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View Full Version : looking for some guidance/advice on DMing



xPANCAKEx
2008-03-28, 08:43 PM
Recently i was discussing RPGs with a few friends - i was suprised by a few of them that actually used to play DnD in their yonger years. We all agreed it would be fun to get a group going again, but no-one knows a decent DM. All the local DM/Groups i've found have been of the "meet up at the pub" variety, and we want to keep the group fairly lighthearted, and plan on only meeting once a fortnight

BUT until then i want to get a bit more experiance under my belt - play a bit of PbP to get into the swing of things and get the creativity going. I've already got an idea for a fairly decent campaign to unleash on them with enough twists and turns to keep them on their toes (which i will no doubt post up here later on for vetting), but until then could anyone give me any advice, guidance or not so subtle shoves in the right direction on DMing.

i won't be dealing with uber nerdy, cheesemongers who all want to play CoDzillas or have +6 vorpal blades from the get go - but they will still want enough to get their teeth into than just "you are in a tarvern. A guy is offering you money to go kill teh orkz. Slay?" hack n slash dungeon crawls.

help?.... please?

even just a general list of the "dos and don't of DMing would be great"

i've had a look through the form a bit, but if i've missed any glaringly obvious posts then please just point me in the right direction and i shall slink off to go have a read

thanks in advance for the patients you will no doubt need in answering this post

RyanM
2008-03-28, 09:17 PM
Main general things I can think of...

There's a delicate balance between too much and too little detail. In general, you should mostly just cover the most significant points; both the things that'd stick out the most to the characters, were they really there, and the things that are most central to the plot. Other stuff should be elaborated on only if the players bother to examine it. Try to match your narration style to your player's.

Be as prepared as possible. Try to know your setting and the specific campaign itself inside and out, so that you can make decisions as quickly as possible. "Wait, I need to check something" can really break the mood, especially if it's done too often.

Don't be afraid to improvise! On one hand, you should definitely have a solid gameplan for how the campaign should go. On the other, don't try to stick to it religiously. If you have a really great idea, implement it if it fits. And especially, if the players have a really great idea, let them run with it. Just make sure you note down changes made, so you can be consistent.

Dunno, that's all I can come up with off the top of my head. I'm not much of a GM either.

TheCountAlucard
2008-03-28, 10:07 PM
One big thing? Talk to your players. It's extremely important to both know what they want to play and let them know what you want to play. Work out how you guys are going to deal with the deliberately-ambiguous stuff, like alignment and the paladin's code of conduct.

Vortling
2008-03-28, 10:26 PM
This site (http://www.treasuretables.org/) is an excellent resource for DMing. If you look around there's plenty of "new DM" articles to work off.

Zincorium
2008-03-28, 10:47 PM
The best advice I've ever been given: start with one story, end with another.

Specifically, start with a storyline that you've come up with that is limited in scope but the PCs have motivation for and have a real effect on. Use it to set some of the baseline expectations for the game. If the players go in like heroic but not-too-bright cavaliers, remember that they'll probably stay that way. If they kill all the commoners and perform other unmentionable acts as soon as you give them their freedom, walk away, it's not salvagable. Obviously there will be more ways of playing than anyone can list, but it's important to tailor the game to how it will be played rather than how it should be played.

As the campaign progresses, base the storyline more and more on what the PCs have done and where they want to go. Epic storylines are ideal, but you can't get there if the players just aren't interested. Take their favorite NPCs and make them important in the campaign as a whole, provide non-mechanical benefits such as membership in organizations or royal titles if they've earned them, etc. Don't give too much too fast, but with the right pacing you can take the PCs not just anywhere but everywhere.

That's all I've got.

CASTLEMIKE
2008-03-28, 11:04 PM
Keep it simple IMO starting at low levels to get a feel for the players is best and easiest for the DM to direct. Learn what they like. How they think and work together while establishing how the various rules work in the campaign.

IMO you will all have more fun if you are prepared as the DM unless you are a wing it type.

Study the adventure and be familiar with it before the game. Having 3 by 5 cards always helped me. Try not to rail road the players. Be prepared for things to go completely off track. Unless you have a lot of free time consider using some of the canned adventures you can tweak to taste (Change a name, swap out a monster or NPC or use some combination).

Useful free resources:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/duarch/ad

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/vv

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/features

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads

http://www.judgesguild.com/fans.html

http://www.rpgarchive.com/index.php?typeid=1&page=adv&sort=Alpha

Crow
2008-03-28, 11:14 PM
Write down the names of important and semi-important NPC's along with a little tagline of information about them.

When the players meet someone new in-game, write down the name of this guy and add the tagline of info after the game in case you need him later.

This also helps you keep your NPC personalities straight. I add a little quote to get me into the character when I read it.

Jermaine the Butcher
- Butcher in Obensville, sold PC's rare cut of elephant sirloin -
"That elf-maiden yonder has a choice bit o' rump."

