Baraka_Guru

I've recently decided (well, was convinced) to make my second foray into Dungeon Mastering (DMing) AD&D sessions (of which, it is hoped, aberkok will be a part).

My first time at the helm went for a few sessions before fizzling out. A postmortem may have revealed the following issues:

• The campaign was missing too many details.
• I was unorganized.
• I didn't have a firm enough grasp of the rules/system.
• Players became distracted--they joked around, and easily became unfocussed.
• Unsure of what to do regarding players who couldn't make it to a session, which, as adults, happens often enough.
• Overall, the players may not have been invested enough in the campaign.

I know there are a few players on TFP. I would like to get your feedback and tips on what the "best practices" are regarding running a focussed, efficient, yet enjoyable campaign. I know the Dungeon Masters Guide touches on this, but it would help to have feedback from players and current or former DMs.

I will likely be starting a campaign from scratch. Most of what entices me about DMing is the creative aspect. So I would like to hear about everything: the world, running game mechanics, quick tips on session logistics, being a good host, etc.

What are your best experiences? How were they pulled off?

NOTE: I will be running version 3.5 indefinitely.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Martian

You're already aware that my D&D experience is virtually nil. However, I have been listening to the Penny Arcade podcasts of the fourth edition session. They explain everything they're doing, which gives a novice like me some insight into the system and how it works.

One of the things mentioned there seems applicable to this thread. It was that the DM is not the enemy of the players. Remember not to adopt an adversarial position to your players.

Not that I think you would. That's just the only relevant piece of information I have.

__________________
I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept
I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head
I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said

- Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame

Baraka_Guru

Good tip. Maybe I should listen to that podcast. Thanks, Martian.

I should probably note that I will be running version 3.5 indefinitely. [OP updated.]

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Frosstbyte

My D&D specific experience is relatively limited, but I played Shadowrun for many years with some friends in high school and college, which I think qualifies me at least to give some general advice about running a game.

My first thought is to know your players. Are they min-maxers? Power gamers? Antagonistic towards each other or to the world in general? Carebears? Hardcore roleplayers? We often had problems because the guy who was our game master was a strong roleplayer, while the rest of us were more of the min-max or power variety. We wanted combat, lots of it and limited consequences for blowing up bars. He wanted us to seduce CEOs or sweet-talk our way tense situations. You can see why this would be a problem.

Secondly, you definitely need to know your rule set and there's just no getting around that, particularly if your players are also sticklers for it. Nothing throws a gaming session like having the GM insist something works one way and a player insisting it works another and then having to dig through the books and having one person feel vindicated and the other shit on. I imagine you're probably more mature than a bunch of high schoolers, but it still disrupts the flow.

Also along those lines is figuring out how to keep the players on your campaign while still giving them some room to move around. No matter what you want them to do, they're probably going to find ways to get themselves into trouble doing something else along the way, and the more natural that feels, the happier everyone is going to be about continuing along the big picture.

As a final recommendation, you might find some inspiration, or at least some humor, by reading either 8-Bit Theater (http://www.nuklearpower.com/latest.php) or Order of the Stick (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html). If you have time, read both. It's good times either way.

longbough

As a dungeon master in the early 80s I made my campaigns/ scenarios very flexible. A common mistake in the beginning is to make things "too rigid." When I designed a scenario I didn't flesh out every single detail which meant I had to improvise a lot. I really liked to preserve the feeling of total freedom for the players - even if they wandered completely off the intended direction.

My campaigns were more plot-driven than most. I think just exploring and killing gets really dull.

That's OK. You can't prepare for every single possibility in advance - especially if your players like to roam off the beaten track. Just be willing to improvise. Have some general guidelines.

Take it easy. The first time is always sloppy. But you'll learn.

OK. This one IS a big deal. But it's really tough to know ALL the rules your first time around. Still debate about rules is not uncommon.

IMO a dungeon master that's too rigid isn't much fun for anyone. You have to let people be themselves and not feel boxed in your grand plan. Joking around is a really big part of the fun. Don't take things so seriously. Honestly, when we played D&D (or Dragon Quest or Traveller or Aftermath ... etc) players would commonly wander into town to the brothels and pubs. (we were teens - so I would describe what the hot half-elf hooker NPC was wearing and play out the dialogue - even though it had nothing to do with the basic "plot").

It left a challenge to me to integrate plot elements whenever possible.
Sometimes a player would even kill an important NPC - I had to let it happen and reconfigure events entirely (yeah - sometimes I had to take a break just to figure stuff out). In the end IMO it was all about the experience of playing.

