Questions related to someone who is GM-ing for the first time.
21
votes
5answers
436 views
How do I learn to become a good GM?
I have played and tried to GM games since I was in elementary school, beginning with games like Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and Champions. Recently, I've gotten dack into gaming with a variety of other ...
20
votes
5answers
536 views
How can I learn how to negotiate as an NPC?
I'm a new GM (the system is DND 4.0 but that's not relevant here). I've quickly found that I perform very poorly when I'm portraying a negotiation between the PCs and one or more NPCs. Even when they ...
17
votes
6answers
609 views
How can I screen new players to make sure they are a good fit for my game?
I'm looking to start a new Savage Worlds campaign and I need a full set of players for it. I've played in games before and ran a couple of one-shots, but I've never GMed a full campaign. There's ...
15
votes
4answers
335 views
How do I tell how long my adventure is going to be?
I'm a new DM starting a campaign I've written myself. I have a party of 4 players right now- three have been playing for years, one has never played before. My problem is I'm not sure how to tell how ...
26
votes
6answers
580 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 ...
16
votes
6answers
417 views
I'm fairly new to D&D but want to GM; where do I go from here?
I'm a 16-year-old male, and I have been interested in tabletop RPGs for a long time, especially D&D. I sorta dove into D&D really fast and hard by buying the Red box, Dungeon Master Kit, ...
15
votes
9answers
524 views
Does GMing diminish or detract from being a player in games?
I started playing RPGs last year with the Pathfinder Beginner Box. I have been GMing and writing a campaign, but have also encouraged members of the party that are interested to run a one-off Beginner ...
4
votes
4answers
170 views
3 novices, 1 Warhammer Fantasy. How do I make sure my friends don't have a bad first experience?
I recently convinced my friends to try out a table-top RPG. Now, being an almost complete novice to table-top RPGs, and adding the fact that I will have to take point and GM this campaign... Is there ...
23
votes
6answers
330 views
Non native speakers and Pen & Paper Role-Playing Games
I'm among a group of people which doesn't share the same mother tongue. We are speaking English every day and can communicate very well in daily situations and even in an academic way.
Some of them ...
4
votes
0answers
77 views
I am a novice, so are my friends. What should we start out with? [duplicate]
Lately I've been wanting to get into the whole table top RPG scene. I briefly played Dungeons & Dragons with very little understanding of the game; it was rather fun, even if it was over Skype. I ...
16
votes
7answers
523 views
What's a good class and race for beginners?
I'm a newbie GM and I have a new player at the table. He wants to play and I'm letting him (despite his loud, overly energetic behavior, and has a short attention span). Whats a good 3.5 class for ...
6
votes
4answers
231 views
Good games for inexperienced players and GMs?
I have been the GM for my little circle of friends for a few months. We are having trouble finding an RPG system to be comfortable with.
On my part, I seem to be unable to settle on any particular ...
7
votes
8answers
497 views
How can I tailor an encounter so that a low level, mostly mundane party can defeat a wasp swarm?
I'm GM'ing a game with a large, mostly mundane party where all PCs at level 2. The party is made up of a good aligned cleric (i.e. no damage spells), wizard, druid (with wolf animal companion), monk, ...
3
votes
1answer
181 views
What to buy to start out 4e D&D (DM and PC) (Complete Noob, no previous experience) [duplicate]
So we're a completely new group of people, none of us have experience, and I've been assigned DM, which I think is a good idea. But we don't know where to start, or what to buy to get started on our ...
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 ...
6
votes
5answers
421 views
Designing my own D&D Adventure
Currently I am part of a my first campaign of D&D(4E) as a player and been having fun.
Sometime in the near future I would like to host my own game of D&D with my own adventure. So far I ...
4
votes
3answers
119 views
Should house rules and custom material be created before experiencing the game? [closed]
Let's take a new GM. New in the sense of "new to a specific game", not new to GMing. The GM read all the rules from cover to cover and he understands them, but never played. Should he start house ...
12
votes
0answers
263 views
As a GM, how can I create and role-play diverse NPCs better? [duplicate]
I am new to GMing (and role-playing in general, for that matter) and I am having a somewhat difficult time making plausible and interesting NPCs. This is especially true with NPCs who are not "typical ...
15
votes
4answers
356 views
Challenging pre-made campaign for veteran players but easy on new GMs
I just decided to start GMing. I have never done it before, but I have played lots of RPGs as a player. The group I have is a min/maxing group who knows what to do and I want to give them something to ...
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 ...
6
votes
4answers
366 views
Is there an alternate rule to allow different stats for Male/Female?
I want to introduce a variant that allows for stat adjustments for males/females, but I would like something more in-depth than just a bonus and penalty to stats. Are there any existing variants or ...
6
votes
1answer
116 views
How much, and what kind of, advance planning is appropriate for a sandbox campaign?
New ZM attemping to get ideas for a campaign down something similar to a tabletop fallout game.
How much info is too much info for general prep? Can there ever be too much? Or is there a general ...
4
votes
3answers
262 views
DM going from D&D 3.5e to AD&D 1st edition [closed]
I recently purchased the following seven AD&D books:
Player Handbook,
Monster Manual,
Dungeon Master's Guide,
Fiend Folio,
Monster Manual 2,
Unearthed Arcana, and.
Deites and Demigods.
Based on ...
10
votes
5answers
307 views
How to go from a humorous campaign to a more serious one?
I am currently running a D&D 4E game. The game started off kind of goofy (we have a thrikreen rogue with glowing blonde hair, an ale-obsessed dwarf battlemind, a ditzy human wizard, and a dwarf ...
