First time GM, looking for advice on my first campaign.

Hey everyone! I have played one campaign in Hackmaster, am very new to Roll20, and have never GM'ed before, and I am looking for advice. After checking out Roll20, I had a handful of friends/coworkers&nbsp;*asking* me to GM a game, not sure what they see in me but apparently they like the idea. Just for reference, I have watched the tutorial, and read this thread&nbsp; <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/224826/any-advic" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/224826/any-advic</a>... which was helpful, but also seemed to focus on information for an experience GM that is new to Roll20. I have also parsed through the various wiki's... but not extensively. I have tried to make an experience (WIP) for 3-ish players, lvl 1-5, and have spent a lot of time thinking about possible approaches to situations to the game so that I can accommodate for a wide variety of choices (i.e. if players decide to attack first ask questions later, or if they follow along with NPC's suggestions, or go against). I have hidden traps, a seemingly decent scale in difficulty of enemies, some hidden treasures to make the game a little easier/rewarding, and 3 distinct different "endings" that I have planned for (although I know I should be ready for the game to end differently, depending on how players act). I even have a couple macro's prepared to quickly execute "ambiance" events. For now, I am planning on running it under Hackmaster ruleset, as I have the master's and player's handbook, as well as the beastopedia. I also have the "Little Keep on the Borderlands" adventure. I haven't fully read through the Master's Handbook, or the campaign, as they are both quite long... I will be finishing them soon to compare what I have set up to how Hackmaster games are typically run, and figure if I should remove/add anything... All that being said, I still don't feel quite ready/prepared (I am betting the Master's Handbook will help be a lot, but until then), I would love some general advice from seasoned GM's. Below are some questions to go along with any general advice people have. Anything you wish you were told before your first game? How do you make sure a custom game is scaled right for a group of players? Any techniques that you have discovered in roll20? How much control do you give players over their own tokens? Say I have a weapon rack that has a weapon free to take, do I make the art a background piece or a token?

Ian P. said: How much control do you give players over their own tokens? Say I have a weapon rack that has a weapon free to take, do I make the art a background piece or a token? I give the maximum token control to Players for their own character. &nbsp;I set all of the Characters to Visibility:All Players (this lets the fellow Players scroll through the list of Characters in the Journals and see their party-mates character bio portraits). And set each Character to Controlled And Edited By: the Player controlling that character. &nbsp;On the Token settings I checkmark everything, showing the Nameplate & permitting everyone to See, and the Player to edit (and thus to display) all token features: the 3 bars, the 2 auras, the Name, and so on. For the later question: Either way works, but it's quite fine to put a weapon rack on the background layer. Even if you put it on the Token Layer, chances are it would be a "weapon rack" picture, not an "empty rack" picture that you placed dozens of individual swords, daggers, and arrows for the taking. Regardless of how the weapon rack is depicted or which layer it's on, the player will need to ask "What do I see on this rack?" and the GM will need to tell them what specific weapon(s) they find, from there the Player will usually type their weapons/treasure onto their Character in the game. In most cases the sword found becomes a line of text, not usually a token on-map to be carried around. &nbsp;Of course there are exceptions if you want to make inventory cards or other individually findable tokens (Roll20 Card Deck feature might work well for that).

Like Gold, I give players full control over their tabletop token within Roll20. However, when in a "dungeon" type setting, I do caution them to restrict their movement to what is possible within the time frame of a single round of play. For example, if a player can see 60' ahead of his character token down a dungeon corridor, he sometimes has the tendency to just move his token the entire distance in one swoop. But just because a corridor looks clear, it doesn't mean that it is. There might be a trap, monsters waiting in ambush down a side corridor, or whatever. Also like Gold, all players can see all the other player's character sheets. But only the owning character is able to edit it. I have found that it's not so important of what a character will pick up, but what they will drop. For example, a character firing a bow at a group of monsters will say that he throws it to the ground and switch to his sword when they get too close. Or a character may say he is placing his lantern on the ground in order to have a free hand to open a door. And so on. So, I have artwork of common objects ready to place on the map to represent such items, that way no one loses track of where things have been placed when they want to recover them later.

