1001 tips for new DM's [Archive] - Wizards Community

1001 tips for new DM's [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Solian
07-29-06, 05:36 PM I'mn kinda new and i know nhow hard it can be to start DMing, and i was seeing all the 1001's over the forum and thuaght this might be useful.

So, get posting!

-Solian
illiterate
07-29-06, 05:53 PM 1. Learn how to use apostrophes
2. Play in other people's games. Go to cons so you can see a variety of GMing styles.
3. Think about what makes a game fun for you to play.
dengarbountyhunter
07-29-06, 06:03 PM 4. Go for what's fun over what's in the rules, with some moderation of course.
5. Not every new thing requires a new rule. Circumstance bonus of +/- 1 to +/- 5 are just fine for most situations not in the rules.
Zombayz1
07-29-06, 06:49 PM 6. Start at level 1, it's much easier on the DM.
7. Be wary of railroading
Tichrimo
07-29-06, 07:14 PM 8. Say up front what books/supplements/content are and aren't allowed.
8 (a). Don't allow content you don't own or aren't intimately familiar with. (I got burned by introducing psionics without understanding it fully...)
SokenzanMarauder
07-29-06, 07:48 PM 9. Don't let a player whining ruin your game.
10. If you say something isn't allowed, it's NOT allowed.

-Gene
ManjiSTP
07-29-06, 08:25 PM I was nearly a DM once, but I just felt weighed down by the task. I couldn't take the responsibility or pressure.

I have a few queries to steer the 1001 points in my direction a little!

Considering that presumably each of the PCs will have a backstory, is it your responsibility to figure out a way to bring them together? Should you tell them to work it out? In this case, they may force you into a corner when it comes to beginning the narrative.

If all you've written is that there's a camp of bandits terrorising a town (to use an old cliche) how would you get them to do that quest? That is to say, given that they're in a vast world of infinite possibilities they could make their characters do anything! What if all the material you've got figured out doesn't crop up - like all they want to do is go to Waterdeep and you're like "Are you sure you don't want to go to that cave over there first? Heheh..."

How would you deal with a really odd decision. Like, if they suddenly decide to attack a guard in a large city, with almost certain death or something that directly disables the possibility of where you were taking the story? Say, you have a mage that's going to ask for help travelling the roads, and they just flat out refuse, or kill him for his items? Or if they do something awkward like take the mage elsewhere? While this is obviously irresponsible play on their part, I wouldn't want to basically set them mission objectives with "the voice of god".

Lastly, and perhaps this encapsulates the above points, but how much are you expected to have worked out? Let's say you begin in Silverymoon. Are you expected to map out the whole town, plus all the surrounding area? And in this case, are you to populate the whole place and give each NPC something to say, or do you just leave it as a ghost town? Obviously, both ideas sound very bad. Whenever I've read material for D&D it always assumes that the PCs are going down exactly the path they're expected... It never accounts for if half way through exploring the dwarven mines they suddenly decide to leave and travel to Amn...

Anyway, please answer my questions as my total lack of ability to grasp the idea of DMing is stopping me from actually playing D&D as I would invariably be the DM. Thanks!
pierow37
07-29-06, 08:31 PM [i have no idea] Read some pre-made adventures before you make your own. You don't even have to use the pre-made adventures[i suggest you don't]. Just read them and get into the rules on a real basis, in a real adventure that real people play. not just some text in a book.
[i have no idea +1] DONT make prophocies for the PC's. They are will NEVER come true.
ManjiSTP
07-29-06, 08:50 PM So is the basic idea to say "Here's what we're doing today"? I mean, it's basically amount of freedom = amount of planning you have to do. It's no good letting them go on a 7 day trek to Amn if for that week nothing happens and then when they get to Amn you say "...You are in a big city. It looks...nice. I-it's very, er, pretty..."

So then you have to limit them, but how? If they say "We will go to Amn for it where I was born!" do you say "Er, actually... You can't. I haven't figured out any events yet and it'd take me ages to sort out the prices for the items and draw a map..." Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...)
Draconis V
07-30-06, 12:35 AM So is the basic idea to say "Here's what we're doing today"? I mean, it's basically amount of freedom = amount of planning you have to do. It's no good letting them go on a 7 day trek to Amn if for that week nothing happens and then when they get to Amn you say "...You are in a big city. It looks...nice. I-it's very, er, pretty..."

