GM Baptisim

Last night we adventured into Ephemera, I was Sidwin Butterbotom, stereo typical halfling thief with a bumpkin personality.  I was accompanied by Bo, stereo typical human fighter with a bumpkin personality.  The adventures are retold as our GM's blog, The Clash of Spear on Shield.  +Rob Conley who played Bo, wrote a weird song about out adventures called, Ballad of Bo and Sidwin.  I'm not sure if we qualified for a ballet since we lasted slightly less than a virgin on prom night.  Maybe a jingle or a ditty.

On of my favorite things in gaming is playing on other people's worlds.  Learning how they GM, how they use or not use rules.  Finding out what is important to their world.  GM always favor a mechanic and its interesting to see how they use their style.  For example, +Rob Conley gets his battle boards out, intricate designed maps and well crafted miniatures.  Combat is tactical and brutal.  If you ever have to good fortune of getting in on one of +trey causey's games you won't ever see a battle board.  Combat is abstract.  He is more into concepts not rules.  Both GMs value RPing, both are great at fleshing out NPCs.  Both are great GMs and have their own distinct style.

Last night was +Chris C.'s first game he'd GMed in real time for 20 years he said.  For having about three inches of dust on him he did an excellent job.  He has a great concept world.  Nothing to gonzo, something post apocalyptic with his own flare.  Something we could identify with immediately without needed to learn a history or extensive background.  You can jump in with both feet and go.  He apologized for the TPK, but it was a blast.  I told him he wasn't a true old school GM until he had a TPK.  "You've just been baptized.  Welcome to the fold." 

Player Monster Knowledge

Peter over at his Dungeon Fantastic blog asked an interesting question in his post, Player Reading Monster Manuals.  Go give it a read, I'll wait.  And if you have a second answer his poll on the side.  I'll wait.

There is no way you can enforce the players not to read the monster manuals.  If you play, most people I know get the core books.  And in a game where monsters are a regular occurrence I believe players would have some knowledge of them through stories, trainers or whatever.  Most people who live in my campaign world know trolls regenerate.  I'm not going to deny my players that knowledge.  Some may argue the more unique monsters the players would have no knowledge.  Fair enough.

But this is when a GM needs to take advantage of the player's knowledge and turn it on them.  So for shits and giggles let's use a medusa as an example.  Stone gaze, and because of Clash of the Titans she may be kick ass with a bow, poison snake head, all of us can recite the list of fine qualities this lovely lady possesses.  So players are armed with what they think they will happen.  Ah oh, lookie here, this medusa doesn't turn anyone to stone.  This one turns them into water, trickle into the river next her layer and wash into the sea.  Those stone to flesh potions might as well be orc turds for as useful as they will be. Maybe her gaze is not the catalyst, maybe she breathes out a gas and those who are in the area of effect become nothing more than a puddle. 

GMs cannot be lazy.  They must put the effort into creating new monsters or at least variations of  a critter to build tension when a monster is encountered.  Tweaking old monsters, playing on expectations is a great way to startle the players out of their comfort zone. 

The other thing is just to make new monsters.  Blogs are dedicated to making monsters.  You can't swing a dead displacer beast without hitting a new one.  But the best monsters are the ones you make yourself.  In this case the players will only know them by their description and not their stats.  Like I said before, GMs cannot be lazy, they need to put that effort in.  Players know as much as the GMs and sometimes more. 

This ain't 1979 when only a couple of kids had the books.  This is 2012 and everyone has the books in print, PDF, on their phones and ipads and crap I probably haven't heard of. 

But I say go ahead and read your little monster manuals, I got stuff in my head that's gonna make you lose sleep. 

Building a Better GM

Over at Hill Cantons, over here at the Manor he is know as Cake, he put out this challenge that has been sweeping around the blogs.  I guess it's my turn to give it a go.  I've seen some people arguing over creativity and/or techniques and it makes me chuckle.  I've been in the writing business since the mid 80s and there is always someone who knows better and gives you the absolutes of how things are supposed to be.  They're full of shit.  Ignore them.  Don't even argue with them because you won't change their mind and all you do is waste precious energy on them.  Even though I have no absolute laws of how things are supposed to be, I have suggestions because they work for me. I think most of us already know and use what my three things are.  It's not complicated.

The three questions blend together so I will sort of answer them all at once. 

1. I like to take the stereotypical, allowing the players to go on assumptions and then twisting it, sometimes subtly and sometimes more extreme.  This is a great technique I use in my fiction and it works fantastic for gaming.  Maybe the orc that is tromping through the forest is not a 1HD easy target.  Maybe it's a 5HD orc/troll with regenerative powers wearing the Charm of Gruumsh that grants any weapon it uses to paralyze.  This is a deadly example, but a good one that plays on players' assumption.  Everyone has the monster manual, but GMs have to remember those stats are just a suggestion.

What to watch out for: Making everything unusual so in doing so you've made the unusual the usual.  It's okay to have a horde of goblins for the players to slaughter.  That's fun too.  A GM needs to set up the situation so that the twist will work.

2. I am very good a winging it.  I think this is probably one of the most important skills a good GM can have.  I think the best adventures are ad-lib and some nice surprises for the GM as well as the players.  Of course to be effective the GM needs a solid knowledge of the system.  Ad-libbing is cool, but also I think needs to be done in moderation.  A foundation and consistency needs to be established.  Some people who have the entire world, cultures, history and geography memorized then it's no big thing.

