Post/Author/DateTime	Post
trollbill 01-02-07, 04:54 PM	I am a very experienced DM, but am relatively new to LG and last weekend was the first time I DMed LG for anything approaching a major con (though I have DMed for the D&D Open at GenCon). Normally, I spend a fair amount of time prepping for mods, usually drawing combat maps, pulling out figs, reading the mod at least twice, figuring out where I can cut RP if the table is running too long, and looking things up that may prove sticky in the mod. Due to circumstances beyond mine and the organizers's control, one newly released mod was not available for me to read prior to the con. I was able to Slot 0 it the day before but the con kept me so busy I was barely able to read it before running it on the last day. Naturally, I hate being put in such a situation, but I also understand it is the nature of the hobby that sometimes these things happen. I was looking at two basic ways of handling it and wasn't sure which was the best. Option #1 Run the mod to my best ability, but make sure I run it as was intended and instructed in the mod, even if this means I have to pause the game to pour through copious amounts of paperwork and reference books to come up with the right answer. Pros: This gives the most acurate and fair adventure. The adventure is run as intended and the encounters are balanced as intended. Cons: Players can get both distracted and bored as the DM pauses the game to read sections of the mod and look things up for accuracy. Games run in this fashion at cons are very likely to run well past their slot times. Option#2 If I don't know the answer to something in a mod, and I can't find the answer in short order, wing it. Come up with a ruling/event/circumstance on the fly and just keep the game going. Pros: The game flows more smoothly and is much more likley to finish in a timely fashion. If you get lucky and wing it properly, it is likely to be a more enjoyable table. Cons: The game will not be run as intended, which will result in much greater table variation with other DMs. If you don't get lucky, the mod can end up being much easier or much harder depending on the specifics of what you ended up winging. If too easy, the players won't feel challenged, and you will probably hear someone say how you didn't run that mod right at some point. If too hard, players may die or suffer other ill effects when they really should not have and you may even have a formal complaint lodged against you. For those of you more experienced with this particular situation, how do you handle it?
paigeoliver 01-02-07, 11:15 PM	#2. The game is supposed to be fun.
Japangirl 01-03-07, 12:53 AM	#2 unless someone is going to die, then make sure the rules actually support what you're doing to the PC.
budleiser 01-03-07, 12:54 AM	I am a very experienced DM, but am relatively new to LG and last weekend was the first time I DMed LG for anything approaching a major con (though I have DMed for the D&D Open at GenCon). Normally, I spend a fair amount of time prepping for mods, usually drawing combat maps, pulling out figs, reading the mod at least twice, figuring out where I can cut RP if the table is running too long, and looking things up that may prove sticky in the mod. Due to circumstances beyond mine and the organizers's control, one newly released mod was not available for me to read prior to the con. I was able to Slot 0 it the day before but the con kept me so busy I was barely able to read it before running it on the last day. Naturally, I hate being put in such a situation, but I also understand it is the nature of the hobby that sometimes these things happen. I was looking at two basic ways of handling it and wasn't sure which was the best. Option #1 Run the mod to my best ability, but make sure I run it as was intended and instructed in the mod, even if this means I have to pause the game to pour through copious amounts of paperwork and reference books to come up with the right answer. Pros: This gives the most acurate and fair adventure. The adventure is run as intended and the encounters are balanced as intended. Cons: Players can get both distracted and bored as the DM pauses the game to read sections of the mod and look things up for accuracy. Games run in this fashion at cons are very likely to run well past their slot times. Option#2 If I don't know the answer to something in a mod, and I can't find the answer in short order, wing it. Come up with a ruling/event/circumstance on the fly and just keep the game going. Pros: The game flows more smoothly and is much more likley to finish in a timely fashion. If you get lucky and wing it properly, it is likely to be a more enjoyable table. Cons: The game will not be run as intended, which will result in much greater table variation with other DMs. If you don't get lucky, the mod can end up being much easier or much harder depending on the specifics of what you ended up winging. If too easy, the players won't feel challenged, and you will probably hear someone say how you didn't run that mod right at some point. If too hard, players may die or suffer other ill effects when they really should not have and you may even have a formal complaint lodged against you. For those of you more experienced with this particular situation, how do you handle it? I hate to cheese the answer like this, but is there any real reason you can't run both options? Since your at a Con time is a huge issue to be aware of. First of all question wether the information NEEDs to be looked up. Outside of combat if you need to determine if the DC is 15 or 20, and its not life threatening I think with time constraints its ok to wing it and live with it. Inside combat if incorrectly ruling could kill a player, probably better look it up. If it wont ruin the fight but might give a tad advantage to the party, probably ok to wing it. Every DM makes mistakes and if your an experienced DM then your probably pretty good at what you do. If you look up alot of things and feel like the mod might not finish in time, start winging. If the PCs are plowing through the pages and theres plenty of time left, look it up. You have played the mod once so you do remember how long it took to play before. If its a mod that felt like it barely finished in time then you know speeding things up is important. If you felt players played slow and yet you finished on time or early then you know you have time to work with and can look up various rulings. So first and foremost I say be adaptable and use your own judgement. Just try and let everyone have fun. If a player challenges your ruling, look it up or politely ask him to look it up.
