Thank you for explaining, "I want monsters to do my bidding, not their prescribed bidding." While that might upset the few traditionalist players, most everyone appreciates an interesting monster/creature/whatever over a predictable one.
Jordan Kalmov that was my favorite bit... O.o do you even English? lol so much good info in these videos (I'm starting my first campaign as DM this weekend), but the little human moments like that make me giggle
I was a Recon Sniper back in the '80's playing with a bunch of Marines and Sailors. Our GM was getting tired and wanted to play a few sessions and asked me to step in and run a war campaign. I agreed, thinking of all the things I would/could do to set this up, where it needed to start, and everything these experienced players/characters could/would do to head into this war. Two weeks of planning. Looking at terrain, looking at cities and farming communities that could be invaded, random encounters plotted out for every contingency. Hours of work to ensure fun was had by all. Everyone knew ahead of time that I would be running this campaign. Everyone was looking forward to it. I gave them a wagon for their extraneous gear and had several inns where they could safely stay. They got to town, saw an island out in the bay while shopping for arrows, throwing knives, bolts, and material for traps. Rather than talking with any of the citizens, they got a sloop, stolen by the thief, and went out to visit the island. Two and a half hours of improv and random encounters later, one of them turned and asked me if they could climb a tree and see if they could see any enemy troops. Since the war was from a landlocked country, the answer, after a failed roll was a resounding no. Another hour and the ranger asked if she could see any tracks. A good roll, and she realized that the only humanoid tracks on the island belonged to the party. War, not being a static event, continued apace as their home country suffered defeats and land losses because the PCs decided not to use their skills or even talk to NPCs. When they realized what they had done, our GM laughed, congratulated me on letting everyone hang themselves and we continued on with the game as they hurried back to try to win some of the land lost.
If it floats it floats :) Until it doesn't... They probably thought that since it was such a small ship it was obviously of GREAT importance to head over to the island. Love when people read way more into items than they should.
The thing that Impressed me the most is not the way your able to explain everything so well, not the awesome ideas you gave me, how you always easily help me become a better DM with each video I watch, but how easily you came up with names of your monsters. Names are the hardest thing for me.
I almost spit out my drink at 6:06 when you decided to make a 40k scenario. I found this channel about 6 hours ago looking for ideas for the Dark Heresy campaign I'm going to be running in a few weeks. Yours was an Only war scenario, but frankly, it's pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks! You earned a sub!
I'd LOVE a video in improvising NPC dialogue on the fly. That is something that I struggle a great deal with, and it takes away from an adventure that my players otherwise enjoy.
pppgggr : Have an idea WHO that NPC is. Get a feel for what makes them tick. Maybe give one distinct phrase, tick, or accent to each NPC. Then let the players drive the conversation, and allow your NPC react based on that predisposition you invented.
Awesome advice. Though don't overdo the 'tick' as you can sometimes hurt yourself. Also important is to make note of mannerisms you give your NPC's so you can remember what makes them different.
wow... just wow you've made that look so easy and straight forward. I've not long started playing DnD and now going to DM for the first time (I'm a complete noob) and trying to make a campaign I'm trying to create an adventure/campaign for 5e d&d and I have made my country map but hit a writer's block for what adventure i would make and you have pretty much made it so simple (wished the DM guide did lol) your videos have been a massive help and i will continue to watch them for more guidance. thank you for the step by step process. I've forwarded a vid of yours to a friend of mine who like me needed a bit of help. keep it up. thank you
For me, the first step to preparing an encounter/adventure/campaign is to know my players. Note: not "know the Characters. ". Know the players. Different players respond to different cues regardless of what character they're playing. Once you understand those cues, seed your evening or adventure with the right cues to spark your players' interests. After that, make all notes on point form. Understand that your players decisions will circumvent more than that. So point form is fine. As Guy has stated, record any important names or plot points, but try to keep things as fluid as you can. An important aspect is this is also the GM Pokerface. When the players change gears or directions, act like it was always part of the plan. Write some key encounters down ahead of time that could be placed anywhere, and insert them in those odd directions the players chose. Act like it "was your plan all along". Trust me. So long as it's entertaining, they won't care. If your players are still talking about how "that thing did that stuff" even as they walk out the door, you've won. The idea has seeded in their memory, and you're free to build on it. To sum up: know your players. Be flexible. Plan small, but sell big. And where possible, leave them with a cliffhanger.
Like the idea of the GM Face... the stoic look followed by a sly smile ... just enough to make the players think you planned for it. Agree though on knowing your players.
Thanks for this. This is one of the best and most practical examples for GMing rather than the usual "Read everything, make index cards, draw maps, ensure everything aligns with player expectations."
Hello! I am in the preliminary stages of writing my first campaign and want to let you know that, map drawing and irrelevant system and setting episodes aside (I've already decided on using D&D 5e and the Forgotten Realms setting), I have watched all of your videos and have found them to be immensely helpful! I have gotten more than a few ideas not only on how to improve my story, but also on how to improve my telling of it. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate what you do and am looking forward to watching your future videos! Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into your channel and I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors!
Gratitude for your comments, I do appreciate it! Always glad to help and always glad to answer more questions and there are plenty of them - so here's to many more videos to come!
This video has helped me out so much in making my own custom adventures. Having a way to organize it and seeing someone just go through their process helps me start finding my own way to try it.
There's a lot of mystery around the actual planning of an adventure and it's understandable why some DMs would want to avoid displaying it (looking like a one-true-wayist or to perpetuate mystery?) but just having some example at all helps immensely! I really enjoy how simple and succinct your pages are so that the adventure has room to be flexible and not too wordy. I am a newbie player and preparing to DM for friends and family in the near future. Currently, I'm in the world building phase of my campaign prep, before any games are being run, so it's nice to know that once I have my world set up and have thought though the main elements of the environment that I'll be able to quickly put together adventures like this. It takes some of the weight off my shoulders and I'm so glad you made this, thank you!
Listening to this has really been eye opening to me. I love the simple layout of things, while focusing on all the main ideas, instead of all the unnecessary details. What a breath of fresh air. I've never been a GM, because it seems so overwhelming, but this inspires me to do so. Thank you!
GreatGM, thanks so much for this. I'm in the position of needing to bootstrap a campaign and I've gotten in the habit of sitting down with this video each week as I prep my sessions, because they run more smoothly when I do: even if I don't have time to prepare all the stuff I'd like, going through this process means that the adventure is set up well enough for my players to have fun. And the hand-holding is great these days, when the world is rather crazy and it can be hard to focus. Again: thank you for helping us have a great time!
Damn, dude. I think the most important things I've learned from your channel is how to make a campaign story actually go somewhere, and not just leave it up to the players bumbling around randomly... and also to make dungeons like 1/10 the size what I normally do. I mean, I used to make those things like upwards of 40 rooms with descriptions, stat blocks, and a paragraph of notes for each one. Whereas yours is like a kindergartner's drawing of a rocket with 4 rooms, and yet is probably more fun than mine.
@@daveshaw5328 Its not on rails because no one knows that the rogue trader was going to end up in the same place as the the troop transport. Its only on rails if you don't let your players do things that are outside the box or have any impact on the world. Or, largely, if they realize its on rails.
Plus....does anyone really enjoy just 40 room dungeon crawls? I feel like that is overkill and gets tedious. I used to have the same issues chaosmatermind did when I was younger.
