11-05-2018, 10:07 AM
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#41
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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12-08-2018, 10:41 AM
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#43
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One of the Nine
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Space Sector 2814
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
I've been a fairly active roleplayer/gamemaster for about 30 years now. I've also done talks about roleplaying and gamemastering for over a decade. I've considered putting up a YouTube channel, or writing a book about it. (There's about 10-12 hours of recordings of me talking about rpg things on YouTube already, but it's all in Finnish and the sound quality isn't great.)
AMA about gamemastering and I can probably help.
I also larp
I've only ever done one d&d campaign though I started with Cyberpunk 2020 and moved on to more serious stuff. Or you know, pretentious, if you like that word.
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What do you think are the biggest mistakes new gms make?
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"In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
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12-08-2018, 10:49 AM
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#44
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Norm!
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We really need a CP game night one day. Rent a meeting room at a hotel, roll out a couple of kegs of beer and have either a drunken D+D session or a games tournament with the winner winning a incredibly lame prize.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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12-08-2018, 04:29 PM
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#45
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Powerplay Quarterback
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: AB
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while I don't D&D, definately up for a CP board game meetup.
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12-08-2018, 04:36 PM
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#46
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern
What do you think are the biggest mistakes new gms make?
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Running a campaign/story "on the rails". No matter how you want a story to go, your players are going to go different directions. Not having plans for them to do so and get them back on track (or being able/willing to roll with them going off the rails) seems to be something most DM's experience, esp right around the beginning.
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12-08-2018, 04:43 PM
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#47
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Scoring Winger
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern
What do you think are the biggest mistakes new gms make?
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I know you didn't ask me, but I'll add my thoughts.
I think that new GMs sometimes forget that the game is meant to be fun for the players. - Prepare but don't prepare so much that you are forcing the characters to do what you've prepared.
- Some players like non-combat challenges, like a puzzle, decide if you have that kind of player and make sure that every session has something for them.
- Not every action needs an ability check. Some new GMs slow the game down by making players roll for every little thing and narrating the outcome.
- Always reward creativity in your players. Try to get them away from using the GM as a crutch for their own storytelling.
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12-08-2018, 04:52 PM
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#48
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Cape Breton Island
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i really enjoyed playing D&D summers at my cottage with my 2 nerd friends. such good times. then one of our nerd friends turned out to be really handsome and was constantly getting drenched in strange when he hit 14 and we rarely heard from him again.
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12-09-2018, 04:26 AM
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#49
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Franchise Player
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Helsinki, Finland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern
What do you think are the biggest mistakes new gms make?
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The most common and biggest mistake is not communicating with your players outside of play. Asking feedback can ease a lot of worries, but just talking openly about what kind of a game you want to run before you start is the easy mode for getting the players to play along to the style you've imagined.
It's difficult trying to herd the players into playing towards the plot just by controlling their characters. It's very easy to say before the game "I want to run basically Magnificent Seven". The players will immediately start making the right kinds of characters, and they will need only the smallest hint to start protecting the first village they find from incoming bandits.
In other words, just tell the players roughly what story you're going for. It's still fun to play it, because RPG's are 99% the moment to moment experience
There's a lot more that goes into good communicatin with players, but I think the rest comes once you start doing it and thinking about it. Almost all good things come from realizing that you don't have to keep many secrets and you don't have to guess what what the players liked.
Although as a rule: people don't usually know what they will like, and even when they think they do they're often wrong. The GM is the one who decides what you do, that's easiest. Just talk with the players about how you're going to do it, and then ask feedback and suggestions.
I would say another common mistake is expecting too much of yourself and not sticking with it. I've witnessed probably dozens of GM's over the years doing a perfectly fine first campaign, but who think they sucked and feel like nobody had any fun and thus they just stop doing it. It's a real shame.
GM's who start as adults also have a tendency to try do plots with mysteries, which is a really difficult path, especially since most people when they think of a plot think of examples from movies, which are almost always single character stories. Those are difficult to translate to RPG's.
Executing a satisfying mystery reveal is extremely difficult. Even professional writers (who don't have to deal with protagonists with literally minds of their own) repeatedly fail at this. Many established professional writers can't do mystery plots at all, it's that difficult. I really, really don't recommend mysteries for starting GM's. It's far from impossible, but it's the difficult mode, and trying to handle a mystery plot often ends up being a distraction from making other parts of the game more fun.
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Last edited by Itse; 12-09-2018 at 04:44 AM.