UMiskatonic 01-03-07, 11:06 AM	Almost all of my off-the-cuff decisions come with the phrase: "We're going to go with X, and move on, unless someone can show me otherwise." It allows players to have input, it keeps with the rules, and it takes good advantages of those areas where a player knows a rule that I don't. It also allows players to decide if looking something up is better/worse than interrupting the game. Often it isn't.
wagnert 01-03-07, 01:16 PM	I think it helps to have just played the mod. Last year one of our Triad arrived late with the premier regional adventure. He ran a table of us at a midnight session. At the final slot of the convention I had run out of adventures to play, and the Triad was planning to run the premier again. I offered to judge so he could play in the core Blood on Bright Sands adventure. We got through with me "channeling" his performance. The only unfortunate event was when one player (due to table APL) was forced to play a lower level character, which had he known, although I did, would have been better for him to play with the higher level character, as he would have gotten an item to match a previous item his character had. A couple months later, I ran the mod again at another convention, four times, covering the entire APL range. It's still one of my favorite mods to run. It retired last month.
tvknight415 01-03-07, 01:27 PM	If I'm in a situation where I haven't had a chance to prep a mod (and in a few cases, I've had to run a mod cold without even having played it), I read the summary and background through a couple of times to familiarize myself with the adventure. Then, do a skim as you go. If you've got to do it cold, make sure you warn your players (hey guys, sorry about this, but I was handed the mod 10 minutes ago...). Then, read as you go (embellishing role-playing works well to cover some DM reading - even if the bad guy is supposed to attack immediately, a couple minutes of taunting the PC's or a brief 'failed' negotiation will give you a bit to look forward in the mod without the lengthy pauses of idle reading. About halfway through a slot, offer the players a break for snacks, smokes, facilities, etc. and do some more reading. Also, there will inevitably come a point someday when you'll realize you pooched something. A forgotten clue or detail you were suppsoed to give out but didn't realize how germaine it was, or perhaps a mis-read on what a character's motivations were. In all respects, if it was something that you missed, give the PC's the benefit of the doubt that they would have figured it out. Hey, look, there's a map lying on the desk (that you were supposed to get 3 encounters ago with a DC20 search check that I didn't realize was there). But, all in all, make sure the players have fun. That's ultimately why just about all people play the game. Eric
CrystalBlue 01-03-07, 01:54 PM	Ha HA!...running mod's cold. Great pastime of mine. ^.^ Usually because my con organizers never give me the mod early enough ahead of time. So, I try my best to play it like I was played through. And running investigative mod's cold? Haha...disaster. Yes, it's hard to run mod's cold but I've done it so many times, I've learned what is important information and what can just fly out the window, cause you really don't need it. My advice? If you're running a role-play mod, don't worry too much about things. If you're running a combat or dungeon crawl, try to let someone else draw the maps for you while you look up the monsters and tactics. And if it's investigative...cross your fingers and smile. Remember, people...smiles! :D
echoota 01-03-07, 01:57 PM	I've seen #1 being done. It was awful as a player and has now made me forever paranoid of being stuck in such a situation at a con again. I've done #2 and walked away with lots of smiles and thanks for a job well done.