This video has proven extremely helpful! What I love to do is create my own adventure along with him as he does it. It makes it so much easier to be following a specific process and inspires me with the important questions he asks.
These videos are really detailed and fun to listen to, especially when doing chores and other activities. I'm running a homebrew campaign starting this weekend and I have some nice hooks and story points for my players instead of cobbling some random things together with no direction!
I like it it goes in juat enough detail to bring your persons life but you have backups and are able to have enough room for adventuring in the"wrong direction)
Your work encouraged me to start my own channel along with a few others, so that last statement truly does ring true for me. Thank you very much for all the constant muse, inspiration, and encouragement from your videos, Guy!
You have a great faith in the intelligence of players. If I gave my bunch anything that complicated they would sit and stare. They react more to "you-go-fight-win" and mind you these are Call of Cthulu college professors.
Your videos are so so so soooo helpful! Most GMs I've been finding on UA-cam to be honest, never really have a good sense of properly displaying and expressing information in their videos. They either have a super crappy mic or all they do is talk to the screen and never really walk the viewer through the specific process of how they do things. You sir, are a great exception. Keep up the great work and consider me a (probably longtime) subscriber!
Great video helped me a ton and my own friends who just started to DM. It was funny since I am the laziest DM in our group but I always seemed to make the episodes go better by improvising what I had. Where as my friends would sit a write a complete campaign and have it all planned out a dry to play as if it’s a story book.
Thank you for giving great GM advice. When I feel like I have writer's block when creating adventures. Your videos give me inspiration and fuel to make the best adventures possible.
Breaks it down rather nicely, this. I've yet to find my most comfortable balance between, "I'm incredibly prepared for anything, but the PCs do exactly what they're led to do and I overcompensated" and "I'm just going to wing it because who the hell knows anymore? Oh, now we don't have a sense of direction..." Curious, Guy: Have you ever been crazy enough to give your players a sandbox-like environment? I have a main story in mind for something, but I also want players to know their characters might be just as likely to say, "Bugger this, I'm moving to the next nation over." I've basically been thinking about what might be going on within a radius of a session's starting position on a map. Basically, such-and-such has been a major bit of news, but I can also make generalized notes of, "...But this syndicate has been planning to sabotage such-and-such." After all, not every villager is going to feel ready to combat their nation's shift into a proto-fascist regime. They should do whatever makes sense, but the world and politics should still be alive and affect them. "So you scurry to Yluaram. Sensible. What happens when your home nation decides to invade them?"
So although it might not seem like it in my Bacon play or the System review games, ALL my games are sandbox for the first mission. That's why I advocate working out what your villain wants and why they can't get it. What I maybe haven't spoken about is global events and how to use those in your arsenal of storytelling. By having global plans you can sandbox players choices with ease, and have pop-up adventures where-ever they go or decide to do because you know the bigger picture. I'll maybe do a video on global gaming.
I'd be most excited to see said video. Tracking global events in a meaningful way is something I want to exercise as a way to affect the PC's environment without railroading them toward the pre-written quest(s), giving them incentive to either do the things, or naturally be badgered by not doing the things. Plus I feel like it could make the world feel more alive, and that might empower the players' sense of agency. Whether they choose to do the things or not, at least Nothing doesn't happen.
Great video, I liked comparing my approach to yours! I've been browsing the videos you have up for ideas and improvements, since no GM is ever finished growing. I like the open-ended plot plan you use, it gives the players options while leaving you some structure to keep things manageable. I'm probably guilty of overplanning to some extent, especially when it comes to what my party will actually be fighting (creating original monsters, etc).
Thank you so very much for this video! I seem to have the exact same group as you to, the last 3 sessions were all but my adventure (Not that we weren't having fun, but all that prep for almost nothing). Just yesterday I tried to figure out how to use my prep time more efficiently, 4-8 hours per session seem a bit much... This helps me so much! If you could do this type of video some day for preparing a dungeon (even if the lightbringer/darker horse is kind of that, but in a little more detail on traps/encounters), I would really appreciate it! Thanks again, you saved me indefinite hours of lifetime for the future!
fantastic. really enjoying these, learning lots. i've been GM for my group of friends for a few months now and my notebooks look just like yours, if not a little more cluttered. thanks for putting the work into the videos man, cheers! take it easy.
I can definitely say that a bit of notes to have is always really nice to have for adventures. It is always nice as a reference just in case you forget (which you probably will). Besides that, really nice use of the green screen to show things like drawings and writing! Nice work as always.
Thanks for weighing in on the green screen topic and absolutely agree notes are great just make sure you can write them so that you'll be able to read them later, because I have created some strange adventures due to my own chicken scratch.
this is a really useful video, I know this can be a personal thing, making games & can depend on the group but having a loose guideline on how to go about it will help me in the future
This was fun. I am currently thinking of a Mutant Chronicles adventure... and you were preparing a W40K, which is so close in terms of atmospere and setting... and then, I am also creating an adventure set in the Alien world and you mention that too! :D Too much synchronicity! :D Thanks a lot for this. I may do a similar video some time in the future too. ;)
Thougt the 1000 Souls a day (psyker souls by the way) are used to keep the astronomicon burning.... (you know that huge ""lighthouse" fire that ALL Navigators use when travelling through the warp) still gruesome, but at least it has some practical use
Another great video! I always like to see other DMs' process so I can get ideas for my own. For myself, if I'm running a module it's easy to just read through what I think the party will do and run it. Although this can be a problem, because in my last session, the players went way farther than I had read so I just had to make up the town and NPCs on the fly. When I'm preparing for a homebrew game though, I'll have dialogue written if it's really important, but I'll otherwise have maybe half a page of notes for a 4-hour session. Since most of it is from my head anyway, I just change what happens as it comes up. I like the thought process you have for your way of preparing though and I think I'll try to do that more. From what I've seen, this is a really hot topic for new DMs and I'm glad you showed your method. Also the juxtaposition of you and your paper behind you was perfect. Looking forward to the next one!
Gratitude for your kind words. It really is an interesting point I agree and in the past I used to plan, with maps aplenty! I just slowly learned to let go ;)
I did often gel lost in my notes so i changed my preps to write down notes and ideas first and then transferize these to word documents wich i do print out later on - leaving every location with a cover sheet so i can instantly see what is inside. so I can jump from location to location.
"What shall we use?" World of Darkness...WORLD OF DARKNESS "What shall we use?...hmmm" WORLD OF DARKNESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD "Warhammer 40K!" SONOVA....
40K it's just popular, I personally don't see the appeal compared to, well, almost every other science fiction. I love old school World of Darkness myself, while my first campaign was on D&D 3.5, I learned to really roleplay with Vampire: The Masquerade, both as a player and as a DM. Nowadays I love Pathfinder too, but because it's easier to play and DM than Vampire.
40K is awesome. Thats why. Genetically enhanced space crusaders slaughtering their way through space, what is there not to love? Not enough gay furries and unicorns in it for you guys?
I wish I saw this before I started my campaign. It's pretty much coming to an end now due to us switching GMs and the players getting fed up. Good stuff, for sure.
Of course. Once I know a future campaign is pending, I'm 100% going to rewatch a bunch of your videos to better direct myself towards good planning. I find I can be imaginative, but, I always look at the big scene and not enough of the small details. My cardboard cutouts end up getting discovered and I'm not as prepared as I'd like to be.
