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Dungeons & Dragons - Role Playing Tips
Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #84
Observations From A First-Time Game Master - 10 Tips For Beginner GMs
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
Observations From A First-Time Game Master - 10 Tips For Beginner GMs
- Choose Your Players Carefully And Keep The Group Small
- Choose Your Game Carefully
- Pick A Friendly Setting
- Do Your Research
- Avoid Over-planning
- Know When To Let It Ride....
- Know When To End It
- Be Organized
- Learn From Your Mistakes (Aka Find Your Weaknesses)
- Summarize
Readers' Tips Summarized
- Great Resource For Campaign Pictures
- Breathing Life Into A Lifeless Pantheon
- Generate Awesome Sounding Magic Weapon Names
Return to Contents
A Brief Word From Johnn
Johnn's On Holidays--Next Issue Will Be In August
Well, it was a bit of a bloodbath around here this month, as
deadlines, visiting relatives, and lots of overtime at work
kept me way behind on my emails and tips writing. I
apologize for the slow responses you've been receiving.
My holidays begin this week though--thank goodness. I need
to catch up on sleep and re-energize the batteries. :)
I've got Issue #85 queued up to be sent in two weeks, and I
hope it reaches you OK. You're welcome to send in your
emails, but, even though I'll be around, I'll be without
computer access and won't be able to respond until mid-
August.
Issue #86 should hit your in-box August 15th-ish, when I've
got computer and Internet access again.
New Unsubscribe Address
Please note the new unsubscribe address:
RolePlayingTipsWeekly-Off@lists.webvalence.com
MyInfo v2.0 Ideas Requested
I received a request from the MyInfo team
http://www.milenix.com/myinfo/rpg/ who are busy working on
the next version of the free PC-based organizer software
that I plugged a couple of issues ago.
They asked me to ask you for ideas on what could be added,
changed or improved in v2.0. If you have any feedback, send
it on in to me and I'll forward it to the development team
(when I return from holidays): johnn@roleplayingtips.com
MyInfo Locations Database
Asmor, a Tips subscriber, is using MyInfo to build a
locations database called The WorldBook. It's a collection
of generic but unique locations for GMs where entries are
listed by topic. For example: Locations >> Lakes >> "The
Volcanic Lake."
Asmor's website http://www.worldbook.f2s.com explains it in
detail. If you're interested in contributing, send him an e-
mail at asmor@tokyo.com. All contributors will be given
credit on the webpage, in the index, and on their
contribution(s).
Asmor will also be sharing the file with us for our use--
I'll post updates here in the future. Thanks Asmor.
Cheers,
Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
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Check Out A Free Sample of EZ HERO Magazine
Get support for all your genres from EZ HERO magazine.
Sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, action adventure, and more.
Characters, advice, gadgets, rules, settings, and props.
Get your free sample at http://www.ezhero.com
[Johnn: in particluar, be sure to download the freebie #1
Issue. It has some great gaming articles: http://www.ezhero.com/ezhero01.html]
Return to Contents
Observations From A First-Time Game Master - 10 Tips For Beginner GMs
A Guest Article by Jen Delaney
[Johnn: Jen submitted some tips awhile ago based on her
experiences from being a new GM, and she has graciously
agreed to let me publish them. I think there is some great
advice here for game masters new and old.
I also believe that one can learn a lot from people who are
new to a particular activity as they bring in fresh
perspectives and methods for doing things. So, even if
you're a jaded old GM, I hope you find a helpful reminder,
or even a new trick in this week's issue. :) ]
- Choose Your Players Carefully And Keep The Group Small
I started small, just my husband and our Storyteller from
Vampire. We have a good sized gaming group (5 regulars + 3
'maybes') but I wanted it small. I'm glad I did.
- Having two players allowed for a LOT of interactive
roleplaying both between the PCs and the NPCs. I was able to
act out whole scenes that may have otherwise been reduced to
"okay, you pay 100 gold and you have a horse" in a large
group.