Don't forget it's all about having fun. We were teenagers when we were playing. Role-play meant my friends played as bullies, buffoons, thieves, heroes, scumbags, lechers ... When done correctly it's an adventure for both the players and the dungeon master.

Simple hack&slash or gold-gathering or rigid plots are just plain boring. Improvise, joke around and don't take the game too seriously. I let the players do whatever they wanted. If you try to push your players in a particular direction then they will resist by doing something crazy in a game.

Here's an example of a plot that went waaay off course:

One time we were playing Top Secret (I think) where the players were recruited by some syndicate to gather info on some guy. Suddenly one of the players just decides to shoot the guy with a silenced pistol for the heck of it. That normally would have killed the plot right there (which is what he was trying to do).

But then I just thought about the natural consequences of his actions and improvised the events that followed. By the end every player had a "hit" out on them from the syndicate that tried to hire them in the first place. The other players teamed up on that one player who sabotaged them and killed him offering his head to the syndicate.

I trashed the original plot and salvage elements of it for a future scenario. But it was fun.

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

Apokx

The best memories I have involved GMs that made the players feel important. He learned what playstyles people enjoyed (diplomacy vs kill everything, help the party vs self-interest). The GM gave us a variety of things to do, and characters to interact with, make lasting friendships and bitter enemies.

The worst game sessions usually involved one person who wanted to be a complete dickhead (for example, playing a rogue and stealing from the party or killing people while they slept) running rampant without GM intervention. Don't let someone intentionally shit on your game or alienate other players just to do it.

SERPENT7

Try this site:
http://adndology.co.nr/

GOTO

GM Discussion > house rules

for some ideas. Also this is an excellent resource for gaming ideas in general. (You only need to register to post.)
As for myself, I have been running D&D for 20+ years. I prefer to create a scenario in only the vaguest terms.
1) write out the major NPCs (name, class, level, alignment.)
Is he in charge of an organization? (Name, size, general structure, command style...)
2) Create in detail the NPCs the players will actually encounter. These ones generally get the full treatment. (name, class, level, alignment, proficiencies/skills, items, spells...etc. in short, treat them like a normal pc under your control)
3) The better you know the environment, the scenario, and the factions, the better.
4) introduce the PCs to some element of the scenario. When they intervene, have the factions involved respond in the most rational, realistic manner possible.
For example, the PCs could stumble across a kidnapping. This might lead them (with a little investigating on their part) to the existence of a crime ring. viola! the campaign is afoot!
This method does not depend on a L-G party alignment. For instance, in the above example, there is nothing to stop them from extorting the crime ring or ignoring their activities altogether. Just be prepared to re-introduce the story. Once. If the players are not interested, have something else ready.
In this event, I would suggest something simple, and generic. A little orc-bashing can sometimes go along way.

MPower

Besides everything posted before, here is a bit I go by.

DMs word is law. If you say it is or is not so, that is how it is. If you tell someone they cant do something, they cant. Dont let them waste time arguing. Everyone I have played with as dm and player understood this and the games went smoothly.

Use a screen and dont be afraid to fudge dice rolls. I sometimes never look at dice results. Nothing can kill a campaign quicker than your players all rolling crits and wiping out your encounters or vice versa. On special occasions, the DM will roll the dice outside the screen, for everyone to see and mentally try to affect the outcome.

A deck of many things. Have your party stumble across one and you have an instant campaign. Thats how a lot of ours got started, "Your uncle died and left you a strange deck of cards, you take it to the tavern to show your friends." Good stuff.

Nisses

DM word is law, but only as far as the rules go.

be prepared to wing it when they go off track. Take short notes when you do, so you can work in that direction when preparing next session.

accept that you will screw up alot of things at first.

It helps to have 1 player that has alot of experience, when there's that 1 little rule you can't remember, they can help you in that case. However, don't forget DM's word is still law in the end.

Be consistent when making calls on how to interpret certain rules.

Try and get some background music that fits. Merry music for fairs, rowdy stuff for inns, sinister stuff (like the Witcher music CD) for dark plots & dungeons. And dare to dim the lights and just use tealights for instance.

Also, if it gets to distracted, be sure to allow for a little break. 1 big break is better for everybody to go to the bathroom, smoke, get something from the car, ...


Try to tailor the campaign a bit to the player's preferred playstyle... More diplomacy, more puzzle solving, more hack & slash, more casual social roleplaying, ...

