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On Being a Good DM
As someone with a little experience DMing, but who had to learn quickly and be good quickly due to, you know, effectively being paid to be a DM. These are a few of my random thoughts. Some are just stylistic tips, some are general good advice.
1) For mechanics questions, consult one book (if this is a DnD/PF situation of "Let's have 20 different books for our game!) or other source, then make a ruling that makes sense. Don't spend twenty minutes trying to get the rule perfect if you can spend two doing a good enough ruling. Nobody's going to notice or care, and keeping the pace is super important.
2) Do your best not to rely too heavily on another person for rulings or questions.
3) "Say yes or roll the dice".
4) Don't violate player agency. By that, I mean don't tell a player that they don't do something they specifically are saying they're doing. I wouldn't even heavily punish a player that wants to fuck around for a few minutes while the rest of the party does the "real" plot. Don't reward that, but don't be like "And you lose 10,000 experience points for pissing me off" or make the player take some long time delay before rejoining the party (unless that doesn't make sense). If they ask what they're able to do, make it boring and mundane.
5) Reward creativity. I had a situation where there was a challenge set before some players: They had to cut an ox free and move a cart that was pinning and killing an elf barmaid. The way they were "supposed" to do it (according to the module) was to cut two ropes and then make a check to move the cart. It was intended to be a pressure on the players, as there was also an assassin trying to kill them at the same time. One player had a weapon that let him teleport one ally, one enemy, and himself a square or two, and he wanted to use it to move the barmaid that was pinned under the cart. Had I wanted to stop it, I could have, because Rule 0. However, it made more sense, in my head, to allow it, and I couldn't come up with a non "I'M THE DM, SHUT UP" way to prevent it, and it was kinda cool. I made up for the difficulty some other way, and let it roll.
6) Know the module. Even if you wrote it yourself, review it before the session. There have been times when I've unintentionally contradicted myself because I thought something went one way, then read the next section and realized it went another.
7) It may sound lazy or crass, but for most RPG systems, starting with a pre-written module, rather than trying to write your own campaign from scratch, really helps out. Balancing encounters and fights can be hard, and when you throw on it all the other random crap you have to learn, it can be devastatingly difficult. A blog I follow written by my DM explains some ideas about making the module yours better than I probably could at about-to-fall-asleep-on-my-keyboard o'clock.
8) Don't worry about specifics. Don't get paranoid about making on the fly adjustments. Don't worry if it looks to you like the entire encounter is held together with duct tape and dreams. As I once heard someone somewhere say about set design, "It doesn't matter if it looks like shit from ten inches. It has to look fine at 100 feet". If your players walk away saying they had fun, you're a good DM. That's the yardstick, plain and simple, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
1) For mechanics questions, consult one book (if this is a DnD/PF situation of "Let's have 20 different books for our game!) or other source, then make a ruling that makes sense. Don't spend twenty minutes trying to get the rule perfect if you can spend two doing a good enough ruling. Nobody's going to notice or care, and keeping the pace is super important.
2) Do your best not to rely too heavily on another person for rulings or questions.
3) "Say yes or roll the dice".
4) Don't violate player agency. By that, I mean don't tell a player that they don't do something they specifically are saying they're doing. I wouldn't even heavily punish a player that wants to fuck around for a few minutes while the rest of the party does the "real" plot. Don't reward that, but don't be like "And you lose 10,000 experience points for pissing me off" or make the player take some long time delay before rejoining the party (unless that doesn't make sense). If they ask what they're able to do, make it boring and mundane.
5) Reward creativity. I had a situation where there was a challenge set before some players: They had to cut an ox free and move a cart that was pinning and killing an elf barmaid. The way they were "supposed" to do it (according to the module) was to cut two ropes and then make a check to move the cart. It was intended to be a pressure on the players, as there was also an assassin trying to kill them at the same time. One player had a weapon that let him teleport one ally, one enemy, and himself a square or two, and he wanted to use it to move the barmaid that was pinned under the cart. Had I wanted to stop it, I could have, because Rule 0. However, it made more sense, in my head, to allow it, and I couldn't come up with a non "I'M THE DM, SHUT UP" way to prevent it, and it was kinda cool. I made up for the difficulty some other way, and let it roll.
6) Know the module. Even if you wrote it yourself, review it before the session. There have been times when I've unintentionally contradicted myself because I thought something went one way, then read the next section and realized it went another.