- Roleplaying between the characters. These two had entire
conversations about different subjects and I was able to
eavesdrop and take notes on their character development (and
come up with a few ideas for later adventures...).
- The pace was great. I was never dealing so long with one
of the characters that the other one felt bored. I realize a
really good or really experienced DM could do this with a
large group but a new DM may feel overwhelmed.
I chose my husband because he had to be nice to me cause he
had to come home with me ;-). And I chose the other person
because I thought that he would be easy to play with also. I
passed over other members because either I didn't know them
well, or they wouldn't be interested. But I passed over one
person in particular because they know D&D inside and out
and is very out-spoken...not argumentative, but I've seen him
overrun the Storyteller in our other game too many times to
be comfortable with him in the group (at the start anyway).
So, if it's your first time, choose people you will be
comfortable with and who are truly interested. It helps if
they are forgiving too =).
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- Choose Your Game Carefully
I chose AD&D 2nd edition because that is my main game of
choice. I know it well (not completely, but better than any
other system). Also, I chose it because mainly we game
Vampire and AD&D is as different from Vampire as you can
get. I chose 2nd ed. because I have never played third and
don't know the rules.
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- Pick A Friendly Setting
I chose the Forgotten Realms setting because I have read
lots of books that take place there. I didn't have to worry
about creating a whole new world so I could concentrate more
on the story. There are enough open spots there that I
could add/change pretty much whatever I wanted. (I switched
the location of two cities because it suited my needs
better). There are even pre-made NPCs for the Forgotten
Realms--I am going to use some of my favorite characters
from the books.
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- Do Your Research
I spent a couple of weeks setting this up before I ran it
because I wanted everything to go smoothly and wanted to
make sure I had the story down pat. I didn't want to have
to come up with something on the fly (at least nothing
major). I knew the locations, the major NPCs, and the
options that lay before the characters. I even had the
monsters all written out and some printouts to give to the
players.
Return to Contents
- Avoid Over-planning
While the characters weren't railroaded per se, there was an
awful lot of "co-incidence" in their adventure. One of them
would say "Maybe we can get work on a caravan" and I had it
in my notes that a caravan master would ask them to join on
after hearing that they beat some kobolds and goblins off.
I realized that I could have let them roleplay it out that
they went looking for work on a caravan or something, but I
thought it was a good idea to know the area where the party
is going to be, rather than just have a few key NPCs drawn
up that they might run into, or some notices they might see
[to hook them into the story]. Let them do a little work
(and if it's important and they miss it then you can force
the issue a bit).
Return to Contents
- Know When To Let It Ride....
I was eager to get the adventure started and tried to
several times, but the players were talking (in character)
and the conversation went on for 15 minutes or longer. When
they would stop, I would try to start "So, the day dawns
and...." and they would start talking again. The first few
times I was a little vexed, but then I just enjoyed it
because they were getting "in character" and I learned quite
a few things and got some great ideas to use in future
adventures.
At other times I was anxious to move the story line along
but they were content to talk to the NPCs a little
longer.....but sometimes they wanted to move on and the NPC
wouldn't shut up! =P So, just keep a casual eye on your
players and take your hints from them. I developed some
good unexpected NPCs (and a few of the planned ones were
ignored...). Also, some parts of the adventures were missed,
but others were explored more.
Return to Contents
- Know When To End It
I had a lot of adventure planned out and wanted to get to a
certain point but we didn't make it though we played for 8
hours. Everyone was having fun but even fun things can get
dull after awhile.
One way I handled this was by making several "stopping
points" in the adventure (it was also easier for me to
organize NPCs, monsters, etc...almost like chapters of a
book). After we finished quite a bit, I asked "This is a
good stopping point...keep going or stop?" and they
continued on for one more 'chapter'.
