New to this

[RedVerse]

Hello there, my name is Rachael and I'm eighteen.
Growing up my parents were super strict and religious, and I wasn't allowed to participate in any form of RPGs, or allowed to have any friends who played them. I always wanted to, though, and now that I'm out of the house I'm determined to learn.

I know the general basis of how these games work - sort of like a MMORPG, except put all in point and narrative custom form, right? But I've had no experience with these things, except for once at a convention where I got as far as creating a character. Besides that, though, I am entirely oblivious as to any nuances and unspoken rules that might exist.

My boyfriend has informed me that he wants me to DM a game sometime, as I'm pretty good at plots. I have blithely informed him that I would love to, but now I'm realizing that I have some resemblances to a deer on a late highway who suddenly discovered a large, bright car is coming her way.

He told me to come here and beg for mercy, or help or whatever the people around here dole out. I'm pretty sure I can do it, based on what I already know and what I know I can do, but I'm sorely lacking in the experience factor.

So here I am, asking for your advice for a pure beginner, on some basic things I need to know about RPGs, and particularly being thrust into the DM position of things. I would immensely appreciate it!

[Prodan]

You should not be DMing a game if this is your first time doing anything of the sort.

Edit: I guess you could look at this...

[PersonMan]

You should not be DMing a game if this is your first time doing anything of the sort.

Edit: I guess you could look at this...

Bad link. This is what you wanted.

[hamishspence]

Maybe start small.

Doesn't have to be a big game- get used to how some of the rules work- play out a few battles between pregenerated characters and monsters- do short dungeon crawls with no plot- just one player and the DM, and build from there.

[Prodan]

What system are we talking about here?

[RedVerse]

Well, see, I've had a lot of experience in things *related* to RPG games. So while I don't know them exactly, I'm pretty confident that I can learn it quickly and perform well. So... I think I can. My biggest strength is creating plots, so going with general dungeon crawling would not be terribly enjoyable, I don't think.

And the link is awesome. Reading it now.

[Umael]

Wow! What an introduction...

Okay, first of all, welcome! We don't bite, unless you ask, and then it is only for d2 points of damage.

There are a few threads that can be found here and there in which various members have already address these issues. The big one is: relax!

What you are doing, basically, is one part telling a story with a bunch of friends and one part playing a boardgame. Only in this story, you have the basic plot and everything filled out except the protagonists, whom your friends will kindly provide. As a "boardgame", be ready to put the maps away and just describe what is going on and how the world reacts to what everyone else is doing.

You didn't mention which system you were using, but I'm going to assume that you are going to use a published system, likely even D&D (although which edition you use does make a bit of a difference). It is a good idea to take a careful look through the published book and familiarize yourself with it as much as possible.

One last comment (before the ninja fill me with shuriken), look at my signature - I list the four meta-game rules by which I believe all RPGs should be played. Consider them food for thought.

If you have any particular questions, go ahead and ask, and someone (maybe even me) will be glad to answer.

[RedVerse]

What system are we talking about here?

Aha, now, that's something I need to learn. I know the general concept, but would you mind explaining exactly the details of 'systems'?

[Prodan]

We don't bite, unless you ask, and then it is only for d2 points of damage.

Rerolled to infinity.

[Prodan]

Aha, now, that's something I need to learn. I know the general concept, but would you mind explaining exactly the details of 'systems'?

What game are you going to DM? D&D 1e, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, 4e, Savage Worlds, GURPS, Rifts, White Wolf, Vampire: the Gothening, Dark Heresy, D20 Modern...

[RedVerse]

What game are you going to DM? D&D 1e, 2e, 3e, 3.5e, 4e, Savage Worlds, GURPS, Rifts, White Wolf, Vampire: the Gothening, Dark Heresy, D20 Modern...

The Boyfriend has dutifully informed me "3.5".

[Snake-Aes]

Aha, now, that's something I need to learn. I know the general concept, but would you mind explaining exactly the details of 'systems'?

Without rules, a RPG game is no different than two kids playing Cop&Burglar, one would scream "bang!" and the other would say "you miss!" "did not!" "Did!"

So you need a mediator. This is the chosen system and the Master (DM, Narrator). A system puts rules to tell how good or bad your characters are at what they do, and puts guidelines to how the world works. The most popular here is d&d. The Master is the person who crafts the universe the other players will be involved in, and is mostly an arbiter and challenger. It's his job to bring opportunities (or not :p) for the players to go and do what they like.

My personal advice is that you shouldn't DM yet. The bare minimum you need to dm is a bit of planning, decision making on the fly, and good knowledge of the rules(whenever there is a conflict there, you're the voice of reason).

Instead, get to a group and just play. Try a simple system first, like True20, BESM or Paranoia(3D&T is my recommendation if you and your group know Portuguese).

If your plots are just too good to waste but you aren't comfortable with the whole thing yet, just pass them to your dm and do your best not to use your player knowledge as if your character knew it :D

[Prodan]

The Boyfriend has dutifully informed me "3.5".

Oh.

That's... a little complicated.

Bit much to give someone who's just getting started.

Have you considered dumping him and finding a new boyfriend?

[Dairun Cates]

Step 1: Start out with Risus. The book is 10 pages long and the rules are fast and loose. This allows you to focus entirely on getting in the roleplaying mood, and 90% of the campaign will be player driven.

Of course, your players might not be up for it.

Step 2: Pick up a few game books and read the GM section. Almost universally, they come with some sound GM'ing advice. Paranoia XP actually has one of the best GM sections in the world for this.

Step 3: Don't panic. Start out small and work your way up. Start at low manageable levels at first. Level them fast if you want, but get a few sessions of low levels.

Step 4: Run some one-shots at first. They'll help. Just trust me. By doing a couple of one-shots, you can screw up a session without potentially screwing up the campaign. Gives you some time to get acclimated.

Step 5: Whatever system you go for, read it cover to cover if you have time. A decent knowledge of the game is handy and near required.

Step 6: Relax. Go with the flow. As a GM, you have to play as a LOT of characters AND keep up with the group. Don't fight the group too much though. Go along with them. If they want to go wacky, go wacky. If they want to go serious, go serious. If they want to go to Olive Garden... you're probably doing something wrong.

Step 7: Use pre-generated characters and short-handed. One of the biggest mistakes new GMs make is over-planning. Characters and enemies are the biggest ones. Not all enemy NPCs need to be fully statted out. If the NPC only exists to fight them, then you probably don't need to write out any non-combat skill checks. If the NPC will never see combat, you don't even need class levels as much as just relevant skill checks. Cut out things you won't need, if you do end up needing them (and sometimes you will), make them up off the top of your head. MOST players won't be so nitpicky to actually need every NPC be perfectly statted out. As long as you're not hand-waving auto-failure, they'll be fine.

Step 8: Seriously, relax. If you're not having fun, your players won't.

Step 9: Consider a Co-GM or a trusted player to help out. By relieving some of the responsibility you can crawl a little more into your own skin and get your own groove (so to speak).

Step 10: If all else fails and the whole thing turns into a trainwreck, laugh about it and watch a movie... or play a board game... or 1,000 blank white cards... Did I mention Risus?

[RedVerse]

Oh.

That's... a little complicated.

Bit much to give someone who's just getting started.

Have you considered dumping him and finding a new boyfriend?

We're getting married. xD

But no. Starting slow with pretty much anything frustrates me. I like to dive into it. If it's complicated, bring it on and I shall conquer! Woo!

And that's really helpful, Dariun. Or Darius. I went back to the edit page and now I can't remember your name. Darien. Daruin?

[Thajocoth]

Aha, now, that's something I need to learn. I know the general concept, but would you mind explaining exactly the details of 'systems'?

As far as I know, there are two types of systems. Level based, where you gain abilities as you gain levels, and point based, where you gain points that you can save up or spend to improve your character. Personally, I find point based systems too complicated for me. There are too many combinations of options for me to properly weigh every decision.

What I play is D&D 4e. It's pretty easy to learn, and having been out for a while now, it's got a lot of options. One benefit of D&D 4e for a DM, especially a new DM, is that the monsters are very simple to just look up and use. If you purchase a single month of DDI, downloading the Character Builder and Adventure Tools (Monster Builder), you'll get access to everything that's available in 4e, and it won't suddenly vanish when the month ends. There's also free starter material for the game if you want to try it before paying anything.

Also, D&D 4e is the only system where I think someone completely new to RPGs might not have too much trouble as a DM... Then again, there are a lot of systems I haven't played.

[Snake-Aes]

We're getting married. xD

But no. Starting slow with pretty much anything frustrates me. I like to dive into it. If it's complicated, bring it on and I shall conquer! Woo!

Be aware of two things, then.
1) It's a big system. Sometimes things don't make sense. (If you search for "cheese" here, you'll see how crazy it can be if people are jerks about their interpretation of rules)
2) The spirit of the rules is that they just give you something to base yourself on to keep the universe consistent. If the group doesn't like a rule, change or remove it.
3) Having fun is the goal. "Winning" is enjoying the game. It ends when people think it should be over (I've had campaigns that lasted two to three years, and campaigns that were little more than a week's worth of adventures).

[Prodan]

Be aware of two things, then.
1) It's a big system. Sometimes things don't make sense. (If you search for "cheese" here, you'll see how crazy it can be if people are jerks about their interpretation of rules)

Some things are cheesy even if you intepret the rules "correctly".

[Umael]

My personal advice is that you shouldn't DM yet. The bare minimum you need to dm is a bit of planning, decision making on the fly, and good knowledge of the rules(whenever there is a conflict there, you're the voice of reason).

I will disagree with the first sentence, but I will add a large caveat here.

Instead, get to a group and just play.

This is where Snake-Aes is correct. IF you can find an already existing group (and you can trust them), join them. If you can't join them, ask if it is okay to sit in on a game. The experience you can get from just watching an existing game, even a bad game, can do a lot more to teach you than this forum can.

Unfortunately, I have the feeling from your initial post that this is not a possibility.

Try a simple system first, like True20, BESM or Paranoia(3D&T is my recommendation if you and your group know Portuguese).

I have mixed feelings about this.

If what you have is D&D 3.5, then use D&D 3.5. But don't be afraid to toss the rules aside to streamline the game.

Keep in mind that most RPGs are most intensive with their rules when it comes to combat, but D&D might be the exception in that the magic with its game-breaking properties is worse.

If your plots are just too good to waste but you aren't comfortable with the whole thing yet, just pass them to your dm and do your best not to use your player knowledge as if your character knew it :D

No.

Do NOT do this.

For one, that's surrendering your intellectual property (as minor as this idea seems). For another, there is a very good chance that someone else will botch your beautiful plots. And a third, playing as if you had no knowledge is both difficult and stifling - nothing something I would recommend for a beginner.

[Dairun Cates]

We're getting married. xD

But no. Starting slow with pretty much anything frustrates me. I like to dive into it. If it's complicated, bring it on and I shall conquer! Woo!

And that's really helpful, Dariun. Or Darius. I went back to the edit page and now I can't remember your name. Darien. Daruin?

It's okay. Almost no one ever gets it right. Serves me right for just scrambling a word and going with it. Just think "Die Run". Helps most people (unless you thought it was pronounced Darren).

That's the thing. Any kind of GM'ing is a dive of sorts. Even Risus has its challenges. The only reason people are a little "eh" about starting on 3.5 is because it's fairly unforgiving for starting mistakes. There's not a lot of room for GM ruling in the rules because they've covered most things. Tends to cause arguments if you don't know the rules.

But, if your players have their hearts set on 3.5, there's certainly a lot of support for it.

EDIT:

As far as I know, there are two types of systems. Level based, where you gain abilities as you gain levels, and point based, where you gain points that you can save up or spend to improve your character.

Oh, there's far more than that, but most people don't know they exist, and some just defy classification. I only really know because I actually did some graduate level research on this stuff.

For instance, most of white wolf is kinda hard to say its either. It's more ability based than anything. You spend experience to gain new abilities, but save for attribute and skill scores, they're all one time things. Kinda like a choose and pick class system.

Burning Wheel's even weirder. It's entirely skill based. Everything on your sheet (including ability scores and FINANCES) is a skill that levels up the more you use it. Don't have a skill? Start practicing.

Then there's classless and level-less free-form diceless style ones where you just have a character and play it.

There's even class based point buy system like first edition mutants and masterminds and BESM d20.

[AtwasAwamps]

Side note: Umael does bite and will steal your cupcakes and your love.

Ahhh, 3.5.

I’m going to suggest right off the start you take a look at the following books published by WotC for the mechanics of the game:

Player’s Handbook
Dungeon Master’s Guide
Dungeon Master’s Guide II

Don’t bother with a cover to cover read unless you have a lot of time, but check out the classes, the way rolls are made, the types of settings, and general rules to play with. Make your boyfriend sit with you and help you with everything you don’t understand. I know that when I started running after only a few months of playing, I told my DM that I would be calling him constantly with questions and he accepted this as a matter of course.

After you’ve done that or at least made a start on it, I’d suggest you take a look at the following ‘campaign journals’ – While they won’t match exactly what you’re trying to do, they’ll give you an idea of what a campaign can be like from a player’s side and from a DM’s side:

Players:
SilverClawShift: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...ilverClawShift

Saph: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...light=kingdoms

Fayd & Co.: (Note that this is not a 3.5 game and the mechanics can be confusing): http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125072

DMs:

Saph: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94243


Optimally, while you’re doing all this, you’ll get to play a little bit in a game or watch one…experience trumps learning in this case, every time.

Good luck, and welcome to the fold.

[Aroka]

Okay, first of all, welcome! We don't bite, unless you ask, and then it is only for d2 points of damage.

Unfortunately, some of us are crusaders. Gnash.

You should not be DMing a game if this is your first time doing anything of the sort.

Why not? I started RPGs by getting the red box, getting my friend, and starting as DM. I've bought and first-GM'd every RPG I've played.


RedVerse: You should start by getting the 3.5 Player's Handbook, and skimming it for a while. Then, go back to the start and create a character. Create another. Create a bunch. Once you've got a good hang of the process, move on to reading the combat rules. Then read the magic rules. Then skim some of the other rules (not a lot left after that).

Then, get the 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide, and start skimming that. If some part looks important, read it entirely. You'll need the Monster Manual, too, and will want to familiarize yourself with monsters you choose to use in any scenario.

Hopefully, at the table, you'll have someone with more rules experience to lean on if you're totally stymied. Experienced players can pretty much run fights by themselves - mine do (as a GM, I don't need to chip in even when we're teaching a new player - the players sitting closest help them through everything, usually without pausing the game). Be careful, however, to not let them control things. Help with combat mechanics, sure - but you're the one running the world and the story (but see below).

When you're writing adventures, be loose and cover different options. You want to avoid strictly-scripted scenarios and events. The classic D&D adventure is a location - often a dungeon - with the contents and inhabitants recorded, and nothing stricter than "if you physically do this, something happens" coded. Focusing on your strength - interesting plotting - is a good idea, but you have to keep it loose anyway; create an environment, a background, and non-player characters, then let your players' characters loose into it. You need to know what happens WITHOUT the player characters' interference, but you can never know what they'll do, so you can't plan for all of it. The better you know your environment, your scenario, and your NPCs, the better you are able to deal with surprises and unexpected actions on the fly.

[Snake-Aes]

No.

Do NOT do this.

For one, that's surrendering your intellectual property (as minor as this idea seems). For another, there is a very good chance that someone else will botch your beautiful plots. And a third, playing as if you had no knowledge is both difficult and stifling - nothing something I would recommend for a beginner.

Really? You'd get people to dm the second they asked for it even if they knew -nothing- of it, but you wouldn't allow them to experiment separating themselves from the personalities they are trying to develop? That sounds odd to me.

And on the intellectual property thing... If you are seriously concerned about it, you wouldn't dm much. Anyone at the game could 'steal' it and claiming it back would be a bitch.

[Umael]

But no. Starting slow with pretty much anything frustrates me. I like to dive into it. If it's complicated, bring it on and I shall conquer! Woo!

That's a good attitude, but a little prudence will go a long way.

Might I suggest that you start out with a mini-story? For example, let's say you have a sweeping epic in mind that involves gods and romance and politics and daring rescues and incredible rewards. Great.

But before you have your Indiana Jones or your Luke Skywalker, do something else. Talk to your boyfriend about that time his character* was growing up on the pig farm and got into a fight with the town bully (this would be before he ran off and became a hero, of course). Then sit down and figure out the combat of that battle and see who won.

(* - Basically, go into the backgrounds of the various characters and find things that involve conflict. You can even agree on the result, but HOW you get there is what matters. So our pig farmer might get beaten by the town bully, so what? And if you sit down with dice and the stats on your town bully and roll the combat and your boyfriend's character wins, hey, great!)

[JeenLeen]

For D&D 3.5, you can find the basic rules and resources online on the SRD website: http://www.d20srd.org/

Has your boyfriend or other friends played D&D 3.5? If so, they can probably explain a lot of the rules and setting to you. I'd recommend having one of the DM a dungeon crawl or short one-shot to get you use to the game. Once you know the rules and system, you can craft a campaign (i.e., good and long story) utilizing 3.5. I would think it'd be frustrating to have to DM without knowing the system, and (as a player) frustrating to have a DM who didn't know the rules.

Depending on how comfortable you all are with new people, you could try looking for a short game or one-shot game at a local hobby shop. Tell the GM you are new players looking to learn the game. Some might not want to teach, but I imagine many wouldn't mind.

I would recommend buying the Player's Handbook (PHB), Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and Monster Manual I (MMI). There are a lot of useful splat (i.e., extra) books that give more options and details, but get the basics first. Most of the stuff in those three books is replicated on the SRD website, but I find a paper copy easier and it's good to have on-hand in case you need to quickly look-up something.
Version 4.0 recently came out and I believe those three 'core' books are not out-of-print, but Amazon and most hobby shops probably still have copies.

More detailed advice
When you DM, I recommend you ask the players what sort of game they want and what types of characters they plan to make. Make a story that they would want to play in. If you need to make some houserules, like banning evil characters or a certain class, do so but explain why.

Also try to figure out what power level the characters play at. 'Optimizing', 'min-max', and 'munchkin' can all be taken to mean making characters that break the game by being overpowered (although the first two do not necessarily mean this). Magic-casters can greatly overpower melee in 3.5 if the players use them in a certain way.

You will probably need to make many 'house rules', changes to the rules to keep the game fun or to make things flow smoothly. Some spells should be banned or augmented to prevent abuse, 'cheese' as mentioned above. By the book, the skill Diplomacy is horribly overpowered; it needs to be house-ruled or a low-level bard could get the final boss to change sides. But sometimes a house-rule is simply a rule that works for your group and that makes it more fun for the party.

[Aroka]

As far as I know, there are two types of systems. Level based, where you gain abilities as you gain levels, and point based, where you gain points that you can save up or spend to improve your character. Personally, I find point based systems too complicated for me. There are too many combinations of options for me to properly weigh every decision.

That does not even remotely cover it.

There's class-based, level-based, skill-based, point-based, use-based... and so on. None of these are exclusive.

[Boci]

Really? You'd get people to dm the second they asked for it even if they knew -nothing- of it, but you wouldn't allow them to experiment separating themselves from the personalities they are trying to develop? That sounds odd to me.

Because roleplaying ignorance can never live up to being ignorant?

[The Anarresti]

Although I'm sure everyone else has great advice, I'd like to say that I succeeded at DMing a 3.5 game without much prior gaming experiance. Granted, my father played 1e back in the day and introduced me to the game early on, but I was eight and he rolled all the dice for me (aww...). So, I had experience with the game, but not with the mechanics, and I decided to read the books until I understood them and DM a game with my friends last year.
I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes...thinking back gameplay moved very slowly. But it was a lot of fun: I made up a lot of things on the fly. The trick I'd say is to play with patient and forgiving people who are already your friends, and to pretend to know what you are doing.
For example, my PCs were investigating an old graveyard in a mining town. I put an unholy symbol of Neural (evil god of death) on a rich man's morgue just for fun. Soon my PCs were deducing the existance of an evil cult in the mining town. All I had to do was pretend to know what I was talking about, and the PC's were convinced I was two steps ahead when actually I was one step behind.

[Munchkin-Masher]

Why hello Rachael Welcome to the playground, and welcome to our hobby.

Reading you post i would guess that you boyfriend has the core books for the system (Player Guide, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monsters Manuel.) I would advise you to start with reading the besaics in the players guide and then reading the DM tips in the Dungeon masters guide.

You seem determined so if you put enough energy into it you should be able to chew though the basic rules in a week or 2. Don't jump into reading Splatbook (Extra rulebooks that aren't neccecary).

Basically play a few games and see if you like it. If DMing becomes to much of a burden just ask your boyfriend to take over and play instead.

And by all means, if you have in more questions, ask away, It's what we're here for.

[Thajocoth]

That does not even remotely cover it.

There's class-based, level-based, skill-based, point-based, use-based... and so on. None of these are exclusive.

Well, I was only sorting by when you can upgrade your character... Not what sorts of options you can pick from when you do.