Thanks for watching! And if you want to take your GM'ing to the next level, we use World Anvil to manage our worlds, characters and all the details, check them here and get 20% off using the code GREATGM when starting a new subscription: worldanvil.pxf.io/rPqPv
Truthfully, GMing has sort of ruined being a player for me. Not that I'm being judgy in a negative manner, but undoubtedly whenever I'm a player I watch and listen to what the GM is doing and all I can think is -- "That's brilliant! I need to try it!" Or "How would I handle this?" And then it's sort of over... back to GMing.
Have you considered to make a "GM" course? You really have a "teacher vibe", which makes your videos more approacheable, to me at least. I wish there where someone who could tell me all these things when I was younger.
Ran my first D&D game for my son’s birthday. Used a free adventure and just took the bits I wanted to use and keep it fun. Kind of ran it on the fly too. For a first level adventure it was a little tough so I toned it down for him and his cousin.
Thank you for the video, Guy! Informative as ever. 01:29 Pick your system (D&D, Talisman, FATE, Dark Eye, 2d20, etc.) 07:19 Pick your world / make a map 09:43 Develop your campaign idea 11:40 Planning your first adventure 13:13 Start playing My thoughts on these five tips. 😊 1) If you feel like you need to have a better grasp of the system and you cannot play it as a player first, I suggest making characters and try to roll for some tests! Roll for investigation, maybe make up a small combat encounter. It is not only very informative, but also a lot of fun! 2) Maps are indeed super duper helpful, especially if you keep them SMALL. I am running ALIEN now, and I run my oneshot scenarios on one or two spaceships. It is sandbox-y enough for my players to explore the spaceships by themselves, but not sandbox-y enough that my beginner GM butt has to panic about "what if they go and visit a different star system I don't have prepared". 3)-4) No tips for these ones. I am guilty as charged. I always try to run a campaign, overprepare, then get discouraged and shelf it. 5) I am going to run my second ever game, a prewritten ALIEN RPG scenario, on Tuesday. I am equally anxious and excited about it! I hope I will be able to "center" myself the same way you said. 😄
The idea of avoiding over-prepping can’t be over-stated, but there is a minimal amount of prep required. At least have a couple encounters ready, monsters, people, monstrous people, one combat and one social will probably be enough. Maybe a couple of each would be good to have in your pocket though, just in case your players decide to turn a combat into a social or vice-versa. A minimally outlined area where the encounters are to occur is also important, but don’t go overboard. An hour’s worth of prep should be enough to run with, and you’ll figure out where it’s going to go from there based on what your players do. The rule system is definitely an unnecessary element to good GM’ing though. My group sometimes uses a system that I believe is based on RISUS. Each PC has 4 general areas of specialization, each assigned to a value of 1, 2, 3, and 4. The value indicates your bonus to a D6 roll, and the GM decides which of your areas of specialization might apply to any given roll. The specializations are arbitrary and agreed upon between the player and GM, but typically they are tropes. There isn’t much more to it, and we’ve had many great games using it. It does require your players to be interested in role-playing, and for them to trust your motivation to try to facilitate everyone having a good time. In the right group though, it is more than adequate.
I'm a fairly new DM but i have to agree about rule system. A lot of time, the only different thing is how the character sheet looks and which dice you roll. If the world works one way, the only difference between playing it in d&d, fate, or the system i prefer to use (it's a czech system that isn't translated into english as far as i know) is whether you have a set of strictly defined spells with exact rules like in d&d or whether you just roleplay the effect and then roll, hoping that luck and modifiers will make it happen. Sure, using star wars rules to run a fantasy game or fantasy rules to run a game about vampires in high school isn't ideal, but it's not crucial step in starting a campaign either. Other than that this video is very accurate and full of genuinely good advice, so thank you OP
@@Dracopol Ty for the nice words! I'm pretty sure i'll enjoy it and i made sure to talk with the players before so we're all the same page =) I'm pretty sure i'll make bunch of mistakes, but i'm also pretty sure we'll have fun and that's the goal :)
I am watching this the day before I start my first campaign a GM with a group of friends who haven't really RP'ed before. Thanks for your great content
My first EVER campaign as a GM laster 1 year and a half and we finished it I learned a ton of tricks and improved with time but... Didn't expect to last that long I had a story I wrote myself and it was in a homebrew world so I knew everything about the world The thing is... I started role-playing 1 month prior I had 1 month of player experience in the world of role-playing before starting that campaign I loved it and I still love gming, I keep learning new things from my players every time
Started GMing in the 80s 🥳. I Played so many different Rulesystems and Settings. At the Moment we are playing Earthdawn with Fate Core. Simple and fiction First. Just Play WITH you Players not AGAINST them. It is their Story in your World Setting. Thank you Guy for your High End Content - love your structured sight to Roleplaying. Its always fun and educational (in a good way 🤓 )
I have been a 'forever GM', for over two decades. But I come back to TH-cam vids full of advice for new storytellers. I think it helps to restart after a long period of absence from the hobby.
I've never experienced not being a GM, since I was the first one to get D&D in my country 45 years ago. And being first, it was only natural that I be the GM (or referee, as it was known then). I can really relate to your experience of GMing 40K without knowing the rules. At a local convention many years ago, they were short one GM for Vampire. I was free, but I had never even played Vampire. But the organizers begged me, so I said yes. "The players are vampires and we roll d10:s, got ya." And we had a great time. The players just loved it and so did I.