So then you have to limit them, but how? If they say "We will go to Amn for it where I was born!" do you say "Er, actually... You can't. I haven't figured out any events yet and it'd take me ages to sort out the prices for the items and draw a map..." Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...)
If your PCs decide to do something you didn't plan for, then your choices are either:

1) Come up with a compelling (and plausible!) reason for them not to stray from your DM notes, or
2) improvise.

I know that you feel like your DM notes are the campaign, but as you have already acknowledged, you can never anticipate everything the players will try. When you consider that coming up with good reasons to herd the PCs in the direction you want is at least as hard as improvising new stuff (and not as fun), then option 2 starts to look pretty good.

Remember that as the DM, you are the referee, not the babysitter. The game is about the players and the choices they make. It is your job to animate the game world and respond to their choices; it is not your job to dictate what they do. In other words, the campaign is not a script you wrote for them to act out. The campaign is a creative interaction between people--this is the (relevant) definition of "play."

Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...)

So, if I understand you correctly, the question that's at the heart of your DMing dilemma is, "When it comes to details, how do I know what to tell my players if I haven't planned it out?" The answer: make it up. That can seem kind of overwhelming ("I have to invent all that?!"), but it's a snap as long as you take things one instance at a time. Sure, 1.5 million inhabitants is a staggering number, but you don't need 1.5 million descriptions. You only need one description, for the pedestrian the party is talking to right now. Remember the Golden Rule of Fiction: Anything Can Happen. That guy they stop and talk to can be anyone you want. It almost doesn't matter who he is. It certainly doesn't matter if he's important to the story. Make him powerful or weak, well-read or ignorant, worldly or sheltered, upright or villainous--anything goes. The same principles I just outlined for people apply to architecture, establishments, city maps, item prices, monster traits, etc. As long as it doesn't put the PCs in an unfair situation, improvise to your heart's content.

Ah, you're asking, but what about launching an adventure in this improvised city? I suggest you take a gander at the list of "100 Adventure Hooks" in the DMG, just to get a feel for the kinds of things that can launch an adventure. You'll notice that they're all really simple, summed up in a single sentence. You don't have to do anything fancy. Improvising an adventure is a breeze if you invent one thing at a time and keep it simple. Sketch out NPCs, villains, treasure, and dungeon maps as the players encounter them, and away you go.

Now that you're armed with the ability to improvise: If the players ditch your plans and head off to Amn, do you have to pretend like you have to pee really bad and spend 4 hours in the bathroom reading up on Amnish history and trying to write new notes on toilet paper? NO! Worry about that stuff for the next session. Right now, keep the game rolling and work with what you have. Next session, you can come armed with detailed notes and plot hooks. For now, just have fun with the players.

Whew! That was a very long post, even though I tried to be concise. Did that mostly answer your question? :)
Rasmus
07-30-06, 05:59 AM Considering that presumably each of the PCs will have a backstory, is it your responsibility to figure out a way to bring them together? Should you tell them to work it out? In this case, they may force you into a corner when it comes to beginning the narrative.If all you've written is that there's a camp of bandits terrorising a town (to use an old cliche) how would you get them to do that quest? That is to say, given that they're in a vast world of infinite possibilities they could make their characters do anything! What if all the material you've got figured out doesn't crop up - like all they want to do is go to Waterdeep and you're like "Are you sure you don't want to go to that cave over there first? Heheh..."

Yes. Usually. At the beginning of a campaign, it is alright to have them all hired by a wizard or church or whatever to do a task, and then in the first adventure try to place a hook to the next adventure, which will interest the party.
It helps immensely though if the players have backgrounds that explain their motivation to go adventuring. If they have that you can prepare adventures so the characters wants to follow you plot in stead of travelling to Amn, or whatever.
My players are very experienced, and they don't just drop what they are doing and travel to a random country, they want to follow the story. It is your job not to create a story-line they want to follow, but you might present several options/objectives within the story, and let the characters can decide what they want to do first/second etc.
A vast world of infinite possibilities can be very daunting, especially to new players, and the best thing to do is narrow it down a bit, so they perhaps have x number of goals they need to accomplish.
A good way to begin a campaign at level one, is to let all the characters come from the same small village, and they are the ones who are brave enough to explore mystery X. It narrows the possible PC's backgrounds a little, but it is easier as a DM, since the place you have to prepare is smaller.

