What was the last game you GM'd anon?
>>98690168I ran my own Modern fantasy RPG. My friends spent 2 hours on a puzzle based on that lens one from Skyrim.
>>98690168Ran my first session of vampire tonight.Before that, week before last, there was a game of Mausritter and a game of Prowlers and Paragons.I'm juggling three groups right now.
Last week. The party is currently exploring a tomb that houses the ghosts of four royals. Their crowns are keys to open a castle in another region, and they also gift parts of a flame that will light a nearby lighthouse. One of the crowns has been robbed of its power, necessitating finding the monarch's cursed children and reclaiming the power from them.In addition, there's a gateway to one of the underworld regions, but that land is swathed in illusions. They'll need a special lantern from a temple nearby to see through the illusions.So far they've claimed keys to two crowns and half the flame essence.
Four to six months ago, running a one-shot because the usual GM was absent.
Ran a game of cyberpunk 2020 a few weeks ago. Shit was cash
I'm DMing a Pathfinder 1e game, a D&D 5e game, and a Savage Worlds game right now. Want to run a Traveller game that lasts more than 5 sessions ffs. Although my 5 session one was pretty hilarious.
>>98690237>I'm juggling three groups right now.Same. How do you do it? Do you ever get burnt out? How do you keep up your creative output? How old are you? I'm 32 and it's hard to keep up with making new material for campaigns anymore that isn't phoning it in, but somehow I manage.
>>98690168Last week. AD&D 1e, in a homebrew setting that pulls published material from anywhere I feel like. Over the last 4 years my players did a run through the Temple of Elemental Evil, visited Lankhmar, bounced off the ruined Karak Azgul, wandered around doing my hex crawl for a bit, and have spent the last year investigating the Ruins of Myth Drannor.Last week was spent searching through the lair of mind flayer lich wizard whose body they managed to destroy (mostly by accident) looking for its phylactery before it reforms. They overcame the defenses of the 3 phylactery possibilities they found, and this Saturday they're going to break all 3 of them in order to kill the lich. What they don't know is that a lich which can make 2 decoy phylacteries can make 3, and none of them is real. The actual phylactery is inside the skull of the dracolich trapped beneath the nearby Castle Cormanthyr (which was created and immediately controlled by the mind flayer) which the party knows about and has been studiously avoiding for the better part of 3 IRL months.
>>98690413kino and kino hexmapextremely basedlich with decoy phylacteries is always great.
couple three years ago with pathfinder, but i'm about to run some homebrew premade stuff in a month or two (if i don't procrastinate)
>>98690398Im 37. My group from today, that I was running vampire for, I was running mausritter for, using premade dungeons. That one is pretty easy. My Tuesday group, I've only ran a single game of p&p, there are 2 other people that can run in that group and we rotate. The third group, my other friend is running CoC right now. Before that we had a few sessions of CPRed but it was too much of a pain in the ass.I run a lot of short stuff, the "three games at once" thing is relatively recent, and at least one game seems to get canceled every week. That's why I have three going: I want at least one game every week. It might just be my groups, but the bar is pretty low. People are just happy to play. I just kind of wholesale rip stuff off, throw it in the blender, and see what comes out. I don't plan stuff out in great detail, and I stick to games I can kind of just make shit up in regards to stats and shit.
>>98690168Dark Heresy last night
>>98690168Ran a game of Mausritter the other day. Unfortunately I've been sick and hazy recently so the pace was pretty slow and we had to wrap up the session early. All good though since we can always finish the module next session. Trying to GM while sick is miserable, you have to power through the brainfog and doing any kind of roleplay was straining. I ended up just describing what each NPC said, rather than actually playing it out like I should. Can anyone else relate?
>>98690797Which module you running? I've been fucking around with the stuff from the estate, really pretty enjoyable.
>>98690168I'm currently running a weekly Dragonbane campaign and a monthly mini AD&D 2e campaign for another group. Both homebrew settings.
>>98690168Brindlewood Bay for friends. It seems they like it a lot, but I think the game is just amicrofiction with vibes instead of rules. Don't really enjoy it, thinking on what I should change.
