Help Me!

[DJ Blackrock]

I posted this in the Kenzerco forums a few years ago. I'll add notes in blue to give examples from games you've been in.


So, you wanna be a GM eh?
Well, sorry to say, there’s no secret society, no secret handshakes, no clandestine meetings…well, not yet anyways.
Unfortunately, that also means that most GMs are on their own when starting out. I had to learn the hard way how to GM, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Herein I’ve compiled a few guidelines, tips, and outright cheats that will help immensely.

K.I.S.S
This is perhaps one of the most important things to remember when GMing. K.I.S.S. stands for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” I first heard about this when reading a book about camera composition. It can apply to GMing like this: Don’t wrack your brain coming up with massive complex conspiracies and webs of intrigue. If you do, chances are your players (somehow) will plow right through it and learn the innermost secrets of your plot before you’re done with your flavor text. If you keep your plot simple your players will naturally assume that things can be that simple, and complicate things on their own.
Note: sometimes, the conspiracies that your characters come up with will sound better than what you had planned. So go with it, and pretend that was what you had in mind all along. Your players will feel satisfied that they figured out a “BIG PLOT POINT” and some of the work associated with world-building gets taken off your shoulders in the process.

Case in Point: Last session. A good chunk of what I ran with, Alex talking to the neighbor, Azrael's involvement, and the hidden booze were all done off the top of my head. I had the whole "Old farmer couple stuck dealing with a strange clone producing plant creature" done, everything else was done in response to you guys. Including Smokey the dog.

Roll with the punches
To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, your players will jump to strange conclusions, your players will go off on completely unrelated tangents, and your players will monkey wrench your carefully laid out plot. Disraeli, as far as I know wasn’t a gamer, and he was actually talking about politics, but the basic idea is the same. Bad, or, more often, inexperienced GMs will try to muscle the players back into the plot they had laid out. Don’t…if you can avoid it. Instead, drop subtle clues, or have them encounter NPCs related to your main plot, don’t force them back, but by all means coax them. If done right, your players will think that your main plot came about due to their own devices, rather than some arbitrary deus ex machina. Players will monkey wrench you a lot in the early days, and don’t hesitate to call a bathroom or cigarette break, if only to allow yourself some time to collect your thoughts. Soon, you’ll be able to work with any curveball your players throw. Even after years of GMing, it still happens to me at times.

Keep it small
It may seem like fun to run a game with a lot of Player Characters…the possible plot hooks are nearly endless, right? Well, yes, but big groups are for GMs who’ve been at it a while. Big groups are very hard to manage, and any battles the players get involved in will take forever to judiciate, and you will become tired of it. Try to keep your group around 3-5 players, so, 6, including yourself. With those numbers, the opposition usually won’t overwhelm your players, and it also provides a challenge to them. For you, the combats won’t take nearly as long, and you can advance to more interesting things quickly.

This is an example of me not practicing what I preach. I can't turn people away, what do you want from me?

Combat isn’t everything
Combat can be fun, don’t forget that, but try to make sure the characters know that every time they get into a fight, there’s a chance they may not make it out. Don’t throw them up against Werewolves or Gods every single combat, unless that’s the game your in, then hey, go for it, but don’t make them pushovers either. A good game is one in which the players can honestly say that the story is far more interesting than the fighting. This sounds simple, but it can actually be very difficult to do. Try to strike a balance between fighting and problem solving (and no, not every problem can be solved with a bullet or a mighty blow, contrary to what some players may think).

Stick to the rules
Let me preface this by saying “Don’t be a d**k about it either.” Now, making up house rules and tweaking things here and there are all well and good, but a beginning GM has his/her plate full already, trying to juggle a bunch of house rules in addition to the book can get very confusing, very quickly. (Example: Changing the initiative rule, so that it makes more sense to you is fine, but changing the essential function of a critical stat like willpower or Arete is just asking for trouble.)
Also, don’t let your players be too powerful. I run “slightly stronger” games, by allowing more starting points, or increasing freebies, or any number of other things. I’ve also been a GM for almost a decade. You can save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run by sticking to the published character creation rules. It truly is amazing what low powered characters can do, especially if they have to think to do it.
Also, fudging it can fall under this heading. What’s fudging? Okay, let’s say that some thug with a shotgun gets the drop on the characters, and, through an amazing roll, could take out the main fighting force before they can blink. Not really all that fun, huh? Fudge it. Allow the player to react, instead of just eating the damage. Saying that a die roll “didn’t happen” is okay, in moderation. Don’t do it often, or else you will earn the distinction of being known as “soft”.