Ran a oneshot yesterday for my absolute first time DMing because the regularly scheduled session got cancelled, I wrote up a crappy scenario in half an hour and proceeded to stumble through it with the few people I managed to gather. Good god do I have a lot to learn x.x
I started in 1984 with 1st-edition AD&D. I'd had all of about five sessions and couldn't wait to get behind the screen. My cousin (there were only the two of us playing) had some modules aka adventures. I chose one, had a quick read and basically read out whatever boxed text was there. No, not a brilliant start but we had some fun and it was still a good start. I've been DM-ing ever since. My turn as a player has been infrequent.
Thank you I needed this. I've just gotten my hands on Cyberpunk red and have never GM'd. Lately I have just lost that spark of joy when looking at all the work I thought I needed to do.
I started DMing for 5E because it's beginner friendly, and it helps me introduce new players. The thing is, it's not my preferred systems, so I never bothered, you know, getting the actual core books. The only thing I'm remotely strict on Conditions works. Since conditions are being applied by monster and players, I want them to be by the book so it can be fair both way. The rest, I just wing it depending of the situation, and it's making me come across as a more flexible and relaxed DM than when I tried to show off my knowledge in other systems. Trying to look cool by knowing the rules is a rookie GMing mistake.
Loved the Warhammer anecdote, great story and resulting lesson. Glad the judges saw the value of fun and clarity instead of desiring dogma for its own sake.
I'm 39. I will be running my first campaign in a few weeks. Honestly this is my first TTRPG experience! Thanks for this timely video. I'll be rewatching this a few times. Thanks Guy!
OMG! Yes, Dungeoneer..... add Blacksand and Allansia and you have the original Advanced Fighting Fantasy system that I ran for 10 years! So quick and simple, and soooooo much source material if you also add all the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Good times!
well even if you think you talk to long. I don`t think so cause you just help me with your videos week for week to get a little better at Gming. Thanks to you I can play with my players since this year weekly with 2 hour seasions. They are new players and I`m a new DM but we so far played around 12 seasions. So thank you to you. For all youre tipps and the sharing of your experience. And sorry for my bad english Greetings from Switzerland Cheers
I was just reminiscing about my first major attempt at making a full campaign. I got burned out because I was trying to plan out everything in a section before the party got there. Seriously considering making another attempt with this simple, minimalist design.
I started DMing last year (with no rpg experience)... it was messy and stressful because I had to have till the last detail prepared... However, a few month ago I got the chance to know a GM and played for the first time. He has a lot of experience and I lerned a lot from him (And I kept watching a lot of vids too! hehe)... Anyway, I wanted to give him back what he was giving me... and last Friday I took his place (even though it was not planed) I told him I was preparing something and he got really excited and suggested to do it that day (I had 5 hs till the game). And I told him.. ok. Even I wasn't as prepared as I used to, It was great because I had the general idea and just had to let my players give me the details. My GM was so happy and told me that in 15 years GMing D&D he just played 3/4 times.. That was so sad! I encourage every one to present you table a tiny one-shot! Even it is a shitty one, the experience is great! And you GM will have a blast hahaha! Take the effort to acknowledge the GM work by being one from time to time.
My first time GMing was many many many years ago, over 25 years at least, and I still remember it. I had planned the opening scene in my head, simple idea the group start off in a tavern (colour me shocked) and my planned benefactors men arrive looking for one of the PCs. What I didn't plan for was that particular pc to dive out the bathroom window and make for the hills. Fast forward to my current campaign, very first game, the PCs are introduced in the the town square and have to meet a contact in the town. They go to the address where they interrupt a goblin torturing an old woman. I expected the Hero's to jump to action, instead they wanted to talk it out. What's the lesson? Players never do what you expect. And after a couple of decades of play, I still get caught off guard.
After running a total of 3 sessions, I know for sure that "don't over-plan" is the most important thing for me to remember. Every time we play, I end up using maybe a couple things I planned out... That whole dungeon/cave map I drew in a panic because I thought that's where they'd end up today? Nope. Didn't need it. But I did need a stone circle with carvings. Ahhhh joy! Luckily things planned out fairly well today, and I think I'm starting to find my footing as a dm. :)
Honestly I've learned: If you can play 40k, you can DM. And Vice Versa. You spend the week leading up to the scheduled game planning the basic outline of what you're going to do. You only need a day before TOPS to prepare everything. And honestly, in the right system, preparing encounters can feel like making small armies and setting up tactics that you plan to have them execute. In time you'll find that making puzzles and encounters that test your party is as rewarding and challenging as playing the game itself.
Only prep work I do are the "scenes" of the adventure itself. any point where a significant choice is made, is a scene. And I just jot notes, like monster manual page numbers, a basic description, what the "conflict" is, and so on. Then, if it's an important scene to the plot, it gets a little asterisk by it. Usually takes about two hours to prepare for around 10 hours of gameplay.
Running my first campaign since I was DMing for my sibling when I was probably 15 or younger. Just a few sessions in but have to say this channel has helped me a ton already, thanks for all help.
Before I watched this video I was really stuck on that first stage you were talking about, but now I've realised it takes time and I want to thank you for helping me out. New subscriber. 👍
I'm currently writing notes for another campaign. I've been doing for about 2 years now, playing for that same amount of time. But this is actually very helpful, thank you!
This helped me feel better about not having all the answers for my world yet I'm wanting to start dming and my main theme for the campaign is pirate adventure with dinosaurs and I am stuck on turning to figure out all the small things and hearing that I dont need to do that makes me feel a lot better
Another great video Guy. I personally love the rambley bullet point videos. My very first game session was the starting point of the campaign I have been running for over a year now. It was a bit of a mess to begin with during that first game. But it was a whole new thing for me and I look back and cringe at some of the 'mistakes' I made during that first 3 hours session. However, the world continues to grow and the story is progressing further with more characters, places and all round adventure. Within that space though the group is looking at what to do next and I shall certainly be rewatching this video to help remind me it will all be ok.
