Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gingerbread Golem 09-13-04, 05:28 PM	Hi Im planning to start an Ebberon Campaign but lack a lot of knowledge about GM'ing plz help It would make me really happy :D
Saurenda 09-13-04, 05:45 PM	Don't make some of the mistakes I did. Give the characters input, not a show. While it is good to be enthsuastic about what your doing, never let the PCs feel like they are just watching you. They are the main action. Down string PCs along. Let them make decisions about issuses, and most of all don't use NPCs to fill the gaps where you think necesary. IF they fail to do something let it come back into thier face. Always let the PCs talk, interrupting them during thier character interaction can spoil some good roleplaying. On the other hand it can drag on, and nothing can get done. Realize how much time they are spending standing still. Make the PCs give reactions. As you tell them the basic history that all citizens know ask them how they feel about certain things. Like how the PC elf wizard feels about the half elf sorceror in the group. You'd be surprised how quickly people can take the the setting with a decent description and a good story teller. Thats all I can think of at the moment.
Master of shaarat'khesh 09-13-04, 11:37 PM	Being a DM can be easy or it can be difficult it all depends on you. First, Know the rules of the DMG. Now I don't mean know the book verbatim but read it and be familiar with it. Also, what I always do before a game is go to the specific areas that I know might come up based on what campaign I may be running and the events I expect to happen. Also, know your setting. This is almost more important than the DMG, it goes to the second piece of advice. Second, know your adventure/story. You're not going to be able to anticipate everything but try to. Write up an overall idea and flesh it out. The basic goal of a DM is to move the story along to its end. The players may be the drive the vehicle but you are the one steering it. If they start to veer, set them back on course. Do this by keeping them focused, be subtle, but keep them interested and on target. But overall the players shouldn't even know your there doing it at all. Let it flow... Like the Force.:) Third, have fun. Don't let what I said before hinder you or your players from having fun. I'm not a rules bully, If somebody wants to try something really cool but technically impossible, If they've described it, though it out, and are really into it, I'll overlook a technicality for the overall enjoyment I get from seeing my players succeed (or fail) but do it with style. Also, I'm not stuck instone with the story. I know where I want it to go but, some of the best games I've DM'ed or played have been ones where we veered off course and /or it was what I call, "a random adventure". Meaning that it was just made up on the fly. Eventually we get back on course, so don't stress to much if they veer. My basic advice forand as a DM is "Get out of the way and just let them play." In the end just have fun and make sure the players do too. Get there input into who they each want to play and what type of adventure interests them. I am by no means the greatest DM, I sometimes get rules wrong or screw up an encounter or stats, but I've never had a complaint and I think it's because we all just have fun. *places .02 cents in the bucket*
ChronosCrow 09-14-04, 12:26 AM	First and Foremost keep in mind why you're gaming: "To have fun." Don't bog everything down too heavily, but still keep things in your court, not theirs. By all freaking means: Do it by the book! Don't add in your own rules. Don't allow players to do things because, "It just makes sense." Just dont screw with the rules, good long man hours have been logged into making the game the thing it is today; keep its beauty by trying to understand why something is a certain way. If you're having a hard time with something, post questions in the message boards. Don't let the game get out of your control. Keep close tabs the character sheets, keep them in your possesion, check things like equpiment, weight and skill point totals every now and then. Read these sections (I'll even get the book pages too, these are all 3.5 page #'s) 1. Intimatly learn the special qualities of each PC class. If that's too hard tackle all the ones your players are taking so as to fill in the gaps. Don't depend on them too much to know what's what. 2. Base idea of Difficulty checks for Skills/attack: Very Low (DC 5), Average (DC 10), Difficult (DC 15), High (20), Very High (DC 25), Extremely High (30). 3. Know the difference between Challenge Ratings (CR) and Encounter Levels (EL): DMG 3.5 pg. 48 4. Learn to calculate XP well: DMG 3.5 pg. 38-36 / You calculate XP for each monster based on their CR, each monster is done singlely. Example: Bill and Tim, 2 first level fighters, take down Jax and Dax, 2 goblins. Jax is worth 300 XP because we'll say he's a CR 1 and Dax is a CR 2 meaning he's worth 600 XP. That's 900 XP added up, then divide by 2 because 2 PC's took them down, Bill and Tim. That's 450 XP each. 5. Learn Damage reduction: DMG 3.5 pg 291 6. Make the players feel like they are in control, however in reality they aren't. This is a really hard one to get right off the bat. It takes time to wrap your mind around it so don't worry, it's meant to be complicated. A hint would be to give the players plenty of options, but intice them with what you want them to do. 7. Story suggestions to STAY AWAY FROM: A. The Legend- The long standing legend of a group of fighters bound to save the world/town/city/village/country; This idea is so over done in comics, movies, video games (especially). B. The Prodigal Dream- the divine dream telling the member(s) what to do; this means you've ran out of options and the players might feel not in control, try to do your best to feed at their needs to adventure not lead them by the nose. C. The Heroic "Destiny"- The heroes are the only ones that can defeat the mad wizard because they are the ones 'destined' to defeat while no others can; This idea is much like the legend one, it's too confining and maps out the characters future where as it's better to let the players map out their own futures. D. The Quest to save the world- the world has been put into plenty of perils all the time by everykind of creative medium; do us all a favor and think up something new (I don't actually direct this one at you, it's just meant in general). E. Save the Damsel- the basic save the damsel in distress, long ago we stopped sacrificed virigns to dragons; This one has a nasty staple added into a lot of dragon related movies so I'd keep away from it. 8. For some very nicely flavored Eberron adventure runs some kinds of plot themes that are advised on pages 254- 255 in the Eberron book. 9. The following link is a great source for DMing and keeping things good. I dont' advise looking at all though because this has been going on for a few years now so it's rather humungous: http://www.roleplayingtips.com/archives.html specifiaclly this page (the older articles section is huge): http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/index.php 10. I have much more to give you so I shall be back!
