapable of toning down my playstyle, and just practically stomped out absolutely anything i tried to do ever in the game as some kind of irrational pre-emptive measure.

If you do that, it'd be better to have just told them you don't want them playing.

Honestly, all it ended up making me do was ignore the game and story, because my revolving door characters were just so far removed from the game, and all I did was ramp up my playstyle to try and stay alive, which just turned into a viscious cycle until a friend told me what was actually happening and I just quit after 2 years of very unsatisfying gaming.

[DJroboninja]

The biggest tip I would give is simple:

Don't be afraid to say yes.

The PCs are heroes and they're going to want to try some crazy crap on a fairly regular basis. If they are constantly asking "can my bard swing from one of the ropes on the pirate ship to get to the other side quickly and catch the dread pirate off guard" and you say "no, you can only move 30ft, it's the rules", you shut down a very fun moment for that player AND discouraged them from trying stunts in the future.

Be flexible, be able to improvise what skill check a PC needs to do the action they want, and encourage three-dimensional thinking and epic stunts. You and your players will have much more fun, and your players will feel like real heroes and not just characters in an MMO.

Also, as some people have already said, I would discourage you from DMPCs. They're a bunch of extra work for you in combat, when you already have five times as much work as your players, and they can very easily take the spotlight away from your players and lessen their fun. If you need direction, have a patron for the party -- a ships captain, a rich financier, a retired adventurer -- to advise them on what to do and where to go, but keep them at home and don't bring them with on adventures. They can start adventures for your PCs, but this way they will never finish an adventure -- aka the worst thing a DMPC can do.

Just my 2 crowns.

[Curmudgeon]

I would suggest making the NPC not be a party member. The tendency of new DMs is to try to control the game too tightly, which makes players feel like they're not in control of their PCs' destinies. Instead of being a party member, have the NPC stay at home. If the PCs want advice, work for hire, healing, or whatever, they'll know where to go. If they don't want any of that stuff, they won't get it.

[elonin]

I'd encourage the members of the group who know how to optimize to help the ones who can't. One of my struggles with optimization is worrying about getting about the same level as the other players.

[Amphetryon]

Remember: You will screw up, and it will be okay.

It is all but inevitable that something will come up during the game for which you were less than prepared, and for which you will need to make a ruling in the interest of moving the game forward. Especially in such circumstances, odds are good that the ruling you make is not 100% in keeping with the rules, or will result in other funny issues later on. This happens to virtually every DM I have ever known or heard of. It does not make you - or them - a bad DM. When you recognize there's a problem, or a discrepancy between the rules and how you've run something, admit it, address it one way or another*, and move on.

*Options broadly include: "Oops, that was wrong. We're doing it the way the book says, and retcon that ruling to the right one," "Oops, that was wrong. We'll do it the way the book says in future, but we'll let the wrong method stand for this instance," and "Oops, that's not what the book says is the right way, but this way is cooler/better for us and so it's going to be how we handle this situation in the future. Someone help me remember."

[Belzyk]

You guys are amazing really. I'm so glad I made an Account after a year of lurking.

[atomicwaffle]

Stick to your word.

I created an artifact for a character that had (among other things) an effect that prevented any wound it made from closing up or healing. Couple of months roll by and I forget about it.

Then, they're fighting trolls and im like "the wound starts closing up etc. etc." and he was like "excuse me, my sword has this, wouldn't it prevent the regeneration? That's what you said."

What do I do? "You're absolutely right, I forgot about that. I'll take off the health regenerated, and wow...that weapon's good against trolls."

If you say something happened or gave them an item that they forgot about and they remembered and catch you on it, DON'T punish them for being clever and resourceful.

In fact, don't punish them for being clever and resourceful in general.

[frost890]

I would say let the group get lost. Yes you have an idea how you want something to turn out. they are not privy to the script. So if you try and plan everything out you will be confused when they do not pick up on the clues or want to try something out before going back to the story. Just because you have everything planned out expecting them to go from the bottom up they WILL find a way to slip through the top window using a nearby close line.

