I remember that there was one time when I prepared an adventure where a group of NPC's tried to recruit the party to help them explore this old ruin and they would split the great treasure inside, and the PC's decided to instead become pirates and sail the sea. I of course had to scramble and make something up, which became a pretty cool adventure, and later on when they ran into the remains of that group of NPC's and found out that they found a great stone carving in there, that sounded like (Because it was) the great clue that they were looking for in order to find out how to get into the ancient castle at the bottom of the sea (Where the thing that they wanted but were having trouble getting it was). Improvise, have a great adventure, and you might still be able to get them a plot hook to the place you wanted them to go anyway, later on!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Really cool, and good on you for not tossing out your planned adventure. I like the way you then also included the old story into your new direction. Excellent example!

I have a hard time remembering to like a good content creator. The dog barked at the perfect time and you rolled with it perfectly. High thumbs up unless it was planned and created. In that case 2 thumbs up.

A good rule of thumb for any system, whether it's "rules light" or "very crunchy", is to be consistent with whatever your ruling style is. If you want to discard what the rulebook says for a particular thing, make it the same for all the players. Make it the same for your NPCs and monsters. So long as the playing field is level, players will tend to go along with it. And get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Expect the players to go off script, and be ready to improv at a moment's notice. Don't fret if you're not go at it. You will be. So long as everyone's having a good time, you all win.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Consistency should be tattoo'd onto every GM's hand. I totally agree with you!

@pka4lif

7 жыл бұрын

Mike Gould as a new player, I would agree whole heartedly! Whatever you decide, be consistent!

@chukyuniqul

4 жыл бұрын

If you need to buy yourself some time, throw a monster at them. Or, even better, have a handful of premade puzzles you can slot just about anywhere. Yes, even on the road. Dead body with a box with an inscription on it. That'll earn you some 2 hours of peace as the players will scramble to open it if you hint at a treasure within it.

As someone with social anxiety, and no judgement on the perception of people... I started GMing a while ago. Thanks to you and a few other KZreadrs. We use Fate as our system (although I am looking into Pathfinder.) The hardest thing for me so far is knowing if the players enjoy it or not. They are young, and the only thing that is letting me know they may enjoy the game is that they show up for sessions. As for planning, I have never seen modules, or commercial products to show me how to do the things. My best-laid plans usually are just a piece of paper, with a mindmap of all the main things that should happen for the players to know whats up, or generally accepted of them. The rest is coloured in by them. (you need go search find take return change) I could not do this project, these sessions without your guidance and help. Thank you for sharing both your wisdom and knowledge dude. Goodluck on you next venture.

U r a great example of a brilliant dm. Thanks for taking time to share ur valuable experiences

Rules... well in my country there is no rule book. D&D and pathfinder never made it to iran! actually here most people don't know what is RPG! I'm the one introducing it to iran.. in doing so, I'm making a whole new rule set of some sort... no maybe not rule book. some guild and how to books... any way... as I said before I would like to talk to you directly... I think you can help me some how!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Firstly I wish you the very best with your task! It is a noble one. As for the one on one, drop me a PM here on the channel and let's see how I can help :)

@QuolashMCDuck

6 жыл бұрын

hey how did you do so far?

@waefynder9767

5 жыл бұрын

Perhaps you could download the 5e SRD? Those are readily available and cost a whopping 0 $

@thorsten8790

5 жыл бұрын

Doesn't it have something to do with the islamic law in your country?

@jodaman1000

5 жыл бұрын

Wow, that's so cool! Love from America my man! Gamers should rule the world!

The Flow Diagram is a very helpful tip, really can help simplify the plot and to not overwhelm a new GM like me. Thank you!

"When Stanley came to a set of two doors, he chose the one on his left."

I have to speak against a degree of the "Settle it later" thought. As a player, there is not one time where this resulted in anything other than the player trying to point out the issue getting screwed, especially if it results in a PC death, which no GM I have ever met has been willing to tap back. Getting killed by overrun is fine, getting killed because the GM refused to acknowledge that you were immune to the sneak attacks that killed you can very well be a "walk away" point for many players, and even if they stay, are vastly more likely to start treating their characters more like clay pigeons, and not bother investing in them, especially if it becomes a trend at the table.

@ActionCow69

6 жыл бұрын

Sean McTiernan If its a gigantic influencer like that i agree, but i think he was more referencing stuff like making up a climbing rule on the fly instead of referencing one. The main intent is not to get bogged down over minor details, but I'd try to rule it in the players favor to a degree.

I really like your approach. I'm preparing to run my wife and kids through a campaign and my goal is that they have a good time. if they do, then I will because I'll get to continue to play with them.

What a wonderful gift you make for the next GM generation! I wish I was young again :3. If you don't mind, a few tips I would share with the richness of your own : - Reserve a time period to play, planned well in advance. Figure out when it starts, when it ends and what do you do if a player is missing. - Start small. Either a one-shot adventure or a 5 sessions adventure max. - Play with people of confidence, either close friends or family. - Your goal is to entertain, but you are not an entertainer. - Put yourself into it : describe to your players places you have been, people you have met and how they changed your life. - Deliver the extraordinary, think outside of the box, defy the expectations, surprise, amaze and bewilde.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

My gratitude, and agreement. Your suggestions are spot on, especially the trusted friends and starting small!

