Hey there, folks.
So I am an aspiring GM and I have picked and bought a system I like. I asked around on here and people pointed me towards FATE as my first system to GM.
It seems pretty easy to digest and handle. Now I have another issue: resources.
What are some tips and resources I should be looking into for my first campaign. I want to do a campaign inspired by the show "Weeds" where the PCs are selling drugs in a world of magic to repay their debts.
Where should I go to make maps and stuff? What are some of the simplest, most elegant solutions to visual aids that you have seen?
I'll just greentext my questions and you guys can answer any of them that you feel like:
>What should I use for maps as a first-time GM?
>What works well for visual aids, if anything? Is vague better?
>What about music? Good thing or a bad thing?
>Any pitfalls I should try to avoid as a first-time GM?
>What's the best piece of advice you've learned or been given about table-top RPG campaigns?
Aspiring GM general, I guess?
>>44552737
> Should I use maps as a first-time GM?
Wait do you mean for yourself? Or for the players?
I dont ever recall FATE's combat being particuarly tactical so you could do without it.
> What works well for visual aids, if anything? Is vague better?
A *clear* (does not necessarily mean detailed) description is your best bet. Unless you're an artist with time, or you have some extra time for prep to find some art asset you're looking for, pictures are also nice for NPCs and monsters or whatever
> What about music? Good thing or a bad thing?
It can be good if not over used and if you don't do some stupid shit like play it every battle because "ITS THE BATTLE THEME GUYS" or "ITS THE FANFARE hurr hurr"
> Any pitfalls I should try to avoid as a first-time GM?
Don't over prepare and just roll with the punches. Don't be nervous because, honestly, people want to play and don't really give a shit if you're not a natural voice actor. If they see you're trying, the other players will do their best to make the session a good time
>What's the best piece of advice you've learned or been given about table-top RPG campaigns?
Know your rule set. Read over sections in detail between sessions and try not to over prep (you will have a good idea of what over prepping is over time). Be mindful and really learn to pick up inspiration from players on the fly. For example, in the one shot adventure I'm running for friends, instead of stealthly taking out hobgoblin gaurds in an outpost as I had originally designed it, one of the spell casting pcs sent telepathic messages to some bug bear mercenaries posing as a god and caused an uprising against their "inferior" goblin kin sending the place into chaos, which honestly, was much more amusing than what I originally had planned.
>>44552737
TO join in, I'm new at this GMing thing too. I've run two sessions so far and have spent most of my time mucking about with creation and rules, since most of my friends haven't played before. I've got a few central NPC's, a villain who will attach to a larger conspiracy, and the party have been put on the trail. I've played pretty fast with the rules so far, trying to keep things balanced but still letting people have fun.
What I'd like is combat tips, given my players are level 3 and only somewhat maximised, how high a level necromancer can I pit them against? I'm playing modified Pathfinder (yeah yeah, pathfinder a shit, it's what I know) but it should be pretty much the same in terms of scaling. The necromacer has had full access to a small town for two months and has taken approximately 100 bodies. I intend him to be level 7 or so, is this highballing it?
Fuck preparations, make everything up as you go.
>>44552737
Fate is a powerful system. It's great to start out with because you won't have to deal with preconceptions that it breaks. But may I suggest running FAE until everyone routinely invokes against their character and creates advantages to stack. You can slowly expand into Fate Core rule by rule, or all at once later.
Now, the setting. Be aware that you won't be the master of tone, just the arbiter. Players will introduce themes that don't match the show. It's important you deal with that instead of ignoring it. You can run with it or ask the player to conform to the setting, just address it right away.
Weeds is close enough to present day to use any real world resource, they even do it on the show. So use Google Maps, Wikipedia, Lonely Planet, High Times, whathaveyou. But it also means that realism is basically anything happening today, so a lot more out of tone stuff could be introduced. Weeds liked to pick up themes from the Zeitgeist and deconstruct them with banality.
One major issue to consider is legalization. Weeds was set before any state had pulled the trigger, and already it dealt with the implications as a major plot line. As GM you could set your game in the same time, or go present day and imagine what this would imply. I guess major themes would be the political battle by state with the confusing law enforcement construction this creates, and the transition from an overtly criminal industry to a legal business that can't use banks and has to rely on private security services while raking in freight containers of currency ready to spend on corporate 'culture' and public relations. I mean this could go full House of Cards.
Just make sure you leave equal spotlight for complex characters and themes of family, adolescence, midlife crisis.
>>44556710
Thanks a bunch for your reply. I guess I should clarify that it's inspired by "Weeds" but it isn't the show. I want to do a campaign where my PCs sell drugs in a world of magic. I want to see how things go since there are a whole slew of new issues that arise from the existence of magic and magical beings, but also a whole new clientele in those magical beings. I want them to sell drugs to get out of their debts and such. I do love the idea of the politics though. I love studying rhetoric and "House of Cards" is a personal pleasure. Thanks again for the help and the idea.