Great list! The only thing I would add is a step to create a character yourself first since that's what everyone will be doing at the start of a new game. Character creation will often have a lot of questions about what is and isn't possible.
I'm just planning my first campaign for which your videos have been invaluable. Now I just need the lockdown to end so I can run it, I don't want to start DM'ing online and have to learn all that at the same time. Also I much prefer being sat round with friends rolling physical dice.
Stumbled across this channel a few months ago, and my goodness has this broadened my horizons! Great content, all the info and experience sharing is greatly appreciated.
I remember the day I trully understood what does this mean "You don't have to know the rules." I was trying to explain my mom what is roleplaying. We went on Holiday with my family, it was raining, we had nothing to do for an entire afternoon, and when I understood that I was like : "You know what ? Let's play. You and dad are two adventurers on the city of [whatever] ..." and that was it. We played for the entire afternoon, and my mom and dad loved it. We juste used a phone app for dices, build a character sheet on the fly on the early days of the adventure (that I also made on the fly), and I just used that simple rule : "2D10, you have to go under your value to succeed." and that was it. Have fun. So yep, you really don't need that much stuff to play TTRPG. In fact, you only need one thing : friends. Because, I never tried it, but I'm pretty sure you could roleplay around a campfire without any paper, any character sheet, and any dice.
Still waiting for my players to be ready for our very first game. I feel ready and am very pumped. In the meantime I’m watching the Kharros Stones on Save or Dice.
I remember my first time DMing, it was pretty bad but I was spontaneous and flexible enough to make it an enjoyable time for everyone. we had fun times but oh boy did I not prepare enough and most of the time it was a hodgepodge mess that everyone came away with a good laugh or two from. want to start DMing again because i have friends who want to play so i want to be much more prepared this time.
This is the formula that I use. Each point is exactly one sentence long. One idea. Campaign Idea: Main Campaign Point 1: Sub Point 1: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 2: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 3: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Main Campaign Point 2: Sub Point 1: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 2: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 3: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Main Campaign Point 3: Sub Point 1: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 2: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: Sub Point 3: Session 1: Session 2: Session 3: In this, each subpoint is 2-3 sessions. You only plan a session when you finish the prior session. This creates a 18-27-session game. Those 13 sentences, in that structure, will be my whole 4-6 month campaign. You only need to worry about further planning when starting a subpoint. If you want a longer campaign, just add more campaign and sub points.
I've been a DM for some time now but I still have to learn not to overprep. Since I'm perfectionist and an overthinker it's really hard. I tend to prep for hours thinking of what options the players could take. It's really hard for me to get used to improvisation. I also kinda learned DMing from my first DM and she also prepares a lot and improvises mostly on a small scale.
I've been "prepping" for like 2 months to DM a game for friends as first time DMing since the 1990s (recently got my interest in D&D renewed). I may be guilty of over preparation, lol. I'm afraid that when we play they will not want to keep playing after the first session.
1. Could you do a video about the actual benefits/rewards/perks/lifelong learning of being a GM? 2. How to deal, as a GM, with a group which.cannot.take.decisions and just talks talks talks about possibilities, a leaderless group in other words?
7:24 Heh... that's exactly what I did the (technically second) game I ever DMed. First game I ever DMed was a disaster. Tried to do it with my family when my sisters were in a silly mood. Pretty much just bored everyone and they started goofing off with each other instead. That was moreso about just not having people that were particularly well matched to playing in the first place. Second game has actually been going really well. Had a world in my head I had been hoping to run for years. A friend of mine was considering getting into D&D, but we couldn't get anyone else to join. Honestly that was just as well. Starting as a DM with a friend that I trust that has never played the game before and nobody else has honestly been perfect. When I mess up a rule, I know looking back on it that I messed up a rule, but he isn't bothered by it and the game wasn't slowed down by anyone pointing it out. I correct it next session and I let him know that I screwed up, but I can focus on flow. Finally, having only one player also means it is less for me to focus on at once, and I feel that once I really master this one on one, it will help me run games with more people. Third game was when Covid hit and the lockdown started. The D&D group that I normally went in person with was going to cancel, but I convinced them to try online. I decided to give DMing a try. The result was a complete mess. Because this was a continuation of someone else's campaign, I had less leeway in terms of how to structure it and the players knew the mechanics very well. Furthermore, this group was a mildly difficult group for more experienced DMs, so for me it just fell apart. Point being, wow, going one on one for your first campaign can be a huge boost!
Thank you for this video! Very new DM here and this really helped me a lot!! I saw you've been to South Africa! wow - I'm from Cape Town! Great channel!
Am I just lost or have you stopped streaming, Guy? D: Outside of the weekly game that is. Also is the Complete Guide To Creating Epic Campaigns -book still available somewhere as a physical copy!
I'll be honest, I'll be GMing my first actual game soon and I am so nervous. I know it's not important to have anything too flashy or too weird but I basically just wanted to play a game with a system that I've been wanting to play for a very long time and they seemed open to play with me too but the thing is I've only just recently got really invested in role-playing games and I've already just started out finally understanding Dungeons and Dragons and a little bit of Pathfinder and here I am jumping into a whole new book system ,point by system BESM, that I remember I have bought Over a year ago that I really wanted to play but it doesn't have the same system and the story Hook is a lot different from fighting monsters and going on Quests. the system's more, let's do our Transformations and get back in time for class and do u wanna save the world and find a date for the school dance. I've basically just been watching a whole bunch of how to GM games vids like this one and I'm still a bit confused in some places I just want to make sure my friends are having fun. I don't want to disappoint them. so do you have any extra tips or jumping into point buy system or just dming a school anime system, BESM, or is that not something I'm allowed to talk about here.
