Gm'ing 101

[LeeNapier]

:!: Ok so the truth is,...

So... you're saying that you've lied to us at some point.

Just recently I found a copy of HU2 in my roomate's things...

And that you rifle through your roomate's possessions.

...four months ago I had no idea what Palladium games were. I've gamed for years with D20 systems but never as a GM. Just recently I found a copy of HU2 in my roomate's things and was hooked. I would like to to run a campaign and have got several people who said they are interested. What I need is some tips from some pros as how to run a succesfull campaign. I.E. how far in advance should I script story, should I try to anticipate players responses and premake branching storylines? And yes I already looked at mephesto's tools and tables (Awesome Dude) and read HU GM's Guide. Thanks for any advice you might have.

I script all the way through a story arc, start to finish. What that means is, I determine who the villain of the arc is going to be, script out the whole thing (preferably while another arc is ongoing), and plant any seeds I need to within the current adventure arc.

Ultimately, in a superhero game, you'll want to script things far enough out to adequately lay the groundwork, otherwise it's going to have a more D20 feel (like using canned modules that connect only tenuously, if at all, to any ongoing campaign - a string of unconnected adventures).

Also, it's okay to break up an arc with smaller adventure arcs - i.e., while investigating Dr. Awesome's plan, the heroes have to contain an unrelated prison break. The heroes don't have to know it's unrelated, it's just a dose of adventure to keep the players pumped, and maybe a dose of confusion to keep them guessing. any of those smaller adventures can blossom into a full arc of their own (for example, in the previous prison break example, perhaps the heroes do not catch all of the escapees, and those escapees band together as a criminal organization).

Ways to pepper seeds of an upcoming arc into an ongoing campaign:
* news stories (in the paper or on TV)
* small adventures (Heroes stopping a robbery at a lab, for example, leads into questions about what they were stealing and why, and for whom)
* rumors given out by informants
* Psychic characters can have visions of coming or past events
etc.

The more you know about the villain's plans, the easier it will be to work them into the ongoing narrative of the campaign.

[Incriptus]

My standard style is begin with nothing but the vaguest of ideas for a one shot adventures.

You have to give your players a chance to develope their characters before they are placed into a plot. Most players have an idea of what they want there characters to be, but that tends to change quite a bit during actual play. Be as fluid as possible for the first several runs. Let the players get to know there characters, because if they don't know them, neither can you. And you can't write a story without knowing who your main characters are . . . and yes the players are your main characters.

My next step traditionally is to take those random encounters and connect them some how. Give them a single benifactor, even make them distractions from something bigger going on. This is where you start building the uber-plot from.

[Stone Gargoyle]

I usually write up several main characters for the story, which include any major support NPCs and villains, first. Then I will determine how each of them can be encountered and which ones will be constant factors to the story and which ones have to be discovered by means of the clues. I then draw up the area maps and flesh out location descriptions. After that, I write up any clues to what is going on in the area, such as news broadcasts and plan robberies, etc. There is usually not just one thing going on, but many things, and it is up to the heroes to solve the various problems before they get worse. I use an escalating danger system where the longer something goes unsolved the worse it gets. Some of the events are related to one another and the main villain, and some aren't. I let the players decide what they are going to investigate or not, since I don't like railroading players into doing specific things in the game (I have been in too many games where the GM seemed to be telling everyone what they had to do). So usually there are several directions the players can go in, and I just make sure I have something ready in the part of town the character decides to go to. I usually link the clues back to the main story if they start to go too far off on tangents. I try not to make everything too obvious, since sometimes the character's won't recognize an immediate threat, which has sometimes led them to ignore a major villain because they did not recognize him as such.
The main thing, though, is to make it a coherent story and have fun.

[Iczer]

Plot: a plot contains three distinct segments that need attending to. Plot, Metaplot and microplot. The Plot is typically an easy one. It's whatever the game is for the session. It is important to have the plot mapped out in a sequence (Events X, Y and Z are written out and put in order...not that PC's will necessarilly hit them in order but that's what PC's are for..), and that you have statted out all relevant parties (or can wing it).

The Microplot is a player specific initiated event. If Amazing Man has a teenage son with a heroin issue, weave similiar themes into the plot. You don't need anything hard and fast statted out (unless it reflects in the plot itself) but you should have about 5 key themes per player that can be used as a mirror to show that the players (and by default their characters) are a tangible force in the world. You do not need to highlight more than one or two of these elements in a game session, and I advise swapping between them between plots. Use of Microplots are potentials for players really getting into and investing in their characters.

The Metaplot is the tricky beast. It's the glue that binds all other plots together. At it's most cliche, it's the master villain plotting behind the scenes. The metaplot can posess multiple facets, but the best part of the metaplot is that it is essentially invisible to the players, so If needs be, it can be changed midgame more or less seamlessly. After preparing an actual game plot, you need to simply write down a few lines about how the metaplot keys in, and what effects players have on the metaplot when they are done. If you have the broad Idea that 'The mayor of the city is a ninja master with arcane powers, and his army of shadow ninja's are taking the underworld by stealth and guile' then you can tie together any plot to that, without tipping your hand. eventually, players will start to see the strings and will come investigating. The metaplot, in this example, helps you define the mayor, as well as any plot points.