>>98690168I do a Halloween special once a year. I do simple concepts for horror and try and make a nice one shot.Last year's was radiation and trying to understand an enemy you can not fight while your body slowly rots from the inside.The year before that was "The cold". I look at what extreme cold and hyperthermia does to the human brain, it was a slow decent into madness before shutting down and ended on nothing like absolute zero stop all movement.
>>98690168My group does a rotating GM schedule, so I got run the last one. My players pissed me the fuck off by ignoring a ton of magic items and got cocky after a pretty easy fight so they weren't expecting the witch hunter they dealt with after to be a massive threat (as well as the town guard he was surrounded by) and got wrecked in the fight and thrown in jail. During their trial they used a bunch of subterfuge to turn the town against the hunter, which is what I wanted them to do in the first place. So overall satisfying.
>>98690237How do you guys managing three groups? I have stamina only to meet with friends on weekends, and just too tired from work the other days.
>>98690797Of course. Sometimes I just simply too tierd or don't feel involvement from the friends to give it my best.
>>98690168GURPS, but it was one or two years ago. I don't enjoy GMing all that much. I worry too much about details and can't come up with good situations.
Bunkers and Badasses.It was unique. There are no rules at all for the following>Overland travel>Vehicle Combat>Survival mechanics of any kind>Exploration>Traps>Social elementsIt's literally just going from set piece to set piece and killing enemies that explode into piles of loot upon death (any time someone tries to figure out why killed enemies explode into loot upon death? They explode into a pile of loot).Every single aspect of the game revolves around just mowing down enemies until you hit a boss that causes an unending wave of enemies to spawn while they are alive. Every ability is about combat. You only have to reload if you roll a natural 1, if you roll anything else you hit your target and the higher you roll the more rounds you fire into the target.The random loot generation is straight forward and can make some busted shit, but almost everything is busted making nothing seem particularly more busted than anything else.I doubt I will run it again because it's just too barebones for an RPG but it would make for one helluva good dungeon crawler board game.
>>98690805I made it myself, I misspoke when I said module. Forgot that "module" just refers to the pre-written stuff. I saw the estate on itch the other day, do you recommend it? It would be nice not to have to write everything myself.
>>98690168I've been running the Kingsmaker AP for over a year now. Party just hit level 8 and are currently more worried about the Centaurs and some nearby rowdy barbarians than they are about Varnhold.
>>98691100>or don't feel involvement from the friends to give it my best.This is too true. Even in good groups with active players, if they're feeling down that day for whatever reason, it can feel tough to maintain the energy of the group. Worse if it's the most active player that's tired/sick/whatever, it leaves the more introverted players to pick up the slack, which they often can't.
>>98690168Short 3.5e game 3 months ago. I was testing two 5e players with a short and simple campaign I made for 2-6 levelsCampaign was a simple murder mystery in a small fantasy village not too far east off Candlekeep (Forgotten Realms). As the party dug up clues, it lead them into neighbouring village and later woods north-east. It was designed to go through all the mechanics of 3.5e from exploration (crime scenes in 1st village) to NPC interactions (in the second village) to combat (in the woods)PCs were as follows:Human - Spirit Shaman - local hippie that goes into woodsHuman - Palladin - local dumbass cop who can't read peopleHuman - Fighter - struggling merc from Candlekeep looking to make ends meetHalfling - Rogue - local locksmith hobo with a drinking problem
>>98690168I only GM'd once. A 5e game last year where each person in the group would GM a small 3 session story arc, then the next person would continue from where the last person left.It as pretty fun. I overprepped to shit but they liked it. Even asked me for "my process".
>>98691430Holy fuck, somebody playing a spirit shaman!Nice.
>>98690168i ran lancer for my buddies on monday. its been over a year since we last played that together but all of them jumped back real quick into remembering how to play their characters. they are doing a helldivers style defense against an alien bug swarm as the whole campaign premise and defended a base they had occupied and set up with their own mercenary company they created. they are rolling with a genghis with a giant flamethrower, a nelson that does its dive the backline and run around like crazy thing, and a black witch with a bunch of shield systems acting as support
>>98690168Modern War with the Great War supplement. Since this is a GM thread:So right now I want to continue the story of the aforementioned game (hopefully the climax is soon, with an actual over-the-trenches attack), but I'm sort of lacking motivation to think it through. I know I need to do it, but then I'm distracted by wanting to GM Vampire to the same group. Then I start thinking about that instead, about the characters possible encounters etc etc. At that point I forget about the game I am actually supposed to run and can't piece together stuff for it. P.S. Not just going through with Vampire since it'll kill the current momentum of the MW campaign.Just needed to get it out there that's all. I'm going to go find some inspiration and read more so I can prepare for the next session.