Over the last few weeks I've been DMing a campaign for just me and my fiance. We're both completely new to DnD, so I'm learning the DM side while she learns the PC side, so its been interesting. I scale combat as best I can and tbh I think we both have a ton of fun with that aspect of the game. Generally I won't throw more than one or two enemies at her, and I have a sidekick with her to lend a helping hand. I know you've spoken a little bit about one on one play, but I'd love if you could give any more advice for us! Currently we're running LMoP, and I'm working in a little backstory and bbeg stuff that we're enjoying, but I realize she's having a hard time in some situations where she wouldn't if she just had other party members. Especially around exploring and interacting with NPCs, and I'm having a hard time helping to guide her in a way that doesn't come off as handholding her through all the important stuff because she didn't think to ask or check something and would've missed it all. TL:DR - I love your content and could really use some DnD advice for One on One games
my though is: you forgot to mention about players create characters, usually it takes longest time, as they all whisper GM separately about their ideas what they wnat and what they cannot get and if they fit in the world and how they will alwyas want gm help in creating optimal PC which is crazy sometimes and personally scares me
So I GM’d my first few games (Star Trek Adventures & Delta Green) but then I found Nights Black Agents and the Dracula Dossier... and the sheer amount of info is daunting, to say the least. How do you deal with a Campaign that is so full of info?
I've never understood how people have fun with GMing. Sure, I can feel satisfaction that my players are enjoying themselves, the satisfaction of a *job* well done (key word). But "having fun" with it seems to be impossible just because so much is riding on the line - if I screw up, all my players/friends will have a bad night, whether because the combat is too dull or because I didn't make enough to fill the time up or whatever. So the pressure is on at all points of the game; even breaks don't offer respite since I know that break time is time that could've been spent playing the game. Even preparation before game isn't very fun for similar reasons; if I make this encounter or that NPC wrong, then I'm going to end up doubling my workload during the session as I try and correct my own screw-ups. I honestly dread the night of, and am almost always perspiring nervously when I run the game. Even my players telling me I did a good job and seemingly having fun doesn't help the nerves at all, merely giving me the satisfaction of surviving the night. So I basically GM because I have to, until someone else finally steps up. But doing it for enjoyment? A laughable dream to me.
I have a campaign going now. And havnt DMed in many years. So far the PCs are having a blast. It can get very intense at times on my end. And I'm improving a lot. My issue is trying to come up with the middle of the story. I have the end set and most possible alternate endings. Is this a common struggle and any pointers to not get overwhelmed?
You mentioned in your how to create horror in your campaign that you edited a trailer for SA audiences, do you know of any dnd oriented conversations in SA
I'm about to GM my first campaign. It's gonna be a hard sci-fi setting and the group already has experience with Pathfinder. Now, I don't want to use Starfinder because there's too much fantasy in it for my setting. I looked at Traveller, Stars Without Number, N.E.W. and Eclipse Phase and I'm a bit conflicted about which system to use. My group isn't the crunchy type. They like their RPGs uncomplicated and fast. Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to any system if it works well
Got plenty of friends. They just aren’t as nerdy as me. So sad -__- If they only would give it a chance!!! Gonna sit them all down for a game and not tell them it’s Dnd 😁😁
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 88 | คู่เอก "ป้อมเพชร vs อัสลามจอน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ZqTVVbMgbo/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for watching! And if you want to take your GM'ing to the next level, we use World Anvil to manage our worlds, characters and all the details, check them here and get 20% off using the code GREATGM when starting a new subscription: worldanvil.pxf.io/rPqPv
The timing of this vid is perfect. I LITERALLY pitched a new campaign to my group minutes ago.
One word of caution: once you start GMing, you never stop.
@Judge Dredd I hardly get to be a player anymore... No one wants to take up the torch and let me have some fun without running the game.
@Judge Dredd Would you mind let me hear some ot the sessions? Real DA fan here and starter Gm, could learn a few things
Truthfully, GMing has sort of ruined being a player for me. Not that I'm being judgy in a negative manner, but undoubtedly whenever I'm a player I watch and listen to what the GM is doing and all I can think is -- "That's brilliant! I need to try it!" Or "How would I handle this?" And then it's sort of over... back to GMing.
I was a player only once, when I first played D&D
it consumes every waking hour......(cry)
I started DMing first time today with a quickly built world, thank you for a wonderful channel
אולי אני יכול להצטרף?😝
Have you considered to make a "GM" course? You really have a "teacher vibe", which makes your videos more approacheable, to me at least. I wish there where someone who could tell me all these things when I was younger.
Check out Matt Colville's videos on youtube....
Or the Angry GM's blog (especially the "How To F&$%ing GM" section).
@@nickwilliams8302 Got a handy link for us?
Ran my first D&D game for my son’s birthday. Used a free adventure and just took the bits I wanted to use and keep it fun. Kind of ran it on the fly too. For a first level adventure it was a little tough so I toned it down for him and his cousin.
Check out Amazing Tales, its a book for playing rpg with children. Rules fit on one page, and the rest of the book is ideas and suggestions
Thank you for the video, Guy! Informative as ever.
01:29 Pick your system (D&D, Talisman, FATE, Dark Eye, 2d20, etc.)
07:19 Pick your world / make a map
09:43 Develop your campaign idea
11:40 Planning your first adventure
13:13 Start playing
My thoughts on these five tips. 😊
1) If you feel like you need to have a better grasp of the system and you cannot play it as a player first, I suggest making characters and try to roll for some tests! Roll for investigation, maybe make up a small combat encounter. It is not only very informative, but also a lot of fun!
