new GM need pointers, thanks

[timelapse]

Hi all I am a new to GM-ing and I wanted to know how you guys go around writing, I’m talking formatting for easy game play and flexibility.

Is it more of this is what’s there and here are the places they can go, and if they are at the right spot they hear the plot, or do you direct the party more giving them only one or two choices and when you write it out how do you format the story so that you can jump from one idea to the next in a story that may not be linier.

Basically since doctor who stories are more plot and story based then most other games I tried I would like a beginner’s pointers and guide to formatting my stories and how you organize your adventures, do you use index cards? Write out full character sheets for NPCs and the like,

Any help would be much appreciated
Thanks,
-Andrew

[Craig Oxbrow]

With practice I've built up a style with very little preparation involved. I'll generally just rough out an opening and some scenes of interest. However, when starting out it's often helpful to have more written out.

For Doctor Who I generally start with the main "scenes" of the adventure, which will essentially happen no matter what the PCs do:

--

The TARDIS arrives (or whichever other way the PCs get involved in the adventure) and the PCs find out where they are and what's roughly going on, by looking around or meeting a non-hostile NPC. They also find out that something strange and/or dangerous is going on.

Assuming the players go along with the adventure hook, this leads them to investigate and find clues. How they do this is up to them - they can search, ask questions of NPCs, scan with sonic screwdrivers - what matters is that they roughly find out what's going on.

After finding some things out, they should confront the enemy, either on their own terms or the enemy's depending on how they investigate.

Since many of our villains can kill the PCs quite easily, talking to them and running away and doing anything else are better options than fighting, hence the game's initiative system. Because of this, I tend not to worry about character statistics and improvise them if I need to.

You should also give the villains reason to listen, to try and capture the PCs alive, and other agendas besides hunting them down.

And you need to have some ideas for how the PCs can resolve the adventure. They will often come up with things you won't have considered, of course.

--

One option for preparation is a bullet point list of events that will happen if the PCs do nothing, with side notes for things that might change depending on what the PCs do if and when they interfere.

Another list is possible clues and pointers towards the adventure. Since the PCs should actively be on the lookout for clues, you should only need a few.

Doctor Who adventures can be pretty linear and straightforward - the PCs discover that something nasty is going on, investigate and stop it - it's a question of how they go about it and what happens in particular along the way.

[garethl]

Something I've found useful is the three-clue rule. A way to design your (investigative) adventures, so that the players don't get stuck as easily.

I also try to write down only the most necessary scenes. So things like the landing, first victim, etcetera. What Craig said.

[knasser]

Advice for a very experienced GM may not always be good advice for a novice GM. A lot of us end up at the stage where we rough out a situation and characters, a likely plot line, and then the group meets and we play. This is great because you can spend your time sketching out locations, NPCs, etc. and you're practiced enough to keep the plot line moving without having to lead the PCs by the nose from scene to scene or map out each part of the adventure in an A->B->C linear progression.

But whilst we always warn about the dangers of "rail-roading" (your players are put on the plot-tracks and they go where you lay the tracks) because it's usually frustrating for players, a lot of us forget that it's actually where we started off for good reason.

My advice is to work out the key places (places are usually the easiest thing to improvise, so don't spend all your time on this unless you enjoy it), and key NPCs. And then do work out a rough plot-line A->B->C and work out the hook or clues at each connection. And then be flexible when the players don't follow it, but you have a route plan for you to fall back on and which you can guide the players back to if things begin to flag or you're improvised out. I've messed up games by trying too hard to be the perfect GM.

Places, NPCs, Plot-Progression / Hooks. Start from there and deviate as and when you and players want. I tend to do a full write-up for places and NPCs, and also a one-sheet summary so that I can remember everyone's names and what they look like, etc. Just bare essential points so I don't have to keep flipping paper.

Hope that helps. If it all goes horribly wrong, just throw more stuff into the game and assume you can make it make sense later. That works for me five times out of eight.

