A worry about our next GM...

[banjo1985]

I'm worried. We have just finished our last GM's run of gaming, and our next GM is going to run for us for the first time. After 18 months of getting to know us and joining in with our games, he says he want's to have a go at GMing, which is fine by me. BUT, while he is one of the nicest guys you're ever likely to meet I have one major reservation, his voice.

Our group plays at a local wargaming club, and as such it can get quite noisy. Our next GM talks quietly and quite muffled, to the extent that I often have to ask him to repeat stuff two or three times even when the rooms silent. He also speaks very quickly, which isn't ideal.

Now I'm fine with him GMing for us, as I said I like him, and I have the patience to ask what he's saying if it becomes unclear, but there are a few people in our group who I fear might not be very patient with him. One in particular doesn't like him very much, and I can see the new GM.s confidence being shattered by some insulting or sarcastic comment, and him being unwilling to run or even participate again.

I don't want that. I want him to get a chance to show us what he's made of, preferably without having to exclude any of the other players either. What I'm planning to do is have a private chat with him before he starts to GM a game, and give him some tips and pointers on how to deal with the different people in our group, and also how to make it easier for us to follow his speech.

What I wanted to know is if anyone has had a similar problem, or if you have any advice on what pointers I should give our new GM so that the others will give him a chance?

Cheers

[Cyborg Pirate]

Best thing to do: Don't play at your wargaming club. Find a quieter place to play. That should solve the problem perfectly. You could try other things, but none of em will be as effective as simply eliminating background noise in this case.

[Dragonmuncher]

What CP said, but if that's not an option, sounds like your way is best- just have a quick chat beforehand, telling him to make sure to speak distinctly, as it can get quite noisy and the GM has to be sure that everyone can understand him.

[Miraqariftsky]

Aye, he's likely shy. Hmm, methinks I was like that once but doing some public speech often can help.

[bigbaddragon]

Talking to him is probably the best idea since you seem to know other participants better than him. You could also play at some other place rather than wargaming club like at home, I invite my group to my place as often as I can because my DM speaks to darn fast and there is a lot of noise at the club (mostly kids playing card games).

Also if the above is not an option you could try and play at the wargaming club during work days (I'm assuming that you usually play on weekends and in my experience most people also play on weekends so you should be fine on work days).

[banjo1985]

Ideally I would really like that to happen, but in terms of where the group lives the club is the the only viable option we have unfortunately. However, we do have a side room that we go off into and close the doors, which does dispel most of the background noise, and still there are many times we can't understand him first time.

I suppose my main worry is that one other player in particular will rip him to shreds, he's not one to suffer things lightly and he doesn't have much patience with the guy. I just don't want him to run once then never have the confidence to do it again!

Yes he's the newest memebr of the group, I've known all of the others at least 4 years, but he's gelled well with everyone except the above mentioned. We have a couple of 30something very experienced roleplayers, which I think is making him more nervous, as he's our youngest guy at 19, and was very shy to begin with. I don't want him to go back into his shell after a bad experience, but I fear it might happen if he runs for us.

[bigbaddragon]

Maybe you could quit gaming for a while and GM cooperatively with him just to help him handle a couple of first sessions? Also this way you could at least try to prevent that other guy tearing him to shreds.

You could also try talking to that other guy (and the rest of the party if needed) about this. After all, a nice word opens the most heaviest doors.

[banjo1985]

Hmm a cooperative game, that's something we've never tried bafore, I might test the waters about doing it! I'm a reasonably experienced GM, so maybe an experienced 2nd in command would help him get things going. I've also thought about asking him to do a playtest with a smaller group before we start the campaign proper, maybe with three people that are more patient than the others. He's using a new system we've never played before, so it would also help us to get a handle on the rules before we start officialy.

[bigbaddragon]

Since he would be using a new system it would be pretty nice to have a few test plays with all of you, so he should pick up some random adventures and translate them to the system he is using, just to introduce you to it. After that he could start his campaign.

And actually YES, this new system the others haven't seen yet may just give him the edge and boost his confidence since he would the most knowledgeable about it and it would be normal that other players ask him for advice.

[nerulean]

Getting him to playtest a couple of short games beforehand is ideal. I was put off DMing massively by the first group I DMed for, but running a couple of short games for a different group got me right back in it.

Another slightly underhanded but effective side effect of this idea could be getting the more patient members on his side before he starts the campaign proper, because having the support of the majority of players can definitely buoy a DM through bad experiences with one unpleasant person.

