An inexperienced GM is not a bad GM, interested players can make up for even the most inexperienced GM. A game can be a complete failure but this is not always due to bad GMing, players can also make life hell for even the most experienced GM. Here are some tips for experienced GMs and the novice GM and even some tips for players..
I noticed that some of my rants are quite scathing, sorry. Take my ranting with a grain of salt. Read it all and forget it then run then your game your way. Keep on trying, run bad games till you start running good games, don't give up. Remember to learn from your mistakes..
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger", Nietzsche
If you ever hear yourself laugh maniacally and your not roleplaying the bad guy this applies to you. If you rub you hands together before you roll damage yep that's you too...
Many GM's (and Players) forget this. A good roleplaying game is not about winning its about creating a story. The GM has ultimate power in the game, if the GM decides that he just wants the thrill of killing his players characters.. the second that they walk in the door tell them "Go home your all dead......"
The GM has infinite resources, he can kill everything with a thought, so slowly and tediously killing the PC's unfairly is a bit LAME.
If your sure you want to kill all your PC's remember story, story, story..... The story ends when the main characters Die.... DEAD PC's = DEAD GAME..... Not that you can't have a good tragedy, Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, every one dies but, hey, it worked for Bill.. If everybody died in the first scene because no-body had a high enough 'combat armed' to defeat the 50 dragons they would have been F**cken boring plays...
If your players don't pick up on a clue here and there fine but if they miss everything the chances are that you are either not describing the scene clearly enough or your 'plot' doesn't make sense.. If no-one is getting what is going on take a look at what information you've given them.. chances are they have missed the important bit because;
a. you didn't emphasis it in a way that they would notice.
b. It doesn't make sense the way you think it does.
c. If your clues are not important to the character the player will and should ignore it..
d. Your players are idiots. But its up to you to make the game playable for them.
If the players don't seem to care it's because they are lost dazed and confused.. GIVE THEM SOME INFORMATION THAT THEY CAN USE.
Smart players can miss even the most obvious clues. If you can't make your clues easy to solve, point blank tell the player that there is something that they need to figure out and where to look..
eg. GM:'you know something is wrong here but you can't pick it...."
The player will then go back and check everything till they find even the smallest clue....MAKE SURE YOU GIVE IT TO THEM!!
eg2. the town idiot keeps scream "make them stop I can hear them, I hear them, name place PC's missed clues at.
Another method I use is to flash to a scene that none of the player can or could have seen and describe what is happening. then later on as the game evolves and the players can see the effect of that scene so they will know what clue to look for.. Movies use this technique all the time to fill the audience in on what is happening in the meanwhile. Your players are both audience AND Main Characters. A good player will however not directly act on this 'privileged' information but they will know something is suspicious about that 'corpse by the river' If they know that late last night it walked, plague infected,from the next villiage...The PC's would check it out properly rather than just ignoring it catching plague from the water supply and dieing..End game.
GM: 'Somewhere in a nearby village a young woman is being chased out of town. She has the marks of the plague, the people are screaming at her throwing rotten food and stones at her, terrified she stumbles, half alive, following the river north'... Next day
as opposed to .... GM2: ' the group is entering town for the festival one of you notice a 'clothed' lump near the river. PC: 'So what'.'
If the GM doesn't abuse the player show respect and don't abuse the GM. Its quite hard to run a world just ask any Major Deity. A Player is only running one character the GM is running 30+ simultaneously and trying to drop hints which way to go, continue the story, meld everything together, adjudicate dice rolls, remain fair, and settle temper tantrums... DON'T FLUSTER YOUR GM BY INTIMIDATING THEM. Don't manipulate the GM . Let your character manipulate the game world....It is poor behaviour to shout down your GM. Its poor form to 'guilt' or manipulate your GM in to giving you whatever. DON'T MONOPOLISE your GM's time there are OTHER players. These are all examples of CHEATING, that's you vs the GM not your Character against the GM's world..
eg I take my sword and slay the dragon, or else your not getting a lift home....
eg. I do this then i do that then i do this then i do that, no that's not what happens I do it differently than that then I do this..
GET A LIFE... (pant pant pant!)
Pay attention to your GM. Give them every chance to run their game. When they talk shut up and listen. THEY have spent a lot of time developing the game to entertain YOU, you just showed up.
DON'T distract the other players if you have to talk 'sh!t' AFTER THE GAME.
If the GM is sh!t grin and bear it give them every chance to get it right. If your half as good a player as you think you are help the GM out. ASK QUESTIONS. MAKE SUGGESTIONS. TRY YOUR HARDEST to make the game work. If it still sux then its the GM's problem, and he should read this and other GM advises.
