Question of the Day, June 30, 2010

[Firia]

I GM games for D&D 3.5, Serenity, Cyberpunk 2020, Cortex, and the occational oddball in the mix. I am our groups primary GM at this moment, and usually one or two others take the helm when I'm not Game Mistress.
[sub]
(point of interest, why are the choices in the poll "Yes = alot," "no = never," and "no = but I want to?" Once again, there's very little in between. There's room for eight choices in these poll things, and yet the choices are always 2 or 3, wherein I usually never fall. FINALLY I see a poll offered in the Dailies that I fit into like a glove. But what if I only GM'd once every couple of weeks every other year? Certainly worthy of an "Occationally" option.)[/sub]

 

[Firia]

I said yes, which is funny because I was TERRIBLE!

So, while I was a GM, I was simply an awful one.

I was too the first time I GM'd. I was 15 or so when I took it upon myself to take the crown. My very first story arc (which was multiple games over the span of a few months) was epic in my mind, but awful in execution. There were little details that I couldn't grasp until having experienced them.

The exploits of my inaugural game still haunt me, thanks to the players that participated in it being among my friends. These days, I'm a master of Mastering. Like anything, it took time to get good at it.

If your first was bad, and you know it was bad, that's good. You can learn what worked, what didn't, and take from that. Learn the ups and downs of story telling, when to roll dice (because really, the dice are just a medium of the game, not the reason), what engages your players, and to learn never to say "No.*"

Play with small groups if you want to get better. Grab two or three friends to roll up players. Get a story module to your favorite RP game. And don't try to do to much at once. Sit back and let the players do their thing. Paint the world, the setting, and control the NPCs actions-reactions. Your players will do the rest. Everything else- the tricks of the trade, they come with time and practice.

Story telling is an art form.

*[sub] No should only be used in instances where a player is making a mockery of the game. But a player playing a role should never hear "no" from the GM. Think of it as a fire extinguisher. Break in Case of Asshat.[/sub]

 

[hackmastergeneral]

Yes lots. Most of my games "crash and burn", because while I am good with characters and interactions and setting up individual scenarios, I suck at the long term planning required to keep a campaign going, and I easily get bogged down in the details of "world building". The best campaign I ever ran was one that was centered around a bunch of pre-written D&D modules that I was able to put a framing world around and add my own details and bits to. The foundation and frame was there, but I just hung the drywall and put the paint and decorations on it. For the record, if anyone runs 3.5 D&D, Red Hand of Doom is one of the best adventure modules written for the system, and is loads of fun.

 

[Harumania]

I've Tabletopped for about four or five years now but just this year worked up the nerve to GM. It was a very fun experience! My group of friends all have their own settings and stories and... well, one day I found that I had a story to tell as well.

I'm not gonna lie, it was scary. I have problems with public speaking, and while, I've gamed for years now, I'm not a rule-monkey by any means... so I was constantly worried about getting the combat rules right and whether or not I calculated damage correctly. I had a few hiccups here and there, but I was with very close friends and family and the experience was fun all around! They helped me when I couldn't remember a rule very well and things went pretty smoothly. Everyone said they enjoyed it and I continued running oneshots every few months. This summer I've been GMing alot... so much I'm starting to run out of ideas!

The best way to go about it is just to start with a story and let it take hold of you. From there build your game around the need to get that story told by and through the players in your game. It also doesn't hurt to be good at pulling things outta the ether either.