Shieldhart91 01-03-07, 05:06 PM	Doesn't matter how it's really done for me. I always seem to finish running games 2-3 hours early, which really kind of sucks...usually I run a second table, so I have double the amount of tables reported on cons as a usual judge should have ;) That being said, #2 is the most feasible option. That what we did for FUR6-08 the Dread Witch Project, and we had a blast. I had no time to prep it, but it was the best game I had at the Con (even though it was outside of the con itself!)
paigeoliver 01-04-07, 12:29 AM	Since I was there I agree that WAS the best game I played at the convention, and all my friends agreed it was one of the best we played in a long time. :D That one made the 9 hour drive totally worth it. Thanks again for running games for us. Paige Doesn't matter how it's really done for me. I always seem to finish running games 2-3 hours early, which really kind of sucks...usually I run a second table, so I have double the amount of tables reported on cons as a usual judge should have ;) That being said, #2 is the most feasible option. That what we did for FUR6-08 the Dread Witch Project, and we had a blast. I had no time to prep it, but it was the best game I had at the Con (even though it was outside of the con itself!)
solbergb 01-04-07, 12:33 AM	For those of you more experienced with this particular situation, how do you handle it? Option 3. Don't let it happen to you. I won't run a mod without prep. It's a disservice to the players. I do so much better a job when prepped I can't excuse myself for running anything cold. I'm not going to ruin their only chance to experience the module with something as preventable as "not prepared". I routinely badger convention organizers to get out draft copies or whatever ahead of time and if I need to step in to help out in a tough slot, I'll work out a deal with other judges to cover something I've prepped for something they've prepped, rather than me taking something cold. Absolute worst case, I'll insist on a single APL and minimum two hours to prep (and two days is better). I'm not kidding. Just don't let yourself get into that situation again. You're new. You now have first hand experience how much worse a job you did than if you'd properly prepared. The con organizer should also have the freaking discipline to not run the only slotzero the day before the convention. That kind of zero is really for folks who won't run it but who are judging so can't play it. There is always a playtest draft floating around somewhere for regionals/metaregionals and for cores you can get an online zero organized if the author won't send you a draft copy to prep. Run a "playtest" instead of "slot zero" on the new releases. A second bonus of that approach is that the module sometimes improves as a result of a playtest run primarily as a zero, especially as folks prep the APL's not tested by the author. If the organizer can't manage this kind of networking with authors, he probably shouldn't be running premiers at his conventions. If your organizers need help with this, the person to go to for draft copies to arrange zeros for a convention is the Triad for regionals, the metaregional coordinator for metaregionals or the author for any module. Arrange the "playtest zero" yourself if you have to. Your local conventions will benefit. They won't improve though if you as judges put up with that kind of behavior. Just refuse to judge stuff you don't have time to prep. Then do a good job when you do prep. (your insistance on getting time to prep won't get you anywhere if you are a lousy judge even with prep, although that's not too common with experienced DM's once they adapt to the pacing and episodic nature of LG mods)
trollbill 01-04-07, 01:20 AM	The con organizer should also have the freaking discipline to not run the only slotzero the day before the convention. That kind of zero is really for folks who won't run it but who are judging so can't play it. There is always a playtest draft floating around somewhere for regionals/metaregionals and for cores you can get an online zero organized if the author won't send you a draft copy to prep. Run a "playtest" instead of "slot zero" on the new releases. A second bonus of that approach is that the module sometimes improves as a result of a playtest run primarily as a zero, especially as folks prep the APL's not tested by the author. If the organizer can't manage this kind of networking with authors, he probably shouldn't be running premiers at his conventions. I can't really blame the con organizers on this. They did schedule a Slot 0 weeks previously, but the mod had only just premiered recently and had been yanked back for editing after that. So the organizers couldn't get a copy of it to Slot 0 us in prior to just before the con. And if I had to pick any module I have ever run for LG as the worst possible mod to run with no prep time, this had to be it. It's minimum APL was 8 (which was another problem because the blurb says 6 but we didn't know it was 8 till we actually got the mod). It starts with a huge amount of role-play in the beginning (which I did skim through). Then moves on to a huge amount of investigation (which I skipped over as much as feasibly possible without just spoon feeding them everything). Then it moves on to a dungeon crawl with 3 or 4 encounters, depending on how you look at it. And simple encounters these weren't. All involved either little used monsters or little used spells. At least two of the monsters I had never even heard of before (and I have heard of a lot of monsters). One of the monster had a page and a half of unique special abilities. And most of the combats had unusual environmental effects going on. This mod looks like it should be a lot of fun if it were a double mod, but it wasn't. To give the author credit, there are specific portions of it he lists that you can skip if running out of time, but even shaving those off just didn't help enough. I will be interested in running it again with the proper prep time just to see how it goes.