ChronosCrow 09-14-04, 12:47 AM	11. If you make a story mistake try to cover it up and later integrate that mistake into the idea of the story. Some of your best ideas can come from a mistake and some nice quick thinking. 12. Pay attention to the mood of the players. If things are getting testy don't be a mega rules lawyer on them. If things are going quickly and the party seems peepy you want that kind of momentum so try and keep things lively and dont' let them die down. 13. I advise to not let the party spilt up too much. Going aroudn and doing random things around town maybe, but when it comes to split up in dungeons and combat stuff dont' do it. When things take too much time the other free group will tend to loose intrest and do what mine did once, play Halo (man I got so mad at that). 14. More bad plot ideas: F. Mirror Image/Evil gotee- some cheesy idea abou the PC's having to face the exact evil counterparts of their characters; Blah, icky, dumb, over done, silly, not creative. 15. Pit party members against each others. I'd avoid pitting the part members against each other, now it's another thing if they do it themselves. 16. Powergaming- "This is great, my first level guy has an AC 30 and a sword of "killer whopming." I don't agree with powergaming, some do. I however feel powergaming is too rules bending and rules oriented as well, it tends to overshadow the purity of the story. 17. Avoid Running gags. There's a few running gags that were created in my past games and I've been regreting it recetnly b/c I finally got good and I regret a lot of my previous things such as: "gay dwarves- a comical spurt of bald dwarves" "Kobolds- one player zapped these guys and I said they became jerky. Ever since then kobolds have been the running kill 'em up and have stupid fun with it. *Ugh*" The players remember these things and when anything in my new game remotly reminds them of those stupid laughs they mention it and that leads to a total out of game moment that leads way of the path taking intrest away from the game. 18. Suggested number of people: Fresh new group of players (4), Moderate gamers (5), A few years of experience and maybe a few new players (5-6), All experienced people (8). 19. Allow the players to ask questions in game, even if its useless and mundane it can lead off into terrific uncharted territory. 20. Rule #1- Almost always when it comes down to things the PC gets the short end of the stick. When it comes to a point where you have to choose between a good thing or a bad thing for a PC the bad thingis probably the choice. Example: Rounding down. Almost always when judging how to round you round in non-favor of the PC, I've seen one instance that it went towards the PC. 21. Learn Combat rules like they was your first love's favorite thing in all life itself. I'm serious, in most games combat rules a huge matter, even in the story heavy games such as mine. 22. HAVE FUN!!! Once things get too bogged down with emotions or rules it's time to take a breather. We take frequent breaks during the game to freshenup and I cancel at least one game a month because we game on Fridays and I don't want it to be like we dont' do anything else on those days, even though we usually end up hanging out together and doing something else equally geeky anyways.