How do you deal with players who simply "don't get it"? You present the clues and data, they may have some notes, but, they don't come to the right conclusion or any conclusion at all? Let's say, I saw what it was from a mile away if I was another player but I don't want to roleplay their character for them and I'm not in scene to tell their character with mine.
You have two options - let it carry on as is, and the GM needs to adjust his information or just roll with it, or work out a means to have your character go through the same scene to 'check for anything missing' or talk through the moment with the character - so what did you find? As a last resort, a Wisdom or logic check could be called for. This may help out the situation with a few points from the GM.
Thanks for doing these! Sorry I haven't been as active. Looking forward to other things requested. Like how you pull stuff up in social settings when the party goes off script, or talks to someone you weren't aware the were planning on talking to.
Wondered where you went :) It's on the list, and I'll get there! We're trying to get a poll up on our website to be able to track questions better, because my paper system is a bit of a mess :)
Enjoyed your video immensely. (Sorry, this isn't The David Megarry, but rather one of the directors of Secrets of Blackmoor using David's account. ;) .) I do very minimal prep as you do for my own games. Look forward to perusing more of your videos. Thanks
Incredible... There are lots of similarities between your example and my own homebrew scenario that I am currently running! (Mine scenario being: a scientific research vessel carrying the body of a martyr from legend, the archeological find of the century. The players are either of the ship's security detail or stowaways. One by one, the crew and passengers are brutally killed by a malevolent revenant and subsequently raised as undead. The historical findings, clues, and secrets all point back to the war in which this martyr fought and died. It turns out that the "revenant" is actually being controlled by a piece of sinister technology. If the martyr's tomb was ever penetrated, presumably by the other side, victorious, the ai would control the body to decimate the enemy---a final insult. The tech is now malfunctioning. They can't kill it. The only way to deactivate the ai is to surrender. (took inspiration from the Doctor Who episode: Mummy on the Orient Express). All the while, drow saboteurs wait for their opportunity to seize the ancient technology once the threat has been nullified, and destroy all evidence of their presence (by destroying the ship, finishing off what remains of the security and crew). The first thing my players did was kill a passenger. Then, they met one of the drow agents. Before even speaking to him, they decided that they wanted to kill him for fun. ....Later, after dispatching some of the undead, and getting their first glimpse of the revenant, they met a terrified survivor, one of the scientists. Before they could get information from him, they attacked him. He was blown up. Then, the wizard performed several unethical experiments on passengers, rolling very high on his persuasion. His victims rolled very poorly. This went on for a long time. I decided to go along with it. Eventually, the head of security caught him. He rolled a natural 1. She tried to apprehend him. He and the other players beat her into unconsciousness, tied her up, covered her in flammable liquids, and tortured her. ...... They burned her alive. The sound of her screaming have now drawn the attention of the rest of the crew. When comparing the players to the undead threat, I think they are the greater evil, here.
I like your process, I use a similar one. Good video. Funny, being a 40k player i can hear all the die hard 40k guys crying out in fury, since imperials would die before working with non humans. This, even at the cost of their own lives.
Another great video! I enjoyed this one because it shows your thought process really well. I wonder if you can talk about making interesting NPCs on the fly...or maybe you've already done that, not sure...another topic could be how to add players into campaigns that are already in progression. Like if a player joins mid-way through your campaign.
Thank you. NPC's on the fly - I have mentioned it - there are a couple videos on NPC's. But I do like your other question - how to integrate new characters into existing campaigns. It's a great question!
Recently found your channel and am really loving it as my three brothers and myself are just learning to play tabletop. Praise aside, could you give a quick run-down of how you crafted this video; specifically how you are superimposed in front of a screen that is showing you write in real-time. I'm currently in college to become a math teacher, and this video layout looks perfect for extra supplementary lessons that I want to put together for my future students.
I'm really glad you and your brothers have found the channel, and are finding it useful! I have two cameras - my cellphone a Samsung Note 5 and then an old Canon 7D. Just record on both - one pointed at the page, one pointed at me - and bingo. Edit magic happens!
Great video! While I was watching I realized that I've an idea for a video I'd like to see for Great GM! Recently I've been working on creating my first homebrew class for a campaign. It's difficult in some aspects, but it's going well. I'd be interested in hearing what methods you use and how you approach developing your own classes. :)
50%+ is winging it. 50%+ is also trigger events. Things get triggered by either the players showing up at a location (there are monsters there).... it doesn't necessarily have to be the place you as a GM intended (the PCs had to show up at the cloak room to move the plot along not the closet of the jester).... or ten am on a sunday when the brunch crowd shows up at Der Haus o Pancakes! For me that's when a laptop comes in handy instead of a pen and paper notebook.... easier to link the stuff together. Personal tastes vary but whatever works for you as a GM.
I base my adventures vaguely on old cartoons. Most recently I had my players following a man very similar to He-Man who was trying to stop 5 evil children from summoning 'Gius the earth lord'.
For the first session, I only plan the very first opening scene, the place or room or situation where we enter the game. The rest of session one is freeform or sandbox with the sole goal of getting the party to have a common cause, if they don't have a reason to work together before the game begins......take notes in this first session to decide on where the players want to go and take that as the start for the actual start of the campaign
Thank you so much for this video! Just watched it and I already have a lot of ideas :) I also have a suggestion for a possible topic to talk about in the future, which is "How to adapt a movie/game to an rpg". That's one of the nicer things to do for me and my group, seeing that we love all sorts of materials in a very diverse tone, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Castlevania, Prince of Persia, etc. I'd like to know your opinion on the subject, seeing that to me it's crucial to try and adapt things without breaking the universe that's already created, so that the players do feel like they're in that characteristic universe. I'm making a Mortal Kombat rpg right now in fact, hope it will come out well. Anyway, thanks again for another well made and informative video
That sounds really cool! I've made certain game systems fro certain movies - mainly Star Trek - but I'll add it to the list for sure! Glad you like the videos!
I'm glad I've found your channel, really useful tips in all the videos I've seen so far. if I can ask, you sound British - do you know of any good websites/social media groups for recruiting players?
Set up a trap that teleports the PCs to the lowest level of the dungeon and then they have to find the way out. Always fun when they are guaranteed to deal with the adventure you planned to run and you can control their entry point.
I preferred to prepare a lot, then get tired and stop the entire campaign XD... You are changing my mind. But at least a small background for the dungeon and a description of rooms is needed, i think. Maybe something short Like one page dungeon
Thank you for making this (& other) videos! They have helped my my games a richer experience for myself and my PCs. I wonder if you have any advice on how to successfully pass the GM baton to another person at your table? For example, there have been great NPCs created that I want to continue to have the group interact with. I want to be respectful & give the next GM as much freedom as possible but I also don't want everyone to forget about the rich content I've just started to build. If it matters, we have done ~8-10 sessions and the new GM has said he wants to do something focused more on an adventure taking place on a different plane. Do I just need to chill and let him do his thing? Thanks again for such amazing content!
The handing over of a world to another GM is very difficult. So some examples spring to mind - Raymond Feist ran a game and each GM had their own continent to manage and run. That worked for him. JJ Abrams was given Star Trek and Star Wars to run - and his approach was to basically just use a different universe with some cross-overs (which worked to a degree) and in Wars, he just moved the timeline forward 30 years. Hope that helps?!