Try to make sure you get somewhat of a balanced party, without forcing anybody to play soemthing against their will. (if your player-group low on healing, allow for a more generous source of healing potions for instance)

If you want them focused, try a timed event too.
Like a puzzle they need to figure out, but set a timer on the table that actually counts down.

Try to get somebody in the party to keep a journal, or make maps of where you're going. (I had at one point a Kender who's character sheet was about 30 pages with maps, drawn in true Kender-style And I found everything with it, even if it was unorthodox writing).

And also, something I always thought was very good, but have yet to try in practice: *warm up* your players. Like little stupid exercices of imagining things, or describing a fantasy that has nothing to do with the setting, just to get that creative juice flowing.


And as a final note... If you're starting off as a DM, try to simply go for a few store-bought campaigns... They're professionally prepared, fleshed out npcs, good story-line, and if for some reason the players don't take the bait, you can try and inject a second storyline in there without too much hassle.
That way, you can get a feel for it, and if you pick adventures that only last 3-4 sessions, it lets your players get comfortable with eachother, and give you some headstart towards fleshing out your own completely custom campaign, while working in everything you learn from these first "trial-runs".

__________________
Moderation should be moderately moderated.

Cynthetiq

remember that girl players that show their boobs get double XP.

that's how our DM rolled....

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Daniel_

I DM'd many systems (including one I wrote myself, and one created by a fellow member of our cabal) and was generally happy that people enjoyed the campaigns I ran - I was often asked to step in at zero notice and continue a campaign when the main DM was ill etc - I just switched my character to an NPC and busked it.

The key (regardless of game systems) is to remember that the DM is narrator in a storytelling game.

Before now I've run session where nobody was allowed dice or paper, and everything went by "feel" - very karmic, but also focused on play rather than "rules lawyering".

I hated playing in games that seemed like they were on rails - I'd just re-draw my mental map on the fly and ensure that if the party went into town instead of through the woods, they'd still meet the creepy guy selling weird stories, or fall into a well or whatever.

The main realisation was when I remembered that we were all together to have a laugh, not to kill X of Y monsters in my carefully created labyrinth. If the team wanted to have a drinking game in a tavern and a fight with the watch, then let them. We can chase dragons next time.

One of the most interesting games I ever came across was Prince Valiant - there are no dice (you toss a few coins, but mainly it's about telling the tale).

EDIT (will automerge): If you really want to learn to GM, get out from behind the rules and play SLUG or Fudge.

The entirity of SLUG fits on one sheet of paper, and works in any genre.

__________________

╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

Jenna

Hahahaha.

But to answer you, I'm still new to D&D, as I've only played for around 2 years. Most of my experience was in 3.5, now I'm playing 4 edition. So, I probably can't be TOO much help.

The campaign was missing too many details.
How much time do you spend planning the campaign? I know that my boyfriend spends hours upon hours doing it. I'd suggest spending more time on it, then the detail will come.

I was unorganized
I'm not sure how you set up your campaign, but my boyfriend, and our DM has a blank book that he writes all of his information in. It's really helpful for him because he can label everything and has an index.

I didn't have a firm enough grasp of the rules/system.
I think that just comes with time and experience. If anything, just read the PH and DM Guide over and over. You'll eventually remember stuff so you don't need to look it up.

Players became distracted--they joked around, and easily became unfocussed.
I don't know what to do about this, because I don't know the people you play with. My group jokes around a lot but we're all fairly mature so we know when to stop. If anything, our DM just lays down the law and tells us to stop and continue.

Unsure of what to do regarding players who couldn't make it to a session, which, as adults, happens often enough.
We just had this problem. "She who must be obeyed" (what we call the significant others of our group) needed one of our players to help with stuff around the house and he couldn't come. So, we had the most experience player take on his character, and the player who was gone left him notes, as in, how they should play his personality, what to do when he levels up, etc.

That got a little fucked up when our DM rolled a crit on him, pulled out the decapitate card from our "random critical" deck of cards. Our DM was nice though, and just put him at -10.

But, it worked out ok.

Overall, the players may not have been invested enough in the campaign.
Look into how they like to play, maybe you're campaign just didn't suite them enough to keep their entire interest? Maybe ask them about what kind of campaign they'd like?

Baraka_Guru

Heh, we'll have a girl player in this group, but we'll have her boyfriend too....

How much time do you spend planning the campaign? I know that my boyfriend spends hours upon hours doing it. I'd suggest spending more time on it, then the detail will come.