solbergb 01-04-07, 01:31 AM	I can't really blame the con organizers on this. They did schedule a Slot 0 weeks previously, but the mod had only just premiered recently and had been yanked back for editing after that. So the organizers couldn't get a copy of it to Slot 0 us in prior to just before the con. I think I know the mod you're talking about, I suspect very much I was at the convention that premiered it. We zeroed the draft version and ran the premier with eratta...it did in fact need a lot of work and it would be an absolutely horrible mod to run cold. A zero with the last known copy and prepping off the last known copy is infinitely better than going in cold. When it got yanked, the con organizer should have negotiated with the triad/author/whomever is in authority for a copy of the most recent version, and the reason why it was yanked (so they can guess a bit at the changes), explaining that his judges need time to prep it, and it it way easier to just check over a mod for changes than to run it cold. The con organizer is having a failure in imagination and has convinced the rest of you that there was nothing he could do. It's just not true. People think it is true, but it really isn't. It just takes more effort than ordering the thing online. It isn't your fault for believing him and it isn't even his fault for not thinking of it. But - I've seen better ways of doing things, and the results of that. It doesn't have to be that way. Modules don't appear out of thin air, they have many, many iterations before they're final and human beings have copies of them, and some even have the authority to pass them out for purpose of preparation. When your con organizers are triad or ex-triad or authors, they may know some of these tricks already. The other way to protect yourself is to run many zeros of anything that isn't a premier so most of your judge pool can cover any non-premier slot, and try to recruit the playtest pool, author and editors as judges and have them run nothing else that convention. Less reliable, and impossible for core premiers but better than nothing. If you are premiering a core, you should really contact the author see if you can to get him to run a zero online. Some are pretty open to doing that.
TheBlackFlail 01-04-07, 01:45 AM	It's possible that there exists a worse mod to run unprepped, but I haven't come across one yet. For all of the reasons Bill mentions, not to mention the attack of the interminable boxed text, making the mod last what seemed like forever. My table finished first, and we took something like six hours. I still don't know where half the stuff in the final encounter came from, or what it was (as a rules lawyer, not my character). The mod also suffered from a confusion of which APLs it was available at, forcing me (6), and friend (5) to unexpectedly play APL 8. And a final encounter that has serious potential to go to heck in a handbasket, in a terrible hurry, if the DM doesn't know just what they are dealing with (and what they are dealing with comes from the more obscure reaches of LG legal stuff). I've played in many a mod run cold, but that one was a unique experience.
trollbill 01-04-07, 10:28 AM	I've played in many a mod run cold, but that one was a unique experience. I'm glad it was unique. Just my luck it was my first cold run experience. Of course, my poor daughter was running your table and she had even less prep time since all of her tables made at the con. At least I got Kelly to run the APL 12 so I only had to deal with APL 10.
Reylance 01-04-07, 11:29 AM	I think I know the mod you're talking about, I suspect very much I was at the convention that premiered it. We zeroed the draft version and ran the premier with eratta...it did in fact need a lot of work and it would be an absolutely horrible mod to run cold. I'm guessing it's not the same module unless you're talking about a module from outside your Pale home.
trollbill 01-04-07, 11:38 AM	I'm guessing it's not the same module unless you're talking about a module from outside your Pale home. It was Sheldomar Valley.
solbergb 01-04-07, 02:17 PM	Ah...ok we had a recent metaregional that had many of the same characteristics when first released. Not the same mod though, and maybe it's better now. I've not seen the final version.