YOU ARE GUARANTEED that no matter how many possible outcomes you plan for the player will find the one you didn't think of.
There are solutions
- don't write Too much. the PC's won't go that way.
- IF you have a brilliant Idea lead the PC's there,,,
eg you notice dragon droppings heading down the corridor to the right.
- If the PC's turn Left and the dragon is on the right MOVE THE DRAGON...
eg to the right a bit further down there are more dragon droppings.
- If the PC's Don't notice your brilliant Idea HAVE THE BRILLIANT IDEA NOTICE THEM...
eg Somewhere in the depths of the cavern a dragon awakes and smells something then smiles. Even though you have turned around and are leaving the caves you hear something coming.
DO NOT stall the PC's till they stumble across your clues. Chances are the players haven't understood the significance as they have not read your notes like the way that you have. If they don't get it give more and better clues.
eg. GM: you notice brown smelly blobs on the floor of the cavern... PC's Yuk I'm leaving because its smelly and i don't understand what the significance of those blobs is. GM1: you arrive home and wait for the rest of eternity. and nothing happens.
eg, GM2: you notice brown smelly blobs on the floor of the cavern... PC's Yuk I'm leaving because it's smelly and i don't understand what the significance of those blobs is. GM2: On the way out you remember the smell, a merchant was selling it and he reckoned it was dragon droppings.
Notice PC1 has no idea what is going on, and even hints to the GM that he needs a clue.. GM2 realises he has no story without the players meeting the dragon so he gave them a 'free' clue to keep them interested. The player realise they are hunting a dragon. and that they can even sell the droppings. How hard can it be to steal some droppings..
If the players aren't going where they are supposed to go don't stall them till they find the right answer give them something to work with, give them more clues, give more hints. If you notice your players are bored and disinterested in your game give them some obvious clues. They might be obvious to you but remember you already knew the answer, before you came up with the clue s..
If your players are stuck and the game is going nowhere you don't have a plot.. or at least not one the players can follow.. Give some hints about the existing plots or make new one up.. you can never have enough plots. generate as many loose ends as possible.
Downtime covers actions that are assumed or boring or useless... If the PC's are waiting for something fast forward to the good bit...
eg. GM: After waiting three days you realise that the clue you missed earlier actually was important, it meant that.....
As opposed to GM: your still waiting?. PCs: were still waiting GM: your still waiting. PC's were still waiting .....etc
Players; don't explain every detail of every action!!! (GMs don't encourage it)
Eg PC: I get up, I walk to the door, I open it carefully, I walk thru, I walk along the path, I stop at the gate, I open the mail box, I look inside, I collect the mail, I turn around, I walk back up the path......
GM's should regularly switch focus from one player to the next allocating equal chance to each player to have an action. Don't concentrate on one player too long, unless its important to the story. If a player is taking too long to finish a scene switch to the other players quickly then switch back this might give the player time to think out a quick solution. It also is a great plot device, adds pace to the story and can creating a 'cliff hanger' effect.
Eg PC1: I get up, I walk to the door, I open it carefully, I walk thru, I walk alo --- GM: what are the rest of you doing ....PC2: I check the mailbox for the magic widget.
In this case PC1 missed out but at least the other players don't hate him.
When a story is told there is some suspension of disbelief. The audience lets itself be fooled for the sake of the story. With roleplaying the players are fully immersed in the story so their 'suspension of disbelief' is already pushed pretty far when things stop making sense it takes alot of GM story telling to patch things up again.
Nothing is worse than your GM telling you that you can't do that just 'because', not because the situation is rational but rather because the GM's plan isn't working.... If the players figure out a different way around things and its logical, let it happen....
eg-GM: You push the major bad guy out the top window of the wizards tower he falls 2000 feet and lands on the spiked fence at the bottom. He gets up, dusts himself of and runs away so you can't kill him...PC:WHAT???? (yes I've had similar happen to me)
GM:As you push the Wizard out the window he smugly smiles to himself muttering an incantation, as he falls from your reach he transforms to bird and soars away. PC : I SHOOT HIM with my megadeath ray.. GM: uh...The bird incinerates like a like a burnt TV diner and plummets to the ground.... Behind you in the meantime the Wizard's apprentice has grabbed the Magic Widget, your still recovering from the recoil and flash of your weapon, when he activates it and is teleported away.
The GM is better off conceading defeat and finding another plot than to stall the story till the players do it the GM's way. If there is some special reason that reality is bent give the players a clue why.