Meh, I know I didn't spend enough time on my first attempt. I'm going to spend way more time this round. I'm actually reading the DMs Guide right now to ensure more of the rules and mechanics stick. I've always wanted to write a fantasy novel; this will be the closest I'll get for now. I'm pretty gung-ho about building something elaborate. Hours, indeed.

I'm not sure how you set up your campaign, but my boyfriend, and our DM has a blank book that he writes all of his information in. It's really helpful for him because he can label everything and has an index.

I'm thinking of either having a blank "journal" or using my Macbook. I don't want the Macbook to be distracting, so I'll see how it goes. I might use it for music and sound effects, though. Oh, and a "DM" screen from the d20 files.

I think that just comes with time and experience. If anything, just read the PH and DM Guide over and over. You'll eventually remember stuff so you don't need to look it up.

I plan on it. As mentioned, I'll have the d20 files on my Macbook, and they're 3.5 compatible. Fully searchable databases will be good... maybe...again, if it's not distracting.

I don't know what to do about this, because I don't know the people you play with. My group jokes around a lot but we're all fairly mature so we know when to stop. If anything, our DM just lays down the law and tells us to stop and continue.

I plan on having more structure. I will need to play this by ear, I think. I will let people have their fun, but I will also have ways to reel them in, eventually. Is it wrong to reward XP for players who lead by example?

Look into how they like to play, maybe you're campaign just didn't suite them enough to keep their entire interest? Maybe ask them about what kind of campaign they'd like?

I set up a Facebook group for this very purpose. I posted a number of discussions related to what they want in a campaign and how to form meaningful characters, etc. It's good for coordinating sessions to, I'll bet....

Generally, I was very unprepared; I was lazy and eager to play, which is a bad combination for this kind of game. I'm a details guy when I get the ball rolling, so all I need is some inspiration. I'm totally going to do this right this time.

@ everyone else: Thanks for the tips; I've already implemented some of them.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Anxst

I've been GMing for 19 years, through a variety of systems, including the AMBER diceless system (which is crazy but fun work for any GM).

I've come up with some rules that make my games run well.

1. Be consistent. If you rule one way one time, and another way later for the same issue, you lose the trust of your players. This only goes as far as they can see, of course. as far as random dice issues, fudge them to hell and back as long as they can't see you doing it.

2. Remember the player characters are the stars. They are the coolest, smoothest, most heroic fuckers in the universe. If you make sure they know that and they get to demonstrate it, they'll love you forever.

3. Don't be afraid to tell the players YES instead of NO sometimes. If they go off on some track that could even a little bit reasonably answer the challenge you've set them (and you had no plan for it to exist/work/etc) say yes sometimes anyway. Work it in. Improvisation of things like that is hard and gets better with practice, but it makes the world come to life.

4. Prepare. Even 30 minutes of prep time can let you throw down an outline of where you want the game to go that night. An outline is the bare minimum to roll with. It lets you dangle carrots in front of the players that will keep them focused and interested. If you have a goal in mind you want them to head for, they'll realize it and work towards getting there with you.


That's always worked for me.

__________________
Don't mind me. I'm just releasing the insanity pressure from my headvalves.

Jenna

Well it sounds like this time, you'll have it all under control!

spindles

I clearly remember the "on the rails" DM - who was a mate of one of my brothers. He had dialog all planned for when we walked into the first hallway (which was full of water). There was a switch to drain the passageway on the far side, and a trap under the water.

What happens? Magic User pulls out some walk on water spell and the entire first hallway 'script' went out the window.

I guess the point is he was too organised and a whole pile of how he thought the first encounter would go went straight out the window.

Anyway, I guess I'm echoing the "roll with how the players want and improvise if needed" idea.

__________________
who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

Jenna

That sort of stuff happens all the time with our group too. But, I think it's easier for a DM that's new to be over organized than under.

We turned a simple trap into an hour of strategizing and thought when it was meant to take 15 minutes. As players we tend to over think things sometimes. I sometimes think the DM is just out to get us so we have to REALLY think about things, when in reality, I should just roll with it at times.

Daniel_

One of my favourites has always been to have a lure so obvious that it HAS to be a trap, everyone spends hours casting x-ray vision spells, using lock-picks, turning into a fog, smashing it with a club, making an NPC open it or whatever, only to find it's an empty box with no trap - then as they're walking down a flight of stairs, the wood splinters and they get their foot stuck in a hole just as a pissed off bear wakes up.

Or walk through a forest and have a storm whip up, branches fall all about the party, but it's NOT anything sinister.