I have often used this time to get them items or drop ideas for side quests. let them save a merchant that can be a contact for them later. Save a young elf that accidentally angered the dire bear. The elves can then give them information on something that points them in the right direction. Players will be players. Use what they will do to change and enhance what you planned.

[justiceforall]

Consider running "Dark and Stormy Knight" as your intro - it's a great first adventure for both GMs and/or players, and it is freely available on the web. I used it and the theme of the Bugbear Knight as a cornerstone for building a world for a series of adventures.


Regarding the NPC - make it a physically weak cleric with the healing domain and lots of knowledge skills. Inoffensive, can stay in the background, won't kill steal (some players HATE it when NPCs do that), can keep the party alive easily if you screw up your difficulties, the knowledge skills let you use the NPC as a mouthpiece to fill in background if your players don't go for that sort of thing on their characters, and can have a few specific spells up their sleeve if you need them to shunt the party in a certain direction.

[Honest Tiefling]

Pay attention to what your players want. You shouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate them, so if you have your heart (and research/planning...) set on medieval Europe, that probably isn't the time to compromise. However, if they want an intrigue element, consider working that in.

As for the NPC, I'd tailor it to the party. Got a healer PC? Well, that's not a thing to do now, is it? Got a diplomancer? Let the Diplomancer sway the cohort. Lack a big, beefy tank? Put one in, that lacks social skills or tactical ability. A fresh recruit might listen more to seasoned adventurers as well. I've had situations where combat capable NPCs joined up with the players, but you should focus on making the players vital to success, be it doing more damage, giving orders, or using magic creatively. Also, reconsider an NPC if it is a large party.

I also advise not getting too attached...The players might not like the NPC, and might not mesh with them story or plot wise. It happens, a lot. So don't sweat it, and try again with another NPC. I'd chuck any rules about the NPC getting EXP into the trash, however. Taking one should be a matter of story, not shooting oneself in the foot. Loot is a little harder to hand-wave away however.

Consider the Three Clue Rule (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule), which I WISH I had come up with: Toss in multiple hints. You might think it an insult to your party, but...You'd be surprised how creative players can be in interpreting things. Sometimes this is good. Sometimes, this is bad. Speaking of this, your players will come up with creative and interesting plans. Before you shoot them down because you didn't think of that possibility, consider if it would work. Sure, it might circumvent some of your hard work, or a really interesting idea, but...They'll remember the time they did something really creative and cunning. They'll love you for letting them use these ideas.

[Fouredged Sword]

Seriously, even good players miss slap me in the face obvious hints. I literally have a game I run on the forum that is a level 1 adventure that revolves around a wererat murderer who works in a kitchen. I named the fellow Mcwiskers because it's a silly game and I wanted all the players to realize about halfway though the rat filled dungeon that McWiskers tried to ensure they died in that he is a wererat.

Anywho, the party plays through the whole dungeon and gets to the big reveal (it's supposed to be a joke) and one of the players posts "OK, wow, wererat. That is a cool twist."

He was serious. He totally didn't make the connection between being named McWiskers in a rat themed dungeon to being an evil wererat.

Here is the full game posts by the way, in case you want to read though a sample game with real players to kinda pick up the flow. All games are different though, so don't be afraid to play your group in your own style.

Game plan
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?333117-Moldrake-s-School-CCC (I converted to PF for this group)

IC thread
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?392785-Moldrake-IC

OOC thread
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?392787-Moldrake-OOC

I think this is a great example of basic play and how to think about dungeons.

[Krios]

Pay attention to what your players want. You shouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate them, so if you have your heart (and research/planning...) set on medieval Europe, that probably isn't the time to compromise. However, if they want an intrigue element, consider working that in.

I disagree with this, at least provisionally. Insisting that the players play the campaign you want rather than the one they want is just as disruptive as a player insisting that he plays at the power level he wants rather then the one the rest of the group wants. A game is about compromise, bringing together different visions into a cohesive whole. It is no more reasonable to privilege the DM's vision than it is any other player's.

Talk with the players. See what games they want to play. Find a game all of you want to play.

