Questions related to someone who is serving as game master (GM) for the first time.
23
votes
7answers
489 views
How to add a player who joined after the campaign started?
I started running a game, and then a friend of mine expressed interest in playing, so I invited him to join us. He created a character and came along to the next session. As the rest of the party was ...
10
votes
4answers
212 views
Do I need to stat out & measure everything?
I am preparing a session that contains a fair amount of absurdity. Many of the creatures and situations that my players will encounter will probably not be encountered again.
On the one hand, I know ...
10
votes
6answers
561 views
How would I go about making an outdoor environment in dungeons and dragons?
How would I go about making an outdoor environment in dungeons and dragons? I would like to know what the rooms and hallways would be. I would really appreciate it if someone would help me. I'm really ...
5
votes
3answers
389 views
Do monsters need THAC0?
I play AD&D 2ed and I need to know if monsters are supposed to have Thac0, could anyone help me? I would really appreciate it. I can not find the monster thac0 chart anywere. I only have the ...
12
votes
6answers
265 views
Speed up campaign development
I'm making a campaign, and it's going fairly nicely. However, I found out that my group is able to meet this week, which I didn't expect. So instead of having 9 days to find time to prepare, I have 2 ...
31
votes
8answers
712 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
722 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
564 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
367 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
491 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
575 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 ...
12
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
2k 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
451 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
597 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
460 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
337 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
333 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
644 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 ...
