FLASHCHAT     LOGIN
    INVITE     HELP GUIDE      LANGUAGE:
HOME BLOGS FORUM CONVENTIONS News comic
GALLERY SEARCH POLLS VIDEOS GROUPS CLASSIFIEDS QUIZZES MAP SIGNUP ARCADE TOP USERS e-STORE
BLOGS   WRITE NEW BLOG   EDIT BLOGS  
 
RSS

31
Jul/2008

Sigh. The ho-hum of the real world.
by MC43

So, here it is, nearing a week after OGC, and I'm still having trouble recovering from the immense awesomeness that it was. My dice still remain in my pocket, waiting for someone to walk up to me, snap their fingers as they point at me and call out, "Roll!" So far... it hasn't happened, and I don't think it'll happen for a long time. So they remain in my pocket, eagerly awaiting the next game night.

With my new found passion and love for all things tabletop gaming, I have decided that I want to branch out and try sitting in the DMs chair once and see if it's a comfy seat or not. I have been a player for sometime, and while I have enjoyed it, the thought of creating and running a game sounds enticing enough to at least give it a shot sometime in the near future.

The thing it, I have no idea where to even start in this whole process!

I have an idea, and the bare bones as been established. And by that, I mean I have a sternum. Where should I go from here? This is a plea to anyone out there who has DMed in the past, and is willing to help me out. What are some of the important things I should note? What should I prepare for (although I already know that things never go according to plan. I know that enough as a player!), what should I have in my notes? What deems a fair battle? Pre-gen characters or let the players go nuts? Roleplaying opportunities or straight up combat (although I want the RPing aspect evident in my game if I do run one)?

Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. 

Tags: OGC Real Life DM Help

Bookmark:



Viewing 1 - 4 out of 4 Comments

From: BLAMM67
07/31/2008 14:33:52

When you make a mistake, and you WILL make a mistake, acknowledge it. Tell your players your made a call, it was wrong, and you can't do it that way anymore. Don't retcon the game (unless its trivial to do so), just make a new call and continue that way. One of the worst things you can do is let a past decision ruin game balance.

Planning out the game is a style issue. Some need to plan and write out every detail before hand. Others work best by just winging it. I usually plan a game by working out the physical details of the NPCs, creatures, and places. The storyline and potential roleplay I leave in my head so it's more flexible (maybe that's why the story ends up so weak in my games). Find what works for you.

The Captain's best point is HAVE FUN. If it's not working, do something different. If you're having fun you're doing it right. If not, it's just work, and no one wants that.

From: blinovitch
07/31/2008 13:43:03

I had force myself to wait a day before beginning work on my next con (Carnage).

Khel's got some good advice -- limiting the number of books people draw on (I recommend the core three if you're just learning D&D), not sweating when you make a mistake and making sure you and the players are on the same page as to what kind of game you want to play -- but I disagree on the point of level of detail.

Don't drive yourself crazy inventing and describing every inhabitant of every village or every corner of every keep, dungeon and fortress your players might run across. Keep it looser, with a rough map or list that shows points of interest, and notes on what those places or people are like.

Improvising on the fly is an important skill to build up, as players are going to make choices you never anticipated or prepared for. As you learn to roll with the players, you'll not only create the impression that you're utterly prepared for anything, but you'll develop a knack for incorporating stuff you've invented into scenes and situations you had to generate in a split second. They'll never tell the difference between what you had to make up and what you had written out.



From: StupidSmurf
07/31/2008 12:02:18
Stupid real world!!!   I share your pain, believe me. I'm bummed to con is over.


From: Captain_Khel
07/31/2008 10:04:11
Start small. I ran my first game for my kids and a few of their friends. Make lots of detailed notes. Have a dedicated notebook (or laptop folder) just for game. Allow your players to make their own characters, but limit them to a low level (I made them start at level 1 and they could only use stuff from a limited number of books, so I wouldn't go crazy trying to find a bunch of obscure rules & loopholes). I can't stress the notes part enough. I even go so far as to reference page numebrs from the PHB or the DMG. It will give you a sense of where you are in the adventure and where you want the story to go as well as provide guidelines for where you might want to go next when your plans all go to hell.

Ask your players what type of game they enjoy. If their playing style & yours are wildly different, you may not have a good time. If the DM isn't having fun, no one will.

Check out StupidSmurf's Curmudgeonly Ramblings for inspiration.

Acknowledge that you will probably make mistakes. I damned near killed a whole low-level party by running them over with bunny rabbits (see my blog on Thunder Jacks).

Borrow heavily from whatever source you like. Twist it to make it your own, even if it seems a bit cliché and recognizable at some level. With that in mind, check out my monster blogs for home-made monsters that your players won't expect.

Try to run the kind of game you want to play, using a system you are familiar with.

Check in after each session or couple of sessions to make sure your players are having fun and so you can take their requests into consideration when planning the next part of the game. (or not, as you prefer)

Practice saying NO. Also practice different voices, some funny, some creepy for your NPCs. Don't overuse them, but it's fun not to always be the DM giving description in a normal voice. It allows for a bit of RPing on your part. On that subject, give your important NPCs (and some of the recurring ones as well) a distinct personality. It will help you out with the story arc in the long run.

HAVE FUN and remember the most important rule: DM FIAT.



MY BLOGS
Posted On: 09/17/2008 18:38:10
Posted On: 08/31/2008 14:00:48
Posted On: 08/19/2008 13:40:57
Posted On: 08/15/2008 17:06:33
Posted On: 08/06/2008 07:22:22
Posted On: 07/31/2008 07:32:14
Posted On: 07/28/2008 08:32:31


NEWS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

11/14/08 New feature “The Tavern”


Check out our newest feature “The Tavern” located in your account profile. The tavern is a place to talk to people on your friends list. If someone is not on your list they won’t see your post. If you don’t want to see someone’s posts you can just delete them from your friends list. This feature gives you the ability to say what ever you want when ever you want. So have a blast!

Thank you, Staff

Copyright©2008 RPGBomb. All rights reserved.