Creating a Course for Newbie GM's ---

[squeen]

The currency of unforgettable gaming is an enjoyable tension; generated through interesting ambiguity and mystery that climaxes in a reasonable amount of time into decisive action. Yes, these are the same social skills used to create a feeling of intimacy between strangers. If not good at this, stop trying to GM RPGs and dive into life. Come back later when you can intrigue a small group of strangers into wanting to learn more about you in the course of an evening. No module content will cover up a lack, regardless of how great it may be.

This.

Instead of falsely equating an omnipresent sense of mortal threat with tension, develop your judgement of when players' plans and actions should result in runaway and overwhelming success for them. Tension is not fear, but uncertainty tied to desire and curiosity. What do players desire, and are curious about? If they'll win, and what winning gains them. Keeping them in a perpetual state of concern that they're about to die drains healthy tension out of a game if nothing they do seems to reverse this basic state. Aim for a game that is six or seven parts neutral and three parts dynamic, with the dynamism being for good or ill based upon the players skill and choices during the neutral phase.

And this.

Pure Gold (= XP).

 

[Beoric]

It's entirely a mindset. Example: I've seen many people become great public speakers through training who started out unable to speak publicly with any effectiveness; I've seen some people who needed no training at all. And I've seen many people who convinced themselves that they preferred their comfortable limitations.

No, I don't think anyone can become a great GM. But a lot of that group could become a great GM with a different mindset and a willingness to plow through discomfort to the other side. A great GM is a leader; a servant-leader to be sure, but still a leader. They must inspire trust and admiration, and deliver on the implicit promise.

I ... agree with EOTB.

(I feel dirty).

 

[DangerousPuhson]

Hey, add Seth Skorkowski to the list of great video-bloggers! I'm going to be heartbroken if I find out that that amiable nerd is a monster irl.

Seth kicks ass, and even though he's mostly known for Call of Cthulhu, his advice transcends specific games. He would be a good inclusion.

As for the whole "who can be a good GM" talk - personally I ascribe to three pillars of being a good DM (the 3 "C"s): Creativity, Communication, Consistency. The ability to create (imagination and improvisation skills), the ability to pass along your creation (narrating and acting skills), and the ability to keep all your creations consistent (recording and arbitration skills).

If you have mastered all three, then I believe you have mastered... Dungeon... Master...ing.

 

[Beoric]

You are missing listening skills. You need to understand what your players are telling you, and recognize when there has a been a miscommunication in either direction.

 

[DangerousPuhson]

You are missing listening skills. You need to understand what your players are telling you, and recognize when there has a been a miscommunication in either direction.

Ehhh, that falls firmly under "communication", I reckon..

 

[PrinceofNothing]

Good initiative.

Appendix N, on the simple basis of inspirational source media would need to be thousands of things long if we include some of the poor quality writing and lesser known titles that have perchance had an effect on the history of our hobby. Maybe, if we cut out some of those fringe elements, we could arrive at a meaty but also entertaining effort.

Boil it down to 5 books. Think what you would recommend to people to grasp the essentials and get maximum coverage. It's not essential, but I think it helps people understand what the game is supposed to be about. I think my boiled down appendix N is something like this.
1. Faffhrd & the Grey Mauser
2. Conan the Barbarian
3. Tales of the Dying Earth
4. Lord of the Rings
5. ??? {SUPER SECRET MYSTERY PICK THAT IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE}

And you could arguably remove 2. and 3. And you have enough context to grapple with most of what you encounter. The important thing is that people vaguely understand how the game was envisioned so they have some handhold before they dive in.

The most critical elements of gamer master success have nothing to do with any game

Truth-Bomb.

101-Wise? A pre-made, several room dungeon, simple, evocative, not overly lethal. Why? Dungeons are relatively easy to handle because their contents can be easily encompassed so the GM doesn't have to immediately account for all manner of interactions with material he has not conceived of yet.

I think its a good idea to tackle things like how to make an encounter interesting since many GMs fuck it up. Exploration, Interaction, Ambiguity and Trickery as opposed to Kool Powerz Straightforward Kombat etc. etc.

 

[Beoric]

101-Wise? A pre-made, several room dungeon, simple, evocative, not overly lethal. Why? Dungeons are relatively easy to handle because their contents can be easily encompassed so the GM doesn't have to immediately account for all manner of interactions with material he has not conceived of yet.

Agreed. You need to learn to run a module before you can learn to write one.

 

[squeen]

Hmm. I can't helping feeling that a 101-course is going to come off somewhat flat---to the community at least...who already know (or think they know) how to DM. While I know it will help some folks, I guess I'm looking for something a bit different.

Troll Lord games sends me email with "DM Tricks of the Trade", some of which are good, but many I don't particularly agree with (seem very new-school). Either way, with the way they are stated, they don't generate a whole lot of excitement in my mind---they don't pump me up to play/DM.

Lastly, without concrete examples of real play, how not to fall into the trap of everyone thinking "yeah, I do that"...even when they don't, really.

 

[Beoric]

Hmm. I can't helping feeling that a 101-course is going to come off somewhat flat---to the community at least...who already know (or think they know) how to DM. While I know it will help some folks, I guess I'm looking for something a bit different.

It should go without saying that a course in beginning DMing is not targeted at a group who already thinks they know how to DM.

 

[HypthtcllySpkng]

That's why there's multiple courses. So I've split this up into 4 courses now.

101 - Running your first two dungeons, a premade and a homebrew
201 - running your first campaign
301 - additional reading for inspiration and skill growth
401 - so you think you know how to dm huh?

Sticking to the first course for now, what would a rock solid premade single session module be? Like undeniably, accepted by the community, "run this first, newcomer", every time it's the choice? (Obviously, we'll all have different opinions on this)

Edit: the first two courses are intended for new to semi-new dms. The second two courses would be stuff beneficial to folks like us here on this forum, established dms looking for inspiration, materials, tools, and design talk.

 

[squeen]

Pods Caverns of the Sinister Shroom by Matt Finch is a great 1st level dungeon.
Seen a lot of play testers. Universally recommended for old-school vibe.