GM Horror Stories, I mean, LEARNING EXPERIENCES

[Toboe LoneWolf]

As inspiration for all GMs and newbie-GMS and lurker-GMs and players-that-perhaps-want-to-try-GMing-one-day, this is a thread where GMs can share various learning experiences they've had while GMing: the times when we've realized things have gone haywire and hopefully the players don't know it yet, the preparation that went nowhere, or the Great GM Dilemma of Fudge Or Die.

This is our story.

Correction: these are our horror stories, everyone come and laugh at with us, we can't possibly be making this stuff up. Live and laugh and learn.

* * * * *

Things I have learned over the course of GMing:

I would place bets that every GM, over the course of their career, comes up with a few truisms and rules that thereupon guides all of their future games.

While the ultimate cardinal rule is Are You Having Fun? If Not, Stop; my first major rule would be:

1) The Players Will Always Go In The Opposite Direction
1.B) (And usually in multiple directions)
1.B.i) (And if given the option, most definitely will)

That said, at least I sort of knew what would happen when the party split five ways and I tried keeping up with everyone. Sort of.

[...]

Point #23: Odds of 8:1 are not in your party's favor, no matter if they're all extras or how combat-specialized your party members are. Fullstop.

(it used to be 23:1 odds. Then I redid the map. Obviously, I did not redo it enough.)

[Hunterwolf]

Why do I get the feeling I'll be coming here often? I mean...uh...I'm totally a l33t GM! I make no mistakes!

Joking aside though I'm reminded of my very first one-shot I've ever ran and I will share what I learned from the horrifying enlightening experience.

The following is my first SW:MLP game I ever ran: Without getting too much into detail because I might run it again I learned to be cautious when using canon characters or at the very least expect the players to be interested in interacting with said character. In this particular case it was Princess Luna. For whatever reason, I expected that Luna would say a few words to the crowd and that would be it. Instead the players go, "OMG I MUST TALK TO HER!" This threw me off-guard and was the beginning of the adventure spiraling out of control. I then went into "ABORT, ABORT" mode and got Luna out of there. Of course some of the players followed but it got to the point where I was doing everything within my power to separate my players from the Princess of the night because the story could not progress unless Luna wasn't with the party.

Then things start getting really interesting. Don't ask how or why but I ultimately had Royal Hussars enter a fight against the players. Soon after one of my silly brilliant players decided to invite our infamous overlord wizard of pony RPG's, Rodger Marsh to the skype call.

Then Rodger watched laughing evilly(like the rest of us) as the session nose dived into oblivion as my players attempted to fight opponents that were meant for higher ranked characters. Keep in mind that the party was all novice rank and it ended up that one of the Hussars one shot KOed the toughest character in the party. Being the guy that I am I didn't want my players to just get picked off and so I made up something in my head real quick to end combat and ended the session.

Moral of the story? Expect your players to not do what you expect and plan accordingly.

The following is the third one-shot I ran of SW:MLP(if I recall correctly): I was tasked with introducing two new characters and an existing character back to the main party and I failed miserably. Reason being (at least in my opinion) can be summed up simply as poor planning. I admit that I could have taken the adventure more seriously and if I did so...it would of gone better. It consisted of me not being very descriptive of the surroundings, not putting into account of character motivations and really just suffered from me not thinking about things. For this one, the moral of the story is that you need to take your GMing seriously because nothing worth doing is easy and that includes making a session for pony RP. Sure, some people can GM off the seat of their pants but I personally don't recommend it. Remember, the absolute most important thing to that everybody, the GM and players are having fun. Period.

I'm sure I'll have more screw ups tales to add to this thread in the future and I look forward to hearing what everyone else has learned from their GMing!

[Equestrian Wyvern]

Over my past few years of GMing experience prior to my retirement from GMing,I have learned a great many things, which as a whole boil down to: "If Equestrian Wyvern has ever done it while GMing, it is a terrible idea."

More or less my list of things I have learned:
1) Don't introduce unique and interesting characters unless you are more than willing to follow though with them, otherwise you will annoy your players to no end
2) Offering healing after a major battle is not doing your players a favor, instead you invalidate their accomplishments
3) Never plan an encounter under the assumption that the players will surrender even when failure is obvious
4) Keep puzzles simple.
4.1) NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY FOR A PUZZLE
5)Introduce most of the big players early in a campaign, even if they are not opposition until much later
6) Gimmicks and Combat do not get along
7) 1 Draconequus is more than enough for one story
The God of Annoying Trick questions is not a reasonable antagonist
9) Make sure the party is fine with Canon characters making cameo appearances before doing so
10) Make sure a PC's antagonist was expected to be a fair fight before running said fight
11) Don't stop party members from making stupid distractions of enemies, even when it is a nightmare fuel snake
12) Let the players steer the campaign while you tell the tale
13) Discord is not an appropriate GM PC
14) Make sure atleast 1 party member can possibly harm your nigh immortal monster of the week
15) Never give the munchkins an opportunity to start a city on fire
16) Make sure there is absolutely no way for the munchkins to set a city on fire a second time
17) It doesn't matter how large you make the chance of random encounters, dedicated munchkins will continue running though the pitch black jungle with an artificial sun.
18) Once the Munchkins stab the plot critical info dump NPC a third time before he can make his speech, any further layers of plot armor are wasting your time
19) Players will find the obvious solution last
20) Letting the Munchkins shop at the black market is just encouraging bad behaviour
21) The Munchkins will not hesitate to sell the major plot gift at a moments notice if they think they can make a buck.
22) The Munchkins will treat your free servant as a spy even if they exist solely to shore up skills that the party requires
23) Never have a plot point that requires the players to not do anything to reach
24) Make sure your attempts to fix general campaign issues do not just make them worse
25) Know when to call it quits, as keeping a bad campaign running just makes everyone unhappy in the end.

[Rodger Phillips Marsh]

I think the one thing I've learned (the hard way, many times) is that communication with your players is the most important factor in your success or failure as a GM. I've had players rage out and nearly quit because of issues springing from a lack of communication, as well as an entire game having to shut down as well. Not fun.

[quindodark]

For me, It was the fact that roll20 CAN AND WILL roll 10 max dice in a row...

[menofdragons]

I have a few general GMing tips. And these can really be applied to any game, not just ponies.

1) If you stat it out, the players can (and often will) defeat whatever it is. If you have a big bad, don't give him hard numbers until the players get to a point where they should be beating it for the purposes of the story, but that also means having things to make it to where the players can't get to your big bad, either.

2) Fun is the key. If you have to fudge a dice roll that would just demolish the party for the sake of letting them have more fun and story, do it. You can always demolish them another time XP

3) I know every rule book has this, but I think it belongs here since enough people don't seem to pay attention to it sometimes. Every single rule is up to being house ruled for your group. If it doesn't work for you, talk it over with your group, and agree on how you can tweak it. Because nothing can turn a campaign sour quite like a rule that just doesn't fit what you're doing, and everyone is adhering to the letter of the written rules.

4) Every so often, throw things at your players just for the sake of gauging their strength. Both on an individual level and group level. You may have a character who, based on experience points, should be at a certain level, but because of certain stats and even player experiences, plays as effectively as a higher level, and even more so for parties. Parties are always greater then the sum of their parts, and will usually beat down whatever you throw at them that, statistically, is rated for their level.

[nintendo917]

Apr 23, 2013 17:26:18 GMT -8 Hunterwolf said:

Why do I get the feeling I'll be coming here often? I mean...uh...I'm totally a l33t GM! I make no mistakes!

Joking aside though I'm reminded of my very first one-shot I've ever ran and I will share what I learned from the horrifying enlightening experience.

The following is my first SW:MLP game I ever ran: Without getting too much into detail because I might run it again I learned to be cautious when using canon characters or at the very least expect the players to be interested in interacting with said character. In this particular case it was Princess Luna. For whatever reason, I expected that Luna would say a few words to the crowd and that would be it. Instead the players go, "OMG I MUST TALK TO HER!" This threw me off-guard and was the beginning of the adventure spiraling out of control. I then went into "ABORT, ABORT" mode and got Luna out of there. Of course some of the players followed but it got to the point where I was doing everything within my power to separate my players from the Princess of the night because the story could not progress unless Luna wasn't with the party.

Then things start getting really interesting. Don't ask how or why but I ultimately had Royal Hussars enter a fight against the players. Soon after one of my silly brilliant players decided to invite our infamous overlord wizard of pony RPG's, Rodger Marsh to the skype call.

Then Rodger watched laughing evilly(like the rest of us) as the session nose dived into oblivion as my players attempted to fight opponents that were meant for higher ranked characters. Keep in mind that the party was all novice rank and it ended up that one of the Hussars one shot KOed the toughest character in the party. Being the guy that I am I didn't want my players to just get picked off and so I made up something in my head real quick to end combat and ended the session.

Moral of the story? Expect your players to not do what you expect and plan accordingly.