[Belzyk]

Pay attention to what your players want. You shouldn't bend over backwards to accommodate them, so if you have your heart (and research/planning...) set on medieval Europe, that probably isn't the time to compromise. However, if they want an intrigue element, consider working that in.

As for the NPC, I'd tailor it to the party. Got a healer PC? Well, that's not a thing to do now, is it? Got a diplomancer? Let the Diplomancer sway the cohort. Lack a big, beefy tank? Put one in, that lacks social skills or tactical ability. A fresh recruit might listen more to seasoned adventurers as well. I've had situations where combat capable NPCs joined up with the players, but you should focus on making the players vital to success, be it doing more damage, giving orders, or using magic creatively. Also, reconsider an NPC if it is a large party.

I also advise not getting too attached...The players might not like the NPC, and might not mesh with them story or plot wise. It happens, a lot. So don't sweat it, and try again with another NPC. I'd chuck any rules about the NPC getting EXP into the trash, however. Taking one should be a matter of story, not shooting oneself in the foot. Loot is a little harder to hand-wave away however.

Consider the Three Clue Rule (http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/1118/roleplaying-games/three-clue-rule), which I WISH I had come up with: Toss in multiple hints. You might think it an insult to your party, but...You'd be surprised how creative players can be in interpreting things. Sometimes this is good. Sometimes, this is bad. Speaking of this, your players will come up with creative and interesting plans. Before you shoot them down because you didn't think of that possibility, consider if it would work. Sure, it might circumvent some of your hard work, or a really interesting idea, but...They'll remember the time they did something really creative and cunning. They'll love you for letting them use these ideas.

Its not really a midevil setting just the planet they starting on is really underdeveloped. I have an empire spanning 12 world's actually. And if it last long enough they will see a few other planets

[atemu1234]

Be open and inclusive to new material, but be wary of the group's power level.

[SangoProduction]

Be open and inclusive to new material, but be wary of the group's power level.

Yes, good note. Don't just be wary of the group's power level though, specifically bring up the question of power level (when making the game, if online or) at session 0.

[Fouredged Sword]

Read about the tier list and then completely ignore it in favor of letting your players create their own characters exactly as they like. It's great information to guide your thinking, but don't let it rule your game.

[Belzyk]

Read about the tier list and then completely ignore it in favor of letting your players create their own characters exactly as they like. It's great information to guide your thinking, but don't let it rule your game.

Lol I've read the.class tier homebrew base tier and both the PrC tiers

[Honest Tiefling]

I disagree with this, at least provisionally. Insisting that the players play the campaign you want rather than the one they want is just as disruptive as a player insisting that he plays at the power level he wants rather then the one the rest of the group wants. A game is about compromise, bringing together different visions into a cohesive whole. It is no more reasonable to privilege the DM's vision than it is any other player's.

Talk with the players. See what games they want to play. Find a game all of you want to play.

I do agree that compromise is the desired goal, but it doesn't always work that way. For instance, if a player wanted that feudal Japan setting, I'd have to straight up tell them no. I know nothing of the period or themes common to works set in that period. If given a few months I might be able to get something working, I guess, but that'll take a lot of time and I would not promising great results. Also, a DM has to do a lot of prep work for a game, and a part of that is maintaining interest in said game. There's also the fact that in my experience, it is easier for a player to adjust to a certain type of campaign with the DM's help then vice versa. If a DM has problems running a combat-fest or intrigue game, no amount of a desire to compromise or to accommodate others is really going to fix that.

In other cases, some ideas from players just won't mesh with the plot. A new race of elves doesn't work if elves are supposed to be a dying race and that's the dang plot of the game. Rewriting the entire plot to accommodate a new continent of elves could work...But might take more time and effort then the DM can necessarily give, especially if they have children, a job or other commitments.

Perhaps it is a style thing, but I do feel that games often work best with the DM has a bit more leeway with the world since they are the ones who have to build and run it. So basically, another piece of advice is to find out what works for YOUR group. Don't listen to what works for everyone, find out what your group wants and enjoys.