In Practise, the above plot notes are easy to implement. You need the plot forany game, which you should already know how to run and write up. All you need to do extra to that is a list of player hooks for each character, and write about 3 lines of relevance to the metaplot (that is something that really only exists in your mind )

Batts

[Stone Gargoyle]

I agree with Iczer in as much as getting the characters personally involved in the story is key. It is important to make it about them and not just something they can easily dismiss as unimportant.

[BillionSix]

Good luck running your game! And feel free to post back and tell us how it went!

Also, remember the old saying, "No strategy ever survives contact with the enemy," and the gamer version, "No adventure ever survives contact with the PCs."

Brian

[Iczer]

Good luck running your game! And feel free to post back and tell us how it went!

Also, remember the old saying, "No strategy ever survives contact with the enemy," and the gamer version, "No adventure ever survives contact with the PCs."

Brian

I call this the '10 foot corridoor' rule. If your entire adventure plan is for a bunch of PC's to walk down 10 feet of corridoor, then at some point a PC's will still stuff it up. Players can die in opening encounters, get into bar fights in the ubiquitous tavern in which they all seem to start, need to do a 30 point shopping trip and flirt with the blacksmiths daughter...you get the picture. PC's can ruin everything. In details be certain, in everything else, be creative.

Batts

[Gryphon Chick]

i have yet to actually BE a gm, but here's how i think i would do it: set up the main npc's and villains, their motives, and the main points of the story. leave the little details vague, except important things like security codes. is that entirely messed up? or not?

That can work if you are a very creative person. If not, then when the players go off in an unexpected direction and you have nothing planned for them, it can stop the session. The more you prepare, the better.

[BookWyrm]

#1: All players agree to a night when all involved can play.

#1a. Make sure the place you game is clean & secure.

#1b. Make sure those who actually own the property are informed of your activities. Obey the rules they put down (no smoking, no loud disturbing noise, ect.)

#1c. ALL involved are responsible for their trash. EVERYONE helps clean up after the game ends.

#1d. If the game is held at someone's home or a gaming store that has washroom facilities, ALL involved are responsible for ALL messes left in said facilities. This includes incidents that require professional plumbing assistance to correct the problem.

#1e. The owners of any game-play materials brought to the game are responsible for their own materials. If one lends out dice, reference material, writing instruments, ect., these are returned to their proper owners either after that use, upon request during the night, or at the game's end. NO LENT NOR BORROWED MATERIALS GO 'WALKING'. Spare character sheets, once filled out, belong to the character's player. Scrap paper used as 'worksheets', at the end of the game, will be suitably recycled if no longer required. NPCs are returned to their proper owner or the GM. The borrower is responsible to replace any 'lost'/'missing' materials during the game.

#2. Like any employment cycle, have regular bathroom breaks (and smoking breaks for those who do smoke) and a main break for food & drink. See also #1c.

#3. If one player is unable to make the next game, they MUST inform all parties of such. If clearance is given that someone else will be takig over the character, the original player MUST brief the 'new guy' on how to play said character. In-character personality changes often disrupt game-flow.

(these are based on mostly common sense, actual experienced events and just being a upright intelligent considerate person.)

[Iczer]

i have yet to actually BE a gm, but here's how i think i would do it: set up the main npc's and villains, their motives, and the main points of the story. leave the little details vague, except important things like security codes. is that entirely messed up? or not?

That can work if you are a very creative person. If not, then when the players go off in an unexpected direction and you have nothing planned for them, it can stop the session. The more you prepare, the better.

Now you see...my advice is completely the opposite. I advocate planning for broad strokes only, and filling the details in, ad hoc as it were, (and keeping meticulous notes) rather than planning everything and either waiting for PC's to go off the rails anyway or for 90% of your planning to go unnoticed.

Batts

[Stone Gargoyle]

i have yet to actually BE a gm, but here's how i think i would do it: set up the main npc's and villains, their motives, and the main points of the story. leave the little details vague, except important things like security codes. is that entirely messed up? or not?

That can work if you are a very creative person. If not, then when the players go off in an unexpected direction and you have nothing planned for them, it can stop the session. The more you prepare, the better.

Now you see...my advice is completely the opposite. I advocate planning for broad strokes only, and filling the details in, ad hoc as it were, (and keeping meticulous notes) rather than planning everything and either waiting for PC's to go off the rails anyway or for 90% of your planning to go unnoticed.

Batts

That is along the lines of what I do. Get a general idea of the locale and key people to the story, but areas of the map and NPCs can be created on the fly. Meticulous planning can truly be a waste of time if you create a town and then everyone decides they want to move locations or the story takes them out into the desert, the ocean, space, etc. Of course, I am rather good at doing it that way. I am not sure what works for less creative people because I have never been one of them- I am no more one of them than I am a young girl in Kansas (they get taken to Oz by tornadoes, anyway, so no desire to be one just to go there, though that may be where munchkin players come from ).