Questions related to someone who is GM-ing for the first time.
31
votes
8answers
702 views
How do I get better at narrating/storytelling as a GM?
Personally, I've always had difficulty telling coherent stories, even from my own experiences. My wife has even coined a term (jokingly) for the type of story I tell, one that either makes no sense, ...
10
votes
2answers
686 views
Flanking and swarms in 4e
Can swarms be flanked by two PCs? What if the swarm is occupying the same square as a PC?
Does a PC grant combat advantage to a swarm if a regular mob is adjacent in a flank? Does it matter if the ...
8
votes
2answers
537 views
How do I run a single player 4e essentials game? Drow Hunter
I am trying to create a set of encounters for my wife. She will be playing a Drow Hunter (controller) from the Essentials line of DnD 4e.
I'm looking for advice on how to make encounters (2 levels ...
20
votes
4answers
365 views
Transitioning from GM to Player; or how to recover from GM burnout
A few months ago, I reached the point of "GM burnout." Having been (almost) the exclusive GM for our group for several years, and seeing the number of players and their commitment dwindle combined ...
7
votes
7answers
488 views
Experienced player behaving badly, challenging my motivation
This is a long question. I´d be much obliged, if you would read it completely
My group and I just migrated from a DM whose VERY incongruent storytelling and deliberate punishment of ...
5
votes
3answers
561 views
What are the most important errata for a new D&D 4E group?
I plan to start a new D&D 4E game soon. None of us have played before and we'll be starting at level 1. Are there any important errata that I should know about and inform my players?
I know there ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
New GM Advice - How to best use an Adventure Path
I'm new to tabletop RPGs (although I have been interested for a long time, just had difficulty finding like-minded companions, and the funds required to get some of the stuff).
When I was finally ...
13
votes
7answers
1k views
Starting the first game tips?
I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to start our very first session. Everyone, counting the DM, has yet to play the game and we are not exactly sure were to start. Our PCs are:
Drow ...
4
votes
6answers
2k views
Is one of the characters in my group overpowered?
I'm starting my first stint as a DM, in DnD 4E, and one of my players insisted on rolling dice for his stats. I was ok, provided, as I said, "that the character was balanced with the rest of the ...
14
votes
16answers
445 views
When GMing a game, how much should you prepare in advance?
Obviously you need to have some high level idea of what's going on in the world around the players, and where you are heading with the story, but in an ongoing game at some point players will be ...
12
votes
4answers
213 views
Advice for a new GM taking over for an old one?
I play a Pokemon tabletop game with a few friends. We're all in college, and our GM recently stepped down due to falling grades. I offered to take over if there were no objections, and as you can ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Dungeons and Dragons Treasure Parcels
I'm new to D&D and would like to distribute treasure evenly in my dungeon for my level 1 PCs. I've read up briefly on the treasure packages but am still a little fuzzy on how they exactly work and ...
26
votes
6answers
585 views
What is role-playing, and where do I start?
I have been told that roleplaying is great fun. I've looked and looked and it all seems so complicated. Could anyone tell me a good place to start, and what sort of things you end up doing in ...
10
votes
5answers
447 views
Advice on setting up a campaign for a new GM?
A month or two back, I bought the GURPS Basic Set with the hopes of GMing a campaign at my school. I'm fairly familiar with the rules and general concepts by now (GURPS is very well documented), but ...
13
votes
7answers
335 views
What major differences are there between convention DMing and home DMing?
I've been DMing for a while in 4th edition D&D, but I've only been DMing for Living Forgotten Realms and D&D Encounters. Now I'm thinking of starting to do some home games in various systems. ...
9
votes
5answers
332 views
What should I do as a first time indie/story game GM?
I've DMed DnD before, but I'm wanting to get a game of In A Wicked Age started up, which is much less crunchy than our 4e oriented group is used to. What advice would you have for someone trying to ...
23
votes
19answers
1k views
What role-playing games have good gamemaster advice sections?
Which RPG's, in your experience, have good advice for gamemasters in their rulebooks, both for novice and experienced gamemasters?
Please keep in mind that this question is not about good games for ...
29
votes
15answers
632 views
Your friend wants to learn the ways of the Dungeon Master, what do you do?
I believe that all tabletop role playing gamers should at one point or another try their hand at Dungeon Mastering. However, it's a goal that at times can feel overwhelming.
What advice would you ...
