Advice for a newbie GM?

Phyi

I'm putting together a online game of Scion, unfortunately I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. Any advice for a newbie GM?

Super Namicchi

that's a pretty big question! what exactly do you want to know? the most general advice i can give you is learn your system of choice and learn the preferences of your group. a lot of problems can be avoided by having a good working knowledge of both.

Phyi

I know the system pretty well, it's just the planning of plotlines and NPCs that makes me feel overwhelmed. Should I just plan for every possible situation?

Super Namicchi

ah i see, you feel like there's an infinite number of ways you feel you should have everything prepared for.

guess what: improv is a huge part of successful gamemastering. for some people, this means completely going without any preparation and just flying by the seat of their pants. for others, this means 'preparing more to prepare less'; ie, you prepare a bunch of pieces that can be moved around with the group being none the wiser.

either way you go, you're going to have to think on your feet. this is where my second piece of advice comes in of knowing your group's preferences. GMs who have been running for the same group for a long time learn to anticipate which doors each player will prefer to open, and will devote more prep time to the things they think the group will gravitate towards.

for someone fresh out of the box, i'd honestly recommend generating your characters, get an idea for a villain and that villain's plan... and then start your game out in the middle of a gunfight. or an explosion. or a gunfight inside an explosion. and then afterwards, see how your players react, see if they throw out any ideas as to what is going on... and if they throw out some good ones, just steal them and incorporate them.

Sakutian

I'm not expert but here's my advice. Start with an idea for what you want to happen. Then realize you're players are always going to march in and do something you hadn't thought of. They'll kill some NPC with a vital clue or go off on a weird tangent you hadn't planned for. Don't panic when this happens. It's part of any game. Does it mean your idea doesn't work anymore? No. It does mean that you're going to have to figure things out on the fly.

Trying to figure out stuff for every contingency just doesn't work. Try to be adaptable and tell your story, but let your players bring their own style to play as well.

There are a bunch of items and programs I'm sure people more experienced in this regard than myself could point out to you as well, each making your life a great deal easier.

INeedNoSalt

i agree strongly with gunfights and explosions for opening scenes. you're playing scion. you could skip the gunfight and go with a giant monster rampaging through downtown without too much trouble, i think.

i think one of the best things you can do to run an awesome game is just straight up say to your players, "i want to run an awesome game. what would make this game awesome for you?"

Firebug

Don't railroad. This is important. Give people freedom of choice. If nobody's going after the plot hooks you leave out, find out why. Take what people are saying and use it. Don't force players down the path you're already put together.

Having a backup plan or two can't hurt. It doesn't have to be complicated, just to give your players something to do while you try to figure out what happens next. One way to do this that I've read is to stat up mini-encounters: little scenes like "pickpocket running through crowd," "guards conducting a search" or "missing/trapped pet." They're generic, easily adaptable pieces of information with the important numbers already figured out.

INeedNoSalt

Railroading has become a bad word but don't take it to the opposite extreme of not giving your players any direction at all. There are lots of players who won't do anything if you don't give them a push in the right direction.

Rainfall

Open up with a bang.

My first session of my current Scion game(I'll be honest, I'm always running one) started out with everyone being on a boat that got shot into tiny pieces, battling their way through a horde of berserkers to fight their Jotun master, chasing after a thief who had stolen the Holy Grail from underneath their noses, blowing up an airplane that she was trying to escape on, and then engaging in a crazy highway chase that ended up with everyone being arrested and the Grail being eaten by an alligator.

Don't even try to start slow. Write down a list of what each of your players wants, and then shove that ALL into the first session. Don't be afraid if it looks obvious, Fate is trying to push the PCs together. Have them showcase their talents and feel good.

Make some explosions, have some asses get kicked, throw them a challenging opponent that they will have to burn resources to take out, and requires teamwork to defeat, but only after they've torn through a pack of mortal opponents. (I'm a fan of giants for this, as they're classic foes, great for stunting against, and are tough as nails but can go down to a few solid hits.)

Another tip: If the players aren't taking the reins and coming up with their own plans, then throw something at them to keep them interested. It can be an NPC with a secret, a puzzle they have to solve, or just an attack from one of their enemies. Either way, don't let them get bored!

The key to Scion is interesting antagonists, though. If it's just 'monster of the week,' nobody is going to get into it. If they're tracking down the sources of the Dark Pharaoh's power and slowly murdering his subordinates while avoiding the assassins he's sending after them, they are going to be into it. Don't be afraid to throw your antagonists into a fight, either. There's a multitude of 'oh shit' buttons that you can press(my favorite is a Magic 3 spell, Deus Ex Machina. Unlikely circumstances conspire to let your villain live!)

WRITE STUFF DOWN! Make sure you've got the attack values/defense values of your monsters all written down.

Now, my Scion Secret! Check the spoiler for information on making monsters not murder the players.

Scion is balanced around Epic Attributes at high levels, dice pools at low levels. Right now, starting a game, you're worried about dice pools. Remember, 50% of the dice will be successes. You don't want your monsters to be invulnerable, so keep that number in mind. Also, don't EVER give your bad guys base dice pools that are more than 2x the highest DV in the party MINUS ONE.

That's a good way to wipe the party real quick.

Damage is a bit trickier. For Hero, a hit that fills two health levels with Lethal is pretty nasty, but it's about what you want to aim for. If someone gets hit, they'll take their soak+1 damage on average. Average, because you don't want a good roll to one-shot a character. That always blows.

Don't do agg damage. Flat out. Unless you have a reallllly good reason to do it, and even then, don't. It can and will kill the players. Don't even touch A damage until Demigod unless you want to scare the SHIT out of your PCs.
It's really fun. Just use it sparingly.

And here's the last bit. Give every villain and monster a cool trick. My major antagonist, a Scion of Prometheus, never uses his hands to attack. Instead, the Chains of Prometheus do his fighting for him. Sylvester Stallone could fry someone's brain with a couple of words.

In other words, pick a signature boon/knack/relic power that will be cool and effective. At Hero, you really only need one. The PCs won't be throwing out a lot of mojo, and neither will the monsters. It gets a lot more fun higher up.

Then it's just a matter of personality and zazz. Remember, monster of the week is something you can get out of any game. Scion is about making things mythic.

tl;dr So do some preparation. Start with a bang. Don't plan for what the players are going to do. Plan for what your villains are going to do. Write down the important numbers you're going to need.

I could go on for a lot more because I fucking love Scion, but that should cover the basics. Be careful using the stats for monsters straight from the book, they can be too powerful a lot of the time. Change values on the fly if you're murdering the players too thoroughly. At least, until they get a handle on things.

Fagatron

Just try to remember it gets better as you go.

Also I'm not too familiar with Scion, but something that's helped me in regards to giving my campaigns more structure, creating battles that are balanced and fun to play, etc. is using premade modules.

I am generally more of a fly by the seat of my pants improv everything type of guy because, like you, I realized I couldn't plan for every stupid thing my players were going to do; but it generally helps if you're improving from one planned plot point to the next. I like to have a few scenes, the overall theme of my story, names of NPCs, and some main plot points and scenes planned out ahead of time.

Also don't be afraid to implement artificial reasons why they can't drop something and just leave an ongoing story. Stuff like "If you leave now monster/employer/etc. will come after you until you're dead, and without the element of surprise you won't stand a chance." "'X loved one/important person will continue to be in danger if you don't finish what you've started."

JacquesCousteau

A cool thing about Rain's game a while back was that she'd give us battles against foes that could kick our ass normally but provided us with options to help us overcome. Like flak guns.