|
OK, unless you're a GM (or however it's called in your game), I'd suggest you stop reading at this point. This
gives tips, and sorts through the mind of a GM, which may not be something too appropriate to players.
All right, then. I think we got rid of them. Here are a few useful tips for new GMs, or people who just haven't gotten it yet. If you don't know what it is, then this is the article for you.
Here are a whole bunch of points. They're roughly in importance order, but I'm too lazy to change them. If one turns out to be less important, then just pretend I put it somewhere else.
- Use humor. Use it in great gushes, or sparingly, but use it. It could mean the difference between a boring hack-and-slash and a funny boring hack-and-slash (trust me, there's a big one). Oddly enough, that might be the only thing serious on the list. It's not a threat, but if you want to stay a GM, or make people remember you, then do so. Humor works.
- Realize the difference between you and your players. This is almost as important as the occasional well placed joke. You're in control, they're not. If they were, their characters would grow to be insanely powerful, do whatever they want to perfectly, and generally be boring. You're there to provide a story. They may want to win every fight, but they can't. Or if they do, it's only because you're nice. Players will basically do whatever they can to ruin what you've planned.
- As a sub-note to two, plan ahead, but not too much. It's your job to create a world (or at least a city or two, or maybe a dungeon). You need to have a plot, and NPCs, and a timeline. It's the players' jobs to mess up anything you plan. What I do is create the world/area/characters, create a timeline of important events, and wing it. That way it's harder for them to catch me off guard. The best part is, if you don't let them know that, then you'll look pretty good when they toss a monkey wrench in. They'll think you've prepared for everything.
- As another sub-note, sometimes the players' goals and yours combine (for instance, they decide that they do after all need to go on the adventure you've been planning for months). This is a good thing, and should be encouraged. Positive reinforcement works wonders. Sometimes though, they'll disagree with you. They think they should win a certain fight, and you know they have to lose miserably. Well, as tempting as it is to say "Hah! I'm the GM, and what I say goes. The bad guy rips your still beating heart out of your chest, and takes a lustful bite," it doesn't promote the peace and harmony you need. If all your players say, "This sucks," and leave, then you'll have to GM for yourself. I don't recommend that, unless you have other personalities. For a good way to resolve such conflicts, see point number one. Maybe having him get a good case of heartburn after chomping on it would keep the tension down. Or at least, maybe they'll be laughing too hard to know that their favorite character is gone and will soon have all their goodies looted by their comrades.
- Be humble or modest. You can choose one or the other, doing both might be a little too much. After all, you're in charge. But if you're humble, players won't expect the power plays you need to do to make sure you're still in charge. Also, if you don't overplay how great the adventure is, then they may be pleasantly surprised (or at least not disappointed). Same thing for being modest. Just remember, when things don't go your way, don't whine. Whining is for players (good thing they're not reading this), a GM should be tough. A nice cry when no one is around does wonders. Or revenge (see one of the numbers down the list, I haven't written it yet) can work wonders to relieve stress.
- Smile often. It's too tempting to smile just right before you get the characters in a devious trap. Sometimes you can't help it. If you smile often, they'll be used to it, and won't realize that it means something different. Just remember - don't give a normal smile. Make sure to give a GM smile (that's the one that'll come out when you need to keep a straight face). It's pretty easy to do. Grab a mirror. OK, got it? Then how are you reading this? In any case, smile like you normally would. Now widen that smile, baring as many teeth as you can show. See that green thing? There you go. Anyway, that's a GM smile. You might think that it can be a bit intimidating, but don't worry, they trust you. Oh, and hey, sometimes the players are a little more cynical (experienced). This makes smiling often even more fun. Be sure to do it in especially innocent circumstances. That way you can get them to squirm a bit. Trust me, it's a great way to relieve the stress of your job (another way is to get paid for it).
- Broker trust between yourself and each player individually, but make sure that they have good reasons not to trust the other players in the game, or at least the other players' characters. This may seem a bit devious (because it is), but it's a must have. You can't have those players teaming up against you. Any one or two you could take on, but a whole group is a bit much. Of course, if your group is one or two (besides you, unless you've been cloned), then don't worry about the whole trust thing. It's too much work to be worth your while. If you have a large group, it's useful to have, to detect mutinies, and keep things running how you want. Make sure they think that you care about their character. In a way, you do. You need their PC to make your story work. So make sure that they do. This way, if something bad happens, they don't get mad. They'll think "Well, my GM is different he/she/it cares about me. I bet this is for the greater good." Or something like that.
