Getting back to DMing

[GoblinGilmartin]

It's been about a year and a half since I've run a D&D game or any RPG. I never had the schedule or the group for it.
I've never been a very good player (I got kicked out of a Pathfinder game once for "not fitting in". Plus I get bored when it isn't "my turn").
I'm the kind of person that will read a gamebook, and instantly want to play/run it.
Can The members of GITP help me brush up on DMing? I'm going to run a 3.5 game with just me and one friend in order to get back into it, and I'd like to warm up.

[Jay R]

If you have any questions to ask, we can provide our answers, but this request is as vague as "Can you help me with my homework", without telling us what the subject is.

[GoblinGilmartin]

If you have any questions to ask, we can provide our answers, but this request is as vague as "Can you help me with my homework", without telling us what the subject is.

Good point. I guess I'm trying to focus on a combination of "Not getting annoyed at the player's jokes" and setting-player immersion.

[Jay R]

1. Check with the players. See if they want to play a game with fewer jokes and an immersive experience.

2. Don't tell jokes. Get immersed in the world.

3. Descriptions are immersive. "You open the door and see a 30 by 30 room" is not immersive. "The door swings slowly open on hinges that groan a little, as if they haven't moved in decades. The floor is slightly damp grey stone. Thirty feet back is the back wall, with a wall hanger that clearly once held a tapestry. The two side walls are tan bricks, and might have been added to the castle later."

4. For a given large location (forest, castle, mine), I like to have a general idea of its feel, which I continue to return to. In my current game, the party is about to enter the dungeons of a ruined castle, and I will include the words "dark", "silent", "eerie", "damp", and "slightly cold" several times.

[Airk]

Start HERE.

Answer each question truthfully and write them down. All players must agree to abide by your choices. This way, you know you are all interested in playing the same kind of game.

In fact, you could do worse than to read pretty much that ENTIRE site. It has a very mature, intelligent attitude towards games. At the very least, read all the articles linked under 'Broken RPG Culture' on the right.

Another good GMing resource is Gnome Stew. The articles vary widely in subject matter and value, but there's a lot to learn.

Try to keep an open mind. The objective of playing these games is to have fun, cooperatively. Accept input from your players. Treat them as human beings. Play a fun game together.

[Airk]

Oh. A couple more resources:

How To Run Roleplaying Games (at the very bottom of the page). This is an EXCELLENT beginner's primer.

GameMastering - Slightly more advanced stuff, definitely more 'aggressive' advice, but you could do a lot worse than following it.

[inexorabletruth]

It's been about a year and a half since I've run a D&D game or any RPG. I never had the schedule or the group for it.
I've never been a very good player (I got kicked out of a Pathfinder game once for "not fitting in". Plus I get bored when it isn't "my turn").
I'm the kind of person that will read a gamebook, and instantly want to play/run it.
Can The members of GITP help me brush up on DMing? I'm going to run a 3.5 game with just me and one friend in order to get back into it, and I'd like to warm up.

It sounds like you have trouble focusing on the game. Try using visuals to help you with it. Play on a map… not just a blank grid. Get yourself a detailed battle map. Sometimes old board games can make for a decent impromptu battle map if you don't have one of your own. Anyway, do a dungeon crawl on your battle map and within the confines of that map. Use figurines if you can and and don't bother with reasons or backstories for why the PCs are there or why the monsters are there. Your plot is this:

You're an adventurer who adventures for the sake of adventuring. You've come to this dungeon because you heard there's a lot of treasure at the end of it, and you want to get to it before anyone else does.

Keep it simple. Throw in some wandering monsters and traps, give your PC a good fight and throw an insane amount of loot the PCs way when they defeat the boss. The game will be easier to focus on because it will have a simple structure and lots of visuals, but it will also be random and fresh enough to keep all parties gripped until the end. It's run-of-the-mill, sure. But it's a nice, stem-cell starting point for any campaign you'd like to build to from there and it will give you a chance to shake off the rust.

[GoblinGilmartin]

Oh. A couple more resources:

How To Run Roleplaying Games (at the very bottom of the page). This is an EXCELLENT beginner's primer.

GameMastering - Slightly more advanced stuff, definitely more 'aggressive' advice, but you could do a lot worse than following it.

Very much thanks for those links! I think I've seen Gnome Stew, but I'm not sure.