So a demon incursion of khorne and tzeentch on ship with a bunch of slave trader elder... and the dark elder helping humans, I'm surprised they don't just take those humans as well to sell along with the demons. And for the demons... pretty much accurate for them... XD
Yeah, but maybe they are insightful Daemons of Khorne? All the slaughter every day all day long is boring and now they want to talk about their feelings, man. Or they don't want to be experimented on. Gotta help a buddy in need, no? xD
player: Great, there are multiple sides which want to destroy our very souls as well as make us slaves. That's good news. If there was only one I couldn't pit them against each other.
Another very helpful video, especially for newbie DMs like me. I've been considering recording each session, just so that I can go back and discover all the things that I may have missed. Also, if you use minis and maps, would you detail your maps beforehand, or just make a general sketch and then detail it when the PCs make it there (assuming they make it there)? Thanks again for great videos.
Great video, glad I found your channel. I really like the way you build an adventure and I'll try a similar method. In terms of wrapping things up, do you plan possible endings to a session? As in this case, ways they could make it off the Lightbringer. Or do you leave possible endings to player initiative?
Thank you! I always have some kind of option for the end of the adventure - however having said that - it almost never happens. But in having an ending on hand, I can adapt that as my players do their thing, so that when the ending does happen, I've got a few things ready. However often half way through a session I change the ending outcome anyway. Not sure if that helps, but that's how I do it :)
the prep work you do seems pretty quick and easy...which I think is great! I feel like I'm often buried in work getting ready for my sessions. Maybe I'm trying to be too detailed. For example, I've noticed that I tend to lean quite heavily on maps and tokens (PC and otherwise) for a lot of situations. I guess what I'm asking is, when SHOULD I plan maps and when should I just let the theatre of the mind take over? Which option is best for combat? Which option is best for exploration? Are there times when a map might be necessary for a complex social situation?
So it boils down to your players. My players know that if they walk into a dungeon I'm mapping it as we go. They are ok with that. During combat they don't get a full scale map because it isn't critical to the system or the game. Other parties though might rely on maps for their powers to work (DnD 4th ed. for example needs maps). There is another tutorial coming up on how to draw maps on the fly which may help you with this!
thanks for the advice, I look forward to checking out that tutorial. On a similar note, I watched your series on how to make a world map...I got so inspired by it I'm now in the process of completely remaking the world map I had been planning on using (it was in comparatively poor shape lol)...it's gonna look so epic :D thanks for everything you do.
Ooh.. a group of guardsmen on a lost imperial ship overrun by demons and experimented on by dark eldar? Looks to me like the best case scenario is that they escape alive and regroup with their commanding officer who immediately has them executed for heresy.
@How to be a Great Game Master - if you include a little more detail, that would be helpful. As a wannabe GM looking to run a sword and sorcery campaign, I greatly appreciate he videos.
I've always been afraid to try this way of preparing. I like to have every detail worked out for the main storyline and almost have it set out like a typical preset module. However, it takes a hell of a lot of time. Having just created a brand new setting, for the first adventure I've tried to relax the amount I write ahead of time. but I guess there's only one way to know and that's to just get on with it :-)
Excellent video Guy! As always. You do a lot more doodling than I do but I can see some similarities between how I plan and how you plan. Definitely great advice that I will try to implement in my own planning. Here's a possible question that maybe if you find is worthwhile, you can add to your list of future videos: What to do if you, as the GM, make a bad call. I.E. In my game and system, when someone rolls to cast their magic or use their power, if they crit fail, there has to be something happen that reflects that it's a crit fail. For instance, Cast fireball at the troll, crit fail, instead, fireball is cast at own feet - take damage. I'm SUPPOSED to attempt to match the severity of the fail to the severity of what was attempted. Let's say my severity of what happened was way out of balance for the severity of what was attempted. What would you suggest in a situation like that, where a wrong call was made?
That is certainly a tough one, and believe you me, it runs deeper than just a Crit fail call. It also runs to a narrative call. A spur of the moment story decision that really turns everything on it's head. It's a good topic to open to discussion, so I'll certainly add it to the list!
Looking at his notes: "It's some kind of elvish. I can't read it."
Hahahaha
Or draconic 😅
Is the a witcher reference?
@@calebfrieslaar8878 lotr
Thank you for explaining, "I want monsters to do my bidding, not their prescribed bidding." While that might upset the few traditionalist players, most everyone appreciates an interesting monster/creature/whatever over a predictable one.
about 16:45, " the statis-, the statis-" gives up, " the numbers" that was the best recovery XD
I meant to do that :P
Your videos are both educational and humorous.
Gratitude for your comments. I was taught long ago by a wise lady - if you can't get it right don't make it painful... make it funny and move on.
Jordan Kalmov that was my favorite bit... O.o do you even English? lol so much good info in these videos (I'm starting my first campaign as DM this weekend), but the little human moments like that make me giggle
"Making a deal with a Chaos Daemon"
They deserve everything horrible that will eventually come their way.
heresssseeeeeyyyyyyyy burrrrrnnnnn buuurrrrnnn xD
I was a Recon Sniper back in the '80's playing with a bunch of Marines and Sailors. Our GM was getting tired and wanted to play a few sessions and asked me to step in and run a war campaign.
I agreed, thinking of all the things I would/could do to set this up, where it needed to start, and everything these experienced players/characters could/would do to head into this war. Two weeks of planning. Looking at terrain, looking at cities and farming communities that could be invaded, random encounters plotted out for every contingency. Hours of work to ensure fun was had by all.
Everyone knew ahead of time that I would be running this campaign. Everyone was looking forward to it. I gave them a wagon for their extraneous gear and had several inns where they could safely stay.
They got to town, saw an island out in the bay while shopping for arrows, throwing knives, bolts, and material for traps. Rather than talking with any of the citizens, they got a sloop, stolen by the thief, and went out to visit the island.
Two and a half hours of improv and random encounters later, one of them turned and asked me if they could climb a tree and see if they could see any enemy troops. Since the war was from a landlocked country, the answer, after a failed roll was a resounding no. Another hour and the ranger asked if she could see any tracks. A good roll, and she realized that the only humanoid tracks on the island belonged to the party.
War, not being a static event, continued apace as their home country suffered defeats and land losses because the PCs decided not to use their skills or even talk to NPCs.
When they realized what they had done, our GM laughed, congratulated me on letting everyone hang themselves and we continued on with the game as they hurried back to try to win some of the land lost.
Sounds like a bag of 'wait... they are NOT here?' mixed with 'You sure they not here?' . I do love those moments.
Sloop?
A small sailing ship. Honestly more approaching a boat. Little thing with one mast.
If it floats it floats :) Until it doesn't...
They probably thought that since it was such a small ship it was obviously of GREAT importance to head over to the island. Love when people read way more into items than they should.
Yep!
The thing that Impressed me the most is not the way your able to explain everything so well, not the awesome ideas you gave me, how you always easily help me become a better DM with each video I watch, but how easily you came up with names of your monsters. Names are the hardest thing for me.
I almost spit out my drink at 6:06 when you decided to make a 40k scenario. I found this channel about 6 hours ago looking for ideas for the Dark Heresy campaign I'm going to be running in a few weeks. Yours was an Only war scenario, but frankly, it's pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks! You earned a sub!
