JeffFor those players out there who have never been a GM, have you ever thought about stepping behind the screen and running your own game?
Is there anything in particular that's stopping you?
Is there anything us GMs could help you with?
Anders Tallvik@cynical13 I never have and I’m currently setting up my first-ever setting.
What’s making me procrastinate is the lack of actual “running the game” advice: I’d be more interested in knowing HOW someone improvises a random encounter in the moment rather than THAT they have x amount of random tables at the ready, for example. Real life examples are the best.
I’d like GMs to bring us players behind the scenes of the game in action, because planning is easy, doing is not.
skippy@anderstallvik @cynical13 if you haven’t, I suggest listening to Hankerin Ferinale’s “RPG Mainframe” series
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlSmiQ728Xr1Gmx1XlNh8FnJ6X8qPoEuU
Good, thoughtful, practical advice for running and playing RPGs. No need to listen to them in any order. Find the one(s) that sound most immediately useful. But there’s gold in all of them.
@skippy @cynical13 Thank you for sharing! Looks very intriguing. Any personal favorites our of these for unlocking next level GM-ing?
@anderstallvik @cynical13 not really, no! The whole thesis is “have fun”, and it seeps into every episode in different ways.
The GM is also a participant in the game, so you should be having as much fun as the players. Too many GMs lose sight of that.
Also, less is more. You don’t need to have all the answers. Let your players help you build the world. Prepare one session at a time, not a whole campaign! Respond to player interests.
@skippy @cynical13 Love the approach of building the world together and letting the players do some of that worldbuilding lifting!
#13thAge is great for that. Players each have to come up with One Unique Thing (OUT) about their character that sets them apart. It's not a mechanical advantage, but can be something like "I'm the only elf who can grow a beard" or "I'm the only halfling Dragon Knight". There wasn't a Dragon Knight in the game world before, but now there is! What's that all about?
They also create backgrounds instead of buy skills. A character might be "a cat burglar". Now any time they do anything they can justify as being related to that (climbing, appraising items, perception checks, etc.) they add their background points into their roll. That can work similar to an OUT.
I like to keep areas lightly described. Describing a room as a dining hall with a large fireplace at one end paints a picture. If a player wants to swing from a chandelier, they may ask if they see any lights hanging from the ceiling. Well, there are now! Let them make a roll and see what happens.
Let them fill in some of the blanks.
If you see a player struggling with an idea, ask them what they're intending to do and make up a skill or spell use that seems to be what they want (within reason!).
@cynical13 I like that approach a lot – building the roleplay into the character design.
This all is really making me more excited to start the GMing and let the players fill in the blanks where I'm unsure.
It really makes The Conversation the center piece, too, in a way.
Oh I love all this.
@anderstallvik I'm glad I've been able to help! I've really come to love running games for my friends. It's very fulfilling and I've really sharpened my storytelling skills. It's definitely my creative outlet.
@anderstallvik There are a couple of other things I realized I should have mentioned before.
Puzzles are pretty common elements in games. When I create a puzzle or obstacle for my parties, I don't have one single set solution that the players must figure out in order to proceed. It's frustrating for players if they keep trying and trying but can't think the exact same way as you.
Instead, I put forth a challenge and let them come up with ways to get around it. As long as they come up with a clever answer and make the appropriate rolls (only as needed!), they can solve it. They feel good that they outsmarted the obstacle and you pushed them to be creative and work together.
I mentioned challenge ratings. There's nothing wrong with using lower level monsters to make them spend resources (spells, HP, ammunition) during the day. Not every fight has to be life and death. Likewise, you can pick monsters of a higher CR, just use one or two of them. Often, more monsters can be just as challenging if not more so because there are more opportunities to make hit rolls.
If a fight is dragging, you can ask if the group wants to handwave the last elements. If you want, you can roll to see how many HP they lose as they wind down.
Scene pacing is important. Don't get bogged down in tons of descriptions. Paint the outline of a scene and let the players fill it in with questions and suggestions, as long as they seem reasonable.
Likewise, try not to let things grind to a halt. You can make suggestions to the players (just a basic thought or two to get the ball rolling again), bring in a new NPC or two, a change in weather to push them on, remind them of upcoming time limits, etc.
Investigations can get tedious. Summarize and don't be afraid to let them know that they found all of the clues. Or have a random NPC drop a related clue (they went that way in a hurry! They dropped this!).
I'm very open with my players so they don't think it's me against them. It also helps them keep from thinking I'm holding back on them when they investigate a location. That helps me to transition them to the next scene too.
Knowledge rolls can be really helpful, especially if they have really high scores. Ask them to make an appropriate roll (and be flexible! Dungeoneering, engineering, religion, arcana, nature can often be used interchangeably) to give them hints. They feel good when they make a roll (even an easy one!) and players like rolling dice.
@cynical13 Amazing, thank you!
Scene pacing feels like a thing I will have to try out for a while before I know what works and what doesn't, so having pointers is appreciated.
