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About gming in general.

 
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Brightblinder
Kage


Joined: 13 Aug 2010
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Location: Somewhere off the coast of...

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 5:47 pm    Post subject: About gming in general. Reply with quote

Hey everybody. I'm in the middle of preparing for a campaign and I'd like to make it a very good one. In the past my games have been too one dimensional for me to really be happy with them. So I'd like to ask if anyone has any tips for designing a campaign story line with depth. I'm especially interested in any methodology people might be using to good effect. Any kind of organization to your brainstorming that you might suggest I use. Thank you for your time.
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Shun
Shinobigami


Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 1262
Location: Austin, TX

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's pretty basic, ask yourself these questions for the basis of any scenario or campaign;
1. Who: who's involved, are they good/bad/neutral? What do they do?
2. What: what's the issue getting the players attention?
3. Why: why is #1 triggering #2
4. When: are these actions on a specific date? Is there a time limit? did these things already happen?
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TheTrulyAvaricious
Bijuu/Tailed Beast


Joined: 14 Sep 2011
Posts: 610

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Greetings,

I can understand that, I've GM'ed for a number of years, and I'm still aiming to improve. I guess these are points are what I've always tried to apply to my games, so I'll share them with you:

1. There is never one answer to a problem. Encourage your players to be creative.

2. Most people believe there is only two solutions to a challenge set by them, the "good ending" and the "bad ending". I completely disagree. All actions, whether good or bad, have consequences that aren't always obvious from the off-set. So, that peasant girl you saved from the dragon? Yeah, turns out she's actually working for the evil mastermind behind a plot of world domination. Good going, guys!

3. A major point often forgotten is that your players' shouldn't just play in your game; they should be immersed in it. The best GM's will make their players feel that betrayal an NPC just did, the sadness as a close loved one dies in their arms. I know this from personal experience; I now hate the name Olman Gantz more than anything.

4. Get feedback from your players. Ask them to be critically honest; there will always be something to improve on. If their isn't, then their liars. Kind liars, but liars all the same.

5. Not all the action revolves around your players. Especially in a setting such as Naruto, big decisions and such are often undertaken outside of the main cast. These decisions are often filtered down in ways that make it your player's problem too. It's the consequences that make it your players problem. Not everyone has the sway of a Kage, and your players are no exception.

6. Not everything is about the gold. Although most of the missions your players will undertake will be comissioned, that doesn't mean their only satisfaction should be the pay check at the end of the day. Sometimes, just knowing that you reunited the two lovers is more valuable than even an S-Class mission pay. Even if we'd rather get the gold for that shiny, shiny sword.

7. Encourage your players to make new techniques, formations, tactics etc. You may not be able to let them have it, for a variety of reasons, but this is a key to immersing your players into the world. It stops them from just choosing from a spell-list, and allows them to become closer to their characters.

8. Set in mind the kind of campaign you want to play. Will it be a humourous, silly adventure? Will it be a epic-scale war? Will it be a apocalyptic horror? Once decided, delve into other sources of your chosen genre(s), and find things that work. Sometimes, you'll stumble across a goldmine, and be able to use it for your own.

9. The best campaigns are ones both you AND your players enjoy, and will leave you talking about it for years to come. Even at family gatherings. In fact, ESPECIALLY family gatherings.

10. When you GM, you don't create an adventure. You create a world. From the staggeringly powerful big bad, to the sweet old man that runs the local corner shop. Never neglect anything.

11. Probably the most important thing in your arsenal; As a GM, you always reserve the right to say no. Players will try and make themselves obscenely powerful, especially if they think they can get away with it. You sometimes just have to sit them down, and either compromise, or just tell them "No, that's far too powerful/abusive, and isn't fair on any of the other players". Always try and think of a good reason, let them see it from your point of view.

12. A bored player often becomes a nuisance just to amuse themselves. Other times, there just actual dicks. Don't be afraid to kick their asses out if its ruining the game from everyone else. This however, should always be a last resort.

Hope this helped.
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Jensik
Sharkbait


Joined: 17 Oct 2006
Posts: 1810
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's some advice that I try to give every GM: Don't plan everything. Improv skills are invaluable for a GM. There's no possible way to predict every possible action that your players are going to make, so don't try. Just react. Whenever the PC's make a decision, imagine how the major players in your world would react.

In the same train of thought, don't plan every detail of your world beforehand either. Let your players have a hand in shaping the world they play in, so they have a reason to stay invested. One of the best things you can do is to integrate your PC's backgrounds and history into the main story arch. I've got an entire side plot going that's focused on one PC that didn't exist in the planning phase.

You can also make changes to the world based on player input without telling them. In my campaign there's an NPC that originally started off as comedic counterpart to another more serious NPC. The players continually mentioned that they thought he was a shifty bastard, so he became a shifty bastard. I'd say more, but I'm avoiding spoilers.

Try to say 'no' as little as possible, but don't let any one player become too much more powerful than the rest. If you're hesitant to say 'yes' to something then instead say 'yes, but...' where what they want is possible but comes at a steep price or risk.

And this is the most important thing here: Any time you think you know exactly what you're going to be doing, your players will prove you wrong. Without fail. Try not to take it personally. It takes a certain degree of masochism to be a GM.

EDIT: Of course there's the *other* school of GM'ing thought, which says "If you aren't playing hard enough to risk friends and destroy relationships, then you're doing it wrong." but I personally shy away from it.
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Faran Kredo
Younin


Joined: 04 May 2011
Posts: 395
Location: Mentally or physically?

PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My advice... know your players and engage them. I start most of my campaingns with a short fight or two, a couple of roleplays, an open ended problem, and a dungeon crawl with roleplaying elements. I then sum up my player's reactions to these, get them to talk about it, and bingo, you know what they like. Then design sessions with at least one part for each player per session. From then on, try different things, and see when your players really engage, remembering what sort of scenario each player thrives in, and try to avoid the sort of scenario that leaves both you and all of the players but one being bored. Don't be afraid to take a player aside, and ask them to change or leave.

I would rant about my previous players now, but I have surpressed the urge.
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