This is literally the first guide on prep notes I've found. Bless you sir
I'd LOVE a video in improvising NPC dialogue on the fly. That is something that I struggle a great deal with, and it takes away from an adventure that my players otherwise enjoy.
Dialogue? For sure! Added to the list! Great question
Awesome! Thanks!
pppgggr : Have an idea WHO that NPC is. Get a feel for what makes them tick. Maybe give one distinct phrase, tick, or accent to each NPC. Then let the players drive the conversation, and allow your NPC react based on that predisposition you invented.
Awesome advice. Though don't overdo the 'tick' as you can sometimes hurt yourself. Also important is to make note of mannerisms you give your NPC's so you can remember what makes them different.
"And they're all British."
The horror. (JK, I love Brits)
Lol
"Pointy eared Romulans"
So Romulans then
Was gonna say, I thought Romulans were already pointy-eared.
Peridoodle when he said that, I knew I would scroll down here and find someone that would be "that guy"
Incredibly helpful and insightful. Thank you very much. Love the channel.
Thank you for the feedback and glad you enjoying it :) Also welcome to the table.
wow... just wow
you've made that look so easy and straight forward.
I've not long started playing DnD and now going to DM for the first time (I'm a complete noob) and trying to make a campaign
I'm trying to create an adventure/campaign for 5e d&d and I have made my country map but hit a writer's block for what adventure i would make and you have pretty much made it so simple (wished the DM guide did lol)
your videos have been a massive help and i will continue to watch them for more guidance.
thank you for the step by step process.
I've forwarded a vid of yours to a friend of mine who like me needed a bit of help.
keep it up. thank you
So, the plan involves the Humans teaming up with the Dark Eldar. What's the bet one of them screams HERESY and starts firing his lazer pointer
Kharn The Betrayer on a scale of not heresey to heresey
HERESEY
*blam*
That made me laugh. The only time humans team up with Dark Eldar is when they're being eaten tortured and gangbanged, simultaneously.
For me, the first step to preparing an encounter/adventure/campaign is to know my players.
Note: not "know the Characters. ". Know the players. Different players respond to different cues regardless of what character they're playing.
Once you understand those cues, seed your evening or adventure with the right cues to spark your players' interests.
After that, make all notes on point form. Understand that your players decisions will circumvent more than that. So point form is fine.
As Guy has stated, record any important names or plot points, but try to keep things as fluid as you can. An important aspect is this is also the GM Pokerface. When the players change gears or directions, act like it was always part of the plan.
Write some key encounters down ahead of time that could be placed anywhere, and insert them in those odd directions the players chose. Act like it "was your plan all along". Trust me. So long as it's entertaining, they won't care.
If your players are still talking about how "that thing did that stuff" even as they walk out the door, you've won. The idea has seeded in their memory, and you're free to build on it.
To sum up: know your players. Be flexible. Plan small, but sell big. And where possible, leave them with a cliffhanger.
Like the idea of the GM Face... the stoic look followed by a sly smile ... just enough to make the players think you planned for it. Agree though on knowing your players.
Thanks for this. This is one of the best and most practical examples for GMing rather than the usual "Read everything, make index cards, draw maps, ensure everything aligns with player expectations."
Best and briefest description of Warhammer 40,000 I've heard after 7 years of playing the table top and various role playing games around it!
Hello! I am in the preliminary stages of writing my first campaign and want to let you know that, map drawing and irrelevant system and setting episodes aside (I've already decided on using D&D 5e and the Forgotten Realms setting), I have watched all of your videos and have found them to be immensely helpful! I have gotten more than a few ideas not only on how to improve my story, but also on how to improve my telling of it. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate what you do and am looking forward to watching your future videos! Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into your channel and I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors!
Gratitude for your comments, I do appreciate it! Always glad to help and always glad to answer more questions and there are plenty of them - so here's to many more videos to come!
This video has helped me out so much in making my own custom adventures. Having a way to organize it and seeing someone just go through their process helps me start finding my own way to try it.
That's awesome! Glad to have helped in a small way :) And as long as you and your players are having fun - then it was all worth it.
There's a lot of mystery around the actual planning of an adventure and it's understandable why some DMs would want to avoid displaying it (looking like a one-true-wayist or to perpetuate mystery?) but just having some example at all helps immensely! I really enjoy how simple and succinct your pages are so that the adventure has room to be flexible and not too wordy.
I am a newbie player and preparing to DM for friends and family in the near future. Currently, I'm in the world building phase of my campaign prep, before any games are being run, so it's nice to know that once I have my world set up and have thought though the main elements of the environment that I'll be able to quickly put together adventures like this. It takes some of the weight off my shoulders and I'm so glad you made this, thank you!
Listening to this has really been eye opening to me. I love the simple layout of things, while focusing on all the main ideas, instead of all the unnecessary details. What a breath of fresh air. I've never been a GM, because it seems so overwhelming, but this inspires me to do so. Thank you!
GreatGM, thanks so much for this. I'm in the position of needing to bootstrap a campaign and I've gotten in the habit of sitting down with this video each week as I prep my sessions, because they run more smoothly when I do: even if I don't have time to prepare all the stuff I'd like, going through this process means that the adventure is set up well enough for my players to have fun. And the hand-holding is great these days, when the world is rather crazy and it can be hard to focus. Again: thank you for helping us have a great time!
Damn, dude. I think the most important things I've learned from your channel is how to make a campaign story actually go somewhere, and not just leave it up to the players bumbling around randomly... and also to make dungeons like 1/10 the size what I normally do.
I mean, I used to make those things like upwards of 40 rooms with descriptions, stat blocks, and a paragraph of notes for each one.
Whereas yours is like a kindergartner's drawing of a rocket with 4 rooms, and yet is probably more fun than mine.
chaosmastermind your 40 room dungeon sounds more intriguing than the Adventure on Rails described in the video...
@@daveshaw5328 Its not on rails because no one knows that the rogue trader was going to end up in the same place as the the troop transport. Its only on rails if you don't let your players do things that are outside the box or have any impact on the world. Or, largely, if they realize its on rails.
Plus....does anyone really enjoy just 40 room dungeon crawls? I feel like that is overkill and gets tedious. I used to have the same issues chaosmatermind did when I was younger.
@@AndrewJHayford My real issue is that I'd never actually finish them since it was far too much work for any sane person to stay interested in.
This video has proven extremely helpful! What I love to do is create my own adventure along with him as he does it. It makes it so much easier to be following a specific process and inspires me with the important questions he asks.
These videos are really detailed and fun to listen to, especially when doing chores and other activities. I'm running a homebrew campaign starting this weekend and I have some nice hooks and story points for my players instead of cobbling some random things together with no direction!
I like it it goes in juat enough detail to bring your persons life but you have backups and are able to have enough room for adventuring in the"wrong direction)
This is a ridiculous level of practical support. The other channels are ok, but they dont get this granular. Wish I could sub twice.
The best session I had as a GM was based on some notes on a napkin. It was a blast!
Your work encouraged me to start my own channel along with a few others, so that last statement truly does ring true for me. Thank you very much for all the constant muse, inspiration, and encouragement from your videos, Guy!
You have a great faith in the intelligence of players. If I gave my bunch anything that complicated they would sit and stare. They react more to "you-go-fight-win" and mind you these are Call of Cthulu college professors.
Your videos are so so so soooo helpful!