One thing I have learned over time is that you shouldn't punish players characters for the basics. Remember that the characters they are portraying are seasoned professionals (even at level 1 they are likely able adventuring types) and wouldn't leave a weapon they'd dropped on the ground in the last session or forget to pack up camp properly unless under serious duress. The basics should be a given; in town they should be prompted to replenish consumables (it is something an adventurer would just do ), in dark dungeons they should be asked what light source if any they want to use rather than punish them for stumbling around in the darkness. In short the DM is there to facilitate, not actively oppose, the play :) Roll20-wise, unless your players are dedicated, you are likely to be the macro-expert and VTT go-to, make sure you know how things work (refer to the wiki, have a test game for playing around in, build macros from scratch to understand how they can be twisted to fit whatever need you have), macros can be set up to be universal using @{selected... and @{target... and go a long way to making sure everyone is running the right math in the right places as well as lightening the load for you overall. The forums are also a great resource as the community here is active and helpful 24/7, just make sure to keep questions related to the VTT and its usage or you will be referred to external discussion sites for general RPG type questions. Be prepared to have to react to some very 'out there' thinking, players will often choose the path least travelled simply to thwart your best laid plans. I used to try and plan for everything, now I just react to the players and have a few contingency maps ready that I can throw an encounter together on if needed, if nothing else that will run down a session which then gives you the downtime to plan for the new direction they have taken ;) Nominating (or asking for a volunteer...) a player to be the 'quartermaster' is a helpful idea too, their job will be to record and facilitate the distribution of loot and resources so that you are not having to keep track of it all yourself. Once you've told them what they found it is their problem, if they don't write it down then they didn't take it (the one basic mistake I will &nbsp;punish players for ;) ). Ultimately DMing is a lot of work but so rewarding when your players enjoy it and want more, just remember, it is supposed to be fun for you too!

As someone who has never GMed yet, but is writing a campaign I just cant get out of my head, I understand not feeling ready for the task. But let me say, you wont be ready. Your best placed plans, your crazy ideas, will fall short of what the players do. Your players have to be in agreement of what this campaign is going to be. If someone wants dungeon crawl after dungeon crawl, and the others want that rarely, you wont have a stable group, at some point, that one player will distrupt the game, and typically effecting the group as a whole. Because you are telling a story with your players. How you react to the story and how they react is part of the adventure you both have. The biggest pitful I see is that it can become a GM vs Player mentality and if it gets there, you are doing it wrong. You both should be working together to make a story, if this isn't happening, the group in whole or part is not suitable for the table, and its on the GM to see this and make the hard choices of how to fix it. Sometimes this means someone stepping away from the table. Your players must be invested in this campaign, the time and effort it takes a "at the table" GM can quite easily be doubled when it comes to doing it online, because of this if your players are not invested, your time investment value becomes diluted. Anything you wish you were told before your first game? Don't plan for how your players will react to the campaign arc you are setting up. Prepare for things to go well, bad and inbetween, have escapes ready and have problems at hand. How would an enemy of the party react to them trying to make friends and trying to put aside problems for a greater good? Does that truely benefit the other party as much as it does the players? Will letting the players have this make the arc better? How do you make sure a custom game is scaled right for a group of players? Your rolling should be done in private 99% of the time, and when you are making public roles its for a good reason. You should know what hits your players and should target them using the creatures understanding of the world. If that is not possible use dice to decide what they do (Typically attack). How do you prevent TPK? I might be wrong on this, as I've never GMed. But, my honest feeling is you shouldn't. It's the players who decide if they should run or not. Let them feel fear as they are being picked off one by one, if they finally decide to flee, give them that advantage. That doesn't mean a penalty cannot be done later on down the track, but, at least they live, and can heal the wounds. Or,&nbsp; the enemy of my enemy is my friend , could come in at the right time to save the day. Any techniques that you have discovered in roll20? Don't be shy of not having maps. Forcing the player to see what is happening in their minds eye keeps them engaged, makes them think a bit more, and can increase roleplay viablity. That said, if you make a map, go do so with the intent of making it look good for the situatition it calls for. A random camp is fine to have squiggles and stickmen, a dungeon crawl should have decorations and backgrounds, a torture room should have sound effects. These all bring the user into the world and enviroment you create. Don't be affaird to use non-visual maps. Further don't be shy of forcing the players to create maps. Be leanant on what is correct and what isn't, and don't forget there should be ways to reward nice player maps. Know and understand macros. Check your players honesty, macros rolled only report what the player tells it to roll, it doesnt make sure they are correct. How much control do you give players over their own tokens? 100% control. It's their character and the moment you take away from them is the moment you have lost. Unless this is stated at the forefront of the game, then having anything less than full control is a restriction many players don't like. Tabletop Roleplaying is liked in my view because its typically open content free from player restraints. Say I have a weapon rack that has a weapon free to take, do I make the art a background piece or a token? A token is something that can interact with itself, its surroundings or others. If a creature, object or npc has intelligence, its a token. If you create a character sheet for it, its a token. If you create something, and it doesnt need a character sheet, cannot interact with others on its own accord, its more likely to be a map sprite and having it on the map layer is the best place. Final words At the end of the day, you and the players you select are telling a story together. Rule 0 of the GM handbook typically says that you make all the rules you like. However, Rule -1 says that if the players dont like your rules, they wont play at your table. Find out what is fun for you, and fun for them, ask for the materity and respect of them to handle their characters as precious things, and that while you wont stop them from dying, you do have their best interests at heart. Learn in the moment, and learn from the actions and inactions both you and your group face. It will all make it better in the long run. The maps you worked on for two full days that where never used aren't wasted. Just put the maps to another location, or simply lead the players back to that location later on down the path, perhaps for different reasons. Either way, players will never know xD