How would you deal with a really odd decision. Like, if they suddenly decide to attack a guard in a large city, with almost certain death or something that directly disables the possibility of where you were taking the story? Say, you have a mage that's going to ask for help travelling the roads, and they just flat out refuse, or kill him for his items? Or if they do something awkward like take the mage elsewhere? While this is obviously irresponsible play on their part, I wouldn't want to basically set them mission objectives with "the voice of god".

You deal with it by letting the world react in a realistic way. If they decide to slay a cityguard, the authorities will try to have them convicted for their crime, sending guards after them, hiring adventurers to find them, if they flee etc. But you might want to ask the player, before he attacks a cityguard for no reason "You do know this will have consequences?" and check that it is in accordance with his character and his alignment.

Lastly, and perhaps this encapsulates the above points, but how much are you expected to have worked out? Let's say you begin in Silverymoon. Are you expected to map out the whole town, plus all the surrounding area? And in this case, are you to populate the whole place and give each NPC something to say, or do you just leave it as a ghost town?

In my opinion you need to prepare what you think the characters will meet and need to know :)

That takes experience, and the better ýou know your players and your adventure, the easier it is. Put yourself in the players place: I'm entering Silverymoon, where we need to research Artifact X. Good then you need to know what the library looks like, who will they meet there (who does she/he look, and how will they react to the PC's). You will need an inn for them to stay at, where they might meet an interesting NPC. As a GM you know that the library will lead them to a nearby dungeon - as a PC in Silverymoon before going to a dungeon you might want to buy healing potions and spell components, well you need a few notes on that - you also as a GM knows that the wizard loves new spells and there is a college of magic in the city. Let him hear about ít from two people talking at the inn or roll a knowledge Arcana check to know of the place, and let him visit the place, prepare who he might meet - he might be challengede to a spell duel by another mage (especially if he's the rude type), who will teach him spells and so forth.

Basically, you need to be able to predict as much as possible, what your players will do and need to do, and prepare that.
DaisMiir_Sir_Unilev
07-30-06, 07:19 AM Rules from my Dungeon Master's group (We play online in Yahoo chat so some of these rules might not apply for you.)

11. All players must arrive on time to the best of their ability.
12. If 3 of out 4 player character users (not including the DM) are present at start time, the game will begin at once.
13. If less than 75% of players characters are not present at start time, the group will wait one half hour, then begin without them.
14. If less than half of the PC users (not including the DM) members are present, then the game is suspended.
15. If a person wanting to skip game time that week, they must say so at least 18 hours before the game's standard start time. The only exception to this rule is the death of a family member or a life and death situation within that 18 hour period.
16. If the Dungeon Master wishes to retire, he must give 168 hour (seven days) notice to the replacement Dungeon Master and must be between adventures.
17. A player whose misses the entire session without any warning will lose 100 XP from their character.
18. A Player Character: Whose Player Character does not show up for any amount of game time what so ever for three consecutive sessions will have their player character retired from the campaign by whatever means the Dungeon Master declares proper. If said Player returns to table, then the character will be reactivated at once, at that game session or at the very start of the next one regardless of happens.
19. All players (and Dungeon Master) are expected to keep hard copies of their player character sheet. No exceptions.
19 1/2. Pay attention to Rule number 9!!!!
20. All players (and Dungeon Master) are to be held responsible for remembering and using properly all abilities and skills that their character possesses and shall not demand a rewind of events after remembering an ability and skill after the fact.
21. May it be noted the Dungeon Master is as bound by these rules as the players and vice versa.
22. Those not present during a group meeting forfeit their right to vote on a change to the group charter, IF that change happens in the given time frame of a normal meeting.
23. All members are free to walk away from the group permanently at any and all times.
24. A player who has to leave when the session only 60% complete or less six session in a row clearly can't make the time due to happen stance beyond their control and their character will be retired until they can work out these problems.
25. All players who missed fully or in part the game session should read the transcript of the game session. The Dungeon Master is required to email it to them in the week following the game.