Most GMs I've been finding on UA-cam to be honest, never really have a good sense of properly displaying and expressing information in their videos. They either have a super crappy mic or all they do is talk to the screen and never really walk the viewer through the specific process of how they do things.
You sir, are a great exception. Keep up the great work and consider me a (probably longtime) subscriber!
This was exactly what I needed as I am planning my first campaign. Didn’t know how much info I needed
Great video helped me a ton and my own friends who just started to DM. It was funny since I am the laziest DM in our group but I always seemed to make the episodes go better by improvising what I had. Where as my friends would sit a write a complete campaign and have it all planned out a dry to play as if it’s a story book.
Thank you for giving great GM advice. When I feel like I have writer's block when creating adventures. Your videos give me inspiration and fuel to make the best adventures possible.
Breaks it down rather nicely, this. I've yet to find my most comfortable balance between, "I'm incredibly prepared for anything, but the PCs do exactly what they're led to do and I overcompensated" and "I'm just going to wing it because who the hell knows anymore? Oh, now we don't have a sense of direction..."
Curious, Guy: Have you ever been crazy enough to give your players a sandbox-like environment? I have a main story in mind for something, but I also want players to know their characters might be just as likely to say, "Bugger this, I'm moving to the next nation over." I've basically been thinking about what might be going on within a radius of a session's starting position on a map. Basically, such-and-such has been a major bit of news, but I can also make generalized notes of, "...But this syndicate has been planning to sabotage such-and-such."
After all, not every villager is going to feel ready to combat their nation's shift into a proto-fascist regime. They should do whatever makes sense, but the world and politics should still be alive and affect them. "So you scurry to Yluaram. Sensible. What happens when your home nation decides to invade them?"
So although it might not seem like it in my Bacon play or the System review games, ALL my games are sandbox for the first mission. That's why I advocate working out what your villain wants and why they can't get it. What I maybe haven't spoken about is global events and how to use those in your arsenal of storytelling. By having global plans you can sandbox players choices with ease, and have pop-up adventures where-ever they go or decide to do because you know the bigger picture. I'll maybe do a video on global gaming.
I'd be most excited to see said video. Tracking global events in a meaningful way is something I want to exercise as a way to affect the PC's environment without railroading them toward the pre-written quest(s), giving them incentive to either do the things, or naturally be badgered by not doing the things.
Plus I feel like it could make the world feel more alive, and that might empower the players' sense of agency. Whether they choose to do the things or not, at least Nothing doesn't happen.
It's on the list ;) So it will be done... in time :)
I love that no matter what country people are from, the default villain voice is always an English accent! :D
Great video, I liked comparing my approach to yours! I've been browsing the videos you have up for ideas and improvements, since no GM is ever finished growing. I like the open-ended plot plan you use, it gives the players options while leaving you some structure to keep things manageable. I'm probably guilty of overplanning to some extent, especially when it comes to what my party will actually be fighting (creating original monsters, etc).
Thank you so very much for this video!
I seem to have the exact same group as you to, the last 3 sessions were all but my adventure (Not that we weren't having fun, but all that prep for almost nothing).
Just yesterday I tried to figure out how to use my prep time more efficiently, 4-8 hours per session seem a bit much...
This helps me so much!
If you could do this type of video some day for preparing a dungeon (even if the lightbringer/darker horse is kind of that, but in a little more detail on traps/encounters), I would really appreciate it!
Thanks again, you saved me indefinite hours of lifetime for the future!
That's awesome to hear, I'm glad to have helped. I will certainly do a video on how to busk/develop dungeons and interiors on the fly. For sure!
fantastic. really enjoying these, learning lots. i've been GM for my group of friends for a few months now and my notebooks look just like yours, if not a little more cluttered. thanks for putting the work into the videos man, cheers! take it easy.
Only a pleasure. Glad you are enjoying it and hopefully your notebooks are slightly more legible than mine :)
I can definitely say that a bit of notes to have is always really nice to have for adventures. It is always nice as a reference just in case you forget (which you probably will). Besides that, really nice use of the green screen to show things like drawings and writing! Nice work as always.
Thanks for weighing in on the green screen topic and absolutely agree notes are great just make sure you can write them so that you'll be able to read them later, because I have created some strange adventures due to my own chicken scratch.
I haven't watched all your videos, but this is probably one of if not your best video. Thank you!
this is a really useful video, I know this can be a personal thing, making games & can depend on the group but having a loose guideline on how to go about it will help me in the future
Keep doing this type of episode, I learned the most from this one out of all your others.
This was fun. I am currently thinking of a Mutant Chronicles adventure... and you were preparing a W40K, which is so close in terms of atmospere and setting... and then, I am also creating an adventure set in the Alien world and you mention that too! :D Too much synchronicity! :D Thanks a lot for this. I may do a similar video some time in the future too. ;)
I love 40k and your example was quite good and I think I will take it as inspiration for my 40k roleplay campaign
I really enjoyed your name generation method. syllable>syllable>syllable = some names.
I love these videos!
Glad you you! Thank you for watching!
wow. tthis is totally different from how i prep. I'll have to give it a try. it has several advantages over what i do.
Thougt the 1000 Souls a day (psyker souls by the way) are used to keep the astronomicon burning.... (you know that huge ""lighthouse" fire that ALL Navigators use when travelling through the warp) still gruesome, but at least it has some practical use
I am pretty sure they are fed to the emprah and he keeps the light lit, also keeps the warp portal closed.
Twin Destiny This is true. I just hope Kitten doesn’t see it happen.
this.. was actually incredibly helpful. Thankyou, subscribed!
Another great video and I love the setup! Would actually like to see this scenario played out. Or at least let us know what happened if you do use it
Perhaps I will use this scenario and will definitely let you know if I do. But the reverse is true feel free to use it and let us know what happened.
How to be a Great Game Master If I ever do, for sure!
Another great video! I always like to see other DMs' process so I can get ideas for my own. For myself, if I'm running a module it's easy to just read through what I think the party will do and run it. Although this can be a problem, because in my last session, the players went way farther than I had read so I just had to make up the town and NPCs on the fly. When I'm preparing for a homebrew game though, I'll have dialogue written if it's really important, but I'll otherwise have maybe half a page of notes for a 4-hour session. Since most of it is from my head anyway, I just change what happens as it comes up. I like the thought process you have for your way of preparing though and I think I'll try to do that more. From what I've seen, this is a really hot topic for new DMs and I'm glad you showed your method. Also the juxtaposition of you and your paper behind you was perfect. Looking forward to the next one!
Gratitude for your kind words. It really is an interesting point I agree and in the past I used to plan, with maps aplenty! I just slowly learned to let go ;)
Thank you for another awesome episode, it helped me fill in some areas I thought were lacking in my planning!
really happy I found this channel. tons of excellent content. :)
Amazing video it really inspired me and I am excited to try your methods in my campaign planning!
Finding this extremely useful. Still new to DMing and trying to do a lot more planning with a lot less work/ have things less linear.
Bear in mind of course that once you have this plan you apply the 121 rule or the 122 rule when bringing it to life.
I did often gel lost in my notes so i changed my preps to write down notes and ideas first and then transferize these to word documents wich i do print out later on - leaving every location with a cover sheet so i can instantly see what is inside. so I can jump from location to location.
"What shall we use?"
World of Darkness...WORLD OF DARKNESS
"What shall we use?...hmmm"
WORLD OF DARKNESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
"Warhammer 40K!"