Save-vs-DM 09-14-04, 03:47 AM	If at all possible try and play a few games first (if you've done this already you're golden). The only way to really learn the rules is to play. Listen carefully to what your players say. If they come up with a solution or idea that is better than one you've had (it happens to me all the time) USE IT! It will make your players feel like they've stumbled upon some big "secret." Sit down and realize that you're going to make mistakes. 99% of people will be supportive and help you out. Sit down after the first few games (after every game is better) and ask your players: What did you like? What didn't you like? Read: I can't stress this one enough. Read the core books and the campaign setting book cover to cover at least once. Don't do it in one sitting if you can help it. Read until you're tired and do something else for a while and then come back to it. In addition to reading the core books, read in general. Start reading some good fantasy or pulp noire books to get your juices flowing. I recommend Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books highly (Most of them are in short story format so they're good to read in small doses). In some ways I credit him as the father of DnD much more than Tolkein (who is also a good read). The Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth series are also good. Neil Gaimen is also great (nothing better than American Gods). Don't limit your reading to just books either. Comic books and graphic novels are good as well (especially for Eberron). I recommend Hellboy (Dark Horse), Supreme Power (Max Comics), Sam and Twitch and Sam and Twitch Casefiles (Image), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Graphic Novel, NOT the movie), Batman (DC), and Daredevil (DC). Carry a small spiral bound notebook and a pen with you all the time you can (I use a sketchbook but I'm an artist). This way when inspiration strikes for an adventure idea you can write it down immediately. Beg, steal and borrow then twist. If you find something you like in a movie, book or other medium sit down and figure out what it was that you really liked. Then find a way to incorporate that into your game. For example: I highly enjoyed the Hellboy movie and wanted to use it in my game. I decided that the thing I liked the most was Samiel, hound of Ressurection. The thing i liked most about it was the fact that two rose for every one killed. So I made a monster that did that. Keep a gaming scrapbook. If you're looking through a magazine or online and you find a picture that you like, cut it out and paste it in a sketchbook. Then when you're DMing instead of describing something you can hold up your picture and say "you see that." Over time you'll being to amass a good collection (I have nine scrapbooks at last count). Play in a well lit and clean environment. Don't be afraid to ask your players for help before and during the game. You are the final adjucator of the game, but the players are vastly important as well. So long as everyone has fun don't sweat the small stuff and worry too much about the rules.* A few notes on designing adventures: Work backwords. Come up with your big climatic scene first. Then work backwords to figure out how the PCs get there. For example. You want your players to have a big fight with the mayor of a small thorp who is a werewolf. Okay, how do we get to the scene? The players discover that the king has been a werewolf and has been killing people in the spot where he was bitten. Okay, how do we know this? We learned this fact from a terrified butler/maid/wife/groom/etc. Why did we ask them? We learned that two things have happened lately. One that the mayor has cancelled his monthly dances (which happen to fall on the full moon) and that he sold all the silver in his home. Why did we come to the villiage in the first place? We got a call for help from a village who now has three people missing in three months. I know a lot of new DMs struggle with how to string things together, and working backwards often makes things a lot easier. *I would like to point out that unlike ChronosCrow, I don't worry about using all the rules. I do KNOW all of them (reformed rules lawyer) but I just as often ignore them as use them when the story calls for it. It's a difference of style. His suggestions about learning all the rules are good ones, though. Cheers, Save vs DM
ChronosCrow 09-14-04, 08:35 AM	Carry a small spiral bound notebook and a pen with you all the time you can (I use a sketchbook but I'm an artist). This way when inspiration strikes for an adventure idea you can write it down immediately. *I would like to point out that unlike ChronosCrow, I don't worry about using all the rules. I do KNOW all of them (reformed rules lawyer) but I just as often ignore them as use them when the story calls for it. It's a difference of style. His suggestions about learning all the rules are good ones, though. Cheers, Save vs DM I can't believe I fogot that line about the notebook Save-vs-DM put down. I use that junt all the freakin time. I've got pages and pages of my own sketchbook devoted to game work along with my own drawings. It has helped me out sooo much, i've got a memory anyways. I highly advise it, that'll be: 23. "Carry a small spiral bound notebook and a pen with you all the time you can (I use a sketchbook but I'm an artist). This way when inspiration strikes for an adventure idea you can write it down immediately." (Save-vs-DM) and on his second note there, I've been kinda thinking about it recently myself really. I am kinda hypocritical when I say learn all the rules, but don't worry about getting bogged down by the rules. I think I'm in a stage of flux on this one and will probably come around to his type of thinkingon that issue.
Gingerbread Golem 09-14-04, 09:02 AM	Hi again Im really glad so many of you gave me so much advice...keep it cumin' :D I also want to ask if i can borrow the mayor/werewolf idea unless its already been used... And since I live in Norway iI dont think the Legend of the vampires blade has come out yet :( Anyway thanks for all the advice (Im gonna get a notebook) Im really glad you had so much info for me though as mentioned before i dont mind more of it... :D
Master of shaarat'khesh 09-14-04, 10:00 AM	A note on the notebook.That is a great idea. I am also an artist so I'm almost always carrying a sketch book that has art and notes in it. I also have a seperate notebook that I use at the game. It's what I use to take notes during the game as a DM and as a player as well. Alot of times players will do something or there will be encounters played out or even random encounters that will spark a new adventure during actual game play. Jot it down. It'll be much easier to remember it that way instead of trying to think back. Like I said I've done this as a player as well and I've taken something from our session and created an adventure using that spark when it was my time to DM an adventure.
