13:27 "It's a giant trust game where everyone at the table is looking out for everyone else because you're all friends and you all came together to have fun." In my opinion, this is the sweet spot of RPGs that is often underrated and unappreciated. Thanks for sharing!
Too bad Laura Bailey NEVER abided by this premise especially when it came TO 'acquiring' flying items or getting her GREEDY paws onto most other magic items in general as soon as they happened to appear... >:/
My approach to scheduling: Like poker night, the game happens on a regular schedule that does not change from month to month. DM: "Alright, the game meets every second and fourth Saturday, starting at 6:00 PM." Player: "What if I have work?" DM: "Tell your boss in advance that you need to be finished by 5:00 PM on the second and fourth Saturday off each month." Player: "What if something else comes up?" DM: "I am running the game on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, starting at 6:00 PM. If something comes up that is more important, just let us know in advance. I will still run game for everyone who shows up." Player: "But what if..." DM: "If this schedule does not work for you, then it might not be the game for you. If it is a game you want to be part of, you have more than enough notice each month to make sure that nothing conflicts with the schedule." In my experience, a regular and predictable schedule guarantees attendance, and every campaign I have run that has actually lasted more than six months (usually 2 and a half years on average) has been one that relied on a predictable schedule like that above.
@@thundersheild926 Sounds like a good approach. I personally never reschedule because I have had too many players rely on me rescheduling a game session as an excuse to not respect the schedule for whatever reason. Players who know the game will continue without them no matter what are more likely to show up at the table.
@@thundersheild926 My main group is my friends as well. They are just flakey and will take any excuse if they are feeling shlubby that day, ha ha ha. ;)
@@AuntieHauntieGames fair enough. For my group, I'm currently the only DM (though I'm trying to change that), so I'm the only way for them to get their dnd fix.
At this point in my life, I'm with a great group of middle-age (plus) players who have well-developed social skills and really none of this video is needed for them. But back in the day, basically every bit of Seth's advice would have really, really improved the quality of my RPG sessions.
I have the best players. Two out of three of them are seasoned gamemasters and use their experience not to judge me, a new GM, but to support me and make my job as easy as possible. They agree to play at my place so I spend time prepping and they spend time travelling. They bring and pay for all the snacks and drinks, and one of them does our scheduling. They are so awesome that I don't even mind that one of them occasionally falls asleep on my couch for a few minutes. (Full time worker + dad, and my couch is a total nap trap) We all clean the clutter after the game. Of course, they are all good rp'ers to boot, and like to hang. They're the perfect group for a newbie GM!
Pru-Pruh wow, that is so awesome! Having vet GMs support you because they understand the work and difficulty involved in the endevor. I imagine they also give you advice and stuff, too?
Even if it has its own pitfalls, playing with players who have GM experience is really great. They all know the struggles and problems a GM can be confronted with, mostly have a good grasp on rules and interpreting rules, know problematic player behaviour (and hopefully try to avoid it themselves). So, my congrats on such an awesome group. Keep on rocking and making your own experiences. You might be a newbie now, but with such friends, I am certain you'll become a great GM :D I am member of a small RPG-club. We all know each other since 15 years+ and most of them are seasoned GMs in different games. It has, a said it's own pitfalls - seasoned GMs as players unfortunately know lot's of them dirty GM tricks you use to improve your game. And what just would astound less experienced players, just gets a knowing smile from them - they still roll with it however... But - with youtubers like Seth here, you might learn something they don't know, and let them gasp in awe at some point :D
Wow... i WISH i had that... i had players, who just would explode in emotional bursts... in fact i wouldn't know if they were enjoying the game or not, and currently... out of the 7 players at my table, 3 of them are a coin flip if they'll actually decide to show up... even though its online and all 3 of them are not working... i am gonna kick those 3 out but it was a struggle to even get feedback for improving... personally idk if i can enjoy a new dm running the game... i just feel so much was asked of me i spent soooo much time learning about the world and monsters and prepping games, i'm just not sure if i would really enjoy being a player at a new DMs group...
@@elgatochurro i had thr same issue. Everyone makes it sound like they are super excited, then something always comes up. Or they just no show. And then we had one guy that could not figure out that having music playing on his phone and having conversations when it wasn't his turn was rude. When it was his turn he would just automatically make the "coolest" choice or action. GM: A"fter the battle, you find one of the bandits still alive. It sure is odd that they were working with a goblin raiding party, perhaps you should investigate" PC 1: "We should question him. He must have some information about what's going on!" AssHat PC: I shoot my bow at point blank range... *turns up phone music to volume level 11*
@@matthiasthulman4058 yeah sucks Btw your GM gives you guys hints on what to do decisions wise? That's weird... and very nice... though would help explain how my characters miss details I thought were obvious like... having half orcs and goblins fighting each other... obviously showing they're not working together but yknow they're all monsters so they all died... lol
Seth Skorkowsky DM’s who use existing campaigns are more like co-DM’s with someone they have never met. A true DM, one who weaves the world narrative of their own accord, could very easily just... write a book, without their players. The only real difference is you get to add new dimensions in story telling to a table that you can’t add to a text. The first are related to converting a 1D text to 3D-images, animations, and music. You’re essentially directing a movie, so you have much more power... but the second is player freedom or possibility. That is, your story isn’t just one time line, but hundreds or even thousands of divergent timelines, where only one timeline is explored. It really is a lot more fun and powerful than mere writing. Without your players, you can’t see that storyline play out. You have to play it solo, and that doesn’t fully make use of all that freedom. Although I’m starting to become of the opinion that even using an existing system, like D&D isn’t really playing it right. Ideally, you should be master of the game. Not only aware of how D&D works in excruciating detail, but also other systems, and you should be hybridizing and developing the best system and providing resources for your players to follow along... essentially, write your own players handbook. True game mastering requires you master the art of reading your party, what they want, and morphing the game to be precisely that. And honesty, D&D only gets worse the more I learn about game design. Balance, lore, fun, challenge, realism, immersion, nothing is done right.
I am just starting my preparations to become the GM for a Call of Cthulhu game group that is forming among our friends. My husband is already our DM when we play D&D, but you are, without a doubt, my #1 role model for how to be a proper Keeper. Your videos are informative and in-depth, loaded with valuable behind-the-scenes bits, I am learning so much! Just wanted to say "thank you", and keep up the good work, Seth!! :-)
I'm an EXTREMELY nervous person preparing to become a GM. Your point about expecting to have fun is SO helpful. That'll certainly save my players and myself a torrent of anxiety and doubt. Thanks.
JAX. Exe LMAO It's funny you say that bc my wife and I recently when to a con, and this guy in from of us stank to high heavens. She and I both were revolted.
One of the sins I commit is not learning the rules good enough. I'm running a campaign as a GM and every single player at the table have more experience with the system than me, and I have hat really much fear of running the game. But I found out two things. First the narrative of the story took presence over the rules. And secondly I have a hole table of players wanting to help me sharing the knowledge of the rules of the game. It have been so liberating just to do it and come out with a story I on my hard knew was decent.
I like to see the GM as a military commander of sorts. You're job is to take care of your soldiers (players) And like the Drill Sergeant standard of weather, "if you're cold, your soldiers are freezing. If you're hot, your soldiers are scorched" If you're starting to get bored, your players are already half dead of boredom. This doesn't always compute conversely, but you get it.
Then again, a little passion, enthusiasm, and excitement goes a long way: if the GM is having fun (while looking out for everyone else, of course!), the fun tends to be infectious!
Oh my god that point at about 6:00 is so true so many people are stuck on "If this isn't the next big thing it sucks" and won't let themselves have fun
Yes - you can hang up the bar much to high to ever get satisfied... It's more of a newbie-problem I think... But I know at least one particiular GM who suffers exactly from this problem... Trying to get this one epic and dramatic adventure, while everyone else just wants to ... you know roleplay, do some investigation, have some chases, a fight or two - and after all a good laugh now and then... Don't get me wrong - I don't talk about: The GM wants and actual adventure with plot, while everyone else just wants to murder every NPC in sight and get all of the sweet sweet loot... They actually want to play the adventure, while the GM wants to celebrate some kind of rpg church service...
This reminds me of a rule we as a group had to implement due to a pair of players abusing the DM's patience. They both had (D&D 3.5) characters with abilities cherry-picked from at least 7 different books each. This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that they each had to constantly reference the books to see remember what the abilities did and, to top it off, they couldn't remember which book had which ability. Naturally, this bogged down the game when it was their turn; frustrating the crap out of everyone else. So we voted to implement the rule: "If you want it, it needs to be fully-detailed on your character sheet and I don't care how many extra pages it takes." The two players complained initially, but they were out-voted; the games sped up nicely after that. :)
I can understand not wanting to copy the whole ability from a book 7 times for the different books but kind of surprised they didn't have a note or sheet of paper with the ability name what book it was in and what page it was on just to speed up the constant researching it since if I had several abilities from difference sources I'd probably do that anyway just for the sake of maybe comparing some of them for synergies or " its kind of the same ability but this one in this book is more what I want or just better"
@@JakeSweeper understandible personally I'd feel a bit bad for needing added pages of character sheets at the table but if the gm is cool with it or even enforces it for the sake of speeding up the game and not getting bogged down in looking stuff up it dose seem to be effective also I hope your day is going well
This video is one I revisit often. Considering your anthropology background, I think a good sequel would be on the RPG social contract, the Session Zero, and the function of the Session Zero making social expectations of each individual enumerated, unified, and concrete for a group. Cheers!