If that transcript rule confuses you, then for people who physically meet, there would need to be a record keeper. This person shall write in all the important things. Get someone who writes really fast or has an AlphaSmart.

These following rules are some that I came up with for my group. (Yes, I DM as well as play. Quite an enjoyable experience.)

26. Do not play if you are drunk or high. No exceptions. Also, no playing if you are hung-over.
27. Do not play if you are not up to it. This includes migraines, the flu, and mutant dust bunny attacks.
28. Keep the game fun, but try not to make it childish.
29. Any arguements between players will be recorded and settled when the game ends.
30. At the end of the game, if any disputes broke out, the DM and non-involved players will act as judge and jury, all of which will vote for one, or the other. For this purpose, the DM's vote counts as 2.
31. Keep vulgar comments to a minimum if playing with people below 16 years of age, or if said player's parents are present at the time.

As said on rule 21, the DM is also subject to all rules. If the court rule is used against him, he has the right to completely deny the player who argued with him the right to a hearing.
Stormsender
07-30-06, 09:56 AM I think we are at 31.
32. When planning for your sessions have an overall plan (campaign), but you only need to run x=amount of encounters per session. I like to plan for 2 sessions ahead of time if I can about 6-8 encounters (you'll get the feel of it).

33. Roleplay, make time for the party to roleplay instead of nothing but combat all the time. I mostly free style the roleplay because of the dificulty of planning each intricut question and answer. Make roleplay encounters have a touch theatrical but not over the top unless interjecting humor=fun. Imagination is key, it can be as much fun DMing as it can to play, Have fun with it.