Maintain control
Spontaneous digression is going to happen, there is no avoiding it. A little here and there is okay, but don’t let it get out of hand. Simply clearing your throat and saying “Can we get back to the game now?” works for smaller groups. You may feel bad saying it, you may feel as if your coming off as a jerk if you do. Don’t worry about that, because saying that is usually the bite in the a** most players need to calm down and get back in character. Another way to maintain control is to seat those players who are either soft-spoken or shy near you, so they don’t have to participate in the shouting match to be heard. Also, placing those truly interested in the game near you works wonders.
Okay, so you’ve tried that, but there’s one monkey who just will not calm down, who won’t shut up, or who refuses to do what the rest of the group is doing. Sometimes, going silent and glaring at the offender works. Asking for their character sheet, whistling to yourself while rolling dice and pretending to write something down works too. Declaring that any stupid thing they do in Real Life will be taken as In Character can get a bad player to get in line quick. If everything you’ve tried does not work, ignore them, chances are pretty good that they aren’t an integral part of the game anyway.

Yeah, yeah, I know, practice what I preach.

Get over it.
Okay, so lets say that you have a really cool plot idea, but it bears certain similarities to a movie or book that you’ve seen or read. Other players may have seen it too, and chances are good, once they recognize it, they will call you on it. Don’t be embarrassed, cuz chances are good that they’ll start laughing too. Instead, congratulate them on figuring it out, then throw them a curveball by veering sharply away from what they expect. It’s good to get ideas from TV, Movies, Books, Other games or any other number of things, but try to give it your own spin, don’t make a carbon copy of what inspired you.
“But it worked so well on TV!” you might say. True, it did…but that doesn’t mean it’ll work that well for you too.
Don’t copy something, but do let it inspire you.

Last session's critter, appearance, and it's cloning ability, were copied almost pixel for pixel from the Thorian from Mass Effect. There, I said it.

Accept criticism.
Perhaps one of the hardest things anyone can do. You’ve written this amazing plot, and it’s going to be so cool, right? You sit down for the first few sessions, and one or more players seem to not be enjoying themselves. You ask them what’s wrong, and they launch on a massive diatribe about your game and every single thing they find wrong with it. It hurts. Not that they have a problem with you, but that they don’t like what you wrote.
Sounds like it sucks, huh? It does. I’ve been through it. It never gets any easier. It’s enough to make you wanna quit gaming altogether.
There is a way around it however. At the end of the night, end the game a little early, say, 15-20 minutes before people have to leave, and ask everyone what they liked about the game.
That’s the easy part.
Next, ask them what they didn’t like. It will feel awkward, on both sides of the GM screen, but in time, it feels less so, and eventually, you won’t even need to ask, people will come up and tell you.
The thing to remember is, don’t take the criticism personally. Take it as suggestions. You don’t have to obey the whims of every single player, but if more than one person doesn’t like something, don’t be afraid to change it. I’ve known GMs who were convinced that their plot was the most perfect thing put to paper, and any criticism was met with an angry glare and an exp smack. The most memorable games, at least that I’ve been in, have been the ones where the GM listened to his/her players, and adjusted things here and there to make it a more enjoyable experience for all.
It’s a game. You play games to have fun. You GM in order to share your vision with others. However, with RPGs, that vision you had can and will mutate. You may be resistant to this, but RPGs are a way to tell a story as a group, and, combined, the stories that can come out of a group who truly gets along are easily the most memorable, and, in some cases, moving of them all.

THE GOLDEN RULE
Have fun. That’s it. Plain and simple. No hidden messages. No reverse talking. Is your group having fun? If you can honestly answer “yes” then you’re doing it right.
However, fun can be subjective. A player who says they hate politics, may find that it’s not so bad when filtered through D&D or V:tm.
Or, maybe politics isn’t your cup of tea…or mustard and crackers. Maybe you want to run a game about exploding ninjas and vicious were-bunnies. If your group is having fun, then go with it.
Hmm…exploding ninjas and wererabbits. That has so many possibilities…

So, there you go, hope it helped.