Sharing useful wisdom that has helped me run more satisfying games. Trying to share some less common advice. These are my opinions and techniques that have helped me. I’d love to hear what has worked for other /tg/ DMs.1. Time pressure- adding time pressure through use of "clocks" including real life clocks is incredibly helpful to add pressure and tension to a scenario. Giving players choices but not enough time to make every choice adds meaning to those choices. Time pressure in combat is a contentious, but powerful tool to discuss with your players. Forcing a decision in seconds makes combat stressful and - when players are on board- fun (in anticipation of the common objection: if the players don’t make a choice in combat, I usually come back to them before round end, I never have them “just stand there”. Remember to assume character competency).2- The GM-ing engine- It's okay to front load content and prepare a few different rail-roady hooks in the first few sessions. Being a GM is like starting one of those old prop engines with a winch. It takes a while for the pistons (players) to kick into gear. Once they do, after a few sessions, all you need to do is apply gas. Solve the tavern problem by figuring out how characters know each other prior to the first session. 3- Immersion means impact- After a session, reflect on how the player choices affected the world (for good or ill), try to let the ripple of that effect emerge in the next session. Players that feel like they change the world around them invest in it.
>>972787844. Calendar- Those who go full “one-to-one” time are fine in their own right. I’m a fan of an in-game clock. Pre-ordain some of the events. Give players clues to these events. Fire the events if the players don’t intervene. Force the world to move if the players don’t move it.5. Bad guys can be understandable in their motivations and unsympathetic at the same time- however RPGs are exercises in solipsism. If you want players to hate an enemy, make the enemy ruin their stuff, kill their friends, etc. They will not care- necessarily about “the big bad” unless they know the big bad makes their life worse.6. Assume competency- Not player competency. Character competency. Their character, when expert, should be given insight and information without gating it behind waiting for the player to ask the right question or roll the right dice.7. I hate “Insight” rolls- I feel like whenever a player asks, “can I roll insight/investigation?” to get an answer, I’ve failed to immerse them in the experience. Clues aren’t gated behind rolls. They are discovered. The cost of discovering these clues is: time (you can discover clues but it’ll take time to do so and something will happen as a result), risk of interruption (the guards arrive, a monster arrives, a rival arrives), and red herring (false clue, misunderstood clue). As a general rule, if I give red herrings I give one red herring for every FIVE clues at a minimum. Give clues. Make them more obvious than you think. I promise players will feel so fucking clever.
>>972787898. Notes and whispers- One trick that has gotten great results is if there’s a piece of very complex or detailed information I tell the players in private or hand them the information so that their player (and by extension, character) can share with the group.9. Minimize out of character- try to minimize OOC talk if possible. Allow some degree of narrative control. This won’t come naturally, so feel free to prompt this with, “tell me what X does as he’s getting ready to leave the inn”. Prompt roleplaying. Prompt in-character behavior. If you can, encourage as much first person as possible. Getting an entire table to interact in first person is really unique and interesting. Discourage “mother may I” play or asking for rolls. Instead have the players describe what the character tries to do and let the GM ask for a roll. “Can I roll history?” should turn into, “I search my memory for whether I’ve heard this legend or not”. Honestly? I hate “knowledge rolls”, they should be scarce, in my opinion. A character should, generally, know something (what they “know” might not be the full truth) and I like preparing ahead of time what characters know. 10. How to Fail Forward- A lot of people talk about fail forward and say things like “failure should not stop the flow of the game” which is good advice, but they don’t necessarily say how. Here’s my advice, when the players fail to accomplish an action (one that would otherwise halt the flow of the game), do not be afraid to say bluntly11. GM Descriptions are 3 sentences maximum. Every description should include at least two pieces of sense information. 12. Pauses in description allow me to introduce complications or move the timeline forward. Prepare new complications to introduce when there is a pause in flow. If your complications or experience are direct consequences of previous character activity- that’s top tier GMing.
>>9727879813. Prepare obstacles but not the solutions to those obstacles when possible. When characters come up with solutions, it’s okay to say “no”. Try for “no, but..” but it’s okay to simply say it doesn’t work and to think of something else. Use this sparingly, though. Saying “yes” too easily can dissolve tension/difficulty/problem solving. Not saying “yes” or “yes, but..” enough will discourage creativity. 14. If the potential for conflict is visible, then it will never be passed over (this doesn’t just mean combat). When in doubt, introduce conflict. 15. Your characters can write your session- When the engine is firing on all cylinders and your players are fully immersed make sure to ask them what they plan to do next session. This will help you prepare your setpieces and encounters. Random tables are very helpful. I encourage you to pre-roll MOST of them prior to session. Rolling also helps me prep for sessions and brainstorm. You MUST keep idea documents to help organize these. Bonus tip: whether you like it or not, you save yourself an incredible headache by playing with like-minded people in the same season of life as you. Be careful with the more socially extreme/loud personalities. Quiet, overtly “boring”, politically milquetoast nerds are the lifeblood of any stable group. I'm very open to any new tips /tg/. I've learned a lot from this board (including most of this info). I'm open to hearing disagreements as well.
>>97278798>do not be afraid to say bluntlySay what?
>>97279010Ope! "Do not be afraid to say bluntly, "It looks like this approach isn't going to work, it occurs to you that you'll need to find another way to (achieve goal)"
>>97278784>Time pressure- adding time pressure through use of "clocks" including real life clocks is incredibly helpful to add pressure and tension to a scenario.I disagree entirely. I've had two separate campaigns ruined because the players decided a several-month long timer was too brief for them to do something and, despite being grossly underleveled for it, insisted on approaching the encounter. I pushed them off, redirected them to a side-task but they kept at it, almost every session.