SONOVA....
My group and I use World of Darkness.... Tis the best!
Love (Old) world of Darkness. 40k is a giant turd sandwich imo. I personally can't even understand what people see in it.
40K it's just popular, I personally don't see the appeal compared to, well, almost every other science fiction. I love old school World of Darkness myself, while my first campaign was on D&D 3.5, I learned to really roleplay with Vampire: The Masquerade, both as a player and as a DM. Nowadays I love Pathfinder too, but because it's easier to play and DM than Vampire.
40K is awesome. Thats why. Genetically enhanced space crusaders slaughtering their way through space, what is there not to love? Not enough gay furries and unicorns in it for you guys?
I love the WH40K fluff, so I loved your off handed descriptions 😂😂😂
Big understatement when describing the Dark Eldar there.
I wish I saw this before I started my campaign. It's pretty much coming to an end now due to us switching GMs and the players getting fed up. Good stuff, for sure.
Thanks, and I'm sad to hear about the end coming. However, it just means you can start afresh with new ideas and old ideas wrapped in new skins!
Of course. Once I know a future campaign is pending, I'm 100% going to rewatch a bunch of your videos to better direct myself towards good planning. I find I can be imaginative, but, I always look at the big scene and not enough of the small details. My cardboard cutouts end up getting discovered and I'm not as prepared as I'd like to be.
The very best of luck on that! A good campaign is always awesome and effort is always worth it!
How do you deal with players who simply "don't get it"? You present the clues and data, they may have some notes, but, they don't come to the right conclusion or any conclusion at all? Let's say, I saw what it was from a mile away if I was another player but I don't want to roleplay their character for them and I'm not in scene to tell their character with mine.
You have two options - let it carry on as is, and the GM needs to adjust his information or just roll with it, or work out a means to have your character go through the same scene to 'check for anything missing' or talk through the moment with the character - so what did you find? As a last resort, a Wisdom or logic check could be called for. This may help out the situation with a few points from the GM.
Thanks for doing these! Sorry I haven't been as active. Looking forward to other things requested. Like how you pull stuff up in social settings when the party goes off script, or talks to someone you weren't aware the were planning on talking to.
Wondered where you went :) It's on the list, and I'll get there! We're trying to get a poll up on our website to be able to track questions better, because my paper system is a bit of a mess :)
Enjoyed your video immensely. (Sorry, this isn't The David Megarry, but rather one of the directors of Secrets of Blackmoor using David's account. ;) .) I do very minimal prep as you do for my own games. Look forward to perusing more of your videos. Thanks
I am so so happy I found these videos. Thank you
Incredible... There are lots of similarities between your example and my own homebrew scenario that I am currently running! (Mine scenario being: a scientific research vessel carrying the body of a martyr from legend, the archeological find of the century. The players are either of the ship's security detail or stowaways. One by one, the crew and passengers are brutally killed by a malevolent revenant and subsequently raised as undead. The historical findings, clues, and secrets all point back to the war in which this martyr fought and died. It turns out that the "revenant" is actually being controlled by a piece of sinister technology. If the martyr's tomb was ever penetrated, presumably by the other side, victorious, the ai would control the body to decimate the enemy---a final insult. The tech is now malfunctioning. They can't kill it. The only way to deactivate the ai is to surrender. (took inspiration from the Doctor Who episode: Mummy on the Orient Express). All the while, drow saboteurs wait for their opportunity to seize the ancient technology once the threat has been nullified, and destroy all evidence of their presence (by destroying the ship, finishing off what remains of the security and crew).
The first thing my players did was kill a passenger. Then, they met one of the drow agents. Before even speaking to him, they decided that they wanted to kill him for fun. ....Later, after dispatching some of the undead, and getting their first glimpse of the revenant, they met a terrified survivor, one of the scientists. Before they could get information from him, they attacked him. He was blown up. Then, the wizard performed several unethical experiments on passengers, rolling very high on his persuasion. His victims rolled very poorly. This went on for a long time. I decided to go along with it. Eventually, the head of security caught him. He rolled a natural 1. She tried to apprehend him. He and the other players beat her into unconsciousness, tied her up, covered her in flammable liquids, and tortured her. ...... They burned her alive. The sound of her screaming have now drawn the attention of the rest of the crew. When comparing the players to the undead threat, I think they are the greater evil, here.
Left-handed brothers, UNITE!
I like your process, I use a similar one. Good video. Funny, being a 40k player i can hear all the die hard 40k guys crying out in fury, since imperials would die before working with non humans. This, even at the cost of their own lives.
Another great video! I enjoyed this one because it shows your thought process really well. I wonder if you can talk about making interesting NPCs on the fly...or maybe you've already done that, not sure...another topic could be how to add players into campaigns that are already in progression. Like if a player joins mid-way through your campaign.
Thank you. NPC's on the fly - I have mentioned it - there are a couple videos on NPC's. But I do like your other question - how to integrate new characters into existing campaigns. It's a great question!
Just watched your NPCs videos. More greats, of course...I look forward to watching your next video.
Dude, love the channel! I'm a learning new DM, so suits me just right. Thanks!
Glad it could be of use!
I might be late but I'd love to see a video about setting up an entire campaign!
Recently found your channel and am really loving it as my three brothers and myself are just learning to play tabletop.
Praise aside, could you give a quick run-down of how you crafted this video; specifically how you are superimposed in front of a screen that is showing you write in real-time. I'm currently in college to become a math teacher, and this video layout looks perfect for extra supplementary lessons that I want to put together for my future students.
I'm really glad you and your brothers have found the channel, and are finding it useful!
I have two cameras - my cellphone a Samsung Note 5 and then an old Canon 7D. Just record on both - one pointed at the page, one pointed at me - and bingo. Edit magic happens!
good story for such a quick brainstorm! Thanks.
with each vid i watch the less stress i feel for when i try out GMing for the first time.
More great advice. You're the guy, Guy!
Great video! While I was watching I realized that I've an idea for a video I'd like to see for Great GM! Recently I've been working on creating my first homebrew class for a campaign. It's difficult in some aspects, but it's going well. I'd be interested in hearing what methods you use and how you approach developing your own classes. :)
That's a cool question! I'll add it to the list for sure! Thanks for asking it.
50%+ is winging it.
50%+ is also trigger events. Things get triggered by either the players showing up at a location (there are monsters there).... it doesn't necessarily have to be the place you as a GM intended (the PCs had to show up at the cloak room to move the plot along not the closet of the jester).... or ten am on a sunday when the brunch crowd shows up at Der Haus o Pancakes!
For me that's when a laptop comes in handy instead of a pen and paper notebook.... easier to link the stuff together. Personal tastes vary but whatever works for you as a GM.
I base my adventures vaguely on old cartoons. Most recently I had my players following a man very similar to He-Man who was trying to stop 5 evil children from summoning 'Gius the earth lord'.
Dear lord some of the He-Man plots were very weird or just trippy. What a great source for inspiration!