- Be fair. You may like some of your players more than others, but having a GM's pet is a good way to have someone disliked, ridiculed, or alienated by the rest of the players. Make sure it's someone you don't like.
- Another way to ensure your success as a GM is to make things interesting. Everyone and their dogs love hack and slashes, except for the people that don't (and dogs, because most don't roleplay). That's fine, and if that's what your players like (especially if they play Battletech), then that works. Other people like a story. Give them one. Try not to rip off any books too much, or overuse anything from the Star Wars universe (wait_unless_you're_playing_Star Wars). OK, ripping off books is a good way to come up with a "quickie" and seem like you're being smart. Make sure it's not a book anyone read, but try not to make it something like a physics book. No matter how hard you try, it won't be interesting. Make sure to change the names, too. Frodo and Smaug are dead giveaways. Anyway, let's all forget about that Battletech comment (it's actually one of my favorite games, besides some of my best friends are Battletech players). Let's also forget about anything bordering on plagiarism. Ripping off books may be fun, but don't write one in turn based on that RP.
- GMing is like working a jigsaw puzzle. The players are your pieces. Unfortunately, most jigsaws come with a whole bunch of pieces, and most people only have a few players. That's where NPCs come in. The best thing about NPCs is that they do what you want them to. The worst thing is that they do what you want them to. That's why you need players, to satisfy that masochism streak present in all GMs. Make good use for your non-player characters, develop them to the point that you could play them if you're so inclined, and then play them - if not to provide interaction with the players, then because you don't want to have wasted all your time Also remember that as much as you try, squishing player characters into the holes you want them to fill doesn't work, just like if you were trying to smash a piece into the puzzle board. You need scissors for that.
- Revenge is a dish best served by someone else. If you're upset at someone, then don't abuse your power and take it out directly on them. Abuse your power by getting one of the other players (discreetly, inadvertently are two words that work well in this context) to do the work for you. That way, that player thinks they have an in to you, the other player doesn't get mad at you, and you promote points number 7 and 8 (it's a lot easier to write about points I've written).
- Use visual aids. They work for Battletech, but miniatures might not be for every storyline (or in every budget). Even if you can't draw (and that hasn't stopped lots of people), you can still chart out little maps. Find pictures on the web. Take a map of the world and edit it for your own needs. Take photos of relatives/politicians (even better if they're both) you don't particularly care for, then put up the photo on a dartboard and throw darts at them. It might not help the game directly, but if you have good aim, people will complain about it less.
- (Paste your own rule here. That way this article has that personal touch. It may even have at least one point that will mean something to you.)
- Remember: Denial is key. If it works for our country's leaders, then it's good enough for us (that whole humble/modest thing). If you do something that the players remember something that you recall otherwise, then they're wrong and you're not. Why? You're in charge. It's that simple. Besides, they don't have logs of real life. And if it's online, and they do have logs, then they might be editing them. Offer the other players a goodie, and have them team up with you against the snitch. This will promote greater peace and harmony, as the player that challenged you will be put in their place, and the others will realize not to cross you. You don't make mistakes. Just sudden (unexpected?) plot twists.
- Have fun. There's nothing worse than a GM in a bad mood. Also, if GMing isn't fun, and you're not getting paid, then why do it? There are a whole bunch of points previously, devoted to making things more fun for you.
Well, there's about 15 of them (unless you cheated and put a few in the 13 point section - if you did, you'd make a good player). If you actually needed most of them, then you'll probably be needing more, but that's not my job. Blunder about a bit, the worst thing that will happen is that all of your roleplaying friends will stop having anything to do with you. If so, then that's what the internet is for (well, not really, but if you actually follow the advice here, you might think that I'm right). If you were already on the internet, then there's always IRL gaming. Oh, and you players, if your GM doesn't meet the standards listed here, you can always forward them the link to this page. You may have thought I didn't know you read this, but I read rule two. Hah! I hope you all learned as much from reading this as I did writing it.
|