7) It may sound lazy or crass, but for most RPG systems, starting with a pre-written module, rather than trying to write your own campaign from scratch, really helps out. Balancing encounters and fights can be hard, and when you throw on it all the other random crap you have to learn, it can be devastatingly difficult. A blog I follow written by my DM explains some ideas about making the module yours better than I probably could at about-to-fall-asleep-on-my-keyboard o'clock.
8) Don't worry about specifics. Don't get paranoid about making on the fly adjustments. Don't worry if it looks to you like the entire encounter is held together with duct tape and dreams. As I once heard someone somewhere say about set design, "It doesn't matter if it looks like shit from ten inches. It has to look fine at 100 feet". If your players walk away saying they had fun, you're a good DM. That's the yardstick, plain and simple, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Comments
Don't be an asshole.
Don't be a pedantic or pointlessly curmudgeonly asshole.
Have basic respect for other human beings.
Have at least a rudimentary understanding of stuff you're going to devote significant amounts of time to.
Being a good DM for D&D is all about illusionism.
Sounds fair.
Yes, you can have that magical flaming sword, BUT it has a mind of it's own and won't necessarily obey you.
Yes, you can be a genetically modified super soldier with the armor of a battle tank, BUT, your enemies and your missions will be such that even that might not be enough to save you.
Yes, you can raise an undead army, BUT, you better believe that there are several orders of knights dedicated to taking you down.
I've always found rolling dice to be immensely flow-breaking, it always shatters my immersion. Rather than making their players roll the dice, a good GM should take the opportunity to make the game interesting and add something to the world.
The situations you describe aren't ones I'd leave up to "yes or roll the dice". They're either character creation or begging for items, and that's something I generally hash out outside of the context of the game. And I think you draw a false parallel in your last sentence there; there's nothing saying that rolling dice comes at the expense of adding something to the world.
This isn't that Topless Sci-Fi appreciation thing[NSFW] or even the gimmicky yet amusing I Hit It with My Axe that the writer was involved with.
The writer is more in the OSR camp than he isn't (though he would be loath to declare it) and definitely has a preference for D&D-assed D&D but I guarantee that there is something useful in his blog for everyone.
This is a good jumping off point.
Yes, you know where the armory is , BUT, you also know that the guard isn't going to just let you go in there and take what you want.
Now you've added so much more to the armory than just a roll of the dice. Now there is a tangible obstacle between them and their goal, one that will require planning and skill to surmount. I've always found it much more interesting to essentially give the players what they want, but with complications. With each carrot comes a stick. You can dodge the stick, you can break it, you might even be able to take it for yourself, but deal with it you must.
Yes I'm speaking from experience
1. Know what your players want. Know if they want combat, story, a mix, a challenge, a cakewalk, a rules-heavy, or a rules-light game, or any mix of these. Tailor your game to them, or find players who enjoy whichever style you DM.
2. Incorporate player's backstories and personalities in the campaign. There's tons of examples. Have a half-orc player? Make them meet up with a group of Orcs who they have some connection to and force them to explore their genetic heritage. Did your player steal something in their backstory? Have the owner hunt it down and attack the party.
There are endless possibilities here.
3. Be wary of alignment (in games with that kind of a system). Letting your players be evil can be awesome, but only when it works. If you have selfish/evil characters, it can make it hard for the plot to go on, and while players may enjoy arguing in character, some players will hate when more than five minutes are spent roleplaying over the same thing. This goes back to knowing your players.
4. Don't plan too much. Have a story, have a plan, but have contingencies. Alternatively, create a reason as to why players have to stay in your restrictions. Force them to be framed for a crime and make them wanted criminals, forcing them to stay on the run. Then make sure the only safe places are where you want them to go. Is it rude/harsh? Possibly. But it can get the job done.
"Yes, but" and "Yes, or roll the die" have both same message underneath, "Don't say no!" And that's pretty good advice for novice GMs. Other advice I could give, maybe a more advanced one, would be "You can say no, but you shouldn't need to." Basically it connects to my golden rule, "don't be a dick" and if someone is being dick, I feel that GM has every right to say no to that player.
Also I realized that this thread is for DMs and I have zero experience with that. So anything I have said or will say on this thread can be ignored on that ground.
So, basically, Mouse Guard.
Also only half of mouse guard is players setting their own obstacles, other half is GM setting the obstacles. The turn structure of Mouse Guard, which doesn't fit with my GMing style, is the main reason why it's mostly collecting dust in my self instead of begin actively played.
The point I was trying to make was that there are systems that mechanize and provide reward structures for the very things that the folks upthread very correctly identify as being good techniques for running an RPG, and that it's worth it to look into those, since it can totally make your job as a GM easier.
1. Why do you (and your players) want to play a Role Playing Game?
First, you need to find out if you and your players have more than one reason to want to play such a game. The answers to this question should inform every decision you make. You don't have to ask directly, but you do need to actively be trying to figure this out at all stages in the game. It's also critical to adapt as the answer to this question changes during play. Everything can change. So actively be thinking about the table at all times.
2. Who are the players to me and each other?
So assuming you have a group and know the individuals, consider how the players relate to each other. How do they relate to you? If you don't have a group, or you want more people for a group, what kinds of players would you want to play with? Is this a very serious game, or a friendly beer and pretzels game? What do individuals in the group want from each other? Sometimes conflict is mutually assured destruction, but sometimes it's part of the fun. Do any of them have specific strengths and weaknesses you can leverage? Do people have expertise that will come into play (positively or negatively)?
3. What environment and schedule do you have for this game and future games?
The play table, room, schedule, and such have massive effects on what kind of game works best. Consider how the number of players will change the dynamic. How much time and how set is the time available for running this game? Especially for starting out, how can you make a reasonable amount of progress for an enjoyable experience for the group within those frames? Consider distractions and the atmosphere, and whether you want to deal with, adapt, or remove elements.
4. How will you know the game is succeeding or failing?
Something to keep in mind before you get started. You could solicit feedback, verbally or written. Post game or during. Subtle or direct? Don't forget that you can gather information from the visual as well.
5. What game should you play?
Both the specific system, and the details of how you should use that system. Sometimes this question is already answered "we have D&D, that's what everyone knows, that's what we'll play". But at the same time, this question is not so simple. Even strictly following the rules as written, it's quite possible to have two groups play the same game and come out with completely different experiences, so try to figure out what you want the game to focus on.
Based on all that information you can start thinking about all the specific axis of play like how to parcel out your time, verisimilitude/simulation-ism, whether you are a storyteller or a neutral arbiter, the general intended areas of difficulty or challenge, etc. Each of which is kind-of its own topic, though they all tie together. But basically, practice that stuff enough and "the games will flow" because eventually you will start to be able to conduct your game like an orchestra of moving parts rather than dwelling no the specific minutia of how to play a specific note on a specific horn well.
Those little truisms like "Yes, and..." are essentially tools. You have to learn how and when to use that tool well. And to evaluate when and how to use those tools, you need to understand where you are at right now, and where you are trying to get to. For example, as good of advice as "Yes, and..." or "Yes or roll" is, neither is applicable if your group is coming together with the specific goal of running a heavily "simulationist" game with a DM as referee, not storyteller perspective. One of the simplest truisms is that the game should be, "fun", but the depth to answering that question is pretty far. There are individual trade-offs and sometimes what's "not fun" today may yield more fun tomorrow. "Losing can be fun" is also a related idea to that, but you need to evaluate whether your players enjoy that particular kind of losing.
Similarly, these questions should help you answer the next couple questions like where on the sandbox vs. railroad continuum (if that's even the real continuum!) your game is supposed to fall. Figuring out what to keep secret and what to be open about takes some trial and error. When in doubt, talk to the other people involved to source ideas, opinions, and perspectives. Don't be afraid to try and fail and experiment. Part of going from "good DM for your particular group" to "great DM for almost any group" is trial and error, gathering information and experience, and analyzing your specific successes and failures. Be inquisitive and introspective. Don't forget that it's also supposed to be fun for you, and it's perfectly fine to have an agenda, but don't just fuck with other people for your own amusement. Sitting down at the table together is a mutual shared experience, and part of the enjoyment is entertaining others, but they also can get a kick out of entertaining you.
Hrm... this isn't the best written version of my advice ever, but I had to get my foot in the door "as it were".
Like I said about this topic on Show Ideas thread, only universal rule for rpg groups I can come up with is "Don't be a dick!" Everything else is situational.
Making your character evil, for instance.
Is your party having a good time and capable of foiling the evil person's plots? Are you just random adventurers where the evil guy just provides some comedy and enjoyment for everyone? As long people don't mind another player murdering and stealing, not a dick.
If you're in a heavily story-based game and your evil antics detract from other people's enjoyment of the game and ability to progress, and you know this but just want to "play your character," kinda a dick move.