D&D players, please come hither.

[CATB320]

Myself and a couple other friends have started playing pen and paper RPG's (for the first time ever). Right now, it's Gamma World, but we plan to move on to actual D&D once we figure out what the hell we're doing.

I'm the GM. Right now, at least -- and pretty much because I'm the one who has all the rule/guidebooks and dice. My dad was/is a huge nerd, so it's all his old stuff. I found his Gamma World character sheets and everything and almost died laughing. (One character was a Mutant Animal, and the only thing scrawled under the appearance section was "sort of a praying mantis.") Anyway, we've gotten together a couple times and we're kinda sorta getting the hang of it.

I just wanted to ask any knowledgeable Escapists for advice on how to be a good GM/DM. I've been pretty relaxed about things so far -- partly because we're all new to it. At times my friends decided to do some pretty ridiculous things, but I went with it and tried to steer them in the direction of what the module wants them to do. On another note, I've heard that the players are supposed to be "in character" almost the whole time. We haven't really been doing this (lol newbs). Partly because I'm not sure how characters in a universe like Gamma World are supposed to act (attitudes for characters in a medieval fantasy environment shouldn't be that hard to figure out, but what about those in a post apocalyptic sci-fi thing?), and partly because we don't know what we're doing. I don't know how strict other people are with these sorts of things.

 

[Tharwen]

There's no way that you're supposed to play D&D. If you don't want to roleplay too hard, that's fine.

Also, don't try to script the game too much beforehand. There is no way you'll be able to keep your players completely on track. Just try to get good at improvising and doing funny voices.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

- Having fun is most important
- Make your players think of the puzzles you lay out.
- Avoid "meta-game thinking" that your players anticipate your moves because they know you as a person.
Try and get inspiration from movies, games, and stuff.
- And they're there, but don't use these too much: the first rules of D&D:
1. The DM is always right.
2. if not, see rule number 1.

 

[MajWound]

I'm brand new to the franchise and I've been playing a 4e Dark Sun campaign for a couple months now. Everyone seems to love it (even the AD&D/3.X veterans), despite the blood-and-hate-filled online remarks about it being "dumbed down for MMO fags and WoWtards". It's quick to start, easy to learn, and the books provide a lot of tools for inventing your own monsters, encounters, dungeons, etc. I'm not going to tell you to illegally download any of the books in PDF format via torrent programs from various websites which are easily found with the most basic Google search, but you might be able to find the books at your local hobby store.

In short, I love 4e!

 

[Hairetos]

In my experience, the hardest part of D&D is the fact that different people expect different things from the game. I heard the three-type analysis of the D&D gamers and it makes sense to me:

1. Simulator- this person creates a "dream scenario" that they want the party to follow. They can create immensely detailed worlds, but are very inflexible.
2. Gamer- this person is the stereotypical "power gamer" and wants nothing more than to create the biggest, baddest character that always wins. They tend to throw away the concept of "role-playing".
3. Narrator- this person focuses entirely on the story at the expense of details about the surrounding world (simulator) or the combat (gamer). Should be pretty self-explanatory.

Like I said, getting these three types of people to agree on the direction of the game can be nearly impossible. Try to walk in between these lines. Create a strong story, but don't neglect the combat details. Create a vivid scenario, but don't passively force the party to follow any one direction (I HATE this). The players need engagement and freedom.

Also, undead are the worst enemies to fight, simply because they drop NOTHING. So if you're making an undead-based dungeon, make sure there's plenty of non-drop treasure.

 

[Triangulon]

The best rule I was ever taught as a DM was 'never say no'. If a player wants to do something you don't want them to you can't arbitrarily stop them, this breaks the immersion and can get the player's back up. You need to prevent them from doing stupid or irresponsable things by the judicious use of challenging dice rolls etc. Most of the time however, you just want to let them get on with it!

I remember being DM in a game of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay many moons ago when one of my friends decided to be a knob and dig up a road with his axe. Telling him no was just getting him more and more annoyed so I set a ridiculous dice roll to succeed, which he did. He was eventually left with a tiny hole in the ground, a broken axe and some pissd off party members. Lo and behold he behaved after that...

Also don't be too burdened by the rules. Just use them as guidelines, make up your own rules, requirements for rolls etc on the fly and the game will flow much better.

 

[UnusualStranger]

Having done a bit of DM work in my day, let me give you a small amount of advice.....when you make a scenario, and someone wants to do something terribly stupid, and seriously wants to try it: Let them. Let them betray each other, or burn places down, and then have the consequences roll up from that.

Also, one other thing is you need to make sure information is kept in check. If they players get separated by any means, and something in particular happens to one player, make sure that the other players act accordingly, and not in accordance to what they supposedly know.

 

[DetectiveSparky]

My major advice is, don't let anything go without consequences, whether it be someone digging through dirt when it's obviously a trap, someone diving onto a Web Golem to try to extract a jewel or someone chopping off another person's hand to take as a trophy. There should be a reaction to everything, you have to be flexible in thinking. I'm not saying necessarily bad consequences, but just make a note of certain things they do. If they don't check a door for traps and they have a rogue, put a trap on it to show them that things aren't going to be that easy.

I'm not saying be a vindictive DM, just for every action there should be a reaction, good or bad. Oh you saved that puppy? Look it was the noble's dog, here's some money! You let that goblin live after it called out mercy? Look free pack mule! You chopped that guy's hand off and took it as a trophy? Oh look the militia is now after you and wants to arrest you but it's actually the guy's posse in disguise and are now chopping your hand off in return.

Definitely have options of multiple paths, don't expect them to do something in a certain way. I expected my group to go one way or another when it came to two major quests, thus making the one quest harder later one because they were "alerted" they came up with the brilliant idea of splitting into two groups and taking both by surprise. You'll want certain things planned out, like puzzles or general dungeon layout and have monster stats readily available.

Don't be afraid to rough them up or kill them in battles, but it's harder to kill things in 4e imo.

 

[AnAngryMoose]

If your need some help read some of the Check for Traps if you need some tips for starting out. I found them very helpful.