>>44556959
Yeah, I read right by that one word in the OP. 'Magic'. Sorry about that.
In that case only use a map if tactics matter. You can just sketch it out by hand, but use marker not pencil.
2 things about Fate in general:
Always use the mechanics, for everything. Don't freeform even a scene. If it doesn't have stakes and a gamble, skip it.
Put the aspects in play on index cards or a white board in the center of the game table for everyone to look at constantly.
I know what I want be I don't know how to translate it into the game.
An Eldritch Horror has been unleashed into the realm. When the party fights it, I want to have perception different from reality. Somehow I need to have the grid they are playing on being perception and the reality being different (a behind-the-screen actual map? Invisible mobile gravity wells that pull creatures and projectiles?). I want it to be solvable, but not too difficult to simply mitigate.
DnD 5e if it makes any difference but I don't think the system should matter.
>>44557199
>perception different from reality.
> behind-the-screen actual map
>gravity wells that pull creatures and projectiles
>solvable
Sounds like you are trying to say tesseract dungeon.
FATE GM here.
>maps
You don't need maps for FATE.
>visual aids
Use scene aspects that might actually be useful moreso than descriptive. Give the players something they can use to their advantage. Think through "How would I use this?" and come up with at least one answer for scene aspects.
I do like having images like photographs that suit the environment, but I use roll20 where this is convient to throw up.
>Music?
Eh. I don't. But I find selection and so on distracting.
>Pitfalls
There's almost always a GM advice thread up. Read them.
>best piece of advice
Relax. You'll screw up.Don't let it trip you up.
>>44557234
nah, it would be combat in an open field. If the creature creates an astral rift then I do the tesseract dungeon.
>>44552737
>What works well for visual aids, if anything? Is vague better?
To my mind, visual aids are only useful if you're a great artist or are just plain bad at describing things. Work on describing places, characters and whatnot instead. It's a skill that takes a while to learn, but a quick colourful description will do the job much better than a picture. Take a look at some well-run games on Youtube (critical role, etc) to see it done well.
>What about music? Good thing or a bad thing?
As long as it's low-key, I see no real issue with it. Ideally, your players shouldn't notice it after a few minutes into the session. Think background music in a video game, rather than commercial music with lyrics.
>>44552737
>>44557958
>Any pitfalls I should try to avoid as a first-time GM?
>What's the best piece of advice you've learned or been given about table-top RPG campaigns?
Combining these two for one answer/rambling response:
Don't overplan your sessions. Have a solid idea of the world in your head, along with each area the players are in (so you can pull things out of your arse in seconds), rather than planning specific main encounters and events. Overplanning encourages railroading and saying 'no' to your players because what they want to do doesn't fit into the plan.
Max your bluff skill. Some of my best sessions have been when I've walked in completely blind and let my players surprise me.
Make sure you're giving every player a good share of screentime. This goes double if you have several charismatic players and some who don't talk much. If a player is on their phone/laptop rather than paying attention it's easy to blame them, but chances are you could be doing more to keep them engaged. Bad players do exist, but that doesn't mean you should be a bad GM towards them because you don't like them.
When in doubt, steal shit. Need a new NPC? Grab a personality from that show you like. Need a new location? take it from the book you're reading or browse artstation or deviantart for inspiration. Need an encounter in a pinch? Take one you liked from that game you played five years ago with different people. Don't just copy and paste, no-one likes pastiche characters - but for archtypes and general inspiration this is fine.
For a more long-term way to improve, learn some voice-acting/how to do different accents fairly convincingly.Telling your players all the Dwarves sound Irish isn't nearly as effective as actually playing them that way. This makes you a better player too.
Lastly and most importantly, accept you're going to make mistakes. learn from it, analyse it and don't do it again. Ask for feedback after each session and work off it. listen to your players
>>44554263
Please note that this advice is given by exactly two types of people.
1: GMs who don't realize they are so well seasoned that they intrinsically understand the basic structure a game ought to follow and thus needn't consciously plan for it, and subsequently distribute this advice to people of differing skill levels while remaining unaware of the probability that other GMs are not at their level of prowess.
2: GMs who don't realize their games are fucking awful.
>Visual aids
Collect e-shots: images that convey the scene, maybe hint at activity, but don't by themselves tell a story. The camera panning across the Tatooine desert when the Jawa vehicle and Uncle Owen's moisture farm come into view. The flight over Rivendell before the Council of Elrond. The view over the heads of the White Walker army, then up The Wall, and into the Crow fortifications where Jon Snow faces his new responsibility.