If the group just isn't on top of their game (i.e. they've
got stuff on their mind, they're restless, or just not
having fun), then you can either continue the game (group
consensus) or stop and play Parcheesi or something. I think
it's better just to apologize and save a good adventure for
another day rather than trying to force it out when no one
will really enjoy it.
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- Be Organized
I had a lot of info: tables copied from books, pages of
ideas, adventure info, and more. I had planned to get a GM
Binder but I did not have the time or resources to go out
and get the materials I needed before the game. This hurt me
quite a bit because I had all the info I needed but it was
very hard for me to keep track of it all.
If you're a first time GM, chances are you may be a little
nervous as is; don't make yourself more so by having to
shuffle through books and papers looking for what's-his-
face's daughter's dog's name, etc. My goal is to
never have to open a book while I'm GM-ing (I'll have it all
in notes or in the binder).
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- Learn From Your Mistakes (Aka Find Your Weaknesses)
Thinking back on the session I realized some things. For
example, I discovereed that I am horrible with coming up
with NPC names on the spot. So, I'm going to make a large
table with nothing but names on it that I'll keep in my GM
Binder.
I'll also have a copy of occupations and royalty titles that
I will keep handy too.
And I will be more organized too! (see #8)
Return to Contents
- Summarize
I kept track of the time in a notebook and wrote roughly
what happened each day so that I'd know who the PCs met and
what they'd done. Later, I wrote a general summary of
everything that happened and am using the notes I took from
the characters' conversations to shape the next adventures
(one of the characters befriended a girl in the town...maybe
I'll have her show up later...maybe pregnant... etc.) Like
someone famous once said, you won't know where you're going
until you know where you've been. I plan on sending parts
of the summary and some other stuff to the players via
email.
Return to Contents
Copyright 2001
Jen Delaney
Readers' Tips Of The Week:
- Great Resource For Campaign Pictures
From: SusanJane
I was cruising Yahoo home page when I saw the "Photos"
caption. Seems you're able to pick photos from a
professional image bank (the kind advertising agencies use)
and assemble them into an album. There are some limitations,
like not being able to reorder photos, but all in all it's a
great way to gather together images for a world or a region,
including artifacts and architecture.
I've got my new world, Talain, input with captions and text: http://photos.yahoo.com/sjca2
[Johnn: please note, to access SusanJane's album, you need a
Yahoo account & password.]
- Breathing Life Into A Lifeless Pantheon
From: Stuart
A fellow DM and myself have been in the process of building
a joint campaign setting, but one common problem kept
sprouting up. Our players, no matter how hard they tried,
had a difficult time picturing and understanding our
pantheon of gods.
To fix this, we have begun incorporating the "best" PCs
into our pantheon. Players can always identify with
characters they have witnessed their friends play if they
are truly played well and brought to life. Sadly, since that
degree of role-playing was very rare at best, we figured why
not use the character even after it has retired or died?
Using our world's old PCs has served two very useful
purposes. First, the players now can identify with the
pantheons motivations and ideals, and secondly, ascending
PC's have inspired the players to really focus on
consistency when portraying their characters. Characters now
enrich our setting, rather than just inhabit it.
One example of a character we ascended was Willow, a female
wizard/thief, who began as a very na*ve young lady that
adored children, but sought to change her own way of life
and make her mark on the world. Willow therefore spent a lot of
her time learning about the harsh reality of life and the
world around her.
However, as time passed she began to be less and less na*ve,
but still held tightly to her deepest loves, she still
adored children, so she began sharing her stories with
children in hopes that they might help them to avoid a
similar disaster, and her undying belief that just as she
did, people could change. As a result of her hard work she
ascended and is now the goddess of family and home
(fertility), she still adores children, but also is the
embodiment of change.
While this is a general view of the character, her life was
rich, and the character's motives and personality were very
apparent to the group, thus when we now introduce the
goddess Willow, our players can think back to what they
remember of her, so that their new characters can have a
more realistic interaction with her should the character
they play worship or study about her.