2) Maps are indeed super duper helpful, especially if you keep them SMALL. I am running ALIEN now, and I run my oneshot scenarios on one or two spaceships. It is sandbox-y enough for my players to explore the spaceships by themselves, but not sandbox-y enough that my beginner GM butt has to panic about "what if they go and visit a different star system I don't have prepared".
3)-4) No tips for these ones. I am guilty as charged. I always try to run a campaign, overprepare, then get discouraged and shelf it.
5) I am going to run my second ever game, a prewritten ALIEN RPG scenario, on Tuesday. I am equally anxious and excited about it! I hope I will be able to "center" myself the same way you said. 😄
Good luck!
how did it go?!
The idea of avoiding over-prepping can’t be over-stated, but there is a minimal amount of prep required. At least have a couple encounters ready, monsters, people, monstrous people, one combat and one social will probably be enough. Maybe a couple of each would be good to have in your pocket though, just in case your players decide to turn a combat into a social or vice-versa. A minimally outlined area where the encounters are to occur is also important, but don’t go overboard. An hour’s worth of prep should be enough to run with, and you’ll figure out where it’s going to go from there based on what your players do.
The rule system is definitely an unnecessary element to good GM’ing though. My group sometimes uses a system that I believe is based on RISUS. Each PC has 4 general areas of specialization, each assigned to a value of 1, 2, 3, and 4. The value indicates your bonus to a D6 roll, and the GM decides which of your areas of specialization might apply to any given roll. The specializations are arbitrary and agreed upon between the player and GM, but typically they are tropes. There isn’t much more to it, and we’ve had many great games using it. It does require your players to be interested in role-playing, and for them to trust your motivation to try to facilitate everyone having a good time. In the right group though, it is more than adequate.
I'm a fairly new DM but i have to agree about rule system. A lot of time, the only different thing is how the character sheet looks and which dice you roll. If the world works one way, the only difference between playing it in d&d, fate, or the system i prefer to use (it's a czech system that isn't translated into english as far as i know) is whether you have a set of strictly defined spells with exact rules like in d&d or whether you just roleplay the effect and then roll, hoping that luck and modifiers will make it happen. Sure, using star wars rules to run a fantasy game or fantasy rules to run a game about vampires in high school isn't ideal, but it's not crucial step in starting a campaign either. Other than that this video is very accurate and full of genuinely good advice, so thank you OP
Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master is such a good guide for prep...
As I will soon DM my 1st game ever, this is perfect timing! :D
ty for the nice content!
@Ian Robertson Thank you very much, advice noted =)
@@Dracopol Ty for the nice words! I'm pretty sure i'll enjoy it and i made sure to talk with the players before so we're all the same page =)
I'm pretty sure i'll make bunch of mistakes, but i'm also pretty sure we'll have fun and that's the goal :)
@Alex Macmillan I will =)
Knowing the players, they are nice and positives people, it should go well and i think we'll have some fun together :)
I am watching this the day before I start my first campaign a GM with a group of friends who haven't really RP'ed before. Thanks for your great content
This is some of the best GM advice I have ever heard. Most excellent!
I'll be running my first campaign in a few days thanks to everything I've learned from this channel. Cheers mate, keep up the good work!
Had 2 sessions with my group so far. So far everyone loved it, but with this video, they won't stop playing my games for years
My first EVER campaign as a GM laster 1 year and a half and we finished it
I learned a ton of tricks and improved with time but... Didn't expect to last that long
I had a story I wrote myself and it was in a homebrew world so I knew everything about the world
The thing is... I started role-playing 1 month prior
I had 1 month of player experience in the world of role-playing before starting that campaign
I loved it and I still love gming, I keep learning new things from my players every time
Started GMing in the 80s 🥳. I Played so many different Rulesystems and Settings. At the Moment we are playing Earthdawn with Fate Core. Simple and fiction First.
Just Play WITH you Players not AGAINST them. It is their Story in your World Setting.
Thank you Guy for your High End Content - love your structured sight to Roleplaying. Its always fun and educational (in a good way 🤓 )
I was writing notes for my first game when this video popped up. Your timing is impeccable!
Same here!
I have been a 'forever GM', for over two decades. But I come back to TH-cam vids full of advice for new storytellers. I think it helps to restart after a long period of absence from the hobby.
I've never experienced not being a GM, since I was the first one to get D&D in my country 45 years ago. And being first, it was only natural that I be the GM (or referee, as it was known then).
I can really relate to your experience of GMing 40K without knowing the rules. At a local convention many years ago, they were short one GM for Vampire. I was free, but I had never even played Vampire. But the organizers begged me, so I said yes. "The players are vampires and we roll d10:s, got ya." And we had a great time. The players just loved it and so did I.
Ran a oneshot yesterday for my absolute first time DMing because the regularly scheduled session got cancelled, I wrote up a crappy scenario in half an hour and proceeded to stumble through it with the few people I managed to gather. Good god do I have a lot to learn x.x
I started in 1984 with 1st-edition AD&D. I'd had all of about five sessions and couldn't wait to get behind the screen. My cousin (there were only the two of us playing) had some modules aka adventures. I chose one, had a quick read and basically read out whatever boxed text was there. No, not a brilliant start but we had some fun and it was still a good start. I've been DM-ing ever since. My turn as a player has been infrequent.
Always a pleasure to listen in, Guy. This has given my GM'ing plans a bit more clarity. I appreciate it.
Thank you I needed this. I've just gotten my hands on Cyberpunk red and have never GM'd. Lately I have just lost that spark of joy when looking at all the work I thought I needed to do.
