GM Guide (help please)

[Shadow Queen]

what is the best way to gm as i have only gm'ed twice.[/u]

 

[Valarian]

1. The rules are a guide
2. The GM is always right
3. If the GM is wrong, see rule 2.
4. Enjoy the game

 

[Shadow Queen]

so if they argue kill the pc?

 

[Valarian]

Harsh ... I like it :twisted:

Not quite though ...
The rules as laid down in the book should be known by the GM, but there will always be a time where you don't remember, can't find the reference, or just don't like the rule in the book. This is where the rules become a guide for play, rather than the stone tablets of law. Rules junkies will hate you, but I find that the fluid interpretation of the rules allows the GM to keep the game flowing. This is especially important when you game using a Virtual Gaming Table tool like I do. Any arguments over the rules need to be quickly taken out of the game and resolved. Look it up later if you want to, but as a GM you need to make a decision on the ruling there and then.

The main thing is to enjoy the game and the story that your players are participating in. You may have come up with the general plot, but the players are ad-libbing the dialogue.

 

[Valarian]

Derina, a couple of articles for you to have a look at:
The Ten Commandments Of The Gamesmaster
Back to the Basics: The 6 B's of Effective Gamesmastering

If you want to be really serious about preparation and creating plots within plots, there are several books around for writing novels that can help.
e.g.
Characters and Viewpoint
Plot and Structure
Description
Writing Science Fiction

 

[pasuuli]

Don't spend a lot of initial time planning out an epic.

Start small. A single location with a single scenario helps set the atmosphere and break the ice. Don't try to do everything all at once.

Start out with action... a sudden fight. A fugitive. A bomb. Something to jolt the players awake, and to sit up and react.

Then grow a plot slowly, and use the players' actions as a guide.

Their actions can hand you plot hooks. Do they subdue a bad guy and interrogate him? Maybe he'll leak a tantalizing clue... then will he be assassinated by his "group" because he's an informer now? Will he commit suicide? If so, why?

Do they just kill him and go through his pockets for 'treasure'? Then give them a business card with a location. Is it a shady business? Is it spotlessly reputable? The plot thickens.

If you can do this, then soon you'll find yourself coming up with ideas, discarding others, and weaving things together, and always using your players' moods as a guide.

 

[Shadow Queen]

food for thought ... thanks

 

[Giavonn]

what is the best way to gm as i have only gm'ed twice.[/u]

A wonderful starting adventure is The Cold Equations. It uses several principles that will stand you in good stead as a GM.

1. Start with a bang. Nothing sucks the life out of a session like starting it with shopping or levelling up that should have been done the previous week or in email. Get them cooped into an emergency shuttle, rounded up in a raid and stuffed into a holding cell, or in Happy Daze when a brawl bust out. They can tell each other how they came to be there later.

2. Provide pressure. A ticking clock of some kind helps concentrate effort.

3. Listen to the players. If you're paying attention, they will tell you what they love, hate, fear, and crave, usually without knowing it. The savvy GM files this info away for later, and it's Purple File treasure.

4. Listen to the players. They will theorize about what's going on. When their idea is better than what you had originally intended, their idea should retroactively become yours. They will feel like geniuses for figuring things out, and you will have several minds doing most of your work for you.

5. Never insert a GMPC into the party. This show isn't about the GM. It's about the PCs. Any episode in which the GMPC saves the day, solves the mystery, negotiates the settlement, or gets the spotlight sucks. Yes, even if it's your special, super, really interesting and I have this original story I've written about her character. Especially then. If ya wanna play a character, get someone else to run for a while.

6. Learn from Columbo. Only the murderer feels he has to have an answer to every question. For most questions, the honest answer is "I don't know," with an occasional "Isn't that wierd?" thrown in for good measure. If something doesn't make sense to the player characters, let it not make sense. "You're right, that is weird. I wonder why that did happen." Then see point 4.

Have fun.

 

[Shadow Queen]

would it be better to start with Final Flight?