Very informative, thank you so much! Well presented with great subtle humour - love it. Thanks

Thank you for the fascinating video! As I'm about to have the first session of my first ever campaign, this series is a great thing to learn from!

As i told my players once: I am at least as curious what is behind the portal as you are!

this channel is so helpful thanks for all the tips you give I was wanting to become a gm and was wanting to learn first so I dont screw up D&D for some firstime player I get and I feel your videos are helping a great deal

Omg the story of the dm at the convention is tereible D:! Im glad you came trough and are still doing this! Which its great btw. Congrats 👏👏👏👏

Firstly, thank you for this awesome channel. I find it very relieving that you support this style of GM:ing and you have given me many helpful pointers about running my own games. The whole idea of players having a good time is often frowned upon and that the plot is everything or that players are babies for being upset when their character dies etc. This from games where player characters tend to die on random encounters and not serving the main plot or the story in any way. I believe that PC characters death should always be a big thing, especially when characters personal developments are important and players are really digging into the internal playing of relationships and that this tone is important part of the game. I'm putting up a new campaign and I am literally watching your videos thru, trying to find perfect order to check them, to helping me build my game for my players. Thanks again for your great content, I find your output to very easy to listen and I do love your sense of humor as well. :D

Very useful as always. Going to be going through the whole playlist. Love the advice you give. This is the way these games are meant to be played. Enjoying a good story.

awesome video! thank you sir! I will check out all of the other videos you have uploaded :-)

This is the 6th or so video Ive consecutively watched by you and your two channels, and halfway through this video, I know wirhout any doubt, you are my closest-to-perfect GM tutor. Love your videos 👍I too appreciate the richness of the story over the randomly generated, or concretely generated, numbers that decide what happen, rather than my own paths of my own story. Two thumbs up guy! My brain is sponging so much so fast. haha

"nothing is cast in stone." That's very true.

need more vids like this.... see a lot of FB and forums posting from people who want to either start playing or GMing.

This is such a gift, thank you

Really good advice ! A good tip for new GMs, a new GM recently asked me "how do i hold all theses rules?". Some systems are easy to understand as a player, but hard to manipulate or use as a GM. What monster do i use? What stats do my enemy have? What difficulty should X be, and how do i create this difficulty. The solution is simple, take a premade module that fits the party (any module, even if players know it), go to the encounters, and just take the stats of the enemies. It does not matter if the human footmen has the stats of an elf one. And you will save a lot of time and prep, that you can use for a better story, while still learning what difficulty is used. Hope this tip helps someone !

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

those are good points, and I must admit maybe a video on how to make enemy stats, monsters etc is possibly another project for me. Modules do help act as a great guide!

@Nibilli

7 жыл бұрын

You are the type of GM to use the rules when you need them and to improvise easily. But beginners often fail to balance, or understand rules, and thus loose a lot of time. When you know nothing about RPG rules, you can't improvise them. And i saw many GMs ruining super good stories because of balance issues, having super strong enemies or so, and, as a beginner, not being able to think of something else. It can be a really bad first experience for a GM.

@Rynios222

7 жыл бұрын

Hi, I realy like your Videos and there is a lot I learn, when I watch them. It would be great if you could make a video on Enemy scaling or an adapting the difficulty. I want to give PCs few, but interessing fights. I think that every fight should be meaningfull and challenging but a "Boss fight" or end fight should still be more meaningfull (and more strategic). I bought a module and when I red it I started to alter almost everything, because I thougt it was much to strict. Now I'm at the point, where I don't know if I can even use the Monster in this Module (also Orcs are boring ;-) ) Realy like your Videos, keep up the great work!

@Nibilli

7 жыл бұрын

Enemy scaling in D&D? Most vids here are general advice. But yeah a video on how to create challenge/difficulty/intensity/fear/glory in an encounter could be nice. If i can advice you, I would suggest you first think about what your party likes. Give them what they want. Second, if you don't like a certain enemy but it has to be there in the story, just give it a pack rule. Something they can do grouped, like firing siege weapon, mass raging or firing volleys of arrows that you treat as an AOE rather than single shots. You can also give them someone that buffs them of leads them and play with it (a healer, a transpositioning mage, a bard, a warchief that rallys them...). Third, try playing on the context of the fight. Make them fight goblins in low ceiling or small coridors, add a land shifting mage, give surprise to any one group, have them fight in snow, steep terrain, swamps, violent winds... And always give them SOME way to avoid the problem (dry zone, spell you gave them, preparing the expedition, some place on the map where they have room. The trick is to create OBJECTIVES ^^. Lastly, give your bosses thoses "lair actions" or "legendary actions" D&D5 superbly introduced : a "super action" that has a great effect but costs all the bosses turn, or à small action performed at any time once out of the bosses turn. They are great to create that "Wow !" and "holy shit" moment for boss fight. Anyway, take any enemy that matches the players, but think about how the fight will go on. Hope it helped ! ;)

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Wonderful advice! I agree with you on all these points. Mixing it up (different monsters, or same monster different skill sets etc.) is a great way to make the combat interesting and unique. I think I shall do a GM 102 video on how to make monsters your own from my perspective so it doesn't matter what your skill level is.