For the first session, I only plan the very first opening scene, the place or room or situation where we enter the game. The rest of session one is freeform or sandbox with the sole goal of getting the party to have a common cause, if they don't have a reason to work together before the game begins......take notes in this first session to decide on where the players want to go and take that as the start for the actual start of the campaign
Great episode! Some great takeaways
Thank you so much for this video! Just watched it and I already have a lot of ideas :) I also have a suggestion for a possible topic to talk about in the future, which is "How to adapt a movie/game to an rpg". That's one of the nicer things to do for me and my group, seeing that we love all sorts of materials in a very diverse tone, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Castlevania, Prince of Persia, etc. I'd like to know your opinion on the subject, seeing that to me it's crucial to try and adapt things without breaking the universe that's already created, so that the players do feel like they're in that characteristic universe. I'm making a Mortal Kombat rpg right now in fact, hope it will come out well. Anyway, thanks again for another well made and informative video
That sounds really cool! I've made certain game systems fro certain movies - mainly Star Trek - but I'll add it to the list for sure! Glad you like the videos!
Great! Looking forward to that video. Thanks
:)
I'm glad I've found your channel, really useful tips in all the videos I've seen so far.
if I can ask, you sound British - do you know of any good websites/social media groups for recruiting players?
Sadly I'm South African. My advice hit your local hobby shop and ask there first!
Set up a trap that teleports the PCs to the lowest level of the dungeon and then they have to find the way out.
Always fun when they are guaranteed to deal with the adventure you planned to run and you can control their entry point.
Great stuff! This channel has been very helpful!
Glad to hear it! Have you checked out the sister channel - How to be a great player?
Yup. And I've sent links of those to my players. Hopefully they learn something.
I preferred to prepare a lot, then get tired and stop the entire campaign XD... You are changing my mind. But at least a small background for the dungeon and a description of rooms is needed, i think. Maybe something short Like one page dungeon
Very helpful. Thanks for sharing it
Really solid walkthrough!
This deserves more likes.
Referencing every awesome sci-fi film from my teenage years
Thank you for making this (& other) videos!
They have helped my my games a richer experience for myself and my PCs.
I wonder if you have any advice on how to successfully pass the GM baton to another person at your table? For example, there have been great NPCs created that I want to continue to have the group interact with. I want to be respectful & give the next GM as much freedom as possible but I also don't want everyone to forget about the rich content I've just started to build. If it matters, we have done ~8-10 sessions and the new GM has said he wants to do something focused more on an adventure taking place on a different plane. Do I just need to chill and let him do his thing?
Thanks again for such amazing content!
The handing over of a world to another GM is very difficult. So some examples spring to mind - Raymond Feist ran a game and each GM had their own continent to manage and run. That worked for him. JJ Abrams was given Star Trek and Star Wars to run - and his approach was to basically just use a different universe with some cross-overs (which worked to a degree) and in Wars, he just moved the timeline forward 30 years. Hope that helps?!
That does give me some good ideas thanks! And thanks for such a quick response. The 4th wall is broken! :-)
Was it ever there :p Glad to have maybe helped spark some ideas!
So a demon incursion of khorne and tzeentch on ship with a bunch of slave trader elder... and the dark elder helping humans, I'm surprised they don't just take those humans as well to sell along with the demons. And for the demons... pretty much accurate for them... XD
Ah those demons of Khorne...
Blood for the Blood God!
Yeah, but maybe they are insightful Daemons of Khorne? All the slaughter every day all day long is boring and now they want to talk about their feelings, man. Or they don't want to be experimented on. Gotta help a buddy in need, no? xD
player: Great, there are multiple sides which want to destroy our very souls as well as make us slaves. That's good news. If there was only one I couldn't pit them against each other.
That was a really good video! Thanks!
Another very helpful video, especially for newbie DMs like me. I've been considering recording each session, just so that I can go back and discover all the things that I may have missed. Also, if you use minis and maps, would you detail your maps beforehand, or just make a general sketch and then detail it when the PCs make it there (assuming they make it there)?
Thanks again for great videos.
I'm hoping to do a Map video next week because there was a request for it so all will be revealed! :)
Great video, glad I found your channel. I really like the way you build an adventure and I'll try a similar method. In terms of wrapping things up, do you plan possible endings to a session? As in this case, ways they could make it off the Lightbringer. Or do you leave possible endings to player initiative?
Thank you! I always have some kind of option for the end of the adventure - however having said that - it almost never happens. But in having an ending on hand, I can adapt that as my players do their thing, so that when the ending does happen, I've got a few things ready. However often half way through a session I change the ending outcome anyway. Not sure if that helps, but that's how I do it :)
the prep work you do seems pretty quick and easy...which I think is great! I feel like I'm often buried in work getting ready for my sessions. Maybe I'm trying to be too detailed. For example, I've noticed that I tend to lean quite heavily on maps and tokens (PC and otherwise) for a lot of situations. I guess what I'm asking is, when SHOULD I plan maps and when should I just let the theatre of the mind take over? Which option is best for combat? Which option is best for exploration? Are there times when a map might be necessary for a complex social situation?
So it boils down to your players. My players know that if they walk into a dungeon I'm mapping it as we go. They are ok with that. During combat they don't get a full scale map because it isn't critical to the system or the game. Other parties though might rely on maps for their powers to work (DnD 4th ed. for example needs maps). There is another tutorial coming up on how to draw maps on the fly which may help you with this!
thanks for the advice, I look forward to checking out that tutorial. On a similar note, I watched your series on how to make a world map...I got so inspired by it I'm now in the process of completely remaking the world map I had been planning on using (it was in comparatively poor shape lol)...it's gonna look so epic :D thanks for everything you do.
Only a pleasure!
Ooh.. a group of guardsmen on a lost imperial ship overrun by demons and experimented on by dark eldar? Looks to me like the best case scenario is that they escape alive and regroup with their commanding officer who immediately has them executed for heresy.
Yo! Awesome videos. Could you make a video on utilizing table space / how to stay organized with d&d. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the comment and will add it to the list.
@How to be a Great Game Master - if you include a little more detail, that would be helpful. As a wannabe GM looking to run a sword and sorcery campaign, I greatly appreciate he videos.
Excellent!
I've always been afraid to try this way of preparing. I like to have every detail worked out for the main storyline and almost have it set out like a typical preset module. However, it takes a hell of a lot of time. Having just created a brand new setting, for the first adventure I've tried to relax the amount I write ahead of time. but I guess there's only one way to know and that's to just get on with it :-)
This method doesn't work ever everyone. It was a question of specifically how do I prep as a GM. But never be afraid to try new things I always say!
Me, any time I have RPG problems: I have 'X' question. Oh look! How to be a Great GM did 'Y' video on it! hOw CoNvEnIeNt
Excellent video Guy! As always. You do a lot more doodling than I do but I can see some similarities between how I plan and how you plan. Definitely great advice that I will try to implement in my own planning. Here's a possible question that maybe if you find is worthwhile, you can add to your list of future videos: What to do if you, as the GM, make a bad call. I.E. In my game and system, when someone rolls to cast their magic or use their power, if they crit fail, there has to be something happen that reflects that it's a crit fail. For instance, Cast fireball at the troll, crit fail, instead, fireball is cast at own feet - take damage. I'm SUPPOSED to attempt to match the severity of the fail to the severity of what was attempted. Let's say my severity of what happened was way out of balance for the severity of what was attempted. What would you suggest in a situation like that, where a wrong call was made?
That is certainly a tough one, and believe you me, it runs deeper than just a Crit fail call. It also runs to a narrative call. A spur of the moment story decision that really turns everything on it's head. It's a good topic to open to discussion, so I'll certainly add it to the list!