CASTLEMIKE
2008-03-28, 11:21 PM
It's easier to start small and rough out a small hamlet or village somewhere. Maybe holding a spring or summer trading fair or carnival celebrating a holiday or holy day and makes a good reason for bringing the PCs together if they don't know each other. Easy to flesh out and usually makes the game feel more realistic.

FlyMolo
2008-03-29, 12:32 AM
Write down the names of important and semi-important NPC's along with a little tagline of information about them.

When the players meet someone new in-game, write down the name of this guy and add the tagline of info after the game in case you need him later.

This also helps you keep your NPC personalities straight. I add a little quote to get me into the character when I read it.

Jermaine the Butcher
- Butcher in Obensville, sold PC's rare cut of elephant sirloin -
"That elf-maiden yonder has a choice bit o' rump."

Seconded, I'm always creating schizo NPCS because I forget whether they were supposed to be stupid and old or wise and old.

Also, especially in PbP, describe everything, in spoilers if need be. People aren't good readers. They assume different things from the same text. So if one player climbs a ladder, and so does another, but each assumes theirs is the only ladder, it can be strange.

Dode
2008-03-29, 01:26 AM
- Don't actually try to kill the party. You're the DM, the zillions of NPCs you're expected to churn out are supposed to lose (albeit with casualities along the way).

You'd be surprised how often DMs have trouble with that.

Chronicled
2008-03-29, 01:57 AM
Ars Ludi (http://arsludi.lamemage.com/index.php/) has some of the best tips for DMs that I've ever read. Some of it is for more experienced DMs, but almost all of it is solid, insightful, tried-and-true advice.

Jayngfet
2008-03-29, 02:43 AM
on more than just the tavern, you could just plop them into the dungeon


your town has overwhelmed by the undead, scores of skeletons from nearby graveyards and zombies from towns slowly but surley broke through your town's walls and kidnapped you and all of the other townsfolk, they dragged you down, into a sieged dwarf hall, not bothering to disarm you, they've thrown you into a roughly hewn stone room, apparently carved by rotting hands, the smell of preservatives and chemicals, combined with the smell of blood and flesh, wafts to your nose.


is one of the ways I'm thinking of describing my worlds campane (a necromancer scientist has been ravaging towns and took over a dwarven settlement and has...expanded it to fit his needs (holding pens to keep corpses kinda alive and fresh to fit his needs.), I'm planning to kill him off to introduce the main evil group.

Dode
2008-03-29, 03:02 AM
Oh, and another thing you should nip in the bud before it becomes a problem: be sure that you know, through first-hand viewing of the rules, what feats/abilities your players are using. We get a lot of complaints here from DMs who groan about powergamers in their party, and more often then not, it stems from gross misunderstanding/misrepresenting of the rules on the player's part. A quick check now spares an unnecessary game breaker later.

nerulean
2008-03-29, 08:29 AM
If you're looking for a lighthearted, fun game then make the world and the plot fit that theme. There's enough that's ludicrous in D&D that you won't have to go searching for things to gently poke fun at, and if all your friends have played D&D before then it's likely that they'll get the old in jokes. It doesn't have to be a romp through silly-land, since that won't really be sustainable, but give pointers in your DMing that you don't necessarily expect everyone to take it deadly seriously.

TheCountAlucard
2008-03-29, 08:41 AM
It doesn't have to be a romp through silly-land, since that won't really be sustainable, but give pointers in your DMing that you don't necessarily expect everyone to take it deadly seriously.

Indeed. The little things can make all the difference in the tone of a game. For example, in my game, I occasionally introduce a humorous cultural reference.

When the drow rogue in the party sought out something to protect her eyes from the sun, I introduced "a pair of spectacles with dark lenses," created by the wizard, "Raymond Banz."

AslanCross
2008-03-29, 09:05 AM
One big thing? Talk to your players. It's extremely important to both know what they want to play and let them know what you want to play. Work out how you guys are going to deal with the deliberately-ambiguous stuff, like alignment and the paladin's code of conduct.

I agree. Communication is key in any group endeavor, so it's very important in DMing. Know their expectations and go from there.

Nakun
2008-03-29, 09:44 AM
Get a plot to start with, and then forget it because there is no de-railable plot. Unless you are a super genius, I guarantee that your players will surprise you.

Also, the tool that I've found to be most useful is a list I created of random NPC names, which always digs me out of the ditch whenever the players ask for the name of every character they meet.

Xuincherguixe
2008-03-29, 09:50 AM
Goes without saying, but don't railroad the players. If you have a plot, you may want to steer the players back towards it, but it's always better if the players are actually involved in the story.

Given a choice between a game with no direction, and one where what the players decide to do is meaningless, go for the one without direction. That one is a lot more fun.

xPANCAKEx
2008-03-29, 02:39 PM
thanks for the advice all - been some decent reading so far, and has certainly got me thinking

I'll have to start on the write up for the setting to see what you lot make of it