Post/Author/DateTime	Post
gnomie 01-02-07, 08:49 AM	Hello All~ With the news of Living Arcanis being dropped from RPGA, I decided to pick up some more Greyhawk judging positions. (Especially since I am helping organize a convention and they need someone to burn the slot zeroes. I ran one two rounder yesterday, and it didn't go terribly bad, but.....) My question is this: Since Arcanis and Greyhawk have totally different styles of play, any advice for a newbie Greyhawk judge? Thanks in advance.
budleiser 01-02-07, 10:15 AM	Hello All~ With the news of Living Arcanis being dropped from RPGA, I decided to pick up some more Greyhawk judging positions. (Especially since I am helping organize a convention and they need someone to burn the slot zeroes. I ran one two rounder yesterday, and it didn't go terribly bad, but.....) My question is this: Since Arcanis and Greyhawk have totally different styles of play, any advice for a newbie Greyhawk judge? Thanks in advance. Challenge the players, your job is to try and kill them their job is to try and survive. Nothing is worse than a softball DM.
KShaver 01-02-07, 11:08 AM	Challenge the players, your job is to try and kill them their job is to try and survive. Nothing is worse than a softball DM. That might be a bit harsh, but I won't take the complete opposite position. I think players should be challenged and mods shouldn't be softballed. The GMs job isn't to kill the players, its to give them a fun memorable gaming experience, and if same happen to die, it happens. Its pretty much the same as any other D&D game though. A few suggestions I like: 1. Take a look at the difference between whats actually in a room and the box text. Often time obvious (not hidden, easy to see) items that the PCs need to know about (to pass the room, or not get killed) simply aren't included in the text. 2. Take a careful look at any encounter from top to bottom as well as any notes in the text about them. Sometimes an encounter will vary dramatically up or down due to extinuating circumstances such as terrain, prepared spells, tactics, spells spent previously that are currently unavailable, magic items, and other tricks they may or may not have. 3. Take an extra couple of minutes at the end of the game to double check xp/cash earned and items gained on the AR. Make sure they get what they got and they didn't get what they missed. If you are unsure go back and find the encounter/item and see why or why not the item was gained or missed. Of course all of these items are assuming you have time to do them, more than likely you'll be stressed for time as is and will just have to hope you do your best as you go.
LGMoses 01-02-07, 01:46 PM	Challenge the players, your job is to try and kill them their job is to try and survive. Nothing is worse than a softball DM. the dm is not out to kill the players you psycopathic maniac.
pedr 01-02-07, 02:29 PM	the dm is not out to kill the players you psycopathic maniac.No, but some of the people the DM is controlling are!! (And this from someone who's a pretty softball DM. Only six PC deaths in over a year of DMing, and that number's somewhat inflated by a TPK of a table of four in an intro mod which was pretty unavoidable once things started to go wrong for them and they didn't run away.)
codyknotts 01-02-07, 02:37 PM	The worst part of the "softballing" is the following: Modules with spell choices that make no sense for the character: Like in one module where the 4th level spell is glibness for a mass battle, why would I cast it as that character. It makes no sense as a DM and it wastes a spell choice Battle clerics with enchantment spells instead of buff and protection spells. No way to stop the enemy or make the cleric tougher. Now it can do two things, neither of them well. The result is monsters that are far too weak for the characters and even when you don't want to softball, you are making too easy. In addition, given that the CR means that characters as opponents are weaker in either or both numbers or levels, writers should maximize their combat capability. Instead I see generally poor spell selection up to APL 8 (I have run nothing higher than that level yet) I kill about one player every other session. Most players respect that. We have a few that complain constantly. I think it makes the players better and makes them concentrate on builds that make sense or do something useful and productive. Winning never makes anyone learn. It is not a challenge. Losing also brings about improvements in the players. I played with a softball DM at an interactive. It was horrible when he did not maximize his attacks. I never felt challenged. I want to be challenged.
Britt 01-02-07, 02:49 PM	The DM is not the enemy of the players. The DM should not be trying to kill the PCs. Yes, challenge the PCs, i.e. make them feel some risk and excitement, but don't aim for deaths. Don't softball the adventures either (except maybe a little sometimes for new players in intros or APL 2s). Just run the NPCs how they would act in character, using tactics appropriate for their mental stats and the Tactics description in the adventure.
Nutation 01-02-07, 03:09 PM	My question is this: Since Arcanis and Greyhawk have totally different styles of play, any advice for a newbie Greyhawk judge? You are a judge, not a dungeon master. You have to faithfully convey the author's intent, which is a balancing act between what the author wrote and what the players actually do. Most mistakes in this regard are in the direction of being overly literal or rigid. LG has its own quirky campaign rules. If you are judging for experienced players, you should be able to rely on them to fairly explain the nuances of what is and isn't allowed. If you can't rely on them, then maybe you should start with other players.
clannagh 01-02-07, 05:21 PM	Challenge the players, your job is to try and kill them their job is to try and survive. Nothing is worse than a softball DM. I prefer to play my bad guys realistically .. which does not include random bandits on the road turning into suicidal banzai samurai kill teams who will all die to take out one PC.
Redfist 01-02-07, 05:33 PM	The DM's job isn't to kill the players. The DM's job is to arbitrate the mod's intent -vs- the players choices. Period. The DM is supposed to be a neutral party and shouldn't have an agenda of killing OR softballing. IMHO: "Killer DMs" are just as bad as "Softball DMs". --Redfist
UMiskatonic 01-02-07, 05:47 PM	Arcanis works off of a cert system, and that's what LG used to have in place. The new item tracking methods are substantially different from what you are used to. Make sure you understand ARs, MILs, MICs, and meta-org certs, that's probably the biggest help. Other than that, my experience is that Arcanis players are used to more of a swing in difficulty, (where some encounters are deadly if you charge blindly) and tend to always talk first. You will see LG tables where an 8 is the highest charisma, and you can't find two skill points to rub together if your life depended on it. LG players are used to the EL +1, EL +2, EL +3 format, and expect it. Finally, LG has more of a regional feel. Sorta like the Nishanpur campaign. Now imagine you had to drive two states away to play in Coryan. A lot of LG is like that, so familiarize yourself with the region you are judging in. The local Triad should have some background info, and the Greyhawk Gazeteer is another fine source for an overview.