>>98690168I'm running an Edge of the Empire game right now, the players are hunting down a mysterious employer who betrayed them and got them sent to prison prior to campaign start. I'm a very new GM but they seem to be enjoying themselves so far
>>98690168My last campaign was last week, we run the final Session of GURPS ACTION with ended with a nuclear explosion wiping out Manhattan, revealing the Ayy lmao conspiracy to the world. Every died but the campaign was a success.
>>98691018Like I said, in general at least one group cancels most weeks. On top of that, I spent a large portion of my life missing out on gaming because I was an idiot, so I feel like I am trying to catch up to some degree. Three groups probably won't last forever (honestly, there is a good chance one of them is about to die due to everyone's work schedule) but I'm committed to making it work right now.
>>98691158I've been enjoying it as some low stakes delving fodder, but I think we've only used like 4 of the ten dungeons in it. They seem to be of variable utility.
>>98690246Good shit
>>98692655Oh, on top of that, I'm a recovered alcoholic with undiagnosed brain problems and probably on the spectrum, in my late 30s. I'm bad at socializing, but recognize that I need to, so games keep me from becoming a weird old shut in.
>>98690168Running Red Hand of Doom in Pathfinder 1e right now. I'm kind of frustrated because a lot of the combat encounters are pretty boring so far. 90% of them are just "4-8 Hobgoblin Veterens" with an extra monster here and there. I might have to start rewriting stuff just so they're not fighting the same enemies over and over.
>>98692655>>98692877Well, it explains a lot. I am also 37 and spent a large portion of my life missing out on TTRPGs. I have no problems with alchohol, but I am already a wierd shut in and incel.
Ran a game of hypermall unlimited violence where my party had to kill count crackula in his penthouse suite upon the pseudoshores of epstein's islandit starred a catgirl streamer, a divorced psychic detective, a failed psychic advertiser named mr nyquill, and cyber frozone a discarded retail combat cyborgvery loose system but fun with the right group
>>98691820I feel you anon, I like GMing L5R, and I love that the players like the adventure we got going so much that whenever we stop at the end of an "arc" they soon ask to get back to it for more, but sometimes I want to try out something different.
I’m running Eclipse Phase after finally finding a set of players who will consistently show up IRL. I have found that 2-3 players is the magic number to get people to commit when everyone is over 30. 1 player or 4+ players will have constant cancelations.
>>98690168A ffgSw sandbox shitshow which ran for years. I killed it officially last year after an year long hiatus after losing my taste for dealing with anything Star Wars related that isnt a pre force unleashed video game or a Lucas movie.
>>98690168Tonight the Foot clan led by Storm Shadow are going to investigate a TCRI plant on behalf of the Ninja Turtles.
>>98695888Always wanted to run or play TMNT campaign.
>>98695037How many players are being raped at your games?
>>98696916It's Eclipse Phase, so not enough, clearly.
>>98691018Have you tried not being a lazy fuck? Hit the gym. Once you've reset your mitochondria you'll feel much better.
>>98697354I am trying.
>>98690462>That's why I have three going: I want at least one game every week.AYRT, I have the exact same philosophy.
I ran a Fabula Ultima two-shot to try out the system. I didn't like it. I'm trying to get another game going either using Monsters and Other Childish Things, or using Nimble.
>>98704510Yeah I was unimpressed by the other FU too. It seemed really promising, but it feels like playing a rubik's cube with multiple people.>>98690168Honor + Intrigue Star Wars, but our sessions keep getting cancelled. So I'm having withdrawals because it's been a month.
>>98696295It's more like The Warriors style gangs in a city like Bronx Warriors, but Storm Shadow (portrayed by Sho Kosugi from Ninja Assassin) decided to train street kids and now they live in the 1990 Foot hideout, and now there's mutants, cyborgs, they recently fought pirates, a crocodile pack, there's been some street racing, soon I'm going to bring in the biggest, toughest gang in the city, the NYPD.