I started DMing for 5E because it's beginner friendly, and it helps me introduce new players. The thing is, it's not my preferred systems, so I never bothered, you know, getting the actual core books. The only thing I'm remotely strict on Conditions works. Since conditions are being applied by monster and players, I want them to be by the book so it can be fair both way.
The rest, I just wing it depending of the situation, and it's making me come across as a more flexible and relaxed DM than when I tried to show off my knowledge in other systems. Trying to look cool by knowing the rules is a rookie GMing mistake.
Loved the Warhammer anecdote, great story and resulting lesson. Glad the judges saw the value of fun and clarity instead of desiring dogma for its own sake.
I'm 39. I will be running my first campaign in a few weeks. Honestly this is my first TTRPG experience! Thanks for this timely video. I'll be rewatching this a few times. Thanks Guy!
OMG! Yes, Dungeoneer..... add Blacksand and Allansia and you have the original Advanced Fighting Fantasy system that I ran for 10 years! So quick and simple, and soooooo much source material if you also add all the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Good times!
I think your recent videos have been even better than usual. Really good topics and you are very authentic.
well even if you think you talk to long. I don`t think so cause you just help me with your videos week for week to get a little better at Gming. Thanks to you I can play with my players since this year weekly with 2 hour seasions. They are new players and I`m a new DM but we so far played around 12 seasions.
So thank you to you. For all youre tipps and the sharing of your experience.
And sorry for my bad english
Greetings from Switzerland
Cheers
I was just reminiscing about my first major attempt at making a full campaign. I got burned out because I was trying to plan out everything in a section before the party got there.
Seriously considering making another attempt with this simple, minimalist design.
I started DMing last year (with no rpg experience)... it was messy and stressful because I had to have till the last detail prepared... However, a few month ago I got the chance to know a GM and played for the first time. He has a lot of experience and I lerned a lot from him (And I kept watching a lot of vids too! hehe)...
Anyway, I wanted to give him back what he was giving me... and last Friday I took his place (even though it was not planed) I told him I was preparing something and he got really excited and suggested to do it that day (I had 5 hs till the game). And I told him.. ok. Even I wasn't as prepared as I used to, It was great because I had the general idea and just had to let my players give me the details.
My GM was so happy and told me that in 15 years GMing D&D he just played 3/4 times.. That was so sad!
I encourage every one to present you table a tiny one-shot! Even it is a shitty one, the experience is great! And you GM will have a blast hahaha! Take the effort to acknowledge the GM work by being one from time to time.
My first time GMing was many many many years ago, over 25 years at least, and I still remember it. I had planned the opening scene in my head, simple idea the group start off in a tavern (colour me shocked) and my planned benefactors men arrive looking for one of the PCs. What I didn't plan for was that particular pc to dive out the bathroom window and make for the hills. Fast forward to my current campaign, very first game, the PCs are introduced in the the town square and have to meet a contact in the town. They go to the address where they interrupt a goblin torturing an old woman. I expected the Hero's to jump to action, instead they wanted to talk it out. What's the lesson? Players never do what you expect. And after a couple of decades of play, I still get caught off guard.
I welcome the "you just talking to bullet points", really good! Thanks!
After running a total of 3 sessions, I know for sure that "don't over-plan" is the most important thing for me to remember. Every time we play, I end up using maybe a couple things I planned out... That whole dungeon/cave map I drew in a panic because I thought that's where they'd end up today? Nope. Didn't need it. But I did need a stone circle with carvings. Ahhhh joy! Luckily things planned out fairly well today, and I think I'm starting to find my footing as a dm. :)
Honestly I've learned: If you can play 40k, you can DM. And Vice Versa. You spend the week leading up to the scheduled game planning the basic outline of what you're going to do. You only need a day before TOPS to prepare everything. And honestly, in the right system, preparing encounters can feel like making small armies and setting up tactics that you plan to have them execute.
In time you'll find that making puzzles and encounters that test your party is as rewarding and challenging as playing the game itself.
Only prep work I do are the "scenes" of the adventure itself. any point where a significant choice is made, is a scene. And I just jot notes, like monster manual page numbers, a basic description, what the "conflict" is, and so on. Then, if it's an important scene to the plot, it gets a little asterisk by it. Usually takes about two hours to prepare for around 10 hours of gameplay.
Running my first campaign since I was DMing for my sibling when I was probably 15 or younger. Just a few sessions in but have to say this channel has helped me a ton already, thanks for all help.
Dungeon World is my favorite GM’ing
I have the occasion to GM for the second time with friends, your video motivates me a lot !!
Thank you for all these videos, I'm a huge fan!!
Before I watched this video I was really stuck on that first stage you were talking about, but now I've realised it takes time and I want to thank you for helping me out. New subscriber. 👍
I'm currently writing notes for another campaign. I've been doing for about 2 years now, playing for that same amount of time. But this is actually very helpful, thank you!
This helped me feel better about not having all the answers for my world yet I'm wanting to start dming and my main theme for the campaign is pirate adventure with dinosaurs and I am stuck on turning to figure out all the small things and hearing that I dont need to do that makes me feel a lot better
About to start a campaign from the lovely world of Star Wars this has helped a lot, wish me luck!
Gming is hard, all my friends try to do weird stuff. Last session one of my friends was not able to stop referencing the Soviet Union
I actually just started GMing DnD 2 weeks ago. We're running CoS and I'm having loads of fun with it already
Thank you so much Guy, as a wannabe GM the advice to not overprep was so freeing, you have no idea.
Another great video Guy. I personally love the rambley bullet point videos.
My very first game session was the starting point of the campaign I have been running for over a year now. It was a bit of a mess to begin with during that first game. But it was a whole new thing for me and I look back and cringe at some of the 'mistakes' I made during that first 3 hours session.