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12-09-2018, 09:54 AM
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#50
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First Line Centre
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: losing CPHL bets
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Recently, I picked up D&D again at the request of family and friends. They wanted to learn and I hadn't played in 15 years. I agreed to DM, picked up the starter kit and off we went!
Now I'm running 2 paper groups and an online group that streams once a week.
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Formerly CPHL - LA Kings
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12-09-2018, 09:59 AM
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#51
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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Never let the rules get in the way of a good story point.
Talk to the group about how they feel about character death.
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12-14-2018, 01:16 PM
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#52
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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12-15-2018, 06:35 PM
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#53
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SW Ontario
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Spent a ridiculous amount of time playing D&D from when I was a child right through my early twenties. I am a 3rd edition guy for preference. Unfortunately I can't find anyone that games around here so I get my fix through NWN enhanced edition. The only game we played more was Marvel Heroes. Good old FASERIP.
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01-22-2019, 03:40 PM
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#54
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First Line Centre
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: losing CPHL bets
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Well, I'm all in now. In the last few months I've picked up a dry-erase map grid, the DM's guide, an official adventure module (Tomb of Annihilation) and have started into the realm of painting miniatures.....
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Formerly CPHL - LA Kings
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03-14-2019, 09:50 AM
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#55
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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So, I'm getting into a game soon for the first time in a decade. This is Phrixus, my Ranger (1) Centaur who enjoys wine too much. Let the adventures begin!
Phrixus refers to all humanoids (except elves) as "two legs". Hey! Two Legs!
Testing out the 5e system - long term goal is still possibly to develop a podcast on community radio, and I'm approved to explore that possibility. I will share my impressions and invite all of your comments on different role-playing games and podcasting.
Last edited by troutman; 03-15-2019 at 09:13 AM.
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03-14-2019, 09:53 AM
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#56
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Calgary
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I actually had an applicant for an articling job list D&D on her resume. I complimented her on it.
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03-14-2019, 10:52 AM
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#57
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Scoring Winger
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
So, I'm getting into a game soon for the first time in a decade. This is Phrixus, my Ranger (1) Centaur who enjoys wine too much. Let the adventures begin!
Testing out the 5e system - long term goal is still possibly to develop a podcast on community radio, and I'm approved to explore that possibility. I will share my impressions and invite all of your comments on different role-playing games and podcasting.
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Killer mini!
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03-14-2019, 11:32 AM
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#58
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Franchise Player
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Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Testing out the 5e system - long term goal is still possibly to develop a podcast on community radio, and I'm approved to explore that possibility. I will share my impressions and invite all of your comments on different role-playing games and podcasting.
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A general D&D/RPG podcast, or an actual play podcast?
General RPG broadcasts are broken up into industry news and reviews, or GM advice.
- For the former, you need to be plugged into RPG industry insiders, social media scene, conventions, etc.
- For the latter, you need an experienced GM (or two) who can talk and talk. It's a Youtube channel, not a podcast, but WebDM is my go-to for this format.
Though there's nothing to say you can't break the mould and try something different with community radio, and make it more local in subject matter (profiles of gaming groups in the city, the local organized play scene, etc.)
For actual play podcasts, the keys to a successful show seem to be:
- Highest quality equipment you can get your hands on.
- A group made up of outgoing players who have some experience in theatre or other creative arts.
- A GM who can keep the game moving.
I'm not a huge fan of actual play podcasts, but the best for my money is The Glass Cannon Podcast. Top-notch production values, a good cast, and often very funny while still being a genuine game at the table. It's Pathfinder, not D&D, but close enough. I think they even have some episodes of Cannon Fodder where they talk about the technical setup of the studio.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
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Last edited by CliffFletcher; 03-14-2019 at 11:38 AM.
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03-14-2019, 12:03 PM
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#59
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Winebar Kensington
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Probably actual play. Story telling.
Glass Cannon is the best IMO too. I think they are actually actors and comedians, so they are great improvisers and story tellers. Funny as #### too.
I never laughed so much as when the charmed Redcap Razzmatazz asked if he could “hold the baby”.
Last edited by troutman; 03-14-2019 at 01:00 PM.
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03-14-2019, 04:02 PM
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#60
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Scoring Winger
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Calgary, AB
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I think I'm in the minority, but listening to other people play d&d sounds like the least interesting activity to me. I would much rather play a game myself or write a module. Hell, I'd rather clean my bathroom.
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