I find challenge ratings interesting since that's something that's never really visible to a player. I can see when my GM changes pace or sets up a scene, but I don't know how they treat all the numbers in a battle. Thankfully, I'll soon have the chance to shadow that part with some GMs here in Amsterdam!
@anderstallvik There is some advice in the DMG and you can do searches online for "encounter building" to get advice. But I find running a published module or two can help see how others do it. And it can depend on the players too, and how tactical they are and how they build their characters. Folks who are really into RP may not be as combat oriented as a group of min-maxers. But it's possible that they're good at both.
At the end of the day, you're providing entertainment to your party. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback at the end of sessions and make sure you at least consider what they say.
@cynical13 I was thinking I will take my first few encounters from published modules just to get a feel for it. Overall I’m really inspired by the idea of lifting modules or parts of them into the overarching narrative, especially as I set out as a GM and before I know what my players enjoy most.
@anderstallvik I jad to learn that it's okay to change and modify things for my own games. I still have to remember that the modules aren't some kind of script or sacred text and that they work for me.
Everyone finds their own rhythm and style. Good luck, you're in for a fun journey!
@cynical13 Thank you! I’m very excited :)
@anderstallvik @skippy I'm trying to find the original comment. Personal favorite as far as games or podcasts/actual plays?...
@cynical13 @skippy Was looking for a Mainframe favorite! :)
@anderstallvik That's a really fair question and I think it somewhat depends on what system you're using.
For me, it more often comes down to how the session is flowing.
My personal sessions tend to come down to some character interaction and setting the plot hook. The players then start the investigation phase, where they travel to locations to gather clues and maybe encounter a minor group of enemies, if I didn't use enemies to set the story hook.
I usually plan sessions to end with a fight with the big bad of that session then some time for the players to wrap up the session with some character moments.
Using this formula, I rarely need to come up with random encounters. I tend to have a session sketch laid out and just fill in based on decisions the players make during the session. I pick a few cool set pieces and decide what kind of monster or enemy I want them to encounter.
However, if you want to do more of an exploration or wilderness survival kind of adventure, you may need to come up with some random encounter tables (assuming a module you're using doesn't have some already) or just have stats for groups of interesting creatures for the PCs to deal with.
Does that help at all?
@anderstallvik Also, if you can tell me what RPG system you're planning on using, I might be able to help you out with how to select random encounters, if it's a system I've used before.
@cynical13 Thank you for this answer! Very helpful, and it brings me to the next big scary thing about DM:ing for the first time – getting the story started/keeping up the improvisation. Reading modules, I often find myself thinking that yes, it's cool that this adversary arrives but... how do I breathe life into that arrival? As I type this, I realize there are unending answers to the question, and that makes it fun!
I'll use DnD 5e sandbox-style for now, but I'm intrigued by several systems.
@anderstallvik With D&D 5e, you at least have Challenge Ratings to help with picking enemies, though those numbers can be somewhat unreliable.
I get a lot of inspiration from action movies and books. I tend to go for more cinematic games and a cocky group of orcs stalking around a corner, weapons drawn or a group of kobolds creeping around a corner, anxious but clutching their spears paints a different picture. Language can really help set the action.
Enemies can be stationed as guards, patrolling an area, or breaking in themselves. It depends on the adventure and the scene.
For my games, I try and keep in mind that my players are the big heroes of the games. Things like critical failures and having a weapon fly out of a hand can be useful (if you use those rules! I usually don't) but I try not to make it sound silly. For my money, it's more impactful to say that one minion that seemed minor is actually better trained than his comrades and flicked the weapon away with a careful block of their shield or by trapping it against their battle axe and wrenched it from a PC's hand.
You can do a ton to set tone with how quickly or slowly you talk and what your word choice is. If you're a comic book reader, think about how panels are laid out or how action movie fights are filmed.
@cynical13 This is super helpful stuff, appreciate you taking the time to get into some detail. This feels like a good reason to get back into reading comics tbh ;)
I've realized that a big way for me to set the tone just behind the GM screen is the aesthetics of a setting, and a lot of what you're saying here helps me think a little deeper along those lines.
@anderstallvik You get to design and dress the set and your players may take a lot of cues from the way you present things.
For example, one of my favorite games is Feng Shui. It's a Hong Kong action movie RPG. When I felt that players were being too tame with their actions, I would kick things up a notch. A mook might kick a PC through a wall. Suddenly everyone realized that the world was completely destroyable and started doing the same. They leveled the top two floors of an apartment building that way. A fight in a cemetery started out slow, but after the first person was kicked through a headstone, it was on.
You won't have 100% control though. I have an end point in mind for a single session, but I have no idea how the players will get there. Thankfully most of mine are good sports and let me guide them to the finish, but they often surprise me HOW they do it. And that's fun for me. I thrive on the chaos and the creativity it takes to keep up with them.
I also know it's not me vs. them. I'm a team player too, I just have to challenge them and make them work for it.
A few times I've caught myself about to put the hammer down, but then I remember I have to give them moments to shine and feel good about completing story items. Drop lore, give them hints, follow their cues. Ask them what they want to see.