Thinking about DMing

[jasonthelamb]

I was thinking about DMing, I was wondering if there were any tips / tricks with DMing in general, and and personal tips / tricks other DMs can give me.

It would probably be for pathfinder, and maybe 3.5e.

[dayrion]

Well it all depends are you planning on using a pre-built realm? or making your own?

Always come up with a good story! Plan have notes make sure it is fun for your players as well as yourself. Do not control the players let them control themselves. If you want them to go somewhere give them pulls or plot points to use to go that way!

[jasonthelamb]

I was thinking of doing my own world, maybe using hints of Faerun to give some familiarity.

[John_Geeshu]

My only advice: Just do it.

[jasonthelamb]

My only advice: Just do it.


It's just I don't want to DM and then be one of "those DMs," I want to be someone who really creates a fun atmosphere, and tells a good story - so I just want to know some good ways to get that across, without seeming to control the scenarios.

[MikeParham]

Just some thoughts:

1. You can "partner" with another experienced GM/player that can help you with creative suggestions and help avoid the common pitfalls;

2. Take advantage of wiki sites and forums to get both your ideas and those of your players across to the group, especially between actual sessions as this keeps the game "alive";

3. Plan moderately detailed plotlines at least four sessions ahead, but realize that your players can force your best plans to shift within minutes of the actual sessions. At least this way you will have a "target" to aim for when trying to get back on focus.

[Xross]

Use some pre-made adventures if you are starting out. That way, you don't have to obsesss- *ahem* I mean, spend too much time making something from scratch. Just make sure you read through it once.

[Trenloe]

Whenever I'm looking at designing a campaign I keep in mind some excellent advice about campaign elements I read many moons ago. It was in the amazing "The Traveller Adventure" campaign book from 1983 by Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, J. Andrew Keith, Marc Miller and Loren Wiseman, published by GDW. Campaign books like this were very rare in the hobby back in those days, and the information is very valid for gaming now. The campaign has recently been re-written and published for the Mongoose Traveller rules by Mongoose Publishing as "Aramis - The Traveller Adventure" and I'm pleased to see that the same campaign elements advice is given in the reprint. :)

Anyway, back to the information it provides about campaign building - paraphrasing from my old, battered and very treasured physical copy... It talks about "the five seeds for a good campaign":

Basics - this is the background information on the campaign, the locations it will take place in, the history, the people, the factions, friends, enemies, etc., etc.. This doesn't have to be detailed at first - many great campaigns start off in a small area and the GM and players combine to influence the campaign and to build the world around them.
Gimmicks - this is something I don't always subscribe to and really depends on your players. Gimmicks are "things" that the players might want/need at some point in the campaign (a special magic item, expert training, a valued relic, etc.) or things that they don't want that have an effect on the campaign (think of "tribbles" from the original Star Trek series!).
The Pull - these are subtle, underlying aspects to the campaign that slowly keep the players moving and not stagnating. Examples can be simple "the need to adventure!", individual character goals "I want to find my long lost father", "I want to become rich and famous", etc.. There can be multiple pulls within a campaign and they can change over the course of the game.
The Push - this is the immediate, in your face situation/background that is most in the PCs minds and usually effects their decisions on a session by session basis - these can be quests, but they should really be at a more fundamental level than that. Pushes can be campaign long, or can be just for one session. Examples include: being pursued by authorities, the enmity of a specific NPC, the immediate need to find one of the campaign gimmicks, a player or key NPC is ill and the cure is difficult to acquire, you're shipwrecked and need to find food and shelter, etc.. You should usually have at least one push active in the campaign at any time - but don't have too many. You definitely need to introduce a push early in the campaign to get the players focussed on a key story element.
The Enigma - a puzzle the players need to solve. This can be an unknown item, a mystery, an unknown person in the background, dark history of a place/person, etc.. All campaigns need an enigma to keep the players guessing.

When I think about running a campaign the basics are obvious to me, but I always have to think about pulls and pushes - work with your players as pulls very often come from the PCs background. A good push is recommended early on to stop the players wondering what they need to do in the campaign.

Work with the players
Another key thing is to work with your players. Exactly what this entails depends completely on your group. Your campaign will be fun and will last if everyone playing and the GM enjoy the sessions. Communicate with each player - find out what they like or dislike; work with them on the PC background and try to include that in the game (this will be a campaign pull), adjust your gaming style to match that of the PCs... You're all playing in the same world and you can all work together to develop the world and make the game an amazing experience.

And, the classic GM/campaign advice - learn to say "yes" to players. If you let players get involved in the campaign world they feel more invested in it and will help to flesh out the environment. If a player has an idea for developing their character (be it training, making/buying a powerful item, developing a powerful patron, etc.) don't immediately say "no" if you think it doesn't fit in the campaign or would make the player too powerful. Have a bit of a think about it and try to incorporate some aspects of it into your campaign and encourage other players to come up with ideas.

Well, I think that's quite enough from me.. Typing this has given me lots of ideas for a new campaign - I'm off to start on that! :D

[JohnD]

I learned this in my 10 years running campaigns in NWN and NWN2: don't over prepare.

Many are the grand schemes of grandeur that have died in their infancy because the DM wants everything from level 1 to 30 thought of, planned out and created before he/she gives players a taste of the world (and his/her DMing style).

At the start, all you really need is "adventure" content for one, maybe two game sessions, so start small and keep it simple. My first FG campaign I had enough content for what I hoped was one 3-hour game... imagine my surprise when the players grabbed the setting, situation and environment and turned it into almost 10 hours of gaming time.

As your players experience the "initial steps" to your campaign, avenues will come readily to mind... and your players themselves may provide ideas.

[Aegis]

After all my years of DM'ing...I have only one real rule.

The adventure should play, like a good book reads.

That breaks down to this I guess:
The Pc's are the main characters. You adventure should have a hook, a peak, and end with a good breathing moment...and possible a cliffhanger.

:)