If anything has be already said, consider this post a reinteration of that, because of the importance of getting in there and having fun. Peace and good luck. :cheer:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Solian 07-29-06, 05:36 PM	I'mn kinda new and i know nhow hard it can be to start DMing, and i was seeing all the 1001's over the forum and thuaght this might be useful. So, get posting! -Solian
illiterate 07-29-06, 05:53 PM	1. Learn how to use apostrophes 2. Play in other people's games. Go to cons so you can see a variety of GMing styles. 3. Think about what makes a game fun for you to play.
dengarbountyhunter 07-29-06, 06:03 PM	4. Go for what's fun over what's in the rules, with some moderation of course. 5. Not every new thing requires a new rule. Circumstance bonus of +/- 1 to +/- 5 are just fine for most situations not in the rules.
Zombayz1 07-29-06, 06:49 PM	6. Start at level 1, it's much easier on the DM. 7. Be wary of railroading
Tichrimo 07-29-06, 07:14 PM	8. Say up front what books/supplements/content are and aren't allowed. 8 (a). Don't allow content you don't own or aren't intimately familiar with. (I got burned by introducing psionics without understanding it fully...)
SokenzanMarauder 07-29-06, 07:48 PM	9. Don't let a player whining ruin your game. 10. If you say something isn't allowed, it's NOT allowed. -Gene
ManjiSTP 07-29-06, 08:25 PM	I was nearly a DM once, but I just felt weighed down by the task. I couldn't take the responsibility or pressure. I have a few queries to steer the 1001 points in my direction a little! Considering that presumably each of the PCs will have a backstory, is it your responsibility to figure out a way to bring them together? Should you tell them to work it out? In this case, they may force you into a corner when it comes to beginning the narrative. If all you've written is that there's a camp of bandits terrorising a town (to use an old cliche) how would you get them to do that quest? That is to say, given that they're in a vast world of infinite possibilities they could make their characters do anything! What if all the material you've got figured out doesn't crop up - like all they want to do is go to Waterdeep and you're like "Are you sure you don't want to go to that cave over there first? Heheh..." How would you deal with a really odd decision. Like, if they suddenly decide to attack a guard in a large city, with almost certain death or something that directly disables the possibility of where you were taking the story? Say, you have a mage that's going to ask for help travelling the roads, and they just flat out refuse, or kill him for his items? Or if they do something awkward like take the mage elsewhere? While this is obviously irresponsible play on their part, I wouldn't want to basically set them mission objectives with "the voice of god". Lastly, and perhaps this encapsulates the above points, but how much are you expected to have worked out? Let's say you begin in Silverymoon. Are you expected to map out the whole town, plus all the surrounding area? And in this case, are you to populate the whole place and give each NPC something to say, or do you just leave it as a ghost town? Obviously, both ideas sound very bad. Whenever I've read material for D&D it always assumes that the PCs are going down exactly the path they're expected... It never accounts for if half way through exploring the dwarven mines they suddenly decide to leave and travel to Amn... Anyway, please answer my questions as my total lack of ability to grasp the idea of DMing is stopping me from actually playing D&D as I would invariably be the DM. Thanks!
pierow37 07-29-06, 08:31 PM	[i have no idea] Read some pre-made adventures before you make your own. You don't even have to use the pre-made adventures[i suggest you don't]. Just read them and get into the rules on a real basis, in a real adventure that real people play. not just some text in a book. [i have no idea +1] DONT make prophocies for the PC's. They are will NEVER come true.
ManjiSTP 07-29-06, 08:50 PM	So is the basic idea to say "Here's what we're doing today"? I mean, it's basically amount of freedom = amount of planning you have to do. It's no good letting them go on a 7 day trek to Amn if for that week nothing happens and then when they get to Amn you say "...You are in a big city. It looks...nice. I-it's very, er, pretty..." So then you have to limit them, but how? If they say "We will go to Amn for it where I was born!" do you say "Er, actually... You can't. I haven't figured out any events yet and it'd take me ages to sort out the prices for the items and draw a map..." Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...)
Draconis V 07-30-06, 12:35 AM	So is the basic idea to say "Here's what we're doing today"? I mean, it's basically amount of freedom = amount of planning you have to do. It's no good letting them go on a 7 day trek to Amn if for that week nothing happens and then when they get to Amn you say "...You are in a big city. It looks...nice. I-it's very, er, pretty..." So then you have to limit them, but how? If they say "We will go to Amn for it where I was born!" do you say "Er, actually... You can't. I haven't figured out any events yet and it'd take me ages to sort out the prices for the items and draw a map..." Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...) If your PCs decide to do something you didn't plan for, then your choices are either: 1) Come up with a compelling (and plausible!) reason for them not to stray from your DM notes, or 2) improvise. I know that you feel like your DM notes are the campaign, but as you have already acknowledged, you can never anticipate everything the players will try. When you consider that coming up with good reasons to herd the PCs in the direction you want is at least as hard as improvising new stuff (and not as fun), then option 2 starts to look pretty good. Remember that as the DM, you are the referee, not the babysitter. The game is about the players and the choices they make. It is your job to animate the game world and respond to their choices; it is not your job to dictate what they do. In other words, the campaign is not a script you wrote for them to act out. The campaign is a creative interaction between people--this is the (relevant) definition of "play." Furthermore, in terms of NPCs, you surely can't disallow talking to the general public, yet it's inconceivable that you could have dialogue or even a description for each of Waterdeep's 1.5 million inhabitants (if I recall correctly...) So, if I understand you correctly, the question that's at the heart of your DMing dilemma is, "When it comes to details, how do I know what to tell my players if I haven't planned it out?" The answer: make it up. That can seem kind of overwhelming ("I have to invent all that?!"), but it's a snap as long as you take things one instance at a time. Sure, 1.5 million inhabitants is a staggering number, but you don't need 1.5 million descriptions. You only need one description, for the pedestrian the party is talking to right now. Remember the Golden Rule of Fiction: Anything Can Happen. That guy they stop and talk to can be anyone you want. It almost doesn't matter who he is. It certainly doesn't matter if he's important to the story. Make him powerful or weak, well-read or ignorant, worldly or sheltered, upright or villainous--anything goes. The same principles I just outlined for people apply to architecture, establishments, city maps, item prices, monster traits, etc. As long as it doesn't put the PCs in an unfair situation, improvise to your heart's content. Ah, you're asking, but what about launching an adventure in this improvised city? I suggest you take a gander at the list of "100 Adventure Hooks" in the DMG, just to get a feel for the kinds of things that can launch an adventure. You'll notice that they're all really simple, summed up in a single sentence. You don't have to do anything fancy. Improvising an adventure is a breeze if you invent one thing at a time and keep it simple. Sketch out NPCs, villains, treasure, and dungeon maps as the players encounter them, and away you go. Now that you're armed with the ability to improvise: If the players ditch your plans and head off to Amn, do you have to pretend like you have to pee really bad and spend 4 hours in the bathroom reading up on Amnish history and trying to write new notes on toilet paper? NO! Worry about that stuff for the next session. Right now, keep the game rolling and work with what you have. Next session, you can come armed with detailed notes and plot hooks. For now, just have fun with the players. Whew! That was a very long post, even though I tried to be concise. Did that mostly answer your question? :)
Rasmus 07-30-06, 05:59 AM	Considering that presumably each of the PCs will have a backstory, is it your responsibility to figure out a way to bring them together? Should you tell them to work it out? In this case, they may force you into a corner when it comes to beginning the narrative.If all you've written is that there's a camp of bandits terrorising a town (to use an old cliche) how would you get them to do that quest? That is to say, given that they're in a vast world of infinite possibilities they could make their characters do anything! What if all the material you've got figured out doesn't crop up - like all they want to do is go to Waterdeep and you're like "Are you sure you don't want to go to that cave over there first? Heheh..." Yes. Usually. At the beginning of a campaign, it is alright to have them all hired by a wizard or church or whatever to do a task, and then in the first adventure try to place a hook to the next adventure, which will interest the party. It helps immensely though if the players have backgrounds that explain their motivation to go adventuring. If they have that you can prepare adventures so the characters wants to follow you plot in stead of travelling to Amn, or whatever. My players are very experienced, and they don't just drop what they are doing and travel to a random country, they want to follow the story. It is your job not to create a story-line they want to follow, but you might present several options/objectives within the story, and let the characters can decide what they want to do first/second etc. A vast world of infinite possibilities can be very daunting, especially to new players, and the best thing to do is narrow it down a bit, so they perhaps have x number of goals they need to accomplish. A good way to begin a campaign at level one, is to let all the characters come from the same small village, and they are the ones who are brave enough to explore mystery X. It narrows the possible PC's backgrounds a little, but it is easier as a DM, since the place you have to prepare is smaller. How would you deal with a really odd decision. Like, if they suddenly decide to attack a guard in a large city, with almost certain death or something that directly disables the possibility of where you were taking the story? Say, you have a mage that's going to ask for help travelling the roads, and they just flat out refuse, or kill him for his items? Or if they do something awkward like take the mage elsewhere? While this is obviously irresponsible play on their part, I wouldn't want to basically set them mission objectives with "the voice of god". You deal with it by letting the world react in a realistic way. If they decide to slay a cityguard, the authorities will try to have them convicted for their crime, sending guards after them, hiring adventurers to find them, if they flee etc. But you might want to ask the player, before he attacks a cityguard for no reason "You do know this will have consequences?" and check that it is in accordance with his character and his alignment. Lastly, and perhaps this encapsulates the above points, but how much are you expected to have worked out? Let's say you begin in Silverymoon. Are you expected to map out the whole town, plus all the surrounding area? And in this case, are you to populate the whole place and give each