 

[pasuuli]

A wonderful starting adventure is The Cold Equations. It uses several principles that will stand you in good stead as a GM.

1-2-3-4-5-6 snipped.

These are all great suggestions. I'll add in one more, related to #5:

5a. Add a Patron. A Patron is the characters' go-to guy for "the next step". A sponsor, a jobs man with his own network. He never goes with them anywhere, but instead gives them information, and sends them on (dangerous) errands, presumably using them to help him get his agenda items crossed off. This Patron is trustworthy, though mysterious. He doesn't share his knowledge or agenda.

Think Kosh (or Clarke) to Sheridan -- Sheridan was sent on some strange errands, and informed with near-useless quotes, but has a powerful ally and a degree of protection -- only where appropriate, and never too much. The patron is more useful than Kosh or Clarke, in that he can fill characters' time up with short missions to run/jobs to do and rewards the player characters while the plot builds in the background.

He's also a good "last resort" -- if the players get stuck and don't know what to do, they and you can fall back on this Patron to give them a nudge, or just give them an odd job to fill time. The patron may not know everything, but he may be able to point characters in the right direction.

And, to get back to the Kosh/Clarke metaphor -- when the players' characters are developed enough, that patron can be killed off (or kidnapped, captured, imprisoned, whatever), as part of the unfolding plotline of course. Thus the characters are presented with a new, ominous loose end: who did it and why?

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

would it be better to start with Final Flight?

Final Flight is a weird animal...it's a great scenario, but it's also not a typical scenario. The PCs are set, the action is almost entirely political, and it ends with everyone dying. It's a good one, but you have to run it differently than you would most games.

I would start with Cold Equations, as mentioned above. It's fairly tight and is a good way to get your feet wet.

A few more pointers:

Take PC actions in stride. They will not, under any circumstances, do what you think they will do. Don't sweat it. Just keep an eye on the big picture, and try to only punish them for mistakes, and not for just doing things differently than your expectations. The important thing to remember is you're telling a story WITH the players, not trying to win. If they do something differently than you thought but still cleverly, well, narrate it with style and appreciate it. If, however, they do something really stupid...well narrate that with style too. Just make sure they have a chance to learn from their mistakes.

Always know where you want it to end. If you know the ending of the game, you can work backwards and make sure you can always get there from where you are, no matter how far the PCs wander away from what you thought the plot would be. Knowing the ending also gives you the ability to foreshadow, to regulate loot and XP, and to improv when your players wander off track. (and they will, see above)

And once you get the hang of knowing the ending, you can add in points of interest along the way. So you know it ends in a showdown in the ruins of the Imperial Palace on Centauri Prime? Ok, cool. Add in a dig on a Rim-ward planet somewhere in the early game and a thrilling escape from Babylon 5 in the middle and you've almost got a plot arc! The rest can be plotted out as well, or can be filled in based on character decisions, PC backgrounds, or which NPCs survive the first night.

Oh, and I'll second 5 and 5a heartily. GM PCs are never a good idea. It's a temptation for everyone sometimes, and particularly when you're starting out as a GM but resist it. Your PCs will thank you for being allowed to stand on their own. And having a patron, backer, quest-giver or what have you is a fine way to keep the plot moving. From Sheridan giving them missions to a petty crime boss holding blackmail over their head to get jobs from them, any employer will give you lots of ways to keep the story moving along.

Good luck!

 

[pasuuli]

Gabriel (and others) are totally correct: the players do not think like the referee and often enough won't do what you expect them to. Roll with the flow and try to work within their decisions. This is something that you have to work on, and gets easier over time as you learn to think on your feet.

To amend Gabriel's note a bit, in the beginning you don't have to know where you're going with a plot. You do have to try to make the game enjoyable for your players. And eventually you will have to figure out how to use their actions to tie loose ends and wind things up.

But absolutely, knowing where the game is headed helps with foreshadowing, clairvoyance, and regulating loot, for sure.