Good on you for taking on the role of DM! Anything you wish you were told before your first game? This kind of feeds into some of your other questions, but for me it was important to learn to give control over to the players. Let them be part of the storytelling, let them control their characters/tokens and let them take on some of the responsibility for the game. DMing is a huge amount of work but when I'm building a campaign, either homebrew or a module, it becomes "my baby". It took me way too long to realize that I was micromanaging the campaign and that the players enjoy working on the game too. I've got players who love building characters, so I ask them to design some of the NPCs for me. Not the bad guys, but ones that tie into other player's backstories. The players have more time than I do to build a fully fleshed NPC and then when they meet those characters in game, they just love it. And often their creativity will spark and idea in me and it'll change the whole course of the story. How do you make sure a custom game is scaled right for a group of players? Simple answer - practice. There are so many variables, even if you use a scaling guide, things will go very differently for one group as opposed to another. If the encounter is too easy, let your players have the easy win, it makes them feel awesome, which is the whole point, right? If the fight is too hard, don't be afraid to say, "Hey guys, I completely messed up the balance of this encounter. I'm just gonna delete these two Tarassques on the right" Most players will either thank you, or tell you not to worry about it, they've got a new character concept they've been dying to roll up Any techniques that you have discovered in roll20? Learn and use the&nbsp; keyboard shortcuts , it really speeds up switching between layers and moving tokens around. You can put text in the "bars" of a token hidden on the GM layer or outside of&nbsp;sight-lines. Then use a macro to whisper the contents of the bar to the chat window (/w gm @{selected|bar1}). Info about the room they are in, secret doors, treasure, traps is suddenly right where it needs to be. For some of my games, I even set up a description of the room that I can paste into chat with one click. Best trick I ever learned. Shift+Z to show a picture to the group. Especially if you're not using maps or tokens, it's cool to be able to pop up pictures of adversaries.&nbsp; How much control do you give players over their own tokens? As much as I can. I've even got an API script attached to a macro so that players can add their own light sources (thank you, The Aaron!). DMing over Roll20 means clicking back and forth between layers, you'll have several character sheets open at a time, handouts popping up, all while fielding questions from the players. Instead of them waiting while you subtract damage for each of their tokens, give them the responsibility. The more the players can do, the more smoothly your game will run. Say I have a weapon rack that has a weapon free to take, do I make the art a background piece or a token? Personally, I don't do either. I just let them know what is on the rack and they tell me what they're taking. The only exception is for special items (a magic sword for example). Those items get a handout with a picture and a little write up. That way I've got the stats right at my fingertips and the players get a nice picture of their shiny new toy. When they find the item, I just click on the "Show to Players" button and then they can add it to their character sheet while I deal with the rest of the group.