EDIT: And by their very nature, introductory games are almost always a lot more structured and rail-roaded than later on in a campaign. They have to be or everyone just meanders around because they haven't really developed character goals or campaign-knowledge yet.

[Jade]

Hello, I am new at GM-ing too (I have ran only 2 games for now)

This is how I do for my campaign (maybe I am wrong, but it works well for the moment).

I think the most important thing is to know exactly what happens, what is the plot, without including PCs (except if they are in the center of this plot, but things are going wrong and this is how it will go without the PCs actions). What happens, who are the vilains, what do they exactly want, how they will do this, and what problems does it create.
If you know exactly your plot (write it if you want, or with key points, or whatever you want to be sure to remind all of it), it will be easier for you to be flexible when the PCs will not follow your ideas : just be logical and continue the story, you know the environment and so you can better control it.
Also, if you are running a campaign, think about the campaign plot, you must let some clues or events relative to it. Same as above, if you know exactly your campaign plot, it will be easier for you to improvise where your scenario plot won't help you.

Then, include the PCs. Think about how they arrive (TARDIS, "Vortex accident", invitation, emergency alert, etc.), and how they will notice what is wrong (things going wrong, NPCs talking about it, or else). Then, give them some clue, for them to have a line to follow, (or not, and this is where you have to be flexible).

As said above, think also about the main places, the main NPCs, and the events that you will play with the PCs, whatever they do.
You shall not miss any of these important things (except if it is not so important), and be flexible on how they will get there, how they will encounter the NPC, etc.


With these elements, you will be able to lead your players where you want, letting them full liberty on how they will get there. Your full knowledge of your own plot will makes things easy for you to lead them when they take the liberty you give them.
During the games, I try to note every single thing that I improvised and should be important in the future, then I can adapt my plots if necessary.
(for example, my PCs were stuck with an non-aggressive alien, when a player used a story point to make things happen : someone else arrives and disturb the situation. On the moment, I invented anti-alien security forces (it could be the UNIT but I invented a local force) which want to capture the alien. The PCs and the alien had to run and have been captured, then escaped. When designing this game I did not think about this security force, but I found interesting to note details about them during the game, in order to -maybe- make them a possible obstacle/ennemy in other games)


With this, and all what have been said above by others GM, I think you shall have a good guideline to run your own games

[timelapse]

Thanks for all the pointers on writing adventures, as a starting point for my first adventure i am going to "steal" the underlinging plot line of "Storm Warning" the 8th doctors first radio adventure. It works for my players so far, and i am working on the underling storyline. The players I have are a silurian with a shimmer so that it can look human if need be, it has/cost 3 story points to help the player avoid faults with it.

The 2nd player wants to be a time agent with a faulty vortex manipulator that no longer works but has the ability to scan things still.

And I have a third that has not made up his mind yet.

So im basically going to have the silurian be a companion already at the start of the story, The time agent will be in a crashing time ship in the vortex, like in storm warning save the fact that the doctor can save him. And then they will crash land into the first adventure, so the intro will be saving the time agent and then the story will grow from there following the radio stories plot line.

If adapt it well enough i may continue once in a while stealing ideas from the radio program and my own. the radio stories being liner they need to be adapted so that alternate story lines and arcs can be produced from the game so I am working on that aspect. but it will layout my basic plot line, NPC characters and it even has an underling story line that is interesting. Also the 8th doctor, gotta love him.

What do you guys think, good idea or worst ever.

[Pertwee]

May 30, 2012 20:43:37 GMT timelapse said:

Thanks for all the pointers on writing adventures, as a starting point for my first adventure i am going to "steal" the underlinging plot line of "Storm Warning" the 8th doctors first radio adventure. It works for my players so far, and i am working on the underling storyline. The players I have are a silurian with a shimmer so that it can look human if need be, it has/cost 3 story points to help the player avoid faults with it.

The 2nd player wants to be a time agent with a faulty vortex manipulator that no longer works but has the ability to scan things still.

And I have a third that has not made up his mind yet.

So im basically going to have the silurian be a companion already at the start of the story, The time agent will be in a crashing time ship in the vortex, like in storm warning save the fact that the doctor can save him. And then they will crash land into the first adventure, so the intro will be saving the time agent and then the story will grow from there following the radio stories plot line.

If adapt it well enough i may continue once in a while stealing ideas from the radio program and my own. the radio stories being liner they need to be adapted so that alternate story lines and arcs can be produced from the game so I am working on that aspect. but it will layout my basic plot line, NPC characters and it even has an underling story line that is interesting. Also the 8th doctor, gotta love him.

What do you guys think, good idea or worst ever.

Nope. The best possible way to get your GMing muscles built is to let someone else come up with the story and adapt it for yourself.

My approach has always been a simple one. Television series are made up of scenes. So write open ended scenes with some detail (think sets in Doctor Who), overlay a timeline on top of them with some notes on how the villain might react to certain actions, and allow the players to wander freely, changing the story as you need to.

For instance, the TARDIS landing site would be a scene, as would an underground car park. A villains lair might consist of multiple scenes (the power room, the lab, the office of the baddie, etc.). Each scene has a general description along with objects that can be interacted with (cars for the car park, chemicals in a lab, etc.) and some sort of encounter or series of encounters that are related to the storyline, some linking to other scenes (the underground car park, for instance, could have a secret entrance into the villain's power room scene). The trick is to describe enough to give the players their head, but not too much to box you into a corner.

For an excellent example of this see the adventure Curse of the Cyclops, which can be found at the end of the Time Lord rulebook, which can be found here: www.torsononline.com/hobbies/timelord/main.htm

[Roger]

Great tips here. Thanx

I'm also about to run my very first adventure.
This is brand new to me, so can anyone suggest how I should go about running a 1st adventure?

I'd like to start out small so as to get the hang of the running of things. I don't want to start some huge campaign just yet.

I have two players (brand new RPGs):
The first is a shape-shifting alien and the 2nd is an alien that just happens to look exactly like an Earth dog. (So they will not be considered 'aliens' if seen by the public.)

I figured they'd start out on Earth in some kind of simple adventure where time travel and all the really technical stuff will not come into play... just yet.

[Craig Oxbrow]

Aug 13, 2012 4:26:20 GMT Roger said:

Great tips here. Thanx

I'm also about to run my very first adventure.
This is brand new to me, so can anyone suggest how I should go about running a 1st adventure?

I'd like to start out small so as to get the hang of the running of things. I don't want to start some huge campaign just yet.

I have two players (brand new RPGs):
The first is a shape-shifting alien and the 2nd is an alien that just happens to look exactly like an Earth dog. (So they will not be considered 'aliens' if seen by the public.)

I figured they'd start out on Earth in some kind of simple adventure where time travel and all the really technical stuff will not come into play... just yet.

Start small literally, aim for only a few scenes, like:

--

The characters arrive in a small town or similarly isolated location, with a small number of NPCs to interact with. Names and short descriptions of the NPCs can help you keep a handle on who's who. A map of the area can help for similar reasons.

The characters detect that something strange and alien-related is going on, and investigate. (If this is the sort of thing the characters would do. If it isn't, ask in advance about what sorts of adventures they do want to have.)

Let's say that a group of young people have gone missing - police are asking for witnesses, there are "Missing" posters on walls, people are clearly worried.

They find evidence of alien activity through their alien senses or tech, or following the tracks, or whatever clues you offer them - make sure they get essential clues, don't make them roll to notice key things.

They ask witnesses, and answers and clues point to Something Strange going on at the old manor house, or the local standing stones, or out on an island in the swamp, or... anyway, some more isolated location. The police didn't find anything, but maybe they can.

They sneak in, look around, and find the missing people are being held in a technobabble stasis field by an alien criminal who plans to take over their minds and live undercover on Earth, thereby escaping the alien police chasing him.

They free the prisoners and stall the alien long enough for the space police to arrive and haul him away.

Basically a short investigation with a clear path to the right answer, a bit of interaction with human and alien NPCs, and a chance to do something clever to save the day.

--

An example adventure could look a lot more complicated but still be quite straightforward to run. The above (chasing an alien criminal) is a riff on Smith And Jones. That episode isolated the location by pulling it up the Moon - spectacular, but in practice no different than having it be in an isolated area anyway. It had the alien police be so dense that they'd arrest the Doctor if they found him and kill anyone who got in their way, so they were an additional problem to avoid until they could be brought in to solve the problem. It gave the alien criminal two henchmen that the heroes had to deal with as well, and had her add a time factor as she was about to fry the Earth...

--

Your players came up with a shapeshifter and an alien dog...

Assuming the shapeshifter can pass for human, interacting with modern Earth will not be a big problem. If they can't it could be. Still good for stealth, and possibly combat if they can change into something tough, but talking to NPCs is a major activity in many RPGs, particularly low-combat ones like Doctor Who.

The dog makes a lot of interaction rather difficult, as above. The dog may be able to talk, but a lot of regular people type NPCs will have a hard time dealing with "it's a talking dog!" There's plenty that such a character can do - get through small spaces, sniff things out with superhuman doglike senses - and you can tailor the game not to present too many problems specific to the character's shape, but I'd point out to the player that they might miss out on some parts of the adventure.

[Roger]

Aug 13, 2012 16:42:47 GMT Craig Oxbrow said:

Start small literally, aim for only a few scenes, like:

--

The characters arrive in a small town or similarly isolated location, with a small number of NPCs to interact with. Names and short descriptions....[EDIT].

Thanx Craig. I think that will work really well for a first go.

I know the characters are not the best possible but they are my mom and daughter so I didn't want to have to say "NO, that's not really gonna work" for a first adventure.

I did make sure that the alien shape-shifter can exactly duplicate humans. The dog is my 8 year old daughter and she can't talk english but can communicate telepathically with her team and has slight telekinesis because paws can't do much. I plan on them crashing to the earth together with memory loss to get things going.

Thanx again for this starting point. ;D

[Craig Oxbrow]

Aug 14, 2012 1:00:06 GMT Roger said:

I know the characters are not the best possible but they are my mom and daughter so I didn't want to have to say "NO, that's not really gonna work" for a first adventure.

Ah, well, that's different.

In that case, be sure to include something that a telepath, telekinetic and/or apparent dog specifically can do.

Your mother's PC can do the necessary talking to NPCs and most of the plot-solving legwork while your daughter's gets to be helpful and awesome. I trust she won't mind too much.

[Curufea]

I like to have a general idea of what's going on around the place - the overall plot of the bad guys (or at least the gist of it) - so that I can throw in something exciting now and then if the players go off-plot and for it to still sound somewhat plausible (ie don't have random monster encounters, but you can have random encounters with plot monsters).

In most roleplaying games I've GMed - you don't need to worry about consistency or having each part of the setting/plot fit perfectly. It's even more true in Doctor Who. Players will retcon and justify why the plot goes certain ways for you. Some of the best ideas I've had for campaign plots and the reasons why bad guys do things - is from the players themselves.

Mind you, you can't do some labour-saving plot running in Doctor Who that you can in other genres - you can't have players plotting against each other, at least not very long or effectively. Not unless you are very keen on having a Turlough character in the game - but even in the TV series that didn't really work.

If you aren't familiar enough with GMing to be able to insert impromptu encounters when needed based on your knowledge of what is roughly actually going on - then I recommend writing up some set pieces before the game. Some generic scenes that you can insert if players do the unexpected. This will give you breathing space for you to work out where the heck to go from here and how to get them back into the main plot. However - don't get precious over set pieces, and hope that they never need to be used.