I'm using a made up system so the players can't argue over the rules because I am the rule-book.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Well that's one way to do it!

@Bloobz

7 жыл бұрын

Rule 1 : The GM is never wrong Rule 2 : If the GM is wrong, refer to Rule 1

@darynu

7 жыл бұрын

The GM can certainly be wrong. The GM is in the wrong if he is ruining the enjoyment of the group (so long as they aren't being irrationally upset at something normal of course). Thinking the GM is never wrong is a very easy way to become a bad GM, because it can get you into the habit of disregarding your player's opinions and desires.

@madmanwithaplan1826

7 жыл бұрын

one of my players was questing the material i used to make dwarven crates. wouldnt they use mithrial instead of steel to make the crates. to which i said no they are made out of steel to be heavier to prevent bandits from taking them. so he said that mithiral was heavier. so i told him to find it in the rule book for me. he took out his book looked through for a few minutes and found it and handed over the book... i took a pencil out and crossed out the weights and switched them and handed it back, "there you go your book is now correct"

@farmahrumkay6094

6 жыл бұрын

I played a game set in real life, it was set in the rocky mountains in Canada. One of my more special players gave me a 10 minute argument over whether the rocky mountains extended into Canada, than another 20 minute argument over whether it would be snowing at that time of year. Trying to stop that mess from happening again is why we need the "GM is always right" rules

I just started being a DM and this video was very helpful.

Recently discovered your channel, so much great advice!

So well done. :) I just love the way you speak.

I'm trying to gm for the first time. I don't have any friends that play table top rpgs, and trying to learn a whole game system is daunting (although I'm using Cogent Roleplay which is designed for new players). Progress is....slow, as I am just learning this and don't know what I'm doing. But I think I'm getting somewhere. I'm going to make my first campaign a murder mystery, as the players have a little more freedom to do what they want, and there will be less complicated combat than usual. Wish me luck.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

I do with you the best of luck. Just don't be afraid to throw in a murderous villain when or if you players don't figure out the mystery. Nothing like a killer giving a big speech just before the hero's win right?

@jodaman1000

5 жыл бұрын

Good luck

3 Years laters still good advice. Thanks for the info

All wonderful advice

I love how you ended on that note illustrating how GM flexibility in the collaborative storytelling process directly results in a better story being told.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

I believe it's true. I know that I've tried a few times to write a novel. I can't do it. I need to input of others to generate perspectives I cannot fathom which in turn makes the story that much better.

Haay, I wanne let you know that your video helped me alot. I know this is a older video but it is still very usefull. Thank you!

I've seen a few of your videos and after this one, I had to subscribe. This video was so affirming because I'm a very rules light GM. I just want everyone to have a moment, preferably a good one.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Welcome to the channel!

@gamesdisk

7 жыл бұрын

NorskBN try the d6 system (d6 space for example ) I find it the perfect mix of enough rules to keep the game together while being rules lite enough not to get bogged down in junk

Your dogs know you are in there making videos, and they want to co-host!

Your videos have been so super helpful to me. Thanks!!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Pleasure!

So I've played in all kinds of games from waaaaay back in 2e to 5e. But this is the first time I'm DMing a game of 5e D&D and the first game starts tomorrow. I am bricking it. So I'm now binge-watching your videos, and I thought i'd make some comments along the way. I'm in agreement with you regarding your preferred style as a GM. The whole point of D&D is it's an excuse for which people come together and have fun through the medium of storytelling, adventure, and just sheer banter, bollocks and shenanigans. Therefore, the focus should be on fun; what's going to be best for the group. I think the problem lies in the fact that whilst a good GM adapts their style to suit the players involved, some GMs are naturally better at this than others and some GMs are just altogether incompatible with certain styles. I for example can run a purely 'by the numbers' campaign of D&D but the story, creative licence, ad-hoc improvisation and indeed the unscripted humour suffers badly for it. I suppose an example would be the 'Wish' spell at the end of a campaign as a reward for slaying that dragon. There are rules about what a Wish spell is, what it does, what it can do and what it can do, and when you look at the guide it's actually pretty limited (probably because it's also designed to be a 9th level spell for Wizards and Sorcs). I had a DM once whose attitude to Wish spells is to use them as a double-edged sword: Players had to be very careful what they wish for, because every granted wish came with a caveat. Kind of like the joke about Tyrion Lannister once being 6'3" until he wished to have a penis that hung past his knees.

There are SOOO many resources online about "perfecting" the art of game mastering, when in fact a true art is all expression. Your channel by far is one of my favorite guidelines for my own campaigns. You tell it how it is, how you want it, and most importantly how the players need it ;) Great vid for the pros and the noobs alike.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I am just tired of non-helpful videos that are about helping you know? So if I get shouted at that's ok, as long as someone - like you - finds value!

@konkyolife

7 жыл бұрын

Agreed. There are no practical tips, just "hey watch us drink beer, play D&D and make d/k jokes" no thanks.

oh my gosh he rolled so well with that dog barking, it was almost like he planned it

Great advice.

