I'm about to start DMing; our last DM ran a combat-oriented game and I'm going for a more story-focused one. It's my first time DMing. Tips?
Pic unrelated
Is that a fucking shrek earring?
>>44559767
Looks like a necklace.
>>44559767
Anything's an earring if you try hard enough
>>44559821
Additionally. Combat NPCs only need the extreme minimum. They're meant to be reusable, and in 99% of the cases if you needed them to be minimally capable at anything other than shooting the only gun and skills they have, you could simply set aside some skill pool for any skill you can think of. Don't overcomplicate them.
>>44559858
Also, combat NPCs don't really need even complete stats in the combat department.
I mean, I usually do it like this: I figure how dangerous an NPC is, and from that simply extrapolate how much over or under the average skill, armor value, hits, damage, whatever they have.
For example, if someone's attacked by a shitty mook with shitty equipment, I don't need a statblock that puts it all together. I just go with "Okay, so this guy's attack bonus number thing is this much. You hit him, and since he's a shit, he has around this much HP. He hit you, so this is how much damage he does."
I mean, after you get a bit of a feel for a system, it's easy to just throw out numbers like that. In a noncombat-focused game especially, nobody will heckle you about whether or not his defense should be one lower or higher.
Statblocks, even minimalist statblocks, are an illusion. If you know the system, you really don't need them for random enemies.
>>44559821
Holy shit, that really is handy. Thanks, man!
>>44559917
Oh yeah - Generally I won't need to know some random peasant's WIS stat, really, only the AC, Attack Bonus with weapon, damage, health, and saves, right? Anything else I can come up with on the fly and jot down just in case.
>>44559712
>A deadly disease wipes out all humans on earth.
>The god(s) won't let this be
>there must be sepient creatures on the planet
> curses toys of all shapes an sizes to come to life
> either dead souls or newly born inhabit these new bodies
> good along with the bad are raised
> the world is at war
> toy vs toy
> good vs evil
>good and evil vs animals and chaotic toys
Would you play in this campaign?
>>44560043
Is this for your weird toy fetish
If so, yes
>>44560101
>>44560043
This reminds of a movie where everyone died to robot nukes except 9 good sentient cloth dolls and 1 evil robo cat that gets resurrected
>>44559917
>>44559821
>>44559961
>Find as much junk on how to GM as you can. Read it.
Yeah.
>Anything else I can come up with on the fly and jot down just in case.
Yeah!
Learn how to: read your players, pacing and spotlight sharing, incorporate player ideas and improvise and you're golden.
>>44560043
Involve your players in the world\campaign building. Have the first session be talking about what kind of adventures you want to have, making up major NPCs and deities or whathaveyou and drawing maps. Also communal character creation.
It's good for the GM to come in with strong ideas but the more you work your players' stuff into it the more invested they'll be.
>>44560043
Is this a magical realm version of The Stand?
>>44559712
I'd say your pic is very much related, well written lovable npcs are a must.
>>44560386
I tried to do that, but the players weren't giving me anything. I suggested some backstories and they said 'sure'.
>>44560288
Literately called 9, that was a good movie actually. In the beginning, it was completely silent, and I gotta say, I got a little disappointed when they introduced dialogue, even though I know they had to.
>>44559712
someBODY
>>44560457
>I tried to do that, but the players weren't giving me anything.
If the last DM in your group ran a combat-focused game, and your players aren't giving you much in the way of story stuff, it might be worth asking the question - is your group going to get behind a story focused game? You might be able to push them out of their comfort zone to try something new, but you might be better off hooking them in with something you know they like (combat) and gradually stringing things together to create a story.
