Tip and Tricks for DMing!

[Cidius]

Thinking of starting up as a DM here on Giant, never DM'ed before.
I know i need to have a plot ready, with an idea of what i want said group to do / why they have gathered. I also have all the appropriate 3.5 books as what ill be using.

Here are some questions i have.

1. Iv only ever played D&D on a board before so im wondering how the movement works here if at all, on a board you move spaces, is the idea the same, do i have to provide a game board of sorts?

2. Whats the best group size to have for a new DM? something not to overwhelming for a first timer.

3. should i have one thread for the game and one for OOC?

any other tips or help would be nice.

And since im here let me ask you fine gents and ladies a few questions...

1. What has been your favorite moment in any of these table top games?

2. What makes a good or bad DM in your opinion?

3. what makes a bad player in your opinion?

4. What is your favorite race / class from any table top dice roller?

5. Do you have any specific setting you are fond of?

6. what makes a great game to you?

7. What ruins a game to you?

[AlanBruce]

1. Iv only ever played D&D on a board before so im wondering how the movement works here if at all, on a board you move spaces, is the idea the same, do i have to provide a game board of sorts?

You could describe the room and space/dimensions and where the enemies are, but in a PbP, that would be too abstract, since nobody is seeing anything, really.

I would suggest you use this site. It will allow you to create your own dungeons really fast. Place tokens already provided by the site, or upload them from elsewhere, while allowing you and your players to move the tokens around turn by turn.

2. Whats the best group size to have for a new DM? something not to overwhelming for a first timer.

Four is the ideal number of players. Since you will likely be recruiting for a PbP game, expect many people to want to participate. Provide the option for alternates, since PbP games usually have players dropping for many number of reasons.

3. should i have one thread for the game and one for OOC?

Always have an IC thread, where the campaign is being played, and an OOC thread, where players may discuss strategy, post their sheets, etc.

[Cidius]

Always have an IC thread, where the campaign is being played, and an OOC thread, where players may discuss strategy, post their sheets, etc.

While i assume you do IC on the (On-Going Games (In Character)) section, where would you put the OOC thread?

[Necroticplague]

While i assume you do IC on the (On-Going Games (In Character)) section, where would you put the OOC thread?

Under Finding Players (Out-of-Character).

[AlanBruce]

While i assume you do IC on the (On-Going Games (In Character)) section, where would you put the OOC thread?

In the Out of Character section.

[Cidius]

thank you thank you...

tho now i have more problems... testing out pyromancer and it seems rather limited any other suggestions or tips about character movement? I would make my own maps if i knew a way to make them accesible / allow people to move their own chars around.

[Crimson Wolf]

One tip that I greatly would suggest is this, have a little notepad for certain monsters you would throw at them, and what you do is keep the basic stats of some monsters, but change not only their names, but descriptions and such. What this does is help against players who might instantly notice what a monster is just by sight or name, and helps make them have to think out of the box in order to defeat said monster.


Such a simple thing as changing the name and looks of it (while still fitting its size) makes a otherwise bland encounter turn into something new and refreshing and also help curb against players who memorize most monsters like the back of their hand.

[Cidius]

One tip that I greatly would suggest is this, have a little notepad for certain monsters you would throw at them, and what you do is keep the basic stats of some monsters, but change not only their names, but descriptions and such. What this does is help against players who might instantly notice what a monster is just by sight or name, and helps make them have to think out of the box in order to defeat said monster.


Such a simple thing as changing the name and looks of it (while still fitting its size) makes a otherwise bland encounter turn into something new and refreshing and also help curb against players who memorize most monsters like the back of their hand.

So basically reskin a previous monster to an extent? i can get behind that.

[Crimson Wolf]

Yup, helps curb against players who practically sleep with their monster books to know every weakness and power of any monster they might find. Not to mention even without fighting this it helps things be a bit more interesting.

[jjcrpntr]

2. Whats the best group size to have for a new DM? something not to overwhelming for a first timer.

When I started DMing we had 3-4 guys now there's 5-6 depending on the week. I think 3-4 was a good starting point

1. What has been your favorite moment in any of these table top games?

My favorite moment as a player was when we were stuck in a Yuan Ti temple. Our barbarian got feared, the wizard got turned in to a snake and the bard was out of spells. The boss Yuan-ti and 3 of his bodyguards charged me, a cleric with a glaive, I rolled something like 9 20's out of 12 rolls. 2 shot the boss, 1 shot all his body guards. DM had a good attitude about it, was a crazy night of rolls for me.

2. What makes a good or bad DM in your opinion?

DM's that have NPC's that they are overly fond of that they wont let you kill even when you do more than enough damage to do so. Or DM's that are just ***** for the sake of being a ****.

3. what makes a bad player in your opinion?

People who metagame overtly. I understand it's hard to not do it somewhat. Or people who argue with the DM about stuff that is for the most part unimportant just because they want to show they know more than the DM. People who fight/steal from other players

4. What is your favorite race / class from any table top dice roller?

I've always been partial to clerics. Though lately in my Pathfinder game I've taken a liking to the Oread race.

6. what makes a great game to you?

Good story, good NPCS, good character interaction and a challenge.

7. What ruins a game to you?

Players that are *****. DM's that are *****. Or DM's that do stupid stuff just to mess with the players (or a specific player). I'm not talking about making a fight tough or something, I'm talking about going out of their way to do stuff in game to annoy a player out of game.

[HunterOfJello]

2. Whats the best group size to have for a new DM? something not to overwhelming for a first timer.

I would reccomend between two and three. Four is the ideal party size, but that's a hard number to start with.

1. What has been your favorite moment in any of these table top games?

When funny unintentional stuff happens

2. What makes a good or bad DM in your opinion?

Good DM:
Preparation preparation preparation.
Being able to sympathize with others.
Understanding your players, what they're interested in, and making sure that you create a game that everyone (including the DM) can enjoy.
Understands that this is just a game, but that the players may not feel this way.
Is willing to look up the rules, doesn't assume he/she knows everything, and will work with players when rules are sketchy.


Bad DM:
Doesn't prepare properly.
Doesn't understand his/her players.
Ignores player complaints.
Plays a game that is surely fun for only the players, only some of the players, or only the DM.
Take everything way too seriously and refuses to take things as serious as the players do.

3. what makes a bad player in your opinion?

A bad player is one who ignores the DM as a participant in the game and who isn't willing to work with others to make the game fun for everyone.

A bad player is also one who ignores the optimization and effectiveness scaling of the other players. Playing a compeltely overoptimized and effective character (compared to the others) can be bad and playing a horribly unoptimized and inefficient character is absolutely terrible.

4. What is your favorite race / class from any table top dice roller?

dice roller?

favorite race and class is Primordial Half-Giant Wizard

5. Do you have any specific setting you are fond of?

Eberron is fun, but Planescape is where greatness lives.

6. what makes a great game to you?

The players and DM.

7. What ruins a game to you?

A ****ty DM.
Selfish players who aren't willing to work with others both in and out of game.
A bad story.
Players who take far too long to post.
Playing it on a forum or online. (the mediums just don't work well for me at all)
Any spectators whatsoever.