I repeat players never do what you want them too....
You're a Roleplayer.. Improvise, Adapt, Over come..
If you have something brilliant engineer it to fit the story, move it, bend it, reuse it, throw it out..
GM reads "you enter the cavern and the dragon sleeps atop a pile of treasure, the room smells of brimstone the dragons scales glisten more brightly than the gold it sleeps a top, in the light of your torch, the light wakes it. It reels up to it full height."...PC: Hey! We don't have a torch we're using the night vision goggles we just bought... GM:ahhh...Umm (scraps three pages of description and encounter realising that he had written them before the PC's had THAT Idea)
If you make a mistake let it hold rather than frustrate the player with 'oh it wakes up any way' which makes the player actions irrelevant to your story. Also don't thwart good ideas by cheating the players. There's always chance to thwart them rationally.
GM1:"ok dragon doesn't wake because of the torch light, It wakes because you've tripped the motion sensor in the cave and an alarm goes off..." <-- DUMB
GM2: The dragon stays asleep. PC : OK I start my chainsaw.. GM2: O..K..? can you spell Stealth Check. PC:oops... GM2: the Dragon wakes reeling up to its full height....it grins at your puny running chainsaw" <--SMART ("PCs: we run away" <--smarter)
The player is participating in a fantasy fictional world where everything is strange and unusual. The players don't know the local customs, the lay of the land etc etc. The character will have different knowledge to the player... If the Player wants to do something that is 'dumb' and it's likely that the character might know more... give the player a hint at the characters knowledge... Don't punish the player for YOU not explaining YOUR world..
eg. PC: I try to sell the stolen goods at a pawn shop, GM: your character realises that in this city they check ID and serial numbers before buying goods..
Punishing the player for not knowing minor details is petty and stupid. It's the failing of the GM by not explaining everything to the player first... Explaining every facet of a world to the players is impossible so give your facts out freely when you remember and warn players if they do something out of 'character'. or at the very least allow the player to make rolls on the appropriate skill+stat to figure it out.
A good story has story and action.
Players like to roleplay....... let them... (don't over do it)
Player's like rolling dice..... let them... (don't over do it)
Provide them with Roleplaying encounters and Hack and Slash encounters.
Even if they are playing pacifist nuns they still want to slay some ork or at least run away from them..
Give the players the 'option' to get into combat at least once a session. This gives them a chance to try out the character's skills and makes spending all that XP worthwhile. If they manage to avoid it let them and REWARD them for thinking, make it challenging and worth their while.
I try to have the player achieve at least one thing per session minimum.. If the game has gone nowhere the players have missed every lead, every plan they made has failed... GIVE them something it may be unrelated but give them a high point for the game maybe it will inspire them or give them ideas or you could give them ideas with your main encounter...
eg, you realise that destroying the caverns will also collapse the village above. upon leaving the caverns you are attacked by a group of lowly theives..combat ensues, then...they are eventually defeated, after interrogating them they give up a map of the caverns.
Bounce your story off your players.. Use player feed back to create your plots, Players will surmise back and forth during a game. This gives you an idea as to what they will believe, with this information you build realism into the game as the plots seem logical to them. But an unexpected twist here and there...
eg GM : you notice brown smelly blobs. PC1 "Must be dragon droppings." PC2: "this isn't dragon country. What else could live down here. "
The GM thought he was describing Orc droppings but the PC have suggested dragon, if the GM gives them orcs the players will be confused and feel misled. The GM forgot to mention size so rather than ruining the image of the scene that the players have and having to start again the GM can go for dragons or the orcs could have a pet something...
GM gets to run his orcs, PC1 isn't confused and PC2 was actually right, and there is a twist.. PC's are hunting something big not orcs....The encounter goes from the preplanned orc encounter to orcs and something big as well. If the players give you an idea go with it. They are already expecting it, you don't have to give them new clues, and everything already makes sense to them because they made it up.. Put in a twist to keep them guessing but work with what they give you.
Plots... Have lots of plots.. Have your main story and several others floating in the background. These extra 'clues' may not actually have any background but as the players make assumptions you can steal their ideas and fill in the blanks.
Onions.. Have layer upon layer upon layer of story it may take several sessions before the PC's realise that there is a Major Bad Guy. They would have seen the evidence of the Major Bad guy but not know about him for several sessions. This gives you time to get your players interested in hunting him down... DON'T FRUSTRATE, slow not tedious. Make sure you have plenty of other stories to keep your players interested.