However, the world continues to grow and the story is progressing further with more characters, places and all round adventure. Within that space though the group is looking at what to do next and I shall certainly be rewatching this video to help remind me it will all be ok.
Great list! The only thing I would add is a step to create a character yourself first since that's what everyone will be doing at the start of a new game. Character creation will often have a lot of questions about what is and isn't possible.
I'm just planning my first campaign for which your videos have been invaluable. Now I just need the lockdown to end so I can run it, I don't want to start DM'ing online and have to learn all that at the same time.
Also I much prefer being sat round with friends rolling physical dice.
I'm glad to see a longer video back! I always enjoy the videos either way.
Stumbled across this channel a few months ago, and my goodness has this broadened my horizons! Great content, all the info and experience sharing is greatly appreciated.
I really like you talking with bullet points I'm glad you are doing them ❤️
I remember the day I trully understood what does this mean "You don't have to know the rules." I was trying to explain my mom what is roleplaying. We went on Holiday with my family, it was raining, we had nothing to do for an entire afternoon, and when I understood that I was like : "You know what ? Let's play. You and dad are two adventurers on the city of [whatever] ..." and that was it. We played for the entire afternoon, and my mom and dad loved it. We juste used a phone app for dices, build a character sheet on the fly on the early days of the adventure (that I also made on the fly), and I just used that simple rule : "2D10, you have to go under your value to succeed." and that was it. Have fun.
So yep, you really don't need that much stuff to play TTRPG. In fact, you only need one thing : friends. Because, I never tried it, but I'm pretty sure you could roleplay around a campfire without any paper, any character sheet, and any dice.
Still waiting for my players to be ready for our very first game. I feel ready and am very pumped. In the meantime I’m watching the Kharros Stones on Save or Dice.
I remember my first time DMing, it was pretty bad but I was spontaneous and flexible enough to make it an enjoyable time for everyone. we had fun times but oh boy did I not prepare enough and most of the time it was a hodgepodge mess that everyone came away with a good laugh or two from. want to start DMing again because i have friends who want to play so i want to be much more prepared this time.
Wonderful video! Thank you!
This is the formula that I use. Each point is exactly one sentence long. One idea.
Campaign Idea:
Main Campaign Point 1:
Sub Point 1:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 2:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 3:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Main Campaign Point 2:
Sub Point 1:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 2:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 3:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Main Campaign Point 3:
Sub Point 1:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 2:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
Sub Point 3:
Session 1:
Session 2:
Session 3:
In this, each subpoint is 2-3 sessions. You only plan a session when you finish the prior session. This creates a 18-27-session game. Those 13 sentences, in that structure, will be my whole 4-6 month campaign. You only need to worry about further planning when starting a subpoint. If you want a longer campaign, just add more campaign and sub points.
This is the first video to actually convey the idea of not needing to know the rules. Before I always thought the people who said that were crazy.
I've been a DM for some time now but I still have to learn not to overprep. Since I'm perfectionist and an overthinker it's really hard. I tend to prep for hours thinking of what options the players could take. It's really hard for me to get used to improvisation. I also kinda learned DMing from my first DM and she also prepares a lot and improvises mostly on a small scale.
Great vid! Thanks Guy!
Another terrific video. Personal and meaningful. Much appreciated.
Great convention story, story > rules
This came just in time lol I'm GM'ing my first 5E game today
how did it go? which adventure?
I don’t remember my first DM attempts other than having very suportiv and thankful players.
I agree with all of this and I sent this video to a friend who wants to DM for us (and I really appreciate that because I have four groups to run) 👍🏻
I've been "prepping" for like 2 months to DM a game for friends as first time DMing since the 1990s (recently got my interest in D&D renewed). I may be guilty of over preparation, lol. I'm afraid that when we play they will not want to keep playing after the first session.
Thank you again Guy :) Great tips!
must be honest, I was hoping for some more Talisman thingies this week but these are all great advices.
I watched from the browser and opened here to give you a like..
1. Could you do a video about the actual benefits/rewards/perks/lifelong learning of being a GM?
2. How to deal, as a GM, with a group which.cannot.take.decisions and just talks talks talks about possibilities, a leaderless group in other words?
I like the idea starting out at a small area
7:24 Heh... that's exactly what I did the (technically second) game I ever DMed.
First game I ever DMed was a disaster. Tried to do it with my family when my sisters were in a silly mood. Pretty much just bored everyone and they started goofing off with each other instead. That was moreso about just not having people that were particularly well matched to playing in the first place.
Second game has actually been going really well. Had a world in my head I had been hoping to run for years. A friend of mine was considering getting into D&D, but we couldn't get anyone else to join. Honestly that was just as well. Starting as a DM with a friend that I trust that has never played the game before and nobody else has honestly been perfect. When I mess up a rule, I know looking back on it that I messed up a rule, but he isn't bothered by it and the game wasn't slowed down by anyone pointing it out. I correct it next session and I let him know that I screwed up, but I can focus on flow. Finally, having only one player also means it is less for me to focus on at once, and I feel that once I really master this one on one, it will help me run games with more people.
Third game was when Covid hit and the lockdown started. The D&D group that I normally went in person with was going to cancel, but I convinced them to try online. I decided to give DMing a try. The result was a complete mess. Because this was a continuation of someone else's campaign, I had less leeway in terms of how to structure it and the players knew the mechanics very well. Furthermore, this group was a mildly difficult group for more experienced DMs, so for me it just fell apart.
Point being, wow, going one on one for your first campaign can be a huge boost!
Awesome!
Thank you for this video! Very new DM here and this really helped me a lot!! I saw you've been to South Africa! wow - I'm from Cape Town! Great channel!
