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Author Topic: 1001 REAL GM Tips  (Read 8257 times)

Telgin

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #30 on: December 18, 2012, 02:51:38 am »

These I learned running a comunity fort.

49. Players are malicious.  This includes people and things in game as well as outside of the game.  Be ready.
50. In large games, players like to form cliques.  These often are at odds with each other.  This devolves into anything from cold feelings to hot hatred of each other.  Catch it early.
51. Players left to roam freely will wander in dark places.  Take heed.
52. Players that wander in dark places will wander in darker places you really wish they wouldn't.  Sometimes in places that are frowned upon or forbidden on Bay 12.  Be vigilant.
53. You can't please everyone, but you can make everyone upset.  Consider your actions and words.

These I learned being a player in a PBP game.

54. Play by post games that use pen and paper rules go slower than a broke legged dwarf who hasn't had booze since the turn of the century.  Be patient.
55. Play by post games that use GURPS go slower than a glacier melting.  Combat is a thing to be avoided at all costs.  Be very patient.
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lawastooshort

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #31 on: December 18, 2012, 06:53:02 am »

Oh yeah.
48. For the love of God, make and use maps. Decently-made MS paint ones work, flashy drawn ones are nice too. The top things players tend to get confused about: "Where am I? What is this? What can I do?" A properly-made, updating map can answer two or more of these in one fell swoop.

48a. The simpler they are the easier they are for you to update if your MS Paint / art skills are rudimentary.

Sorry for not keeping mine up to date, freeform.
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freeformschooler

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #32 on: December 18, 2012, 09:51:07 am »

((Hey I ain't complainin', sometimes a decent description can substitute :P))
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Tiruin

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #33 on: December 18, 2012, 02:23:33 pm »

PTW.
56. Most rules which pertain to player morality or the judgemental or logical systems of players (that is to say, personality or abstract aspects) change from person to person. There is no label for a player that a GM must prepare for and there is no rigidity to any game wherein any GM meets a dead end.

When trapped in a one-way road. Make your own route. The walls are only doors without handles.
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TCM

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #34 on: December 20, 2012, 01:57:13 pm »

57. We don't need 26831894391760431786127380941897023781502 Goddamn Minimalist RTDs.
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Dragor23

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #35 on: December 20, 2012, 03:04:37 pm »

58. Player actions come always over your plot idea. If you want to force your story idea over the wishes of your players, you get fucked up.
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Thecard

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #36 on: December 20, 2012, 03:13:00 pm »

59. If it exists, the players will find some perverse use for it.  Whether it's a sex-robot, or an arm's length of rope.  Expect at least one of the players to try something sick with it at some point.
60. If you deny them this, someone is going to be butthurt.
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TCM

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #37 on: December 26, 2012, 02:46:32 pm »

61. It's good to please everyone, but if there's that one roleplayer, especially in a large game, that opposes every other person and fights with the GM, get rid of them. It's harsh, but it's your game, not his/hers.
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Zanzetkuken The Great

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #38 on: December 26, 2012, 03:06:48 pm »

Posting for later reference.
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Fortis

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #39 on: December 26, 2012, 05:26:12 pm »

62. Maps are good, but they don't need to be works of art. If the game is good, players will have just as much fun with a MSpaint scrawl as they would with the map equivalent of the Mona Lisa.
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germaina

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #40 on: December 27, 2012, 02:19:16 am »

63. Sometimes people need to be killed.  It sucks if you know the DM is afraid to kill a PC at times.
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Xantalos

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #41 on: December 27, 2012, 05:07:38 am »

64. Have backup EVERYTHING. Something WILL happen if you don't.
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rabidgam3r

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #42 on: December 27, 2012, 07:37:44 pm »

65. When caught without backup, DON'T send a dragon to scare em back on the rails.
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King DZA

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #43 on: December 27, 2012, 08:27:52 pm »

66. Many times, the only difference between having a short-lived, unremarkable game, and a legendary, unforgettable adventure is dedication.

67. Explaining the plot and setting is important, but it is also something that can be done as the game progresses. It's usually best to avoid writing an opening story the length of a short novel.

OREOSOME

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Re: 1001 REAL GM Tips
« Reply #44 on: December 27, 2012, 10:10:10 pm »

68: If you have a concept for the main plotline/ability in/of the adventure, PLEASE think it all the way through before you make the concept into a fully fledged thing used in a Adventure. Trust me, I've done that.

69: If you want to make a RTD, try to avoid going minimalistfor a complicated system of calculating damage. Example: Making a Mecha Based RTD, without a easy way to calculate damage done to or by people on foot versus Mechs.
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