Gingerbread Golem 09-14-04, 10:14 AM	the notebook idea is really good. I usually just doodle and take notes on scrap paper when playing but Im going to get a notebook specificaly for D&D :) Also i appreciate all general advice on DM'ing and other pinpoints on creating good adventures...and i really liked that mayor/werewolf idea that Save-VS-DM came up with...can I use it in my game? :D Plz continue to post tips and ideas in this thread I will really appreciate it and i will try to come up with ideas if anyone wants something...though i cant promise they're good... :D
ChronosCrow 09-14-04, 11:43 AM	Plz continue to post tips and ideas in this thread I will really appreciate it and i will try to come up with ideas if anyone wants something...though i cant promise they're good... :D I'll try to brew up some more tips for you.
ChronosCrow 09-14-04, 11:46 AM	Found something I was looking for. i'd advise you to take a look at the following link. It can help any DM from those just starting to those who have DM'ed for a good bit of time I think: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=75741
Gingerbread Golem 09-14-04, 12:04 PM	Thanks for the link Im going to check it out after i finish writing... :D
Master of shaarat'khesh 09-14-04, 12:05 PM	Nice link ChronosCrow! Sometimes even a 15 year gamer needs a refresher. They made some great points. I agree with you anyone DM'ing new or not should click over and refresh their Dm'ing minds.
Brastan 09-14-04, 12:32 PM	The main advice I can give as a multi-time DM is, Don't worry about your main villains being killed real quick. Have at least one or two backups to take their place. In my experience Players are very quick to spot potential enemies and will jump to eliminate them before they get a chance to harm them. Second, (which I think was covered already, but is important) Know your players. Know their likes and dislike. How they feel about various situations. Then take what you know an think about how they would deal with a situation when your writing it up before hand. Also expect the worst for your plots and schemes and prepare(or at least think about) martial to handle things if it comes apart. I've been DMing and Playing with my group for sometime and was able to predict what they would do and how they would do it 90% of time during one adventure. Although recently I managed to do a very stupid thing. I let a main villain (that the PCs had already fought) get with combat range in a normal setting. No sooner than they spotted her then she was on the ground, half dead, in a Web, with the rouge getting ready to finisher her off the next round. What did I do, just *shrug* let her die, and pull out nastier villain #2.
A Chosen of Mystra 09-14-04, 12:40 PM	Hello... At first, dont make a campaign where you create it yourself at first. When you buy the book (Vampires Blade) read through it, get almost everything in your head. I should read through the ECS book (Eberron Campaign Setting) and then you know the land well. And dont make the PC's to powerful to, ge careful of what you give them. To ceep the game balanced, for exampel... "The PC's are going to go to another city where they are going to track down somone. But the one they are tracking isn't there, he is still on the road and the PC's are going to meet him and something VERY IMPORTANT is going to happen. But then you remeber that you gave the... A ring or something and they can teleport. So they teleport to the city and its gets wrong" Thats is what you should look at, but i wish you good luck with yer campaign and Im going to play well in yer campaign :D
Gingerbread Golem 09-14-04, 01:55 PM	Hi again I want to say that I posted this to get some advice for DM'ing myself. Though now I think that everyone who has any general advice they would like to share about DM'ing they should post it here for all DM's to see and use to improve their campaigns or DM skills if they're newbies... :) I also want to say thanks for all the great advice I have gotten through this thread...Thanks :D And also that everyone should keep posting hints or tips to becoming a good DM. Thanks a lot guys, keep it coming... :ayyyy!:
A Chosen of Mystra 09-14-04, 02:09 PM	Hi again I want to say that I posted this to get some advice for DM'ing myself. Though now I think that everyone who has any general advice they would like to share about DM'ing they should post it here for all DM's to see and use to improve their campaigns or DM skills if they're newbies... :) I also want to say thanks for all the great advice I have gotten through this thread...Thanks :D And also that everyone should keep posting hints or tips to becoming a good DM. Thanks a lot guys, keep it coming... :ayyyy!: Read the DM Guide every day... read over every rule. Write it on paper, get a nice notebook where you write things you can forget and... then you just read through that if you have some problems :twitch: :cookie: