Having trouble breaking into the role of GM with strangers

Hello. I'm Maurice, but friends call me Peter. I'm not new to GMing; not to say I'm experienced, I'm far from it. I took on the role soon after I started playing, as I was the most interested in playing within my group of friends. Time passes, friends break up. I discover online tabletop gaming a few years back, and I've been in and out of games since. I've been in games as a player, but I want to become a better GM. I've tried to run a few games, but they don't last long. I understand the nature of gaming Online, and this is expected, but my inexperience doesn't help either. While there's a wealth of knowledge here on the site, I'd like to ask more experienced members a few questions myself. Improvisation. I don't know if this is the right word, it's just what comes to mind. I'm bad at roleplaying a character on a dime; it just becomes me saying lines of information the PCs need. Maybe I'm nervous? It's hard for me to keep track of a large group of NPCs as well. Any advice? I've only run 4e D&D. It's the game I started playing tabletop RPGs with seriously, and I know it through and through. I'd like to play a game more freeform, as 4e seems geared towards a battlegrid and tactical combat. I'm very fond of Shadowrun, but it seems very intimidating to run. Any suggestions? What's the easiest type of game to run starting out online? The way I see tabletop RPGs is as an extension of when we played around as kids. A set of rules allows the players to have a mutual understanding, so that the game can have texture and substance. I've tried running premade adventures, but I don't really think that's making the best use of the genre. The way I'd prefer to play is to cooperatively build a world with the players, to create a setting before characters are even generated. Then the setting is unique, and everyone knows what to expect from the game. However, I don't think I'm skilled enough to do this, and would like to hold off until later. I think I'd like to try running one-shot dungeon crawls. While it's not what I'd prefer, it would give me a chance to practice and meet people. Also, if someone doesn't enjoy the type of game I'm trying to run, I don't have the issue of them being unhappy with it. They've made no commitment to a long-term campaign. I'm sure someone else has been in this situation, and would not mind some input. Thanks.

Well...I had this incredibly silly instructional video thing I was going to do, but I opted out because I wasn't sure how you would take that. Anyway, first off we all GMing is hard, with people you know or not, and honestly the best advice I can tell you is keep at it, no I don't mean run at the metaphorical bear even when it's swiped you away, I mean the only way you're going to get better is keep working at it. You're nervous? Even if it's just one person you know try to get them to go along, or maybe find some people who are new themselves; whose going to call you out when even they don't know all the rules? Your suggestion of SR....I'd say no, like NOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't get me wrong, SR is fun...ish, but for some of us newer GMs not used to all that crunch I like to call it a "meat grinder" system, most of the system isn't too hard, and then you get to the Matrix rules....it's like GURPS, so many things I don't care about I just want to make the alarm turn off!! *Ahem* anyway if you wanna run a SR game, just use a different rules set and keep the setting! I know that Savage World is fairly easy to pick up and it has a Cyberpunk system...granted it uses Psionics apparently then magic but that's just setting fluff. As for long term commitment, I'd say start with One Shots, adventures that generally last about a single session or two, I call the two session games "double tap", but that's me being silly. However, one shots allow you to try your hand at GMing without the whole commitment to a group, you don't have to be necessarily nervous cause these guys will only be around for one session, unless you really hit it off and then decide to form a group. Nevertheless I'm going to give you a little saying I hope will at least make you feel a little better: In this hobby, everyone is a player, but few people choose to be a Game Master.Yeah pretty good huh? *turns to the others showing up* what did you guys think?

I'm not so hot with the acting aspects of this stuff either. But one thing I have learned, is that there's a reason people remember disney sidekicks. Give an NPC or a recurring enemy some unusual trait or behavior and it will go so much better. Aside from that, I'd suggest giving an NPC something to preoccupy them, or make them less interested in the party. Something that the NPC wants to talk about, which is not the same as what the players need from them. Might occasionally be annoying (especially if there's a hurry about it), but annoying is memorable too. I haven't personally tried a lot of rpg systems. Mostly I've been attempting to try every version of d&d. But I too started with 4e, and my advice would be to go with the BECMI Red Box Core Rules. Coming in from 4e to Basic will feel like removing weights from your legs and finding out how much faster you can run. I was due to move on to 1e a month ago, but I like Basic so much that I don't want to leave it! Once you get sufficiently into it, you start to see how complex "Basic" actually got. But you could stick with the Core Rules and be very happy there for quite a while. As far as finding people, that just takes time and effort. In about six months on roll20 I've only found about four people that are reliable and I really get along with. Almost everyone I've met is extremely nice, but there have only been four that fit despite at least a dozen one-shots and attempts at longer games that fell through. All I can tell you is that you just have to keep at it.

Hello, Maurice. Welcome to the life. You want to become a better GM. Not too difficult, just takes practice. Your games don't last long. Any key issues other than what you've stated? Do the players quit? do you quit? do they seem bored? Improvisation is not really what I think you need. Scale down. Don't start with a town, start with a hamlet. 200 people, 1 Inn, maybe 30 buildings. A smith, a Temple or Church, Maybe a Stable to go along with the inn for travelers. a goods merchant. Make a small list of what those people sell. NPCs are not in the setup to convey plot information. They are there to be people to talk to that HAVE plot information, good and services, or to provide background color and flavor. 4e Dis not the best system to start DMing with, because it's sort of complicated. When I am asked what system to teach with, or to have a Dnew DM start with, I suggest 1st ed D&D, 2nd ed D&D, or something like Star Wars D6. Star Frontiers. Boot Hill, Top Secret. All the Classics. BASIC D&D. Simple because the books are smaller, and less stats and stuff. You like free form. 4e is a grid and that's about it. If you've played Shadowrun and are a fan of cyberpunk, I'd say run that, if not, don't until you've played it with someone who has and knows how to run it. What's the easiest type of game to run starting out online? Something either dirt simple like Basic, 1e, or 2nd ed D&D or a non grid narrative game. I've been running One Ring, it's not d20, but it's easy to make characters for with an online tool and it's Lord of the Rings. the drawback is that it is hard to recruit for you need fans of the books or films, and it is all lord of the rings all the time, so no wizards etc. but that's how that goes. Worldbuilding until you know what you are doing, can take a hell of a long time and be a real pain to accomplish. But it is fun. I think I'd like to try running one-shot dungeon crawls. Those can work, but along with the idea of no investment, you got the problem of no investment. If I were you, I'd go with a simple set of rules that doesn't rely too much on a grid for battle or stats, that's more narrative than not. Recruit with the idea that you want new players. Any DM here can find 5 people in three days just because DMs are rarer than players. Pick a system that is simple that you like ho it works and read it to where you feel like you know it pretty good. Not just skim and look up, read it. Then the practice is where you actually learn the how to of DMing. If you want to learn how to DM One Ring, I can teach you. I'm trying to build a medium sized community of it here on Roll 20. Good luck.

I'v been DMing for about... 8 years... Here is my advice i. What Billy R said. Start small. If you have difficulty swapping between personalities its best to just restrict it at first. ii. Look for a random personality generator. Star Wars had a very nice one which was a short sentence. Here is an example of a few. Accusatory: believes the PCs are up to something and isn't shy about saying so. Apologetic: desperately seeks the PCs' forgiveness for a minor error, real or imagined. Attentive: fixates on one PC, whom he tries to impress at the rest of the party's expense. Authoritarian: sees herself as thet PCs' superior and expects their head-nodding respect. Avuncular: feels he's learned life's lessons and is eager to heap advice on any young person who will listen. Battle-ready: seeks advice on an upcoming duel (or other confontration) with an old enemy iii. Look for beginner boxes that exist in a few RPG's if you want to break into one easily. Trust me its easier to give people a small portion to chew on at first. iiii. Remember its just a game, I have had issues with my groups sometimes where i'm lost for words and what to do. I just make a laugh out of it. Once one of my members did something so crazy that it was plot breaking that I simply went "F***... I have no idea what to do with that. It would destroy the entire plot lol". I instead just ran with it and let them do it but gave it a very steep check to make (which he did make in the end lol). You've goto remember that DMing is still more or less akin to story telling on the go. Here is my last bit of advice. Design an NPC like this Appearance: Give a break description of them Personality: Give them some personal knack or tick. Like a need to smell things... or dislike against gnomes etc Motivation: What drives this characters everyday life? Whats their dream? Do they fight for justice? Dream of better things? Background: Support the motivation with a justifiable background. Its easier to role-play a person if you can imagine what they have been through and what drives them.

Peter, if you're looking for a more rules-lite version of D&D, then I would suggest you look at D&D B/X or D&D BECMI. I wouldn't recommend 1st or 2nd edition AD&D because, while they do allow for a more free-form style of play, they're still somewhat rules-heavy. Especially 2nd edition. There are various D&D retroclones out there as well, but others around here are more learned about those than I am

Maurice H. said: Hello. I'm Maurice, but friends call me Peter...I've tried to run a few games, but they don't last long. I understand the nature of gaming Online, and this is expected, but my inexperience doesn't help either. Howdy! It's possible to run an online game that lasts, it just takes a combination of luck and digging to find the right people for the kind of game you want to run. Don't let your first experiences color your expectations. Improvisation. I don't know if this is the right word, it's just what comes to mind. I'm bad at roleplaying a character on a dime; it just becomes me saying lines of information the PCs need. Maybe I'm nervous? It's hard for me to keep track of a large group of NPCs as well. Any advice? First of all, stick with it; it's a skill that improves over time. Don't be afraid to put in a little work beforehand so that you can be fluid and reactive when the game is on. You might consider making a relationship map for your NPCs that keep track of how each NPC feels towards the other characters - this can help you improv reactions on the spot by knowing what a character feels ahead of time. Giving each NPC a few descriptors or tags that you try to show, but not tell during a session can help in interactions. I'd like to play a game more freeform, as 4e seems geared towards a battlegrid and tactical combat. I'm very fond of Shadowrun, but it seems very intimidating to run. Any suggestions? Just go ahead and give Shadowrun a try. There's a community of players here and around the game system who will try to help you out with any problems you run into. I doubt you'll have any difficulty in finding players for Shadowrun. If you want a more freeform game, there are plenty of them out there too. The way I'd prefer to play is to cooperatively build a world with the players, to create a setting before characters are even generated. Then the setting is unique, and everyone knows what to expect from the game. However, I don't think I'm skilled enough to do this, and would like to hold off until later. Sounds good! I've never played 4E, but I don't think there is anything that stops you from playing your current game system this way. What skills do you think you need to create a world with input from players? It's pretty much just a bull session. I think I'd like to try running one-shot dungeon crawls. While it's not what I'd prefer, it would give me a chance to practice and meet people. Also, if someone doesn't enjoy the type of game I'm trying to run, I don't have the issue of them being unhappy with it Nothing's wrong with a good dungeon crawl either. But if it's not what you'd prefer to do, why do it? You can practice and meet people while collaboratively creating a world and enjoy what you're doing. If someone is unhappy, they have the free will to leave and if their expectations don't meet your expectations the sooner they leave the better. You can avoid most of this by sitting down prior to any "official" session and having an open, frank and most importantly a jargon free conversation. It's no one's fault if people don't see eye to eye on things and the quicker everyone understands each others views, the better.

As someone that has been DMing for 20+ years and has run games from D&D(2nd-4th), White Wolf Games (Pretty much all of them), Shadowrun (1st-3rd), Alternity, Robotech, Mechwarrior and a whole slew of others I have to say that 4th edition D&D is probably one of, if not the easiest game to DM that I have played. While many people say that 4th is just a battlegrid game I have to say that any rpg is what the DM and the players make it. My 4th edition games frequently have sessions where the players don't enter combat or really roll at all. But I digress. Shadowrun is a bit crunchy as people have brought up but if you are willing to put in the time and learn then it is worth it. It also lends to the possibilities of having one shot adventurers as each game could merely be the group doing a run. So if you really like the cyberpunk feel but also like the fantasy feel of D&D then go for it. If you have the interest in the setting you will find ways to make it work. One thing I am surprised that has not been brought up is using published adventures. You can find one shots, or short adventures (2-4 sessions) either online or at your local gaming store. With published adventures a lot of the work is done for you so you can focus on the storytelling aspect of the game. I do suggest that if you use a published adventure to read it and jot down your own notes. The notes will allow you to add in your own reminders or even change what you want to fit your game/world. When I run a published adventure I actually copy over all the important stuff to a word file. This includes important npc's, area descriptions, the flavour texts, creature stats. The reason I do this is so that not only do I remember it a little more clearly than merely reading but I also can alter stuff as I see fit. I am not saying that you should do this, it is just an example. This next point does not have as big of an impact with a one shot game, however having a session zero can really go a long way for nervousness and getting a feel for your players. A session zero is where you and the potential players gather and talk about the game you want to run; your DMing style, what kind of game the players want, character creation rules, character creation itself, the setting etc. You mentioned that you like to work with the players to build the world and that is something that you can easily do with a session zero. It also allows you to meet the players and break the ice in a way that is a lot less "scary" than diving into playing. By discussing the styles of games you like to play and asking what kind of game they want (all action, mystery, balance of combat and non combat obsticles etc.) you can generally weed out players that may drop the game due to it boring them. If you and the players can't find a middle ground on the type/style of game to play then you just have to find players that do. Session zero's also help as the players have a chance to get to know each other and can discuss character ideas that make for a more tight knit group than just a bunch of characters made at seemingly random. As it has been mentioned making a list of names (for npc's and places) and personality traits will help you go a long way as should you encounter a part where you need an npc you can just refer to the lists and boom, instant npc. You can kinda do the same for locations but the lists for "personality" is more like features of the town, city, general area but can also be one word descriptors like gloomy, poor, forested, lazy, religious etc. Just something to give you the base feel of the town and allow you to expand as you see fit. Also don't be afraid to mix and match. In a dark, gloomy town the npc that is always chipper and cheery is going to stand out. But yeah that is just my advice, with all things related to DMing you just have to find the stuff that you are comfortable with and experiment.

Hey. There's a lot of systems you guys recommended, and I'll take a look at them. I think I'll stick to D&D4e for now though; while I would like a system that doesn't use a grid as much, it being rules heavy isn't an issue to me. I'm very familiar with the system. I'll try running Shadowrun in the future when I have a better grasp of GMing, and have a look at Savage Worlds. The cyberpunk setting is more interesting to me, but the medieval fantasy setting looks like it's easier to run; the players have many, many options to interact with a modern world. As I said, I'm not great at improvisation. Phisto Roboto said: One thing I am surprised that has not been brought up is using published adventures. I'm not really interested in published adventures. It seems to tight to me, and I like creating my own adventures. Maybe I see them wrong; like you said, make them my own, and only use them as a base for the adventure. This next point does not have as big of an impact with a one shot game, however having a session zero can really go a long way for nervousness and getting a feel for your players. A session zero is where you and the potential players gather and talk about the game you want to run; your DMing style, what kind of game the players want, character creation rules, character creation itself, the setting etc. You mentioned that you like to work with the players to build the world and that is something that you can easily do with a session zero. It also allows you to meet the players and break the ice in a way that is a lot less "scary" than diving into playing. By discussing the styles of games you like to play and asking what kind of game they want (all action, mystery, balance of combat and non combat obsticles etc.) you can generally weed out players that may drop the game due to it boring them. If you and the players can't find a middle ground on the type/style of game to play then you just have to find players that do. Session zero's also help as the players have a chance to get to know each other and can discuss character ideas that make for a more tight knit group than just a bunch of characters made at seemingly random. Thanks. This is something I should have been doing in the past; get everyone together and come to a mutual understanding, before the game actually starts. I'll keep this in mind for the future, for games that aren't one-shots. Dave D. said: Sounds good! I've never played 4E, but I don't think there is anything that stops you from playing your current game system this way. What skills do you think you need to create a world with input from players? It's pretty much just a bull session. I guess I'm just not comfortable with that idea yet. It's an investment of time from both myself and players; I don't want to try getting into something over my head, and messing up. Nothing's wrong with a good dungeon crawl either. But if it's not what you'd prefer to do, why do it? You can practice and meet people while collaboratively creating a world and enjoy what you're doing. If someone is unhappy, they have the free will to leave and if their expectations don't meet your expectations the sooner they leave the better. You can avoid most of this by sitting down prior to any "official" session and having an open, frank and most importantly a jargon free conversation. It's no one's fault if people don't see eye to eye on things and the quicker everyone understands each others views, the better. It's really easy for me to get bummed out. Yeah, in the future I'll get a session together before the game starts to discuss things with players; usually for me, a couple of players stop showing up after a few sessions; I understand this, it's online gaming, and I'm inexperienced at DMing but it makes me lose interest in keeping it going. I don't want to try something big if it's going to go up in smoke; with some experience, and knowing some others that play similarly to me, I could pull it off. Billy R. said: I'm not so hot with the acting aspects of this stuff either. But one thing I have learned, is that there's a reason people remember disney sidekicks. Give an NPC or a recurring enemy some unusual trait or behavior and it will go so much better. Aside from that, I'd suggest giving an NPC something to preoccupy them, or make them less interested in the party. Something that the NPC wants to talk about, which is not the same as what the players need from them. Might occasionally be annoying (especially if there's a hurry about it), but annoying is memorable too. Saevar L. said: I'v been DMing for about... 8 years... Here is my advice i. What Billy R said. Start small. If you have difficulty swapping between personalities its best to just restrict it at first. ii. Look for a random personality generator. Star Wars had a very nice one which was a short sentence. Here is an example of a few. Appearance: Give a break description of them Personality: Give them some personal knack or tick. Like a need to smell things... or dislike against gnomes etc Motivation: What drives this characters everyday life? Whats their dream? Do they fight for justice? Dream of better things? Background: Support the motivation with a justifiable background. Its easier to role-play a person if you can imagine what they have been through and what drives them. Trollkin said: Improvisation is not really what I think you need. Scale down. Don't start with a town, start with a hamlet. 200 people, 1 Inn, maybe 30 buildings. A smith, a Temple or Church, Maybe a Stable to go along with the inn for travelers. a goods merchant. Make a small list of what those people sell. NPCs are not in the setup to convey plot information. They are there to be people to talk to that HAVE plot information, good and services, or to provide background color and flavor. My main issues with NPCs is that once it's time to act as one, I get nervous, jag it up. I'll have something written up for a town or character, but it's hard to express to the players. There's a lot of them to keep track of, and it's hard for me to focus on one. I think I just need to practice, start small and grow bigger. The advice on how to treat them is good; gives me a better understanding of how to create and manage them. Any recommendations for random tables/trait lists I can use? I've used a few in the past, but it would be nice to see some more, help flesh out NPCs, help make them interesting. So far I think I'll run D&D4e one-shot crawls to start out, and focus on fleshing out one or two NPCs. Thanks for the responses.

Maurice H. said: Any recommendations for random tables/trait lists I can use? I've used a few in the past, but it would be nice to see some more, help flesh out NPCs, help make them interesting. You might try these sites for generators to help flesh out your NPCs: <a href="http://chaoticshiny.com/index.php" rel="nofollow">http://chaoticshiny.com/index.php</a> <a href="http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields" rel="nofollow">http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields</a> <a href="http://www.mithrilandmages.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mithrilandmages.com/</a>

Maurice H. said: My main issues with NPCs is that once it's time to act as one, I get nervous, jag it up. I'll have something written up for a town or character, but it's hard to express to the players. There's a lot of them to keep track of, and it's hard for me to focus on one. I think I just need to practice, start small and grow bigger. I'd recommend that you don't worry too much about this. If you like doing voices, you can do voices. If you don't, then don't. Building a character description and acting as that character is a completely different skill bag, and one that you don't need in order to be an effective DM. It does add color to the campaign, though, so start small. Take one of your NPCs and flesh him out a little, in an easy way. Think of a character from a movie/RL/whatever that closely approximates that character and just use that person as your template. Take that person's picture and tack it onto the character sheet to help you remember. Example: The mayor is a nervous, mousy fellow who doesn't trust adventurers but needs them to go clear out the Tunnels of Inevitable Railroading to stop the Goborcbold attacks on Townville. While he means well, his personal cowardice makes him a less-than effective leader in a crisis. He just wants the party to take care of his problem, then go away so he can go back to his quiet library and collect taxes. Example: The half-orc guard captain is a tough as nails taskmaster who constantly belittles everyone around him like a drill sergeant. While the players might not appreciate his approach, the locals love him because he works like a fiend to keep them safe, and expects nothing less from his subordinates. Just have fun with it and see how it goes.

Most of the basic stuff have been said already but for what it's worth here's my 2 cents Quality over quantity Whatever you choose to do, do it well. You're having problem with many NPCs make fewer and concentrate on making those better. This doesn't mean the town/city/cave/whatever is empty. Usually the GM pretty much chooses whome the PCs approach. You can describe that there are around 50 people walking in the street but give more accurate information about the NPC you have done in advance. The players are prone to go to that NPC. Choose a location you like and keep the party occypied there until you are ready move on. Just make sure that location has enough interesting things to do. Getting in character What I usually do with my more important NPCs is that I try to think of a sentence, an event, location, memory, etc. or two in which the core of that NPCs personality and motives is expressed as well as possible. Then just before I need to start saying or doing something as this NPC I go those through (usually takes about 1 - 2 sec) and I'm all set to play that part decently. The longer the time since the last time you had to play an NPC the harder it gets getting in character but this has helped me a lot especially in campaign where there are many important NPCs that are very different from each other. Two examples: A slayer in Warhammer He used to be a merchant and travel with his father. One day they were attacked by human bandits but they were able to drive them off. Ignoring his fathers opinion of just moving on he started chasing the remaining bandits. His father stayed to guard the goods. The son finally tracked the bandits to their lair (a cave) and killed them all as a revenge. When he returned to his father he found that their wagons had been attacked while he was on his bandit hunt and his father was killed while protecting the goods. By failing to listen to his father the dwarf felt he had killed his own father and became a slayer. Whenever I need to roleplay this NPC (after a while) I go in my mind through the moment when he returned to the wagon and saw his dead father. This helps me put a constant combination of sadness and anger to everything he says and remember not to trust any creature that isn't a dwarf. A follower of Tzeentch I always think of the line Joker had in Dark Knight when he went to the hospital to see Harvey Dent: "Intoduce a little anarchy, upset the established order and everythin becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos. It fair." After this the roleplaying of this NPC comes from my backbone. Remember to have fun Running a campaign isn't meant to be fun just for your players but for you too. Keep this in mind always! Roleplaying NPCs can be the most fun part about being a GM for me. But if you're not willing to give you can't get. Meaning that you need to go for it, I mean really go for it. It's better to overact than not act at all. If you have problem keeping characters because you feel nervous or shy then make an NPC whose personality is so extreme that it is practically impossible for it to just become you saying lines of information the PCs need. Break the cycle of doing what you don't want to do by any means and eventually you'll learn to do what you want to do.

Maurice H. said: Hello. I'm Maurice, but friends call me Peter. So you're saying that "Some people call me Maurice?" I've been in games as a player, but I want to become a better GM. I've tried to run a few games, but they don't last long. I understand the nature of gaming Online, and this is expected, but my inexperience doesn't help either. While there's a wealth of knowledge here on the site, I'd like to ask more experienced members a few questions myself. I don't think that just because the game is online that the games should be inherently shorter. There must be something else at play. Perhaps you can describe some games and how and why they ended to find commonalities. Most problems in the hobby come from people sitting down together to play and realizing they're simply not playing the same game . You want to run sandbox and I need more direction by way of a plot, for example, so I don't act proactive, get bored when nothing's going on, then drop the game. Few take the time to discuss it ahead of time, or can even explain what it is they want. Communication is the solution. It doesn't help that the lexicon in our hobby is horribly muddled. Some don't even know what roleplaying is , so when they say "roleplaying," they mean something totally different. Improvisation. I don't know if this is the right word, it's just what comes to mind. I'm bad at roleplaying a character on a dime; it just becomes me saying lines of information the PCs need. Maybe I'm nervous? It's hard for me to keep track of a large group of NPCs as well. Any advice? When you're a player, all you have is a character sheet and/or maybe a backstory. Do you find it hard to improvise what you do in the context of the game as a player? It's really no different than being a GM once you take away all the thing we think we need to do as GMs and just play. Some resources (none of the links in this post are my blog, for the record): GM Improvisation 101 Improvising NPC: "X but Y" Dungeon World Fronts Prep Tips No Myth Roleplaying I've only run 4e D&D. It's the game I started playing tabletop RPGs with seriously, and I know it through and through. I'd like to play a game more freeform, as 4e seems geared towards a battlegrid and tactical combat. I'm very fond of Shadowrun, but it seems very intimidating to run. Any suggestions? I run mostly D&D 4e as well as a number of other games, many of them story games. Shadowrun is something I have not run but I understand it to follow something of a simulationist creative agenda. D&D 4e is quite gamist but can easily be run with narrativist techniques. I don't know how you've run your D&D 4e before, but if Shadowrun seems like a totally different experience to you, it may be because running a game in it is meant to achieve different goals. Read up on creative agenda here . Once you've determined the creative agenda that you enjoy, choose games that support it best and then find players that share your vision. What's the easiest type of game to run starting out online? The way I see tabletop RPGs is as an extension of when we played around as kids. A set of rules allows the players to have a mutual understanding, so that the game can have texture and substance. I've tried running premade adventures, but I don't really think that's making the best use of the genre. The way I'd prefer to play is to cooperatively build a world with the players, to create a setting before characters are even generated. Then the setting is unique, and everyone knows what to expect from the game. However, I don't think I'm skilled enough to do this, and would like to hold off until later. I think I'd like to try running one-shot dungeon crawls. While it's not what I'd prefer, it would give me a chance to practice and meet people. Also, if someone doesn't enjoy the type of game I'm trying to run, I don't have the issue of them being unhappy with it. They've made no commitment to a long-term campaign. I'm sure someone else has been in this situation, and would not mind some input. D&D 4e would be my recommendation and, yes, I recommend every campaign be started with a dungeon crawl. It's a nice, easy-to-prepare closed location where a new party can do their thing and explore their established bonds in a tense situation with good pacing. Once they've emerged triumphant from the dungeon bruised, battered, and bonded, they're ready to take on the world. If you've been keeping it loose, asking good questions about the characters and setting, and using the Mountain Witch Technique , you should have a ton of material to build future scenarios from that come with the players' inherent buy-in. The D&D 4e DMG and DMG2 have a lot of great information on how to improvise, including the "Yes, and..." improvisational technique and collaborative world-building. If the things I have posted here make sense and are something you'd like to try, I can get into more granular detail about how I do things and that might serve as a guide for you to get your own D&D 4e game going.

"You find something interesting about the Mountain Witch Technique. What is it?"

Brett E. said: You might try these sites for generators to help flesh out your NPCs: <a href="http://chaoticshiny.com/index.php" rel="nofollow">http://chaoticshiny.com/index.php</a> <a href="http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields" rel="nofollow">http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields</a> <a href="http://www.mithrilandmages.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mithrilandmages.com/</a> Thanks for the suggestions. chaoticshiny in particular looks nice for ideas. GM Mu said: I'd recommend that you don't worry too much about this. If you like doing voices, you can do voices. If you don't, then don't. Building a character description and acting as that character is a completely different skill bag, and one that you don't need in order to be an effective DM. It does add color to the campaign, though, so start small. Take one of your NPCs and flesh him out a little, in an easy way. Think of a character from a movie/RL/whatever that closely approximates that character and just use that person as your template. Take that person's picture and tack it onto the character sheet to help you remember. Skills I'd still like to have, none the less. I like the idea of linking NPCs to already existing characters; don't forget that Mr. Knotts wouldn't mind taking a little credit for the adventurer's good deeds. Maetco said: Most of the basic stuff have been said already but for what it's worth here's my 2 cents Quality over quantity Whatever you choose to do, do it well. You're having problem with many NPCs make fewer and concentrate on making those better. This doesn't mean the town/city/cave/whatever is empty. Usually the GM pretty much chooses whome the PCs approach. You can describe that there are around 50 people walking in the street but give more accurate information about the NPC you have done in advance. The players are prone to go to that NPC. Choose a location you like and keep the party occypied there until you are ready move on. Just make sure that location has enough interesting things to do. I usually go about by trying to offer a lot of different people for the PCs to talk to; overwhelming myself, usually. But yeah, I'll focus on a few rather than many. Getting in character What I usually do with my more important NPCs is that I try to think of a sentence, an event, location, memory, etc. or two in which the core of that NPCs personality and motives is expressed as well as possible. Then just before I need to start saying or doing something as this NPC I go those through (usually takes about 1 - 2 sec) and I'm all set to play that part decently. The longer the time since the last time you had to play an NPC the harder it gets getting in character but this has helped me a lot especially in campaign where there are many important NPCs that are very different from each other. When I try to act out an NPC, a lot of the time I feel rushed and have trouble with it; having something like this that's easy to recall might help, thanks. Remember to have fun Running a campaign isn't meant to be fun just for your players but for you too. Keep this in mind always! Roleplaying NPCs can be the most fun part about being a GM for me. But if you're not willing to give you can't get. Meaning that you need to go for it, I mean really go for it. It's better to overact than not act at all. If you have problem keeping characters because you feel nervous or shy then make an NPC whose personality is so extreme that it is practically impossible for it to just become you saying lines of information the PCs need. Break the cycle of doing what you don't want to do by any means and eventually you'll learn to do what you want to do. I'll try being less tame. It makes sense; a big bad villain should be dynamic :). I agree though, I think it would be really fun if I could get the hang of it. Headhunter Jones said: So you're saying that "Some people call me Maurice?" :) I don't think that just because the game is online that the games should be inherently shorter. There must be something else at play. Perhaps you can describe some games and how and why they ended to find commonalities. Most problems in the hobby come from people sitting down together to play and realizing they're simply not playing the same game . You want to run sandbox and I need more direction by way of a plot, for example, so I don't act proactive, get bored when nothing's going on, then drop the game. Few take the time to discuss it ahead of time, or can even explain what it is they want. Communication is the solution. It doesn't help that the lexicon in our hobby is horribly muddled. Some don't even know what roleplaying is , so when they say "roleplaying," they mean something totally different. Lack of communication I think. For me, people drop out, and then I get bummed out for a bit. It's an oversight on my part; to get together before the game gets going, talk it out, get on the same page. That's probably the most useful advice I've gotten from you guys so far. I didn't necessarily mean it's not possible to have a longterm game online, it's just harder to find a group that clicks well together. Similar stuff, I should be talking it out better. When you're a player, all you have is a character sheet and/or maybe a backstory. Do you find it hard to improvise what you do in the context of the game as a player? It's really no different than being a GM once you take away all the thing we think we need to do as GMs and just play. Some resources (none of the links in this post are my blog, for the record): GM Improvisation 101 Improvising NPC: "X but Y" Dungeon World Fronts Prep Tips No Myth Roleplaying I run mostly D&D 4e as well as a number of other games, many of them story games. Shadowrun is something I have not run but I understand it to follow something of a simulationist creative agenda. D&D 4e is quite gamist but can easily be run with narrativist techniques. I don't know how you've run your D&D 4e before, but if Shadowrun seems like a totally different experience to you, it may be because running a game in it is meant to achieve different goals. Read up on creative agenda here . Once you've determined the creative agenda that you enjoy, choose games that support it best and then find players that share your vision. What I'm having trouble improvising is roleplaying as NPCs. That's my biggest problem, I think. Similarly, once I become more familiar with GMing I'd like to run Shadowrun; the mechanics of the game don't intimidate me, but having to be ready to portray a working world. This makes a lot of sense, actually. The way I see Shadowrun is that it's a playground for the PCs; D&D to me is more about having a nice romp in a dungeon. Not trying to rag on 4e; I've had a lot of fun with it. I just like the focus of Shadowrun more. The Mountain Witch Technique looks nice. I'll try using it in the future; a good way to make the world relate to a character. Thanks for all the responses. I think I'm good for now; there's a lot of stuff here to absorb. I'll try running some oneshots and see how that goes; I might have more questions in the future.