Essentially, though, just give the guy whatever support you can. Don't tell him he's amazing if he isn't, but give him all the helpful constructive criticism your experience permits, and encourage him all the way.

[DraPrime]

Knock him out and do surgery on his throat.

[LotharBot]

It sounds like part of your worry isn't really with this guy, but with another player causing trouble. Maybe you should have a word with the other player, letting him know you're worried and that you'd appreciate if he'd keep his attitude in check when the new guy DM's.

If the strength of his voice is, and remains, a legitimate concern that can't be dealt with simply through confidence/talking louder, consider getting a small microphone and speaker. Some of the older and quieter docents at the museum where I volunteer have speakers they wear (like a tie). They simply don't have the voices to talk loud enough for whole groups to hear them otherwise.

[Kizara]

Hand him a cloak of charisma +2.

Also, if he can't project confidence or even his own voice, how can he RP any important NPCs.

Like, the king/charismatic sorceress/etc.

Sounds to me that he may be a nice guy and a thoughtful and useful player, but he simply can't 'cut it' as a DM.

[Miles Invictus]

Geez, Kizara. This guy hasn't even DM'ed his first session, and you're already questioning whether he can "cut it" based on nothing but the quality of his voice? Am I correct in assuming that, when you started DM'ing, you had no room for improvement?

Banjo, I think you can help your friend best by reminding him to speak loudly, giving honest feedback, and making sure he has at least five or six sessions to prove and improve himself. Get the rest of the group to support him, especially that one troublesome player. Practice sessions might not be a bad idea, either. Maybe even go diceless, so he has to work on his roleplay. It won't make his first real session perfect, but he'll do a lot better if he's somewhat comfortable with what he's doing.

[illyrus]

I agree with Miles Invictus and will just add one more thing...

I'd suggest giving him a chance to do it on his own, he may surprise you in his attitude as a GM. I've met several people who are meek when not in charge but forceful when they know they need to lead. I'd try to find out from him if he has already planned to shift his manner for the role of GM.

[Ravyn]

Whoa, Kizara, easy there. There might be someone with the exact same issue reading this thread, and do we even want to know how much potential could be scared off by that kind of comment? If I'd had to deal with attitudes like that my first game, I'd never even have gotten into RP in the first place.

Besides, it's quite possible he's one of those people who gets caught up in the character enough to make up for it, and if he can jump from one to the other relatively easily, not having the world's most confident air isn't going to hurt things that badly.

Speaking of which, how visual is your game? A couple introductory sessions by computer may very well give them a chance to see how he runs without the voice even being an issue, and likely boost his confidence in the process.

[Tallis]

I agree with all the advice that's been given so far. Especially talking to him and the rest of the group. I would also suggest that he should go heavy on the visual aids. He'll have to explain less if he's got a picture to show you.

[Xuincherguixe]

I think I can empathize with the guy there.


This is what I think. When you talk to him let him know that it shouldn't get to him when people ask him to repeat himself. It should be viewed as that the players care what's going on.

Also, as far as the sarcastic jabs go. If it gets to be too much then he should have no qualms about telling the guy to take a hike. If he get shaken too much by the guy it's not going to help the game at all. If sarcastro is otherwise alright no problem.

You also might want to have a talk with that guy and tell him to take it a bit easier on the guy than he otherwise would. If he's a reasonable person? He'll understand. I'm pretty sarcastic too at times. We call those days that end with y. But generally speaking I'm not trying to be nasty to anyone.


And, people have had fun with my games for what it's worth too. So chances are everything is not doomed :P Still I would say he shouldn't try anything to big for starts.

[banjo1985]

Thank you all for your helpful comments, though I don't think I'll be attempting throat surgery on the guy any time soon! I spoke to our new GM this morning, and gave him some of the advice that you all put forward.

To be honest our conversation has made me a bit happier with the situation. He seems like he intends to GM confidentally, and says that if the sarcastro (love that term!) makes too many comments he'll be out of the group when he runs. He didn't want to cooperatively GM, but he has asked me to play an important NPC for our first few sessions to help him along with the start of the campaign, then create a characetr of my own at a later date. I have no problem with this, and the corrupt guild official he has in mind for me to roleplay is quite intriging.

Herealises his voice is a problem, but he's a top-notch anime artist and says he is going to use plenty of visual aids to help us along. I'm now much happier with what's in store for the group, and I think some of your suggestions were genuinely helpful to him.

Thank you all, our first session with him is the 13th (a Friday ahhh!), I might rekindle this thread to say how it goes!

[Xuincherguixe]

It's actually from "the tick". Disposable one shot hero really. I loved the name.