What to watch out for: Like I mentioned the biggest problem with too much improvisation is inconsistency.  Too much and it's difficult to keep track of motivations and people and things and places because you made them up on the spot.  Keep good notes or at least have a good outline/structure that you use to keep things from going too wonky.

3. I think what makes me a good GM is I engage the players in interesting story-lines.  There is often several running through a single game at any one time and some are the main story arc for the characters and some are those side quests or path splitters.  I like to weave a lot of layers and build a complex relationship to the world they're interacting with. 

 What to watch out for: Over complicating things.  Players love to develop their story-lines and will often complicate it enough themselves, GMs need to allow them that privilege.  If things slow down a bit the GM can always interject some new interesting twist, but if your players are anything like mine they create enough drama to last several sessions in one sitting. 

How do YOU rate as a GM? (Only your players know for sure.)

This little test was inspired by DeAnn Iwan's article in 81st issue of Dragon Magazine of the same title. Well, replace the GM for DM and then it's exactly the same. She wrote a 43 questionnaire for players to rate their GMs. This is a variation of her test. Circle which number best describes the way your GM plays. So all you players out there grab your favorite writing utensil and know that your GM is not permitted to peak at your answers. You information and identity protection is my highest priority unless you write a comment then the gig is up. Remember, there are no bad GMs only ones that suck before they get good.

Does the GM challenge you?
1. Not so much. Everything is too easy. There is no penalty for being stupid.
2. Everything is impossible. Everytime I return home the GM makes me roll a lockpick challenge. I have the fricking key!
3. The challenges are balanced and fair. Just don't touch his slice of pizza or demon lords happen to appear.

How often do your characters die?
1. Die? I've waded through an army of titans and came away unscathed. I am immortal.
2. I've got sores on my hands from rolling up new characters.
3. Frequent enough that I run away when I see an army of angry titans.

How much treasure do you get?
1. I own at least one of everything in the treasure section. If Vecna had any more body parts lopped off I would have them.
2. I'm a 7th level fighter and I have holes in my shoes and wield a dull scythe I got from a farmer.
3. The party members and I have a pretty good stash of loot to help us take on what is thrown our way, but man I would love to get my hands a Girdle of Giant Strength.

How quick is the level progression?
1. I have attained godhood in three different classes. I am a god among gods. I'm very bored.
2. Forty-three sessions in the campaign and I've finally reached 3rd level. Never laugh at a GM's haircut or touch his pizza.
3. I'm progressing well. I got a nice bump of experience points after the last adventure.

Is your GM creative?
1. Ahh, he developed his own language for sentient bovine that have fled their native plane. I won't even go into culture of vegetables he gave us a handout on last session. Hint, don't eat the turnips.
2. My shoe has more ideas. I swear he bases each session off the most recent episode of Heroes.
3. Yeah. Keeps me guessing. Never assume a magic item or monster is going to react like its written.

How does the GM run NPCs?
1. All of them are nice and helpful. Even the mean ones apologize.
2. All of them are dicks. Even the nice ones would rather die than give us directions to a tavern.
3. Lots of variety. Although he tends to favor old characters of his, but if you know that ahead of time your good to go.

Does the GM favor any one class?
1. He likes non-adventuring classes. Last session we got a twenty-three page hand out on the particulars of a cobbler.
2. Any class his current NPC is.
3. I don't see any favoritism. Certain situations make one class shine over the others, but we all seem to get into the spotlight.

How does your GM handle critical successes?
1. Any hit is a critical. I've lopped off more heads than a lawnmower in a field of dandelions.
2. I wouldn't know.
3. He has a homemade chart with some cool effects. Although my group seems to favor the pelvis shot.

How does your GM handle critical failures?
1. I wouldn't know.
2. I've lopped off my own head and another player's leg while just eating dinner. I failed my challenge roll for cutting a piece of ham.
3. He has a homemade chart with some cool effects. Okay, it is pretty funny when someone hits themselves in the pelvis.

How realistic is your game?
1. If I want it I get it. So not very realistic.
2. I caught a cold walking in the rain then had to hunt a cow and nearly died because I couldn't track it down in a fenced in field. (Yes Rob, that one is for you!)
3. Enough to make simple things a little more exciting, but not get bogged down with details for the more mundane aspects of the game.

Does your GM go strictly by the rules as written?
1. We don't have any rules. We make it up as we go.
2. We aren't allowed to have a copy of the rule books. We had to hand them over before we began. He didn't want to be bother by people arguing with him.
3. He goes with the flow. There is a definite framework in place, but a lot of home rules built in. And if we as a party don't like a particular rule the GM with change it.

What is the best part of the game for your GM?
1. To see his player happy and successful. There is no failure as long as we try.
2. Collecting all the characters he's killed over the years. Sick son-of-a-bitch makes you hand over your character sheet so he can add it to a folder that reads 'character graveyard".
3. Watching us struggle with one of his puzzles or watching us cheer on a fellow player to get a good roll so the party can survive.

If your score is very low you must have a GM from California who does yoga. If your score is in the middle then you have GM from Texas who works in a prison. If you have a very high score you must live in Pennsylvania with a GM named Rob (I've got a game tonight so I figure I can get some extra xp for blatant flattery). So concludes this test. There are many other questions that could be asked, but I don't want to ask them. So please feel free to add you own.