Im currently viewing GM101 with 101k current views. Love the channel, just found you recently

Lol reminds me of the rules for dark heresy's melee combat. It seemed a bit convoluted to us so we just simplified it to a few rolls to decide the outcome.

I really enjoy your perspective. I agree, fun first, last, and everything in between! I'd love to find a game like you run!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

You can run it yourself! It's easier to find players then a GM. I dare you!

@pka4lif

7 жыл бұрын

How to be a Great Game Master I ran a game that I was already in...the DM needed a break. I think it went ok; but, I feel like I realized I prefer playing to DMing. I felt soooooo much pressure to run it perfectly that I didn't enjoy it. I've only been playing DnD for a few months now...so maybe after I've had some more games under my belt I'll give it another go! (I think that's part of why I watch your videos. Once I have a better grasp, maybe I'll have more fun doing it again!)

How did i not get callled on my bullshit. Iv started likd about 3-5 adventures, in my world. Man my players are phasent. I just learned 80% from this video as new. Welp youv got a new regular wiever!

I'm running a game online, massive campaign, with a little sandboxing, another game that I used the dnd setup you help create that is a superhero system that I really need to work on a lot more, and another home game I will start running soon. The home game will be a murder mystery that I am creating all my own. I've been creating, playing, and GMing games like DND for years and didn't even know it. I've only been playing dnd since the end of December last year, and I had only recently discovered what it was all about when looking stuff up. I got my brother-in-law the starter kit for Christmas and was intrigued because I always wanted to play it a learn what it was. The more I started to play it, the more I realized I've been doing this for years. I've created home games that were strictly action based with a little story, but no dice. I didn't know that I was creating role playing games. I've actually incorporated bits from the ones I've created into the games I'm running. When I first started GMing back in February maybe, I picked it up pretty well because of all the games I've been playing and creating.

Ooh, an RPG on how to direct a Horror movie! Sounds intriguing...

Thanks for the vid! After watching a lot of your videos, I certainly want to try a 'all roads lead to Rome' method of DMing, which would mean just jotting down key points and plotting those key points where my characters decide to go in a way that amounts to sense for the narrative. Speaking of, I love the idea of story over strict rules, especially since it keeps things moving a lot faster, plus I'm a sucker for story XD

Your channel was linked in the Armco Discord channel (though not for this video) and I really wish I found your channel sooner. I recently started playing as a GM for an Edge of the Empire campaign and I have never played any tabletop rpg ever. Closest I got was NWN 1 and 2 on the PC. We're nine sessions in so far so I think I'm doing somewhat ok at least. Either way, thanks for making these videos.

I loved the dog bit

I am about to GM a game for a group I've never met, after the temporary disbanding of my first group. I am scared and excited, and I don't know anything about my players, other than one of them is a father of two and makes chainmail. Thank you so much for making this vid, I might have run across it way after you made it, but I am very grateful. Cause I needed a refresher.

@robertcapostagno2082

6 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/hKenq85rppOpYc4.html

Very well executed video, good job.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you, I hope you found it a little useful?

@greycat5400

7 жыл бұрын

Yes I did, I find all your videos extremely useful and well laid out.

As my buddy says it best, they're not so much rules as so much guidelines.

@Dancan799

4 жыл бұрын

brandon ferguson does that buddy have a tendency to disinclined to acquiesce to requests

Thanks for another great video. One of the things I've learnt was that it's almost always better to not overdesign your submodules in the story, rather make them have an outline and flesh it out on the go. Maybe even by inserting other smaller submodule blocks. This way you're always adapting your story to the players decision, while still having them go in an approximately right (from your standpoint) direction. It's like herding cats - get creative with the tools you use :)

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Herding cats is a great analogy. Yes!

thanks a ton. great advice and vids

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Pleasure!

GREAT VIDEO

I think there's a threshold as to adapting your game to suit your players. A few tweaks, yeah, but when you're into telling a dark high fantasy story culminating in a huge moral quandary and your players would prefer your game to mirror the movie "dude where's my car", it's time to just look for a new group.

Throughout this video, I kept thinking of the youtube channel "The Third Wheel." Their series "Thrilling Intent" is a tabletop game that is completely story oriented. At the end of each video, it shows their stats, but it's more for a comedic effect for the viewers. The three players pretty much narrate what they do on screen and the GM tells them what happens because of their actions. Even the GM's characters become just as likable as the players and he does a nice job moving the story along. The show did have dice roles in the earliest of battles, but even then, it was going off the GM's whim on how well they rolled. And that was completely dropped later on for completely narrative control for a fun series.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

I'll go check 'em out.

Awesome video, Guy. Thanks for the tips.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Please Frank. You ready to fire up a game in your little patch of Iowa?

@frankrobinsjr.1719

7 жыл бұрын

I live too far out of town for anyone to want to come to my place. Apparently, farm living is good for getting away from everything, especially in winter when we can get up to six foot drifts.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Wow... I need to move to Iowa...

@frankrobinsjr.1719

7 жыл бұрын

And here I was lamenting the fact that the lottery wasn't large enough to buy my own tropical island getaway.

About 30 years ago I had the PCs playing themselves in my world. What's the first thing they did? They built a defibrillator to bring a dying gold dragon back to life!

6:30 So much agree with you here!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Always good to agree ;)

Great video I have some questions but now is not the time to be chatty My major problem is that my PCs don't like the fact that I can't fake voice's or do good impressions. Good advice you give

Hey, not long ago found this site. Loving it so far. Have you done a GM Tips for the first session and the Social Contract? Kenneth

Well I really like good math, but I really really love a good story!

GM's have a right to pick and choose whatever rules they want. Some variation of that rule is in almost all RPGs. I think the key is consistency. You need to be clear and consistent with your players or you can risk your credibility with them. Different players want different things, but the rules, however heavy or light your game is, help create verisimilitude. They need to believe whatever universe they are in has some baseline measurement. If a GM is inconsistent, it can make the game feel like it's made up and it takes players out of the game. I think the same thing can be said if there are too many rules, or too much rolling. Suddenly it's not an experience anymore, it's accounting and dice rolling. So the key is finding the balance and making sure they augment the experience and not get in the way.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Yes! What that man said. I agree. Consistency and balance.

i've been spending countless hours (fun hours though) planning my first session and yet i still feel underprepared. i can't wait to jump in and learn by doing but at the same time a part of me wants to postpone to make sure i get it right. the fact that some of my players are GMs doesn't help my selfdoubt.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

If you want to relax a little watch my videos on planning a session part one and part three. You'l see I spend hours agonizing over the mission and then when it's played - it's totally different. We can over plan and we will never it right - sometimes you just have to launch!

@Mr.Monster1984

6 жыл бұрын

Just do it. It is easier than it seems

And I rule my table with an iron fist. The Fashy DM.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Hahahana. Only when I'm wearing gauntlets.

THE DOG! omg you're adorable.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

LOL

Yeah! Another portion of great tips! Thanks from moldavian-russian-speaking GM!)))

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Moldavia! Wow gratitude! Glad you liked the video!

@Lokerbar

7 жыл бұрын

Just as always) Multumesc and спасибо)

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

thank you! Spasiba - is how it sounds to me :) If I were to say that in say... Zulu it would be Ngiyabonga.

I think these are great tips! personally I would add that you should know SOME of the rules at least.... You just have to figure out which ones are the core rules and play with those, learning the others as you go. I also have personally a good experience just learning a system as we go as a GM, that does require you to be very up front with your players telling them ahead of time that you don't know the rules either, and you intend to "learn as we go". That type of game does tend to stop the flow of the game to look up rules a lot, but the primary objective of that game should be to learn the rules. When you and your players think you have the important parts down, you simply start a new game playing it for the story =) In my case I like to play a lot of different types of systems, and often that means I have to run it myself to be able to play, so "learn as we go" has been great for me to get exposed to a lot of (well, only 5 at the time I'm writing this, but you know what I mean) the different systems there are out there ^_^

Re Modules: I've been using them for Star Wars at certain points if they work for my characters and make my story better. For instance, a local Crime Lord didn't trust the players because they didn't have any street cred, so they went on a module mission that was a simple heist type adventure. When they were done they got the credit they needed to continue in my story (though they never knew they were playing a module vs my original stuff).

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

There is a the key - they didn't know they were playing a module! You got it right, and they liked it.

My current campaign is centered around a random generated wilderness (I'm using the tables found with Pathfinder's Ultimate Campaign) and new kingdoms emerging along the coasts of this massive continent. One arc is similar to the Rise of Tiamat, the players have discovered a dragon mask (in this case, the Red Dragon Mask) and are aware of the existence of the others, however, due to the randomly generated landscape they stumbled upon an orc stronghold and now they are in the midst of war between the kingdom they belong to and this tribe of orcs. Sometimes just let things flow organically.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Oh yes very much. It it very much discovering your own world through random things as it is through constructed things. I agree totally.

So I am starting a game tomorrow and I am looking for some feedback on how i am planning on starting my game. it will start with the cliche you find yourself in a tavern and i will allow them them to roleplay and mingle with the NPCs who may or may not drop subtle hints on potential future quests. After a few in game hours, orc slavers will attack. I have plans for 3 of the potential outcomes (They win and become heroes, they lose and become slaves or they escape and are on the run) that will all eventually have them run into an oracle npc who will tell them that he has seen a vision of a great army coming that will destroy the land and that the only way to prevent it would be for 4 individuals who were all forced out from their old lives (which just happened to be a common theme for all of the player characters.) to unite the various factions of the region against the invading army. If it seems like that isn't enough motivation for the 4 PCs to work together, the oracle would then cast a curse on the 4 of them, causing them to share the pain felt by the others. Meaning that if one PC takes damage, the others will feel the pain from it as well without actually losing HP.

Allright, I am running a CoC game for the first time in my life coming sunday. The following is my idea: A man loses his child and in his grief he turns to the occult to learn to create a synthetic version of this child. He manages to do it, somewhat. The child is obviously not entirely human as can be seen due to demeanor and some of the movements. Scared, that he will be found out and can't live his delusion he, with the help of the occult, creates a fog that falls over the whole city that makes people basically not care about anything. They do follow their daily grind, but apparently with no thought or care for anything that doesn't fit it. Now, very few people are resistant to this fog, including the players. So they find a character (probably a local priest) who is resistant and has somewhat of a knowledge of the occult. So he was looking for people who were also resistant. So he meets the player characters and invites them to his church to basically recruit them. Over the adventure there will be three kinds of dead bodies found: people who just weren't saved since no one cared due to the fog (heart attack?), people who were resistant to the fog and therefore have been killed by the father since they threatened his plan of having a "normal" life with this kid and people killed by the "kid". The kid at his creation which came in part due to unholy means felt for a short moment what it feels like to be alive. But that feeling has subsided and all that stayed was a desperation to get it back. So he experiments with a combination of cold thinking and appropriately childish logic on the bodies of other people, which kills them of course, leaving clues of what is going on. That's the basic idea I have. I'd appreciate feedback. ^^

I guess the best way to put it is the gm is the plot maker but the charcters are the team of spiders spinning the detailed web

Rolling dice for negotiation, conversation, etc reduces the space for role-playing. Simulate talking to one another by _talking to one another_

Im homebrewing my story, its actually a friends story that im going to throw them into as a surprise, i dont want them to die but i still want it to be a fear

As you say the story is all!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

:)

09:00 Sir, I love you.

Yeah. I know of something you missed. How do I talk people into playing with me? I watch all these videos and I have a lot of fun ideas and I'd love to get started, but my friends think I'm trying to talk them into going to the dentist. They won't even try.

@Mr.Monster1984

6 жыл бұрын

Find new friends that play

I drug my players with roofies.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Sometimes... just sometimes, I wish they'd drug me with rufies ;)

@bamfasaurusrex

7 жыл бұрын

How to be a Great Game Master hahahaha, make for an interesting game that's for sure!

@brightboar4421

5 жыл бұрын

BRILLIANT!

@0x777

4 жыл бұрын

@@HowtobeaGreatGM It's been done. kzread.info/dash/bejne/o36Lw6ZshJq0qpM.html

Could you please review the GM section of Dungeon World? Many people think it makes you a better GM when following those rules. To sum up, the GM has to follow a set of rules (not guidelines like in D&D). When a player fails his roll, something interesting happens. The GM chooses what happens from a list, describing what happens in the fiction. The GM may never speak the name of whatever he does. For instance, when the player fails to climb the cliff, the GM may choose to Separate Them. If he does, he tells how an enemy's arrow hits the rope, and the rope snaps into two; letting some players fall while others stay above. The GM can Deal Damage, Put Someone into a Spot, Reveal an Unwelcome Truth, etc. But he has to do something from that list. He cannot just say "You miss. Next player, your turn." Another aspect to do with prep what I like you to review is using what Dungeon World calls Fronts, Dangers, and Grim Portents. The short version is, write down in your prep what happens, step by step, what the big bad evil guy wants to do, and how he goes about doing it if the players do not exist to stop him. While an evil archmage wants to destroy the world, he first has to find a magical book. Then he has to go to an arcane place, cast a ritual, summon a dragon, and lastly control the dragon. When the players ignore the archmage too long, or fail to stop him, advance the step the archmage does by one and continue the story. Having multiples of these dangers happen at once makes the story that much more interesting, and alive. There are also some rules about First Session that are quite unique to the rest of the game. You can find the Dungeon World SRD online. Can you do a review of the GM section, please?

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Apologies for only responding now, the new KZread comments thing is horrendous! I'll ask the goblins to have a look for a copy and see if it's in budget. It sounds interesting!

So basically the struggle between Narrativism and Positivism carries on outside of academic history practices.

idk how relevent or if anyone can help, but I need help with using adventure hooks. I have a large over arching campaign idea I came up with but need to fill the middle parts with adventures and such. I'm planning every 4-5 levels for them to come to the next part of the main story. Any ideas I can use for the middle parts? or advice on how to better DM on the fly? for when the players inevitably toss thee old monkey wrench into my gears

AMEN!

Cant' agree more on the: What would be the most fun. When I started a G.I. Joe rpg the PCs were having trouble climbing up a rope due to poor dice rolls. While funny, it broke the story that these were elite soldiers and it was preventing them from getting to the good stuff of trying to sneak up on guards and what not. I'd rather have them fail sneaking up on a guard than climbing 10 feet up a rope.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha... isn't that always the case though? Simple stuff is where the dice seem to 'fail' and the complex stuff the dice breeze through.

I'm running my first campaign right now. We've been gathering weekly for almost 6 months now. The way I set things up when I have a cool idea for a setting or cool adventure hook is that I create a set piece. I don't overly flesh it out where it 100% HAS to be at a certain point at a certain time. I tend to fill things in as the story goes along and when it makes sense, that set piece will show up. I think of every map or setting as a piece of a quilt and I try to not cement where it'll be in the quilt until the players follow a thread that connects one set piece or piece of the quilt to another. In that way, I think a GM/DM that enjoys miniatures and building dungeons and the like can do that and not feel like it's a total waste but also give the players a chance to go wherever and follow whatever thread you want. I also have some rough idea what's going on around the set pieces, sort of like a tiny fog that is revealed if the players want to go over there. They don't have to in order to do whatever it is they want to do but if they choose to, it can help them with what they're doing depending on what they decide to do. My players know from the start that I'll use their character's backstories and take notes on people and places their character mentions to help craft a story around each character and the group as a whole. I find that this method helps tweak plot hooks and really connect with character motivation so that you can kinda see where the group is headed and at the very least, narrow it down to a few places that they might end up next. I also give myself plenty of wiggle room to toss in an NPC that they might be looking for if it's logical for them to be there or to give enemies motivations that aren't always "completely kill the PCs". Most of my prep when a set piece does come up and fit into a situation is filling in the details from the notes I have from the week or two before and brainstorming who might logically be there that I don't have "listed" as being there or people that can be logically called upon or communicated with even through magical means. From there, it's just a matter of rolling with what happens and taking notes. I can't stress that enough for new GMs/DMs. Take notes! Lots of notes! All the notes! They can only help you with your world building and story developments. They've been a lifesaver for me countless of times. They will give you ideas, especially when you're sitting there without any idea of what to do next. Have a note that a character has a long lost sibling? BAM! Rumor pops up about someone fitting their description. You don't even need to now what they look like. Just say that the NPC describes that sibling and if a PC asks if they have a scar or something, just have the NPC say that they don't know since it was a while ago that they saw this person. That's the beauty of NPCs; They don't have to know everything. Well, those are some ideas and things I learned during my first campaign and I hope this helps some new GMs/DMs. It's worked for me and my group so maybe a few ideas can help someone else. ^-^

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing! And what a clear way of using note and character backstories to drive and inspire! I like the idea of the set-piece. I tried to make walls and things out of foam with magnetic feet so I could make the corridors and rooms as needed, but my organizational skills meant pausing whilst I looked for the next piece which didn't help my game. But thank you for this! I wish your campaign the very best! Keep us posted on how it progresses?

@pyra4eva

7 жыл бұрын

Will do. Right now, they have been captured but have in turn found an ally that will hopefully help them get through the upcoming struggles alive. XD If I get anymore ideas to help out new DMs/GMs, I'll definitely post them. My lil band of PCs are definitely the kind that end up in over there heads without a plan very often so I've had to think up ways to keep things going in the middle of chaos. XD And thanks for the making these videos. They've helped me and one of my players, who wants to DM a mini-series to test out her DMing chops. Keep them coming.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Absolute pleasure! We love players being in over their heads!

I think there is a healthy balance to be had here. If you are a GM that uses terrain and miniatures (and not merely the theatre of the imagination), then an open or sandbox world isn't realistic, and you may need to be honest with your players about what you have prepared for that week if they attempt to do something radical (i.e., you guys can try that, however I'm not prepared to run those encounters this week). You can reinforce this principle by making certain quest lines more pressing (the fate of the world is at stake, a person's life is in jeopardy etc.), thus incentivizing rather than forcing players to pursue certain options over others. I often find that if one gives players too much wiggle-room it can lead to a watered-down experience. However, being too stringent and railroading players can also be problematic because it takes away two key ingredients to fun roleplaying (the illusion of an open world, and choice). Hence, from a design perspective I think it's important to create an epic story that is loose in all the right ways (i.e., able to be adjusted on the fly), and to create ever-present and compelling reasons for your players' characters to choose that story over other options in their world.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

I agree. Miniatures and other terrain have been something I tried, but because of that element of random direction I quickly abandoned them. It is an interesting question though!

@TorianTammas

7 жыл бұрын

Daniel Anderson - I love miniature and terrain but I noticed that it did not work with my style of play. If one wants to have players to be at a certain place at a certain time as a GM one has to railroad them. To tell the players is that they have not certain choices because one has prepared something is an interesting idea. The problem is that then it is no longer an individual experience as you did not choose it. It became more and more a book or a film were you can enjoy a story but this is no longer role playing. It is the passive reception. I think one looses a lot if players gets so passive.

I like how you make that distinction between narrative gm and system gm, and how you have to focus on your players needs. Its ver user experience based and just good design. I have a quick question about tabletop rpgs at conventions. Im a female, but im really interested in gming to help me study game design better; do you think i might have difficulty at conventions, harassment or anything?

So if a do a fairly linear story, I should incorporate player choices into it cause I’m thinking of doing a Victorian steampunk setting with traditional fantasy elements such as the races and magic. The overarching story centers on murders committed to high ranking socialites and you have to solve it but how you interact is more important example the various gangs that dominate the undercity can give you jobs or you can do lawful stuff for the police or you can mingle with the high class socialites

Who wouldn't like being a mouse for a few minutes? I'd chase around cheese wheels.

I'm currently in the process of making a 'new world' type campaign for 3.5e D&d. Each of the races have never interacted before on reason of land location. Humans have arrived 200yrs ago with no written history (mostly a tribal setting). Naturally, being a new world, resources such as iron and textiles are limited. Now each race would have to be started by race location and brought together for various reasons. (humans/a warning from Obad-Hai, dwarves/the encroachment of orcs etc.) The main objective is to find a new place within the continent to live. (This is a prologue/trial run for my solo player/DM) before introducing it to my more inconsistent players.) This new settlement will be a racial hub where they can ultimately interact in relative peace. I can't tell if this is a good idea or not (I'm a new DM/GM) I was cautioned against doing this for the sake of characters backstories, so they can start where they want. How do I go about incorporating this for the storyline to suit the freedoms of character creation?

You might very well be the best GM, do you host online sessions? If so do you do Star Wars FFG? I would love to play with someone like you. lol

@Criticism for narrative: By and large such things depend on the type of player or GM, as you probably know. The way I view it there's basically three types of players: The Gamist: They basically view the game like other games and want to be a master at it. They aren't necessarily "playing to win", they are mostly interested in having fun with the rules and mechanics. The Narrativist: Who wants to serve an overarching narrative The Simulationist: Who mostly wants to ask "what would happen if?" and then roll with the consequences of that. The difference between them and the narrative is that they aren't necessarily as concerned with creating a typical narrative story.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

That's a good summation of the different types. And I tried so hard to account for the Gamist/Simulationists... lol. As you say - depend on the type of player or GM. And that's critical for me. You have to match your play-style to the group or find a different group. Personally I can never run a game for Gamists or Simulationists longer than 4 hours. I get bored. lol. But I know there are Simulationists who get disinterested in the narrative and just want to move forward. So each to their own!

@VestedUTuber

7 жыл бұрын

Don't forget the "Munchkin": A player who plays to win at all other expenses. These are VERY bad to have in a game.

@MatthewCampbell765

7 жыл бұрын

The Munchkin is just a Gamist who happens to also be a dick.

@VestedUTuber

7 жыл бұрын

Eh, there's more to the Munchkin than that. The Gamist, as you said, plays the game for the enjoyment of the game mechanics and the strategies that accompany them. The Munchkin plays the game for the enjoyment of fucking shit up, often at the expense of everything else. Munchkins will ninja loot, min-max to an extreme degree, rules lawyer to their own benefit, metagame, and sometimes even flat out cheat. They also tend to play either psychopaths or murderhobos, and will sometimes go out of their way to mess with the other players, or troll.

Have you ever tried to GM the Cogent system? It sounds like you very much would enjoy a role play intensive system, and Cogent is probably the most role play focused systems I've seen. The system has a core rulebook of about 100 pages, so it's very simple. However, I don't think there are any monster books, et cetera. Thus, the GM has to create creatures and the statistics for them- so that's the only major downfall I see. I'd have to say that due to its simplicity Cogent is the most flexible system for tabletop RPG games.

I might go so far as to "prescribe" a succession of game systems for practice. Say you and your friends really want to play Pathfinder and you're nominated to learn its rules and GM. The more pressing thing to learn is how to GM. As this channel often points out, as heavy or light as the rules are, the idea is to tell a story. There are a bunch of simpler indie games that do just that; focus on telling a story. If you can accomplish the task with 10% of the rules and numbers, that's where you should start. If you find it easy to adapt your story to the chaos of random rolls and character choices (free will's a bitch, sometimes), GMing is likely your thing. Next, decide if you can make the jump to the desired system, or if a different, slightly more crunchy game is needed as a stepping stone. Hell, make up some extra rules for the first one, just to try your hand at tweaking things - it applies rather well to improvising once you feel comfortable with plugging in your own stuff and how it affects the rules. Then, do the thing, if you still want to. Everyone might want to play indie storytelling games instead. Which is A-Okay.

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

that's a great approach! Lonewolf is a simple system, Fate is simple, there are many as you say!

@VestedUTuber

7 жыл бұрын

You could even start by half-assing a basic and generic "character sheets and reference tables" system together and playing around with that (or alternatively, use 1d4chan's Simple_D6 system). Once you get the hang of general GMing you can then apply what you've learned to a more developed system.

I recently got referenced to this channel, and like it having only seen this video so far. However, I am in an odd situation for a first time GM, where both of my players are already GMs as well. This is made difficult by the fact that one of them prefers to run epic and heroic campaigns, whereas the other will spend his free time playing games like Dark Souls. I have an idea for the campaign quest, and have done one session, but are there any tips on trying to make it so both my players (who have given me quite different sets of advice on how to GM) can have fun?

@Ertenian

7 жыл бұрын

Gabrielle Grove Personally, I'd start looking at what they have in common, there's always something. Perhaps they prefer immersion over combat, or over exploration, or the other way around. One way to accomplish this is inviting them both at the same time for "a drink and some talks", and ask them: What do you both want to see in this campaign? Adjucate their discussion (and guide where necessary) and find out what they both want.

@gabriellegrove2232

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see what I can do, given that we are freshman at college and not quite old enough to drink.

So how would you run a Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles based game? 💎

Drug those dogs with ROOFIES! LOL!

@HowtobeaGreatGM

7 жыл бұрын

Hahaha. Yes well...

probably dumb but your voice has a good well tone or pitch or whatever for listening to. not sure why but to me its true.

@robertcapostagno2082

6 жыл бұрын

awesome voice + podcast filters

The perfect paladin is a dead one.