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Wasn't sure where to post this, so I just put it in general. Also I'm really new to D&D and I'm just looking for people who might be interested in trading ideas and such. Also curious if anyone has any tips for a starting DM like myself, as I'm currently preparing a campaign that deals with the Leviathan (Elder Evil, not big whale) and I would just love to have it work well.

Well, I haven't played much D&D, though I do play Rifts on a fairly regular basis. Though the settings have some significant differences, I'd be happy to share what I've learned about running games, if you'd like.

This post has been edited by Suunok on 25th February 2008 21:26

Sure, I need some help with getting started and running things smoothly lol. I've done a small adventure, but I clearly need more work and advice

I play a little. The Dungeon Master's guide, tho' expensive, helps set up a campaign efficiently. I have two hours experience of being a DM; what specifically do you need help with?

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"All roads are connected somehow. And they all lead to a time of salvation, where imprisoned souls will be freed. They all lead to the end of the world, and a new beginning." -ODV

One thing I'd suggest is deciding how you want the game to play out before you get any players involved. For example, do you want the players to follow your storyline, fight bosses, and win rewards? Or do you want the players to dive into your world and carve out their own story?

Once you've decided the way you want the game to play out, it's time to select your players (if at all possible). Different players will play different characters and have particular tendencies. My current group, for example, consists of a brilliant roleplayer* (I'll explain in more detail later), a comedian, a run-and-gun-er, and a player who doesn't yet understand the difference between game system roleplaying and freeform online roleplaying. Each one has something different they need from the game in order to enjoy it, with the brilliant RPer (oddly enough) being the easiest to please.

If you want the players to follow your storyline, there are several elements to keep in mind:
1) Keep your story flexible. There's nothing players like more than to throw a wrench in the works (for example, killing the main bad guy before he's supposed to die), and more often than not, they have no idea what they're about to do is going to really mess you up. If your story is flexible, then the loss of a key player will change how it plays out, without necessarily breaking it.
2) Always provide a path for your players to follow. It doesn't have to be the right path to advance the storyline, and if you don't include at least one obvious path, it's possible that your players will simply stop advancing. How do you make a path obvious? The young farm hand looked up fearfully, raising a wavering hand to point into the woods."There! Did you hear it? That sound! It's the same as the last time!"Panicking, the boy dove behind (insert physical description of burliest player character here) "Protect me, please!"
3) Select both players and a setting suited to this kind of playing. Military settings work well, forcing players to complete missions to advance, and combat-loving players (sometimes called roll-players ) are often all to willing to be led through the story, making the only decision they need to worry about be "Do I use the master-crafted sword, or the magically-operated firearm?"

If, however, you want your players to carve their own path, then you've a different set of worries:
1) Build player-character bonds. Learn all you can about their characters, and encourage them to write histories, so that you can adapt the world to involve them. Open-ended RPGs require a lot of player involvement, in my experience, and that's difficult to do if the players feel their characters are disposable.
2) Keep your players motivated. This kind of ties in to the last point, and it's important to keep your players feeling like there's something to work for. That doesn't just mean giving them goals, it means giving them achievable goals and suitable rewards when they get there.
3) Play with various Game Master tools. Experiment with reoccurring villains, divine intervention, corrupt government organizations, and polymorphed dragons (though go light on the latter). Reoccurring villains, if done right, can create genuine animosity between the player group and this fictional entity, thus encouraging the players to keep trying to foil this guy's schemes. Divine intervention (and divine missions) can give players a feeling of power, so long as you make it clear that it isn't necessarily favoritism towards a particular player or you making sure everyone's character survives every single encounter, no matter how powerful their opponent. Similarly, defeating corrupt governments can give them a sense of justice, and I suggested polymorphed dragons as an example of a drastic plot twist.

Things I suggest avoiding:
1) Playing Santa Claus. I'm often guilty of this myself; I want my players to have fun, so I wind up giving them rewards that are over the top. While some players enjoy this at first, if they win every time and get everything they want, they'll start to feel like there's no challenge and no point to keep playing.
2) Player versus GM gaming. Playing to defeat the players (or the game master) creates a very antagonistic atmosphere. It sets people on edge, and can generally create resentment, especially when one takes into account the fact that the GM/DM has effectively infinite power. This is a good way to end a game prematurely, and can lead to the disbanding of gaming groups.
3) Letting players use pre-existing characters. This leads to nothing but trouble, from what I've seen. Players who bring in characters from previous games with other GMs often have far to much power for the new setting, and don't understand that while they may enjoy playing these characters, their new GM doesn't necessarily enjoy running games for them. It can get really, really difficult (I know, I had an issue with one of my players over this), and unless you're experienced with the character in question, how this player plays the character, and are sure that's the kind of game you want to run, I strongly suggest insisting that players make new characters for each campaign, or refuse to let them play.

* "Brilliant" Roleplayer: Someone who is extremely adaptable, and is equally capable of handling open-ended games, games with relatively inflexible storyline, games with lots of fighting, and games that emphasize brains over brawn. Occasionally also characterized by a dedication to the game at hand, to the point of being easily frustrated when other players make out of character comments and jokes that interfere with the game's flow.

Now that I've gone into all that excessive detail, I'll stop. If you read all that, I'll be impressed.

You'd be surprised at how much I read lol. And it all seems like great advice. The campaign I am running will pretty much last forever (assuming that everything goes right) and by the end of it, will leave the world a shattered mess for another story I wrote about three years ago. I appreciate all the help and if I ned anything else I'll certainly refer to the stuff you said

Quote

I play a little. The Dungeon Master's guide, tho' expensive, helps set up a campaign efficiently. I have two hours experience of being a DM; what specifically do you need help with?