No apology needed, I long ago found bullet points the best method when speaking.
My 3rd and 4th campaigns are where I crashed and burned, 1 and 2 the players enjoyed.
Am I just lost or have you stopped streaming, Guy? D: Outside of the weekly game that is. Also is the Complete Guide To Creating Epic Campaigns -book still available somewhere as a physical copy!
7:24
Logan: "This sign can't stop me cause I can't read (things from the future)"
I'll be honest, I'll be GMing my first actual game soon and I am so nervous. I know it's not important to have anything too flashy or too weird but I basically just wanted to play a game with a system that I've been wanting to play for a very long time and they seemed open to play with me too but the thing is I've only just recently got really invested in role-playing games and I've already just started out finally understanding Dungeons and Dragons and a little bit of Pathfinder and here I am jumping into a whole new book system ,point by system BESM, that I remember I have bought Over a year ago that I really wanted to play but it doesn't have the same system and the story Hook is a lot different from fighting monsters and going on Quests. the system's more, let's do our Transformations and get back in time for class and do u wanna save the world and find a date for the school dance. I've basically just been watching a whole bunch of how to GM games vids like this one and I'm still a bit confused in some places I just want to make sure my friends are having fun. I don't want to disappoint them. so do you have any extra tips or jumping into point buy system or just dming a school anime system, BESM, or is that not something I'm allowed to talk about here.
Sir? What are your thoughts on the Lifetime World Anvil subscription?
Constraint is the forbear of creativity.
Over the last few weeks I've been DMing a campaign for just me and my fiance. We're both completely new to DnD, so I'm learning the DM side while she learns the PC side, so its been interesting.
I scale combat as best I can and tbh I think we both have a ton of fun with that aspect of the game. Generally I won't throw more than one or two enemies at her, and I have a sidekick with her to lend a helping hand.
I know you've spoken a little bit about one on one play, but I'd love if you could give any more advice for us! Currently we're running LMoP, and I'm working in a little backstory and bbeg stuff that we're enjoying, but I realize she's having a hard time in some situations where she wouldn't if she just had other party members. Especially around exploring and interacting with NPCs, and I'm having a hard time helping to guide her in a way that doesn't come off as handholding her through all the important stuff because she didn't think to ask or check something and would've missed it all.
TL:DR - I love your content and could really use some DnD advice for One on One games
my though is: you forgot to mention about players create characters, usually it takes longest time, as they all whisper GM separately about their ideas what they wnat and what they cannot get and if they fit in the world and how they will alwyas want gm help in creating optimal PC which is crazy sometimes and personally scares me
How do you deal with players just running ahead and not letting me read my embelishments of the area ?
So I GM’d my first few games (Star Trek Adventures & Delta Green) but then I found Nights Black Agents and the Dracula Dossier... and the sheer amount of info is daunting, to say the least. How do you deal with a Campaign that is so full of info?
Take one piece that excites you. Run that for a while. Then expand as you need to.
your hands remind me of the Swedish chef from the Muppets show. wow, that makes me feel old!
I've never understood how people have fun with GMing.
Sure, I can feel satisfaction that my players are enjoying themselves, the satisfaction of a *job* well done (key word). But "having fun" with it seems to be impossible just because so much is riding on the line - if I screw up, all my players/friends will have a bad night, whether because the combat is too dull or because I didn't make enough to fill the time up or whatever.
So the pressure is on at all points of the game; even breaks don't offer respite since I know that break time is time that could've been spent playing the game. Even preparation before game isn't very fun for similar reasons; if I make this encounter or that NPC wrong, then I'm going to end up doubling my workload during the session as I try and correct my own screw-ups. I honestly dread the night of, and am almost always perspiring nervously when I run the game. Even my players telling me I did a good job and seemingly having fun doesn't help the nerves at all, merely giving me the satisfaction of surviving the night.
So I basically GM because I have to, until someone else finally steps up. But doing it for enjoyment? A laughable dream to me.
I have a campaign going now. And havnt DMed in many years. So far the PCs are having a blast. It can get very intense at times on my end. And I'm improving a lot. My issue is trying to come up with the middle of the story. I have the end set and most possible alternate endings. Is this a common struggle and any pointers to not get overwhelmed?
You mentioned in your how to create horror in your campaign that you edited a trailer for SA audiences, do you know of any dnd oriented conversations in SA
So, when your videos are re-uploaded on someone else's chanel and watched there, do you still get the view stuff?
I'm about to GM my first campaign.
It's gonna be a hard sci-fi setting and the group already has experience with Pathfinder.
Now, I don't want to use Starfinder because there's too much fantasy in it for my setting.
I looked at Traveller, Stars Without Number, N.E.W. and Eclipse Phase and I'm a bit conflicted about which system to use.
My group isn't the crunchy type. They like their RPGs uncomplicated and fast.
Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to any system if it works well
What about Cogent?
First thing that nobody said is you need people. You did not count with that one? Oh well, then you will GM awesome.
Pardon me, but what's competitive DM?
i don't really center myself, i open myself up and let my mind go wild
The very first thing I tell people who want to start is to watch this channel.
Got plenty of friends. They just aren’t as nerdy as me. So sad -__-
If they only would give it a chance!!!
Gonna sit them all down for a game and not tell them it’s Dnd 😁😁
i love his humor! Tikitiki money exchange ;-)
Kids on Bikes if you're not wild about a high fantasy setting (Very simple.)
Is it just me or has Guy gotten healthier since moving to Japan?
Yeah he looks great!
Thanks for that - although I now live in the UK :)
You say there should be no preparation but scheduling is unavoidable, without scheduling you have no players.
Hey players what do you feel like playing? "5E" *wilts* ok....