However, remember that not just heroes ascend into a
pantheon, but all types. The best example I can offer is
this, we had a character in our group that no matter what
happened he always got the worst end of it. The character's
misfortune got to the point that many of our players thought
we were out to kill him or just torture him, so we began to
"share" our rolls with another person randomly in the group
to prove it was just utter dumb luck. Therefore, when the
character finally did die, he ascended to the pantheon as
the god of misfortune. Thus, when the players think back
about him they understand why the god of misfortune's
worshipers pay respects to him to avert his watchful eye,
rather than draw it.
While this method helped in a few ways, there are a few
potential pitfalls to be aware of if you decide to apply
this approach of pantheon building to your world. First of
all, even if a player always plays a great character, don't
just ascend every one of their characters. Always ascending
one person's character is bound to result in bitterness from
the rest of your group.
Second, try to make sure that there is a vacancy or absence
of a certain character type within the pantheon before
ascending a new PC.
Third, all aspects of the character must be vivid, not just
one trait. Make sure the character is well rounded and their
motivations are known to the group. A great PC is one that
you, as a DM, know how he will respond to a situation as
does his party members. (Remember, just because you know how
the player will have his/her character respond, your NPCs
most likely won't.)
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- Generate Awesome Sounding Magic Weapon Names
From: John H.
Names hold power. Throughout time, beliefs persist that
knowing the true name of someone (or something) provides
some control over the named one. Names are descriptive,
running from the simple job title to the awe- or fear-
inspiring surname sported by heroes and fiends of renown.
While the former are useful, it's the latter names that I
think about when generating treasure hordes or interesting
legends. To that end, I put together a few brief tables of
synonyms, grouped (loosely) by type. I know that by going
through a thesaurus, I could no doubt generate enough terms
to last a lifetime of campaigns. As it is, the tables below
fit nicely into the back of my Dungeon Master's Guide and
provide enough raw data to formulate my own awe-inspiring
weapons (well, the names at least).
As it stands, I've no alignment terms due to both
not having enough words and in an effort to keep this list
fairly generic. While the lists are primarily intended for
use as suffixes to weapon, monster, or body part terms (like
sword, goblin, or head), some of the words make decent
prefixes as well.
For example:
- Trollsear (flaming troll bane weapon)
- Rimefang (cold piercing weapon)
- Heartseeker (enhanced "to hit" weapon -- most likely piercing)
- Stormcaller (electrical weapon)
- Runeripper (anti-magical or anti-mage slashing weapon)
- Goblindoom (goblin bane weapon)
- Elfcutter (elf bane slashing weapon)
- Headknocker (enhanced "to hit" blunt weapon)
- Skullcrusher (enhanced "damage" blunt weapon)
- Flamerend (flaming slashing weapon) OR (cold-based fire bane weapon)
- Frostbringer (cold weapon)
Here are the charts:
Bane Weapons (d8):
- Foe
- Death
- Bane
- Slayer
- Fear
- Ruin
- Doom
- End
Fire Weapons (d6):
- Flame
- Fire
- Sear
- Heat
- Burn
- Pyre
Cold Weapons (d6):
- Rime
- Hoar
- Frost
- Ice
- Chill
- Cold
Useful Suffixes (d8):
- Caller
- Taker
- Maker
- Giver
- Bringer
- Seeker
- Finder
- Sender
Electrical Weapons (d6):
- Bolt
- Shock
- Blast
- Flash
- Lightning
- Storm
Blunt Weapons (d6):
- Hammer
- Crusher
- Knocker
- Basher
- Grinder
- Thumper
Pointed Weapons (d4):
- Piercer
- Fang / Tooth
- Sting
- Bite(r)
Slashing Weapons (d6):
- Splitter
- Razor
- Claw
- Rend
- Cutter
- Ripper
Magic Prefixes (d4):
- Spell
- Magic
- Rune
- Dweomer
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