The Dungeon Master's Guide is awesome. I only paid $18 for mine off of Amazon and it was so worth it. I'm currently using "Elder Evils" to help build a campaign based on the Leviathan that I think will work perfectly to set up the shattered world I am working to.

I'm just mainly seeking advice on effeciently(spelling?) running a campaign and whatnot. I know I'll learn a lot through experience, but I think if I get advice from experience DM's/GM's it might help me start stronger

This post has been edited by painreaver on 25th February 2008 23:56

Quote (painreaver @ 25th February 2008 23:51)

I'm just mainly seeking advice on effeciently(spelling?) running a campaign and whatnot. I know I'll learn a lot through experience, but I think if I get advice from experience DM's/GM's it might help me start stronger

(I'm far from experienced. I had about three sessions as a DM.)

Vary everything. The monsters fought, the earnings, and the NPCs met throughout the campaign. Running into the same stuff multiple times is not fun, unless the people like it that way.

Set up plots and battles according to what your people like. Don't make it perfect for them, but keep them interested and into the game. After all, you are doing it for your people.

I've learned that explaining to the is really important to do in certain situations, especially if it helps move the plot of mystery forward. Don't be afraid to write down NPCs or missions that you plan on having, because thinking up information off the top of your head is not beneficial. Hey, even keep a notebook of important D&D information.

Be open to fun or enjoyment. Yeah, statistics get really annoying, but stay cool if your players are funny people. I once had an awesome RP dialogue with a friend where her character started flirting with the NPC man who was about to torture her. I became frustrated with the way she was goofing off, but she was a half-elf, so she delivered this classic line. "The human in me says no, but the elf part of me says yes!" I lightened up.

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"All roads are connected somehow. And they all lead to a time of salvation, where imprisoned souls will be freed. They all lead to the end of the world, and a new beginning." -ODV

I've experienced 3 editions of D&D and am I DM of D20 modern, D&D 3.5 and have role-played. Contact me if you need anything.

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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I played once until everyone else got bored and left.

Quote (Suunok @ 26th February 2008 01:44)

3) Letting players use pre-existing characters. This leads to nothing but trouble, from what I've seen. Players who bring in characters from previous games with other GMs often have far to much power for the new setting, and don't understand that while they may enjoy playing these characters, their new GM doesn't necessarily enjoy running games for them. It can get really, really difficult (I know, I had an issue with one of my players over this), and unless you're experienced with the character in question, how this player plays the character, and are sure that's the kind of game you want to run, I strongly suggest insisting that players make new characters for each campaign, or refuse to let them play.

Actually, this sometimes works out fine, especially with campaigns/adventures where the power of the individual characters has little to say. Previous history with other GMs needs to be included in the character history and can sometimes be a wonderful addition to the player-made history (Since it's not 100% controlled by that player).

There's also some other things you should avoid when leading a campaign (although this fits under the Santa Syndrome a bit):
Convincing the players, that their characters are invincible and immortal. They're not and thinking otherwise will make the players reckless.
Having player characters face omnipotent malevolent creatures and survive withot a good reason. This serves to enforce the "belief of invinciblility" and totally destroy the atmosphere of a session.
Letting players quote the handbook on you. The handbook is NOT the GM.

Have fun.

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"I fell off the mountain of words at around the 10,000ft mark. Tell my family...they owe me money." -Narratorway

"If you retort against this, so help me God I'll shove any part of your anatomy I can find into some other part. Figuratively, of course." - Josh

"We have more, can deliver tuesday." - Del S

Good old CoN

Wow you guys have some good advice. I had thought about starting a little notebook with all important NPC's and locations for the campaign. I also suggested my players keep journals and write in them between missions (it's kinda a Drow campaign) so it's easier to remember what has happened and who they meet and what they hear

I've been playing D&D for going on 15 years now and if there is one thing I can recommend to you is that it is best to vary things. Someone above mentioned it, but I felt it needed reiteration.

Also, don't let us gamers run your game. You are the DM. We are just 3-4 people while you encompass the rest of the world

I've played D&D for just over a year now, and I'm up for an online game. I've spoken with MogMaster/MoogleGenocide about his DMing, though I've never actually gotten around to joining a game.

Maybe after I leave college I'll have time for this kind of stuff...hopefully...

In the meantime, though, I am in a campaign among people I know IRL. Maybe I shouldn't do another one so long as this one's active, I'm thinking. So maybe not quite yet.

In the long run, though, I'm interested if anyone has anything. Also, if I can check back here more regularly.

As for DMing, I have no experience DMing, but if it has to do with general game-design questions, I may be able to help. And I've also created several characters and been in three different campaigns (the first two of which basically became pocket-vetoed), so i know some about creating rogue/ninja/lurk-like characters.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 25th March 2008 02:43

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Another point is waht style of game you and your players want. Do you want a dungeon riddled with traps and puzzles for the players to figure out or a blood and guts "hack 'n slash?" optimally you want to find a balance between the two. I myself lean more towards hack n slash because I favor martial characters. It all depends on your players and the characters they play.

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A hero is somone who steps up when everyone else backs down.

Your greatest adversary hides inside your mirror.

I only have 2 primary players and a few people that play off and on. My main players are a Sorcerer/Cleric of Lolth and a Fighter/Rogue. The others have a wide variety of classes. My players use gestalt characters which means the power levels skyrocket with all the class features, but it will allow me to use the giant creatures that everyone is anxious to see