NPC something to say, or do you just leave it as a ghost town? In my opinion you need to prepare what you think the characters will meet and need to know :) That takes experience, and the better ýou know your players and your adventure, the easier it is. Put yourself in the players place: I'm entering Silverymoon, where we need to research Artifact X. Good then you need to know what the library looks like, who will they meet there (who does she/he look, and how will they react to the PC's). You will need an inn for them to stay at, where they might meet an interesting NPC. As a GM you know that the library will lead them to a nearby dungeon - as a PC in Silverymoon before going to a dungeon you might want to buy healing potions and spell components, well you need a few notes on that - you also as a GM knows that the wizard loves new spells and there is a college of magic in the city. Let him hear about ít from two people talking at the inn or roll a knowledge Arcana check to know of the place, and let him visit the place, prepare who he might meet - he might be challengede to a spell duel by another mage (especially if he's the rude type), who will teach him spells and so forth. Basically, you need to be able to predict as much as possible, what your players will do and need to do, and prepare that.
DaisMiir_Sir_Unilev 07-30-06, 07:19 AM	Rules from my Dungeon Master's group (We play online in Yahoo chat so some of these rules might not apply for you.) 11. All players must arrive on time to the best of their ability. 12. If 3 of out 4 player character users (not including the DM) are present at start time, the game will begin at once. 13. If less than 75% of players characters are not present at start time, the group will wait one half hour, then begin without them. 14. If less than half of the PC users (not including the DM) members are present, then the game is suspended. 15. If a person wanting to skip game time that week, they must say so at least 18 hours before the game's standard start time. The only exception to this rule is the death of a family member or a life and death situation within that 18 hour period. 16. If the Dungeon Master wishes to retire, he must give 168 hour (seven days) notice to the replacement Dungeon Master and must be between adventures. 17. A player whose misses the entire session without any warning will lose 100 XP from their character. 18. A Player Character: Whose Player Character does not show up for any amount of game time what so ever for three consecutive sessions will have their player character retired from the campaign by whatever means the Dungeon Master declares proper. If said Player returns to table, then the character will be reactivated at once, at that game session or at the very start of the next one regardless of happens. 19. All players (and Dungeon Master) are expected to keep hard copies of their player character sheet. No exceptions. 19 1/2. Pay attention to Rule number 9!!!! 20. All players (and Dungeon Master) are to be held responsible for remembering and using properly all abilities and skills that their character possesses and shall not demand a rewind of events after remembering an ability and skill after the fact. 21. May it be noted the Dungeon Master is as bound by these rules as the players and vice versa. 22. Those not present during a group meeting forfeit their right to vote on a change to the group charter, IF that change happens in the given time frame of a normal meeting. 23. All members are free to walk away from the group permanently at any and all times. 24. A player who has to leave when the session only 60% complete or less six session in a row clearly can't make the time due to happen stance beyond their control and their character will be retired until they can work out these problems. 25. All players who missed fully or in part the game session should read the transcript of the game session. The Dungeon Master is required to email it to them in the week following the game. If that transcript rule confuses you, then for people who physically meet, there would need to be a record keeper. This person shall write in all the important things. Get someone who writes really fast or has an AlphaSmart. These following rules are some that I came up with for my group. (Yes, I DM as well as play. Quite an enjoyable experience.) 26. Do not play if you are drunk or high. No exceptions. Also, no playing if you are hung-over. 27. Do not play if you are not up to it. This includes migraines, the flu, and mutant dust bunny attacks. 28. Keep the game fun, but try not to make it childish. 29. Any arguements between players will be recorded and settled when the game ends. 30. At the end of the game, if any disputes broke out, the DM and non-involved players will act as judge and jury, all of which will vote for one, or the other. For this purpose, the DM's vote counts as 2. 31. Keep vulgar comments to a minimum if playing with people below 16 years of age, or if said player's parents are present at the time. As said on rule 21, the DM is also subject to all rules. If the court rule is used against him, he has the right to completely deny the player who argued with him the right to a hearing.
Stormsender 07-30-06, 09:56 AM	I think we are at 31. 32. When planning for your sessions have an overall plan (campaign), but you only need to run x=amount of encounters per session. I like to plan for 2 sessions ahead of time if I can about 6-8 encounters (you'll get the feel of it). 33. Roleplay, make time for the party to roleplay instead of nothing but combat all the time. I mostly free style the roleplay because of the dificulty of planning each intricut question and answer. Make roleplay encounters have a touch theatrical but not over the top unless interjecting humor=fun. Imagination is key, it can be as much fun DMing as it can to play, Have fun with it. If anything has be already said, consider this post a reinteration of that, because of the importance of getting in there and having fun. Peace and good luck. :cheer: