Post
by John Colt » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:50 am
1. General
1.1. Roleplay - What's that?
1.2. Your duty as a Master and why do you GM?
Why bother? GMing ain't easy. In mediocre cases Players get their bag of chips lean back and expect you to entertain them. In bad cases they move the chatwindow into one corner of the screen, pop in a movie and surf the web while RPing. And in good cases they try to investigate and overwhelm you as a GM. It's so bothersome!
You know what? Screw this! Players don't know hob much work actually runs into this, and they can be so unthankful at times. You constantly have to know where all Characters are, what abilities they have and don't have to properly challenge them. You have to know their history, to make them think they are immersed, and the people they've created are actually in this world.
Think about it. Do you know how many Games are played at the moment? You have to be very fast to join a new one, there simply aren't that much people who want to GM. There are some left, but why?
Surely every GM has their answer to this. The general answer is: "Because it's fun." Mine is: "Because I like to watch my puppets dance." I usually like to put them into bad situations where they have to make moral decisions, or i force them to do something their characters certainly don't like to do.
But not only do I like to make them dance, I like them to experience a good time. Not only that, it is my obligation to the players for them to have a good time. I want them to not think about watching a movie besides a session. I do not want them to be excited for my sake. Their excitement is only a confirmation of me doing it right. Players don't owe you anything.
1.3. Co-op and PvP
1.4. Tips for inexperienced Masters
What! So much info for GMs? Information over information, which, after you read them and probably even understood before you can start GMing? It means I have to be judge and referee between players, and have to know all the rules from the top of my head? Not to mention the background of the world, and what's canon and what not? I need to have a degree in FoE-GMing to do it?
No, of course not. You don't have to know the entire history of the automobil to drive a car either. You don't have to know a list of Stables, nor projects of the MWT, nor do you have to know every single spell.
You feel the need to GM? Heck, let's do it. Who were the Ministry Mares? You don't have to care, if they are not important to your story. Disregard reserves and doubts and simply try to do it. GMing is something you figure out on your own, just listen to your players and ask them what they liked and disliked, then adjust your way of going at things.
1.4.1. Have a good time
Roleplaying is no chore. It's a bunch of people wanting to experience a good time. It doesn't have to be "fun". It can be scary or exciting as well. Do you remember Breaking Bad? It wasn't fun, it wasn't scary, nobody enjoyed it, but you felt unable to avert yourself from hitting next episode as soon as one ended? Merely thinking about it makes me shiver. And this is what you should try to achieve. Make your players (and yourself) want to continue when a session ends. And I don't mean cliffhangers, I mean that you were glad that you have been there and that you have spend the time as you did. Take your job as GM serious, be ready for each session, tell early enough if a session will not be played because you don't have time. And very importantly: be reliable. But... in all seriousness, don't take yourself to serious.
1.4.2. Every hole's a goal
Do you remember the rule of what happens if Situation X occurs? No? Me neither, I'm not a walking lexicon. If you don't remember a rule you can ask your players, if they don't know and you lack the motivation to look it up. Sometimes there isn't even a rule for that, so you can simply make something up. Just stay logical by doing so, and if common sense doesn't help, simply throw a dice. Luck is a nice character value for that. Things can work, things can not work. If it's more complicated take the players suggestion and work it down from there (they tend to make stuff up that works in their favor)
Gaps in rules aren't easy to deal with - whether they are real gaps or just holes in your memory.
The same thing goes for the worlds background. Manehatten is nowhere near the Everfree? Well, it is in your world! Roleplaypolice won't catch you. Heck, you can have aliens land and giant robots destroy Tenpony Tower. Just don't let Princess Luna strut around without a good explanation as to why such a thing is possible.
In case you have a player who has very extensive knowledge about the world there are two possibilities: Either you simply agree to say your world is an alternate version of the official one where Celestia did manage to upload herself into a robot and he or she shouldn't take every last detail to exactly. Or you ask for help, and don't be ashamed in doing so, just watch out that your question doesn't give anything away from the story you still want to tell. Like the party seeing a megaspell explosion and you ask if one of the unicorns has an illusion spell and would be able to tell an illusion from reality.
1.4.3. No plan survives first contact with reality
Never expect an exact reaction of your players to a certain situation. Not all thoughts are predictable, some will use game-logic, some will use actual logic, only few will react intuitively, like a real person would. All roads lead to Rome, whether you use a detours or twenty. If your players don't choose the direct way, offer them another. It only gets complicated when they insist on a certain way and think there is no other way to solve the adventure (or simply to survive). Avoid such unflexible things while preparing
There is also no shame in pausing a session the moment you notice something went horribly wrong. Let them and yourself take a step back and think of a new situation out. It's better than continuing until a point where the story has completely derailed, or all characters are beyond saving.
If you can't think of something, simply talk to your Players and give them hints.
1.4.4. Start small
As much as you want to make an epic adventure, start small. Limit your groups movement to a small town, or a Stable. Don't introduce for the story useless NPCs, give only the important onec a name, so it's much easier for the players to know who they should interact with.
The size of your party should start small as well.
1.4.5. Be just and fair
Treat your players equally. You may know some already, but it's not entirely implausible that this PnP is the first time you interacted with others. But that's not what I'm trying to get to.
There are players who are more talkactive, louder and quick-witted than others, they are usually the ones who lead the campaign. So you should try to get those who are quieter more involved. This might be hard, as the reasons why they are playing might be different from those who can't seem to shut up. but it is your duty to try and get everyone a good time. You have to approach some players (or shy characters who are played really shyly) with a different strategy, more on that you'll be able to read in chapter 2
"the GM's always right" and "said - done; not said - not done" are easy to apply in most situations. But you shouldn't put them on a pedestal, they can get unfair pretty quick. The character goes to the cliff. If the Player doesn't state exactly that his character will stop walking before the edge you won't let him fall down, will you? Some things are obvious. You enter a spooky manor? Do you really have to say you ready your weapon when the entire feeling screams like a fight is about to happen? Let them have their weapons ready at that point.
Also: they might have understood your description wrong and do something incredibly stupid because of it. Let them take it back. It's not their fault, it's yours. You had the responsibility to tell them everything accurately.
1.4.6. Party Size, Diversity, and balancing Player Characters
Most GMs swear on 4 to 5 players. In larger groups it happens to easily that some players don't get their say out and the GM simply forgets about is as they have a lot on their plates already. And in small groups it's possible that there is not enough diversity and there are not enough ideas to solve the adventure. As I said in "1.4.4. Start small" you can and should start smaller. I personally disregarded it and started GMing with 6. It's possible to start a game with a single player.
The game has to be adjusted to what the party is capable of. the amount of enemies to how many characters are well-versed in fighting. And nobody should feel stupid for maxing a skill which never gets to be useful. Fallout Equestria is a very combat based ruleset. But you should see that the few utility skills are split up evenly between the Player characters.
1.4.7. The first rule
It can't be said often enough. Simply try it. Some issues I'll talk about won't ever be your problem, so don't worry too much about it.
1.5. setting up a game
Last edited by
John Colt on Sat Sep 13, 2014 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