1
vote
2answers
260 views
Good RPG System/Game/style for just a single DM and single Player? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
1 GM and 1 Player games and game systems?
I am looking for a system or style of play (or even contained game/game module) which would be fun for just one player---myself ...
15
votes
4answers
500 views
What should a DM do if a player wants to do something impossible?
If a player wants to do something a little out of the ordinary such as punching down a wall with his bare fists, what should I do? Do I make a DC for it? Do I make it so that no matter how much he ...
9
votes
3answers
284 views
How do I keep me and my player happy in a one-on-one game?
As a GM, my comfort zone is a group with about 3-5 players. I like the diversity of having multiple players. When I only have a single player, I feel I can already predict my player's actions, and we ...
8
votes
1answer
353 views
What are the main differences and similarities between Pathfinder and RuneQuest?
As the question suggests, I'm interested in the main differences and similarities between Pathfinder and RuneQuest. I'm fairly familiar with the RuneQuest system. I've heard a bit about Pathfinder ...
43
votes
14answers
1k views
How can I help my PCs remember clues that they found?
I'm a new DM running my first adventure (it's D&D 4.0 but that's not relevant to my question). I've heard of the "three clue rule", that there should be at least three independent pointers to any ...
9
votes
3answers
256 views
In Lady Blackbird, how do you NPC the characters people haven't picked?
My normal Apocalypse World crew was down a player this week, so I ran Lady Blackbird for 'em. It was my first time running the game (and we all had a blast), but I got rather confused when playing the ...
23
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there a core campaign setting for DnD 4e?
I'm completely new to RPGs in general, so I apologize in advance if this is an odd question. There's such an overwhelming abundance of lore on all the different campaign settings for DnD that I've ...
35
votes
6answers
1k views
Did I do a bad job as a GM?
Last night we played our first RPG (ever!) and I'm not sure if it went well.
The basic story was to find someone. There were three possible places where he could be; then the players hot wire a ...
11
votes
5answers
1k views
How to introduce a pen-and-paper RPG to family?
My brother and I have dabbled in D&D when we were younger. Also, at the last place where I worked, we had a weekly Pathfinder game session, which was fun.
Usually at our family get-togethers my ...
9
votes
3answers
345 views
As a complete newcomer - what do I have to look out for?
I just orderer the D&D Red Box 4th edition. I plan to play it with my GF and maybe I can convince my flat mate as well. None of us has any experience playing Pen and Paper games (I have Baldur's ...
11
votes
5answers
346 views
How to deal with intimidating amount of rules in Shadowrun
I started to read about Shadowrun as a setting and I'm currently reading the rules and they are really intimidating. There's a lot to know as a player since every aspect of the game as it's own set of ...
2
votes
4answers
279 views
How would society adjust if use of fire is reserved for the elite?
This is an extraction of one of the central questions arising from my original (overly broad) question.
In a society where the use of fire has been restricted, due to religious indoctrination, to the ...
6
votes
2answers
500 views
Starting Adventure Paths
I have never run or played an Adventure Path campaign but I am considering starting the subscription. If I understand it correctly each of the 6 part Adventure Paths start the player at 1st level and ...
14
votes
4answers
255 views
I have read the D&D PHB but am still having trouble grasping some of the basics, how can I learn more?
With credit to one of the more experienced members on the site, mxyzplk, I thought I'd ask where noobs like me should ask or find answers to basic questions about Dungeons & Dragons mechanics if ...
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 ...
6
votes
3answers
2k views
Choosing DnD 4th edition or Essentials for a new group and DM?
Recently I've got interested in roleplaying. My background is more or less hardcore boardgamer, I have played quite a large number of board games, even some of the most complicated ones and found it ...
3
votes
2answers
985 views
How do beastmasters' companions work?
I am playing D&D for the first time, and working on being a GM at that. We had our first session today, and it was very fun and went very well. However, one of my players chose a beastmaster, and ...
3
votes
1answer
459 views
Pathfinder: How to calculate attack roll for a monster
I'm a total Pathfinder newb and I have a question that will probably reveal just how "newb" I am.
According to the Core Rulebook, to calculate an attack roll, you use the following formula:
d20 + ...
8
votes
2answers
347 views
How to manage character arguments / conflict?
I'm a new DM and have just started a 4e game as Play by Post.
The game has started with one character (Bob) recruiting in a pub and the first response was from another character (Al) wanting to ...
6
votes
3answers
257 views
Help with some ideas for a campaign
Okay, so I am a relatively new GM. I've started running the Road Trip campaign for Monsters and Other Childish things for my group. I thought I'd run a one night one-shot Halloween themed campaign for ...
10
votes
6answers
525 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 ...
8
votes
2answers
533 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 ...
7
votes
1answer
122 views
Would the adventures in the Black Bag Jobs be a good starting point?
Were I new to GMing, would the the adventures in the Black Bag Jobs Laundry supplement be good as starting points or should I look elsewhere?
9
votes
3answers
242 views
New GM to a Laundry RPG game [closed]
What should a new (and not so experienced) GM watch out for when starting to run a game set in Charles Stross's Laundry universe? Note that all this could be applied to a Call Of Cthulhu game as well ...
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 ...
16
votes
6answers
319 views
How do I help create story around the table without writing it?
I love RPGs. I think they can create some of the most fun and enjoyable stories, both from an out-of-game and in-game standpoint.
I also realize that "story" is the result of the game played by the ...