Subplots; Have minor plots that will eventually come back in the main storyline. Also have a running subplot that is just for comic relief. Also have a subplot that continues like a soap opera, it will keep the players interested just watching it unfold even thou they have little input. Have NPCs changing in the background of the game... This will give the players something that seems to have a life of its own. These subplots don't have to be particularly complex, let it add to the story not take away from the main story. It will provide depth to the world, proof that the world doesn't revolve around the PC's. It could be something as simple a as romance between two peasants or a wife beater, an old dieing warrior, a crazy man. If the PC's watch something forming in the background it creates a link between them and the Game world making everything seem more real. Hints or local customs can be shown to the PC's without having to go into boring explanations. Eventually when the PC's have fallen for this subplot make it have an effect on the main plot or make it the victim of main plots...
Goals... Always let the PC's know what goals are available for them to achieve. There is nothing wrong with point blank telling your players what they should be trying to do. Have an NPC do it. Expand on a previous clue, have a character suddenly realise the real meaning of a clue.
Mood and ambience. If the player can 'feel' what is happening everything will seem more real. When the players can feel the way their character would they will react more realistically. GM's can encourage actions this way and guiding the players through the story. Use all the emotions fear, anger, loyalty, honour, happiness, respect, romance etc... The game will be more exciting and more interesting.
Music and lighting; the place that you roleplay can have quite an influence on your story. A darken room lit with candle reduces distractions and helps the players imagine the story better... Music is important too but this can become distracting very easily, the GM having to compete. Movie soundtracks seem to be the best as they are designed to add to a story not entertain on their own. Player actions will also be effected by what is music is playing. But the exact effects you'll have to figure out yourself, Players rarely react the way you expect the to... But the effect on your own story telling is about the only thing that you can predict. (don't distract your self.)
Split Parties: there is no better way to build suspense than to have the players separated. The trick is to switch back and forth between the groups allowing them to get to where you want them and freezing them in time then moving the other group to where you want often the actions of one group will determine the consequences for the other so switch back and forth till the timing is right. Just don't make the mistake of forgetting some of your players.
Some players split off from the party just so that they can monopolise GM time, this is unfair on the other players. GM's keep your attention even between everyone. If your a player who needs all the attention GROW UP. GMs punish this by still only giving the same attention to everyone, but if it gets them killed because the rest of the party can't rescue them their problem
Imaging: Try to have an image in your head as to how things look, rather than a written description. . If your prepared written description doesn't have the information that the players need they won't want to know...Player will ask questions and you'll have to change your description to include what the player need to know. If you must have written description DON'T read it to the players, paraphrase it and change it as needed. It makes the player feel that no matter their actions the story won't change.
If you write too much down the player will just go the other way...
Helplessness: The idea is to make the characters helpless not make them feel helpless..... You can control the PC's actions with clues, hints, suggestion, rewards, red herrings. Good players will make decisions based on character emotion and logic not their own. A really good GM can manipulate player actions to fit the exact story that they have written, they can make the player feel they have free action even if they don't. This is VERY hard to do. Its lots of work and if you don't get it right the players hate it.
Write scenes.. come up with an image then fill in everything else as you go.. No matter what happens you can still use your 'imagery' even if the players don't go down to the caverns. You could have it as a flash of unrelated info, a dream sequence, the PC's could fall down a mine shaft stumbling in on it.
eg GM1 has written "the smell of brimstone and something glistening in the darkness in torch light. ..maybe a sleeping dragon?"
GM2 : 40x40 cavern dragon, one torch light.4000gp,Magic widget. The PCs will blunder into the room with their torches waking the dragon it reelsup...........etc" <-- if they don't blunder in your encounter is useless...
If you run out of story to tell end the session... If you have to continue have a rest do some brainstorming and get back to it, you should be able to come up with a good couple of hours game from a 10-20 minute break. Don't try to fill the time with stalling the players with out a plot, focus on a subplot..
NPCs : Always have charcters that can talk to and advise the PC's. They can make suggestions or save the PC's when they get stuck. Just be careful that the PC's don't rely on them to solve all their problems. Limit the NPC's Usefulness, knowledge, interests or abilities. eg: the senile mage, good only sometimes; the Veteran soldier can kill anything but can't think; the Berserker can kill anything but ends up starting extra fights or getting separated; The Annoying, can do anything but the PC's would rather not have the help; The Indestructible Idiot, through blind luck always survives.