>>98690168A CoC one-shot of this adventure a couple of years ago:https://mythosjapan.itch.io/poisoned-soupOne of the team didn't make it out, the other 2 players made it, with some sanity loss.
>>98706297You're my new favorite person, I want to run this campaign.
>>98690168I gmed the deathwatch 40krpg yesterday
Fallout: The Cajun Wasteland every Sunday for the last 4-5 monthsIt's been good so far
Because this is the GMing thread I'm gonna ask my question here:I'm swinging for the fences by planning to GM a scifi campaign that I'm writing, in a system that I'm making. It's going to be an intrigue-adventure thing, with not a ton of combat. Making the ruleset is going well, but what are the secret "don't be a retard" rules that fresh GMs should learn as quickly as they can?>>98690168I GMed a session of 3.5 back in 2024. I joined late and we were all passing around the roll of GM every couple sessions.
>>98714448The most important thing is the cat herding. You need to keep scheduling future sessions first thing, and decide cancelling them only if more than one player can’t make it. The good idea is to delegate this to one of the players.Session zero is a good thing for a not typical campaign since you will not be able to keep a consistent tone of the campaign if lets say one of the players is not really interested to take your game at least somewhat seriously and wants to be le edgy quirky chungus.Remember to give attention to all the players, for example going clockwise, and trying to wrap things with a concrete player under 5 minutes tops (return to him later if needed).Overpreparing is something to avoid if you are not happily unemployed. The campaign should be planned very roughly and as a GM you need to be ready to be flexible and not to railroad players.Asking a player at the end of a session what their PC wants to do to have a grasp of expectations is a good thing.Keeping the Curse of Knowledge in mind.Bean-counting rules should be probably homeruled or omitted. I recommend getting familiar with at least three different popular games before making your own rules system.
>>98714448>but what are the secret "don't be a retard" rules that fresh GMs should learn as quickly as they can?Do you mean in the sense of mechanics, or game mastering procedure?
>>98690797Far too much. I'm a longterm cancer patient, and DMing is one of the few things I have energy for after working. Still have to call off more sessions than I like for my own health bullshit
>>98690168A deadlands game last Thursday. A new players character got eaten by a pack of terrier sized spiders in the Nebraska plains
>>98715254Cool. It seems like the move is to play things mostly by ear while pulling in what information you can from the players.>for example going clockwiseI like this. I'm gonna write it down.>>98715420Just in the case of GMing procedure.
>>98715524>Just in the case of GMing procedure.Alright, here's my two cents: start as late as possible, especially if you are a new GM. Don't start at the bar with the players all meeting each other and getting the treasure map to dungeon. Start at the front door of the dungeon with a quick description of how they all met up and got the map from the old man. Start at a decision point as soon as possible. If there is background that needs to be conveyed, do it quickly and succinctly in a "this is what you would know" way, and then deal with any other background knowledge on a case by case basis.Also, when you're starting out, focus on one session at a time. Too many people immediately begin to think about the 1 to 20, epic campaign that lasts for years. It's unrealistic. Focus on a running relatively self contained, single session adventures to begin with. Small dungeons, small mysteries. Build up to something better.
>>98715612*Bigger, not better. I think, for the majority of people who play these games, short campaigns between 4 to 12 sessions would be a lot more satisfying.
>>98715612>start as late as possibleThat's somewhat my plan. The inciting incident is basically the interplanetary equivalent of the titanic, but caused by pirates and a corrupted AI instead of an iceberg. The players will start either on the ship or one of the raiding craft.
>>98715630Double this.
>>9871563012 sessions is probably the max I'll do. Might be closer to 8 though. I want the campaign just to be focused on investigating the leadup to the not!titanic incident.
Stormbringer, first edition, "Hall of Risk"Elric made an appearance.
>>98717502Badass.
>>98690168Shadow Dark Tomb of horrors. Pretty good time got one of the players to map out the dungeon based on descriptions got through about 33% of the dungeon in one sitting and roughly 12 level 1 characters. Would recomend