 

[Shadow Queen]

One of them wanted to kill Sheriden

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

One of them wanted to kill Sheriden

Why? Was it an interesting backstory with character development potential? Or was it a knee jerk response of "I'm in a tv show! Let's shoot people we've seen on tv!"?

You can work with either, but if it's the latter, the simplest way to keep continuity on track is to keep the PCs away from it, which includes keeping them away from any important NPCs whose death would force you to scramble a lot while rewriting major portions of canon. Not that rewriting canon is inherently bad, just that if they're doing it for the wrong reasons (which include just because they can) you don't have to allow it. This is what comlinks, security scans and video conferencing is for.

(A corollary to "PCs will do the unexpected" is "Don't put an object or NPC in front of the PCs unless you are prepared to lose it." They won't ALWAYS blow it up, shoot it or steal it, but they MIGHT, and it's something to keep in mind, at least til you get a feel for the group.)

That actually reminds me of another bit of advice: Hide your actions. You never (or rarely) have to say "Just because I say so". If you want them to go one way, you don't have to make it the only choice. You can present three paths and simply not tell them they all go to the same place. If you want to keep Sheridan alive in spite of them wanting to kill him just for fun, you don't have to say "no" when security sweeps and armed guards can say it for you. You have complete control over the game world, so you can always let it work for you without being obvious, and without limiting the PCs choices (or their perception of their choices, at any rate).

 

[IanBruntlett]

I ran an AD&D 2nd Edition game (World of Greyhawk) with a little bit of Ravenloft thrown in for about 10 years on and off.

I've spent a lot of time not GMing and it is my New Year's reservation to run a B5 ACTA game - but while not throwing things out, still quite determined to do things differently this time round.

To this end I've had a look at Story Telling Games (Whitewolf stuff) as well as B5 RPG. I've bought books in the same series as "How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card.

Here's my current rules for when I get a B5 RPG started:
* Know your players
* KYS, KISS - Know Your Stuff, Keep It Simple

HTH


Ian

 

[pasuuli]

One of them wanted to kill Sheriden

Ah. To see if it can be done, and to see what would happen. Hmmm. What are the players' ages, here?

If we're talking about teen-agers, then scrap the plot -- for now -- and go for lots of adventure. Fighter actions, running gun battles through the station, invasions, strike forces, etc.

 

[Gabriel_Luna]

Ah. To see if it can be done, and to see what would happen. Hmmm. What are the players' ages, here?

Yeah, age is probably a factor in that. But there's an outside chance that it's a character thing. Dureena (sp? The thief on Crusade) wanted to kill Sheridan, after all, and it was an interesting point in her character development. But most likely it's just an impulse to mess with the status quo.

 

[Giavonn]

A wonderful starting adventure is The Cold Equations. It uses several principles that will stand you in good stead as a GM.

1-2-3-4-5-6 snipped.

These are all great suggestions. I'll add in one more, related to #5:

5a. Add a Patron. A Patron is the characters' go-to guy for "the next step". A sponsor, a jobs man with his own network. He never goes with them anywhere, but instead gives them information, and sends them on (dangerous) errands, presumably using them to help him get his agenda items crossed off. This Patron is trustworthy, though mysterious. He doesn't share his knowledge or agenda.

Patrons can absolutely be cool! They can be of any sort, too, depending on what sort of campaign you or your players want. Consider Nero Wolfe, for example: an agoraphobic detective who needs operatives to run down leads for him-- the missions don't have to make sense, at first-- they make sense to the patron. And they can run the gamut from firefight ("Thank you. I needed readings on the decay pattern of Mr. Syndong's PPG") to shopping trips, to diplomacy/skill fests, to anything you can think of.

You'll get a sense for how things are shaping up and what sorts of things seem cool or thrill your players, and can steer things that way.

 

[Shadow Queen]

One of them wanted to kill Sheriden

Ah. To see if it can be done, and to see what would happen. Hmmm. What are the players' ages, here?

adults