The following is the third one-shot I ran of SW:MLP(if I recall correctly): I was tasked with introducing two new characters and an existing character back to the main party and I failed miserably. Reason being (at least in my opinion) can be summed up simply as poor planning. I admit that I could have taken the adventure more seriously and if I did so...it would of gone better. It consisted of me not being very descriptive of the surroundings, not putting into account of character motivations and really just suffered from me not thinking about things. For this one, the moral of the story is that you need to take your GMing seriously because nothing worth doing is easy and that includes making a session for pony RP. Sure, some people can GM off the seat of their pants but I personally don't recommend it. Remember, the absolute most important thing to that everybody, the GM and players are having fun. Period.

I'm sure I'll have more screw ups tales to add to this thread in the future and I look forward to hearing what everyone else has learned from their GMing!

Ah yes, I remember that game very well. Frankly one of our new players was to blame for the incident. Me? I was too busy breaking the fourth wall like MAD.

[Warp]

Hello there, good thread, how are you?  I'll just be over here, agreeing with most of what's been said!

But anyways, one of the most prevalent lessons I've learned (repeatedly!) in both my stint as a GM, and from what I have observed as a player in other peoples' games: Don't be afraid to say no. There will always be those players that try to get away with just a little more, push the envelope a little further, and bring characters that are - whether it be mechanically or story wise - just a little more "out there" than everyone else.  

I've personally seen a friend's campaign completely unravel, thanks largely in part to there being a couple PCs with both backgrounds that were simply too difficult to work with, story wise, and because they worked too well together in combat and could trivialize entire encounters should they so wish it.  In my 4e campaign, as well, someone brought a character that used custom powers that were completely imbalanced and prevented me as a GM from using an entire enemy type.  I was still fairly inexperienced as a GM, though, and I didn't think it'd be too bad, so I okayed it when they asked me if they could bring it.  Imagine how upset they were later, after we had our first combat where they actually used this custom stuff and I realized just how unbalanced it was, when I directly contradicted myself and asked them to change their character!  It would have been a whole lot easier and resulted in a lot less conflict and hurt feelings if I had simply thought harder about it and said no to begin with.


Second, I would say, is learn the system and get some experience running it before you start tossing around house-rules.  I've seen this be an issue in more games than I care to admit, from both sides of the GM screen.  Now don't get me wrong; house-ruling is wonderful!  House-ruling is the best!  It's tops!  House-ruling allows for a completely personalized, custom gaming experience and lets you make the campaign that you and your players most want to play, and that's awesome!  But, to effectively mold that rules-clay into something beautiful, you first need to know how to actually work with it.  Because there is a big, BIG difference between effectively subverting and adding to the rules of a system you have a firm grasp on, and simply flying blind and making up your own with no regard for actual game balance.

One of the most prominent examples of this that I can think of is one of the many ill-fated 4e campaigns I've been in.  The GM was new to 4e, having had mostly experience with 3.5e in the past, and yet right out of the gate they were making huge modifications to nearly every aspect of the system, eventually making it an incomprehensible mess!  It was to the point where none of the players were actually sure anymore of what exactly their characters could do.


Lastly, one thing I would say to anyone who is considering trying to GM: start small!  I think this is a common trap to fall into in any sort of creative endeavor, and GMing is no different.  I know I'm incredibly guilty of it, myself!  But, when trying to start your career as a GM, don't attempt to lead with your 2-year long magnum opus, because chances are you just aren't experienced enough to execute it properly and do it justice.  Run a few one shots or mini-adventures first!  Get to know your way around the system you've chosen, build up some confidence, and take some time to feel out what does and doesn't work when telling an interactive story.  Because GMing has its own very specific subset of skills, and like any other venue of artistic expression, practice and experience will only ever serve to refine you into that much better of a storyteller!

[Rodger Phillips Marsh]

Apr 26, 2013 12:59:13 GMT -8 Warp said:

start small!

I've definitely seen this in other games that I've played in and seen. Not every game needs to lead into a massive universe-spanning epic that involves saving the universe: start small both mechanically and thematically. You can make a game in which the group's actions are localized on a small scale and still have it be just as or even more compelling than something epic in scale.

[JustABlankFlank]

Two major lessons I learned while running FND #9:

1. Write up several sessions in advance. That way, you'll have several refined scenarios to pull from in the event of a surprise game.
2. If you are not emotionally up to the task, don't run a game!

[MorningStorm]

Oh look, I finally have something to put here.
1. Don't try to play 2 absent PCs and 3 NPCs at once.
2. Especially don't do that when one of the missing PCs is important to the plot.
3. Don't overestimate your abilities to improvise.
4. Tell your players if you start having a panic attack mid-game!!
5. Things will never go as quickly as anticipated.
6. Don't add more NPCs to a fight on a whim.