Also: NPC portraits. This requires building your NPCs according to the pictures you find. Make sure they're neutral enough, it's usually better to let the players decide who's the villain and who the innocent.
In general make sure there are no characters in your images, or they perform no decisive action. You will have to remain flexible to introduce the location during an action scene, as a backdrop for intrigue, or have it symbolize something in your story.
I like using period resources. But It's not for larger than life heroics, so YMMV. But know this, a picture will not keep you from having to lay out your scene, it will instead make it harder because there's more boundaries to consider. Players get distracted, misunderstand a map, or are overwhelmed by a handout. Be aware of this in your pacing and approach things step by step together with your players.
Other anons have covered most of it. I want to offer my own bits:
1. If you're plotting what happens more than 2 sessions ahead, you're likely doing it wrong. Always let player actions influence the story as much as you can.
2. Block out how long you think you'll be playing and how many scenes/events you want to have in a session. Ask "Can this be resolved in X minutes?" Keeping a clock nearby while playing will help keep play moving.
3. Always remember that RPGs are about Trust between the players and GM.
>>44552737
>>44558045
Actually, just expanding on what I said here,
>Max your bluff skill. Some of my best sessions have been when I've walked in completely blind and let my players surprise me.
You still need some things prepared for this to work, eg random NPCs, a few prompts to get things going - I keep a document full of one-two line encounters I can pull out and use as needed (most are stolen from /tg/ threads). Some examples:
>two nobles are about to have a duel. Their seconds would both rather they resolved their differences peacefully, and may ask the party to intervene or interrupt it.
>A wanted poster showing the face of a party member. No one is sure why yet.
A large soldier moves into the parties view and collapses on the ground. He is near dead but you can hear him whisper "run"
>>44558298
That was from the forest encounters thread, right? I never got around to saving it. Did it get archived? If not, would you mind dumping your doc on pastebin?
>>44559502
Sure! I've modified some of them/added a few to fit the current piracy campaign i'm running, but most should be generic enough to adapt.
http://pastebin.com/wwjKZE3X
If anyone else has a similar list or suggestions/additions, i'm all ears.
quality-bump
>>44552737
>What should I use for maps as a first-time GM?
The feasibility of finding premade art for maps depends very much on your setting. If you're going to play some normal fantasy stuff you can find loooaaads of maps out there, no reason not to use them at least as a visual aid even if you don't use them for tactical/minis/grids shit. If you plan to play online I've built pretty good maps on roll20 with individual assets downloaded from some big resource dump I found on reddit, like 5 gigs of tiles and furniture and fucking god damned everything.
>What works well for visual aids, if anything? Is vague better?
When traveling, try to get real life high resolution pictures of the sort of terrain they are moving through. It eats up a couple minutes which alleviates that thing where it takes 3 hours to go through 2 minutes (combat) and 2 minutes to go through 3 weeks of traveling. It also helps the players to get a better feeling about the place so they can have more creative ideas. Pictures for monsters are a must for me, and I get a picture for any most any planned NPC or humanoid combatant.
>What about music? Good thing or a bad thing?
Music is bad unless you're in a place where music would be playing, like a tavern for example. But ambient sounds are great. Whispering winds as you go through the desert, rustling leaves in the forest, birds chirping, hustle and bustle of towns, that's some good shit. Minimal music can be included (think vidya music), but avoid anything with vocals, or anything so prominent that it draws your attention. It should increase immersion, not have players saying "my oh my I do indeed love this track something fierce." Now they're thinking about the track, where did you get it, what band is this, and the immersion and gamefeel gets fucked.
cont. 1/2
>>44552737
>>44566185
cont 2/2
>Any pitfalls I should try to avoid as a first-time GM?
Combat should be tense, exciting. If the conclusion is foregone, just expedite that shit, don't spend 20 minutes rolling dice just for the sake of it.
Don't tolerate bad attitudes or PVP. If the game is dragging, either make something happen or ask the players what they'd like to do next.
Keep quality notes. This could be practically a whole fucking essay but:
>Have the statblocks for enemies handy, along with a first name and basic personality trait for each of them. If there's a survivor flesh them out afterwards.
>Have enemies make plans. You should know how things will go assuming the PCs will do nothing. React accordingly.
>To go with the previous, figure out the major antagonist's resources. Do they have an army? A gang? A wizard on retainer? A spy network? Explosives? Knowing this will help you to react appropriately to player actions.
>What's the best piece of advice you've learned or been given about table-top RPG campaigns?
Don't spend hours and hours planning something that could be skipped by the players. Spend hours and hours planning something that can be moved and reused later. For example if you wanted the players to encounter bandits on the road to the swamp but the players decide to drink at the tavern, those bandits can show up. Whereas the evil priests/monks of the Bad Guy Cult are probably only going to be found in their monastery, so don't bother making all that stuff until you know the players are headed that way.