Just a few suggestions / tips / things I've learned: Don't let Roll20 take away from the game.&nbsp; What I mean by this is, don't get so caught up in the map on Roll20 that your game turns into a clickfest style of exploration. Try this instead: Use Roll20 for the battle scenes during combat; then switch them back over to a picture so they aren't moving through the map 6 squares at a time. Theater of the mind is important. Don't let Roll20's awesome mapping software steal those moments. Yes and... Yes but... No but... Use these responses for your players. If they want to do something silly, don't just tell them they can't do it. Don't just say no; elaborate with a but... Don't just say "No, your barbarian friend can't pick you up and throw you like a sword-wielding baseball at the goblins". Add "but he might be able to boost you onto the roof so you drop in behind them next round". Fun &gt; Story &gt; Rules That one explains itself. Here is my Roll20 Master Series for when you get a little more comfortable with Roll20 and are ready to learn some more tricks. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4ihyL-PTq4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4ihyL-PTq4</a>... The one video I would suggest you check out now however, is this one (it's only 4 minutes): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR8tgfsVFr8&list=P" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR8tgfsVFr8&list=P</a>... It's a quick, easy trick for you and your players to quickly communicate. Best of luck! Cody

From my experience as a GM... 1) Let them do very very stupid things when its unlikely to kill them. 2) Let them feel, early on in particular, like their PCs lives are in danger... because really they are. An angry housecat is almost a good match for a wizard. 3) Warn them that doing dumb stuff is dumb and could result in deaths, and then make them roll some dice to find out just how dumb this idea was. &nbsp;Make up stuff. &nbsp; For example.... The Fighter wants to throw the halfling through a second story window, from a busy street? &nbsp;Okay... AC5 to hit the window (it's a 5ft square) but it's upwards -5AB to hit the target, and a halfling isn't a proficient weapon -4AB, and its an improvised weapon -4AB, and a halfling has a 5ft Range Increment so 5ft across and 10ft up is basically a 15ft throw so -6AB for range increments (so it's now basically versus AC24). &nbsp;If you miss the halfling will hit the building taking 1d6 for hitting the building, and 1d6 for the 10ft drop. &nbsp;If you DO hit the window, the halfling takes 1d4 damage from breaking through the window and is then prone. Now, Mr Halfling, do you like them odds or do you think being thrown by your fighter through a second floor window might be a touch.... dangerous?? (At this point, in my experience you already know if Mr Halfling is suicidal and will agree to it, or if Mr Fighter's PC is as dull as a box of rocks and figures he could do it anyway... He's almost freaking Hercules now he's 3rd Level!) Note: As a player, I was Mr Suicidal Halfling. &nbsp;The simplest example was when I was a cleric in heavy armour, in a boat, that got capsized outside an enemy castle. &nbsp;To save my ass, I cast the Fly spell (checked, it worked under water!), so I now have a glowing mace with a Light Spell on it, I'm flying in the air, and there's an enemy castle. &nbsp;I COULD find a place to hide and think "oh shit oh shit oh shit" or I could... (because of my less-than-noble-and-honest-deity) make a Knowledge (Religion) check to remember what I can about their God and then a Bluff Check to basically blagg my way into convincing them I was their God in disguise. &nbsp;It worked REALLY well on the stupid grunts guarding the walls... not so well on the Evil Dwarf. &nbsp;Things went a bit... south... from there.