Fairness and Logic : If you notice that PC's are too powerful DO NOT make every one else including ordinary people more powerful to match. This doesn't make sense. Change the focus of your story so that their weakness become relevant, or have more dangerous Major NPC's leave the soldiers, peasants, children, animals etc constant.
Here's the DO's
Have fun..OR ELSE!!
PLOTS and plenty of them
SubPlots and plenty of them
Clues and hints and plenty of them.
Keep detailed notes to a minimum so that you can be flexible. Flexibility Flexibility Flexibility
Prepare at least three separate scenes per session. Try to have at least one encounter per session. (combat or a chase). If the players don't get to them save them for later. Brainstorm before each session, If you have ideas writ'em down
Brainstorm encounters and scenes. You might only need a 'image' to spawn and entire game.
Have lots of loose ideas not a couple of detailed ones.
Allow players the chance to taste success every session.
Listen to your players ideas, twist them a little and send them back. If the player have misunderstood your description and already are having ideas go with it. It will be hard and frustrating to change their initial perceptions. Build subplots from your mistakes
Games should be Challenging not Frustrating.
Force the PC's to endure hardship only if it will motivate the players..
Encourage character actions that build personality. Encourage good playing
Spread your attention evenly between players.
Realism and Reason. It's hard for players to imagine what is happening if it can't make sense.
MOOD MOOD MOOD. will create a better story with more realistic character..
SUSPENCE SUSPENCE SUSPENCE.. Keep them on the edge of their seats and they'll pay attention.
Be fair in interpreting actions
Borrow techniques from movies, eg camera angle, scenery, lighting.Steal ideas form everywhere.
Reward with.... XP, player attention, NPC compliment, social status, money, clues, insight, attention, etc....Motivate Motivate Motivate
When the player surprise you reward them.
Have Random encounters that have nothing to do with the main objectives to break the monotony
If you have to plan your plots on paper a week in advance, use simpler plots. You will end up having to change things after every unexpected Player action then stall the player till next week so you can write the game...Frustrating
When you need to plan in detail DO IT. But be prepared to change it or add to it as the need arises. Don't frustrate the players by slowing them down so you can fill in details they won't care about.
If the player fluke killing the major bad guy unless you can stop them rationally without frustration, LET THEM. Bad guys are dime a dozen, there is always a 'lieutenant' waiting to take their place.
The megalomaniac. : Insists on killing the players at any chance, misuses GM privileges to defeat every player plan. They try to stuff up the players more than tell the story. They are trying too hard to WIN. Remember you only WIN when the players really enjoy the game.
The rules lawyer : often related to the megalomaniac. Rules at the expense of logic and fair play. Tend to own and bring TOO many rule books to each game. Go play a war game you will enjoy it much more. If you still think you'd rather roleplay learn to roleplay. Notice that Good Books and Movies never have dice or rules.
The 'Because I said so' : Doesn't really understand and is probably just trying to kill the players but can't manage too. These are usually failed megalomaniacs. Often can't think quick enough for the plots they are running.. run what you can run. There is also no need for 'ego' games if you already control the world.
The Under-prepared : has not enough story to work with. Often in fact they have plenty of story but its not flexible enough so it isn't usable. Games end up stalled with nowhere to go.. Have at least three things prepared that are simple and can be used anywhere the players go.
The Over- prepared : has so many details that there is no flexibility. If the players stray from the way planned story line or do something unexpected the GM becomes 'under-prepared'.. Also tend to bore players to death with descriptions of food or things the player really don't give a flying F@#K about and have very little useful info...
The 'GMfest' GM : Over-prepared so the GM forces players to do things certain ways to stick to his notes.... The player feel that they are being taken for a ride. Don't over prepare. Be prepared to be FLEXIBLE and not have too much written that is set in stone and can't change. Again don't over-write...
Dicefest: Similar to the rules lawyer. Tend to spend too much time arranging dice, owns way too many, and is constantly arranging them so that they will roll better. A good Gm will know when to 'fudge' a dice roll to suit a story which means GM only rolls dice to make noise and convince the players that the game is not arbitrary and that they actually have a chance. Remember the story is more important than dice rolls. Dice have their place don't over use them. (too many arbitrary dice rolls can create a GMfest.)
Hack and Slash GM : all you ever seem to be doing is rolling dice and fighting something, This can be lots of fun but good roleplaying adds so many more dimensions to the game your missing out on the best bit.
Politic politics politics : the opposite of the Hack and Slash GM. The Game is all politics and roleplaying with no action. These can work very well but when they don't they're monotonous and boring..... Have combat encounters that add to the game, to keep the pace of the story and break the monotony.