It sounds like you have trouble focusing on the game. Try using visuals to help you with it. Play on a map… not just a blank grid. Get yourself a detailed battle map. Sometimes old board games can make for a decent impromptu battle map if you don't have one of your own. Anyway, do a dungeon crawl on your battle map and within the confines of that map.

I'm planning on getting one of those cool CHESSEX beige dry erase mats after my next paycheck. They're a little spendy, but I'm not lucky enough to still be in high school, and have access to huge sheets of graph paper and a lamination machine (which is what I had when I started Gaming Club), plus they have hex grid on the flip side.

[Airk]

As you say, the CHESSEX maps are a bit pricey, but if you take care of it, it'll last you DECADES, so it's not a bad investment at all if you play a lot of games that require a lot of battlemaps (much less useful for other kinds of maps.)

[inexorabletruth]

I'm planning on getting one of those cool CHESSEX beige dry erase mats after my next paycheck. They're a little spendy, but I'm not lucky enough to still be in high school, and have access to huge sheets of graph paper and a lamination machine (which is what I had when I started Gaming Club), plus they have hex grid on the flip side.

I'm actually referring to something like this:

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The dungeon-like parameters on this will help focus your attention, while still giving you the freedom to add walls and doors where you like. That was a game board specifically designed for dungeon crawls, and it's awesome. It's from a game called Hero Quest. But other board games (which can often be picked up at thrift stores for the change you can find in your sofa) can be used as makeshift dungeon maps with a little creativity and some markers.

Check out Parcheesi! I like to think of the red spaces as lava or something. The starting spaces can actually be prison cells, treasure rooms, monster dens… whatever you like.

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Or try Last Night on Earth. I ran a great dungeon 1-shot with this board.

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The squares are a little big, but the board is sectional, so you can move, remove or exchange pieces to customize your own encounter map.

[Rosstin]

Start HERE.

This is the best thing I've ever seen.

[GoblinGilmartin]

I bought a megamat. It's 34.5x48. Hell knows when I'm going to get to use it.

My game has also changed, I was originally going to play with only me and one friend, but now I'm playing with two more people, one who hasn't played in a long time, and his girlfriend who is new (she's playing the healer class from 3.5).

I'm going to try and build a dungeon, like, go to Micheals, buy some styrofoam, and build some walls (or would clay or something else work better?).

[inexorabletruth]

I'm going to try and build a dungeon, like, go to Micheals, buy some styrofoam, and build some walls (or would clay or something else work better?).

o.O

That's a labor intensive plan. You actually sound like you might be interested in a different kind of system. Do you know what immediately popped in my head when you mentioned you were going to do this?

This.

Everybody's into 40k these days, but Fantasy Battle is where it's at if you want to stay within the confines of a traditional fantasy setting.

[GoblinGilmartin]

o.O

That's a labor intensive plan. You actually sound like you might be interested in a different kind of system. Do you know what immediately popped in my head when you mentioned you were going to do this?

This.

Everybody's into 40k these days, but Fantasy Battle is where it's at if you want to stay within the confines of a traditional fantasy setting.

I'm good. Straight up combat usually bores me in RPGs. And Warhammer is expensive. All I'm referring to is making some sections of walls that I can move around and make dungeons with. Many dungeons, mucho dungeons.

[mucat]

Start HERE.

Answer each question truthfully and write them down. All players must agree to abide by your choices. This way, you know you are all interested in playing the same kind of game.

With respect, that's not how I would recommend using the Same Page Tool.

Go over each question with the players, discuss it, and get everyone to agree to a consensus. Then write down the group's answer.

This does not mean the GM is at the mercy of the group. The GM can explain in advance what sort of game s/he is interested in running, and ask the players to keep that in mind when discussing the questions. If the mismatch in playing styles is serious enough, then the GM has the ultimate veto power. ("That's not a game I'm interested in running.") Hell, everyone has veto power on their own participation, but if the GM isn't in, than the game won't happen.

But if you want the players' real commitment to a decision about play style, include them in making it.

[Tengu_temp]

Start HERE.

Answer each question truthfully and write them down. All players must agree to abide by your choices. This way, you know you are all interested in playing the same kind of game.

I don't like this tool, because while it's a good idea technically, the answers it provides cover only a small number of possibilities out of many. And it specifically says that you have to pick one of those answers instead of several at once or your own one.