Even professional actors have trouble improvising interesting characters. It's actually a lot to expect a GM to do, and I recommend that you don't sweat it. Cheat shamelessly and base every NPC someone the players are likely to be familiar with from movies or comics or life. Heck, real improvisors do that all the time anyway. Trying to "portray a working world" is one of the biggest bugbears of the hobby, apart from actual bugbears. Do not sweat this. First of all, your players aren't going to notice or care about 90% of the work you put in. If you still want to put it in, great, but do it entirely for yourself, not for them. Second of all, lean heavily on the players to make the world real for themselves. If they like the world and want it to make sense, it will, even in the presence of gaping logical holes. If they don't, it could be the most seamless world ever written and they'd still find fault with it. If they question you, turn it back on them. "No, that doesn't make sense, does it? Something must be going on, so what do you think it is?" If the players just aren't buying-in, if they question things you set forth about the world, ask for explanations you haven't developed, or anything like that, take some time to get on the same page with them. If they are demanding that you present a coherent world, point out that not even professional show-runners can do that flawlessly and those that can do it at all well have teams of people working with them to figure things out, and have fans who are bought in and are overlooking the gaps that every fictional world has.

For me, it's easier to play the story than the dialogue. In a pinch, sometimes I'll lapse into third person to explain what happens in the dialogue(Narratively, third person, as compared to first-person portrayal); that can help a lot if you need some breathing room. My vocal chords can't deal with all the accents in some games.

i kind of have the same problem, save i have it where there not much "common" steampunk wargames/ RPGS hybrids and i don't often like the story behind them that much, so i often have to homebrew my own games. and often times, that takes, well, time, any ideas ? if there is insterts, I will tell more