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advice for an aspiring DM
quinnte
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I've played 2nd, 3rd, and I own 4th edition (never played), and in both 2nd and 3rd I've dabbled in being a DM. Most times (I feel) have fallen short of my expectations. I always feel unprepared and end up fumbling with all the NPCs' stats/names/etc as well as what to do when the players inevitably go off course from what I want. I had a game once that I was really excited about because I had a lot of the major plot points mapped out in my head and it could have been a 1-30 epic campaign, but ultimately got abandoned because I never felt like it was going well and just gave up. I'd really like to take the helm again, but need advice on how to get over my insecurities and what feels almost like writers block.
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1. Fumbling with stats - spend a LOT of time setting things up in excel or elsewhere so you have everything you need for every encounter at your fingertips. Laptops/iPad+DnDi is also extremely helpful for looking up things on the fly.
2. Confidence in storyline - try to throw together a loose plotline with some defined points, then have a ton of events that COULD happen, but don't rigidly guide your players. Give them a push when they're fucking about too much, but generally let them push things in the way they want. Good DnD games are about the interaction between the DM and players.
3. Don't worry about stats/exp, declare when people level up or get points. If people complain, tell em to go screw, the narrative is more important than numbers.
*Do* worry about stats and exp. A lot of people feel very rewarded by piling up exp, leveling, and building up their characters.
What I do is at the start of each session, go round the table and ask everyone to say what their character did last session. This refreshes it in your mind and theirs. You can also see what they most enjoyed by what they remembered, so you know to include more of it. Then award XP for the last session based on the monsters the party killed, with substantial individual bonuses for good roleplaying. Then players can level up, and then you can start the session.
Most GMs award XP at the end of the session, but I find that people are generally trying to rush out for the bus at that stage, so people appreciate it more at the start of the session. You can also do it while waiting for latecomers, so not so much time is wasted hanging around.
If you have the time though, XP at the end of the session is best. That way if people are leveling, you're not wasting 30+ minutes of the next session while they adjust their character sheets. It's best done at home.
But yeah, stats ARE important. It's a good chunk of the game. I know I love fiddling with things (not a munchkin though) to get my character just right. If the DM just arbitrarily decided to start ignoring that during combat, I'd be a little bothered. Yeah, you can fudge rolls for players here and there to progress the storyline, but you shouldn't make a habit of it. The fear of losing is something that makes the game enjoyable.
It depends on how dedicated and punctual your players are. If you'd be sitting around 30 minutes waiting for the last 2 players to turn up anyway, it wastes no time. If your players won't remember to level at home or don't have the books, they need to do it at the session. I find it promotes social bonding, as experienced players help newbies with their build.
Obviously, groups are different, but if your group is fairly ramshackle and inexperienced, I find my system works well. I didn't always do this, I worked it out over time. It was most effective at encouraging people to roleplay who were reluctant to get into character, as in recounting what their character did last session, they had to take their mind away from their everyday life and focus on the game. The more they recalled, the better XP bonuses I gave. You'd be amazed at how much people enjoyed this, because it gave everyone 1 minute in the limelight, recounting their character's exploits, so shy players didn't feel ignored.
Some players hate their characters dying, and will throw a fit. Some are good sports. You need to figure out which is which.
Having a basic plot line, but allowing the players to go off the rails takes some of the pressure off of you to deliver. I remember one campaign I intended the players to simply travel through a mountainous area on their way to the next dungeon. Random encounter table got some wolves and a werewolf which the party dispatched. Later, one of them made a remark about the were again, and I had my hook. Pretty soon they were involved in a murder mystery at the local keep they were staying at. I had decided one the PCs became infected and was turning at night. Much fun was had by all discovering what was going on, then killing another were to cure to PC. Completely off the rails of the campaign and ate a whole night of gaming...but resulted in a great night, and some great development for that party. The ranger that was turned became much more brooding and untrusting, causing him problems later in the campaign in his relationship with an NPC that would have gone a totally different direction without that development.
I also would try to not "waste" game time on character sheets. Unless we were doing a big weekend or something, I would typically tell them the XP and the end of the session, and they would get their sheets updated before the next session. We allowed for some vignettes during out of session too, say if a PC wanted something crafted or enchanted, needed training, ect.
One specific issue that comes to mind involves xp and rewards. I always struggled with the CR's and how much xp to give. I had a hard time finding a balance between going by the book and needing more encounters and giving arbitrary xp amounts and ending up with overpowered PCs.
Remember to divide the XP given by the number of characters.
1) The DM Uncertainty Principle. No plot point solidifies itself until observed by a player character. For instance, at the start of my campaign I presented the players with a choice between two characters. Both characters wanted to players to obtain a certain item for them for apparently benign reasons. Naturally the story required the players to choose the wrong one to trust. How to ensure that? Simple. Whichever one they picked was the wrong one. Everything that the players knew about both characters was crafted so that it would be consistent with the character either turning into the villain or turning out to be the only one they could trust in their quest to overcome the villain.
I suppose the short version of this is that you don't decide whether or not a character is a good guy, or whether a mcguffin is a powerful artifact or just a trinket until it is necessary to do so. Have several objects or characters or scenarios that can fulfill the desired role and then hey look at that, the one the players chose was the one you wanted them to choose all along.
2) Don't over-do 1. The players have to believe that their choices matter. If you abuse the DUP they'll turn on you because they feel their actions have no impact. The key here is controlling information. You can't reveal the mcguffin to be a powerful artifact after they've taken it to the greatest wizard in the land and he's declared it junk (not unless you have a good explanation anyway). This is especially important in a story where you have a clear idea of what you want to happen. You mustn't be seen to railroad the players.
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As mentioned, be ready to be flexible and remember that monster stats can be skinned. Party doesn't want to hunt orcs but goes after the town guard? Okay, that first encounter you had planned still works, just tweak slightly to fit the new skin. During the fight you can be thinking about readjusting the narrative and plot points to fit the new course. Always be trying to think ahead and come up with what's next.