I love setting people up and then not delivering - and then when they start to relax, drop a rock on them.

I used to get pissed off that the PLAYERS had all read the monster books, when the CHARACTERS we supposed to be barely educated farm boys, novice priests, or apprentice mages.

Picture the scene...

DM: You hear a noise that sounds a bit damp, and a vaguely human figure looms out of the darkness about 10' away. It's wearing rags, carrying a staff but no obvious weapons, and has half an octopus for a head.

PLAYER: It's a mind flayer - the correct way to fight it is to..... (waffle waffle)...

In "reality" what should have happened was:

DM: You hear a noise that sounds a bit damp, and a vaguely human figure looms out of the darkness about 10' away. It's wearing rags, carrying a staff but no obvious weapons, and has half an octopus for a head.

CHARACTER: Fuck - it's an octopus headed weirdo - I knew I should never have left the bloody farm - I'm shitting myself, but I'll ask what he wants - you never know it might be friendly...

So I used to chuck out all of the guidebooks, make up my own creatures - I crossed bugbears and orks to create bugborks, or sent the party into a nest of vampire caterpillars. My favourite was a sentient puddle that was woken up by the party and did nothing other than make mournful moaning noises, but it took ages for them to realise it was crap and useless...

The role play element (the players shouldn't use stuff that the characters don't know) is hard, and getting all militant ("make a fear save against the octopus headed creature") only slows things down.

No matter how many ors you've fought, a lion that's been tarred and feathered and then set on fire is scary and dangerous (this was done in one game I was a player in).

__________________

╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝

Apokx

I was one of those players that never read anything besides the magic item list and the phb. Fights were definately alot harder for me than the people who had experience with the monster manual. If something had DR 15 Silver or whatever how would you ever know without a ton of trial and error? It just didnt play very well compared to someone chiming in with "They're immune to fire, but vulnerable to ice."

Dragonlich

My take on things:

- The campaign was missing too many details.

Generally, I'd say you need to flesh out the big picture first. What's happening in the world, who's fighting who, etc. Then work your way down from that. Don't go overboard on the details though; sometimes the details just distract from the story. Besides, you should be able to make up some details as you; just write down the details for future reference.

- I was unorganized.

Before each session, take your time to prepare/update the next two or three sessions. Fill in some of the missing details, including some details about the area the PC's are currently moving through.
In my gaming group, after each session, one player has to write down what happened, as their character would do it (different player every session). At the beginning of each session, they have to read the story to the rest of the group. If it's a good story, that player gets some extra XP.
We also have a short quiz at the beginning, where the DM asks about specific details (names of NPC's, etc) for extra XP. This keeps the players involved, and lets them organize for you.

- I didn't have a firm enough grasp of the rules/system.

In my group, the DM doesn't know everything either. We can look up details if need be, or he can use common sense to resolve the situation. Just try to know as much as possible; in D&D that's the best you can do.

- Players became distracted--they joked around, and easily became unfocussed.

This can happen because the story isn't very compelling, or because they're just not that interested. Or maybe they have other things on their minds, or just feel like joking around. It happens in every gaming group. Talk to the people involved; they should be able to tell you *why* they joke around...

- Unsure of what to do regarding players who couldn't make it to a session, which, as adults, happens often enough.

We generally leave the character out of the session. He or she is asleep/sick. This isn't very realistic, but it works for us. It also adds some spice to the session: your best fighter isn't there, so how are the remaining players going to take on those monsters?

- Overall, the players may not have been invested enough in the campaign.

Let them describe their character's background. Award good roleplaying, instead of just beating monsters. In general, try to create the story together; you provide the background, they fill in much of the detail.

- As for the players reading "forbidden" books: they may know what a mind-flayer is and how to beat them, but their characters don't. If they abuse the knowledge, give them less (or no) XP. If a player insists his character knows certain details, have him/her explain why. There are stories and legends about monsters; perhaps he/she heard some of those. If it's a good excuse, is realistic, and fits the character, go with it. You can let them do a WIS or INT check for it too. Again, reward good roleplaying.

If a player keeps bringing up forbidden knowledge, you could use it to add some spice to the character. He may be an aspiring scholar or sage; at every oppertunity, he should go to libraries to expand his knowledge. Or he always seeks out experienced NPC's to ask them about their battles with exotic creatures. Have the player write down the information and the source. When a situation involving forbidden knowledge comes up, he can check his notes. If it's on his list, he knows it (or has access to it in his books), if it's not, he doesn't know it (or has to do an absurd WIS/INT check).