Forum: Public Forum

Hey guys, i'm back hanging around the boards. Currently DMing my online game due to restrictions on real life stuff. I only started DMing with D&D 4e Jaxtasha so sorry if its 4e focused, but hope this helps;

What was your first DM/GMing experience like?

Quite nice actually. I had a nice group of PCs (nice in the sense that they were happy to just play alone) and a pre-written adventure. I was mainly happy that i could just get the basics down and handle most things with the help of page 42 of the DMG.

What are the "classic" mistakes and how do you avoid them?

IMO the classic mistake is to be in the wrong mindset as a DM. There are horror stories of DMs acting like they are playing AGAINST the party which obviously isn't the case. So my 'classic' mistake is that sometimes a DM can be too focused on a the game from their own perspective. Did the player just trump your Skill Challenge with a great idea? Well played. Barbarian just one-shotted your bad guy with a great roll? Nice roll.

Another mistake is assuming that if anything like the above happens its a 'dead end'. Lets take the One Shot example from above. So the BBEG is dead, cut in two is that the end of the encounter? Could be, but why not have something else happen like his body actually splits into two and runs off in separate directions. Who should the PCs follow? Now this does involve a certain amount of improvisation, something that i'm not fully comfortable with yet but you get the idea.

If you had to only get one thing right hat would be the most important?

Make sure everyone at the table has fun. That means not just the PCs (although this is paramount also) but yourself included. Creating encounters that are fun for you to run allows you to forget worrying about things like statuses and initiatives and just do something cool. Like leap a bad guy off a roof, or spill minions into the encounter to act as shock troops. Its important to remember that you should be enjoying the game just as much as the PCs.

How do you deal with power gamers and cheats?

I haven't had to deal with this as the people i play with i already know. If i was playing with a group of people who i didn't know at all, i wouldn't have thought it un-reasonable to lay down some ground rules first.

Re: Power Gamers, do you mean Min/Max type players? Now i don't think this is really a problem. That is to have a player who prefers to focus on that element rather than focusing on roleplay. Would you penalise a player for being focused in the opposite direction? I would say to let players do what they want with their character, and if optimising is that then so be it. However, you should have a caveat that if you, as a DM, feel that a certain power or feat combination is detrimental to the rest of the group then could can get it changed.

I would however take a stronger stand on cheating, mainly as i don't understand why someone would come to D&D to cheat. You can't really 'win' as an individual so why bother to up your ante. Either way, with a new group this can be solved by having a 'watch your neighbour ' rule, where each player has keeps an eye on his/her neighbours. To be honest, i think that how to handle this is actually a whole different subject, perhaps a separate discussion would be better?

What is the hardest part of DM/GMing?

For me is the motivation to do prep work, at the 'table' i have fun and I'm happy but it can be difficult to sit outside of that time and to the preparation which i know is needed. That's why when i do sit down i try to plan out ahead further so it gets easier.

But mainly its the fact that you are in charge whether or not other people have a good time or not, that's probably the hardest thing. Some people thrive on it, i get worried some times thinking 'Are they having fun?'. Nine times out of ten they are, so don't be too concerned with it.