Jeremy Johnson More the merrier! Each one brings different contributions to the table. I enjoy taking a tour of all the offerings. Different perspectives and approaches enrich the gaming experience.
Seth is my favorite active RPG youtuber, but I have to give a slight edge to the Gentleman Gamer in his heyday. Seth fills the hole the The Gentleman left behind.
Holy shit. The "whatever happens, have fun" really got to me. I guess a bunch of us put a lot of effort in GMing, so we kinda forget what it is about in the end. At least I did. Thanks.
social contract... brilliant! been playing since 1973... it was always in place, but rarely discussed. going to make it much more conscious/up front in my games. also, ive been taking many things too seriously... "whatever happens, im going to have fun today." you would think it obvious for a GAME- but not always there... thanks so very much for that reminder!!!
Great video. There's one thing I would add to the food section, that being "don't hog the food". It sounds simple, and like common courtesy, but every game I've played in, no matter the group, always has a player who hogs the food. My "favorite" example of this being a player who, at the start of every game, would grab one of the two chip bags (normally the largest one) and would proceed to eat all of it, only occasionally letting us take a chip or two. When we got mad at him over this, because you know, it was one of our TWO chip bags, he would ALWAYS say, "well other people ate it too." Despite the fact that they only ate a few, when he said so. That's the worst example, but I can't be the only player/gm this happens to.
I've had that. We used to have a player who would ignore the food that was left out for everyone as the communal food and go straight for our normal food. No big deal, but he could zero-in with almost supernatural ability and grab that one special thing you bought for yourself. He could do this within 10 minutes of his arrival. I remember once I had picked up a bag of some very nice beef jerky as a treat for myself. It was unopened and not out in the open. He'd eaten nearly the entire thing before I was even aware he'd found it. My wife and I used to hide the good stuff just before game days because he was so bad about it.
Seth Skorkowsky Yeah mine isn't nearly as bad as that. Usually I buy like 2 bags of chips for my game and the one friend immediately opens both of them and eats about 70% of the chips within the first 10 minutes of playing. We find ourselves pretty hungry later on
When everyone used to come to my house to play, I always set out bowls and ask them to use them for their snack ostensibly so there was less noise and trash at the table. Also, for hygiene reasons. Some folks don't want to eat the food after your hands have been all over it. Use paper bowl for easy clean up. If they put up a fuss, ask them to bring their own bag.
I had to laugh about clean-up. Back when we all started having kids, one of our gaming friends had their baby over...and left a dirty diaper sitting on a bookshelf. Clean up after yourselves!
One of my friends brought their dog over and it pooped on my floor with diarrhea... She just left it for me to clean up without even an offer to clean up after her own dog. Seriously, yeah, clean up after yourselves! LOL!
"While many players haven't thought about the social contract ..." Sir, both John Locke and Rousseau were required readings in several courses for my degree. Actually, Rousseau's is my "the book" that I seem to buy every time I encounter a volume.
A lot of this carries over to tabletop gaming in general. I host several groups at our FLGS and one of the hardest things to overcome is the toxic players that show up believing that being in a public space and having paid a table fee now entitles them to hold everyone else hostage to their behaviours. Being the only store in a small town, it's a delicate line to walk between maintaining the social contract and cutting the owner's source of income. Thanks for putting this video up, great stuff!
This video has really helped me with my sessions. When I am prepping for games now, I know I have to get to the point where I have the attitude "We are going to have fun today." It sounds completely obvious, but there have definitely been times where I went in worrying about what kind of time the group was going to have and the game suffered for it.
Y'know, as someone with a history of social anxiety, both historically but especially over the past couple years, I'm increasingly finding that using the mantra of "Whatever happens, I'm going to have fun today" to be some of the best advice I've ever heard, both at and away from the table
The players in my game were so irresponsible, treating the GM like he was their secretary and personal slave, so he got fed up and became a player. I became the GM and got treated poorly again, so I cut those toxic players off and now play with only two or three people.
I happened upon one of your videos about bad players about a week ago, then watched some others. I’ve only been RPGing for almost a year and wanted to take the jump into being a GM. Your videos on CoC have really inspired me to get into that particular game and introduce it to my game groups. I’ve ordered the basic materials needed and we’re creating characters and getting into it on Friday. I really feel ready to do it due to your fantastic explanations. My level of excitement is beyond words, thanks to you. Thank you.
I’m going with the old ‘go to’, The Haunting. I still need to read more on chases and magic, but that adventure doesn’t really deal with those. It’s perfect for me and my players to get our feet wet in. Plus with your recommendation, I found some great handout material online that will push the enthusiasm for my players to continue on future investigations.
That's a great adventure. Since you're new, I also recommend Edge of Darkness (if you can find it), Dead Light, and maybe look through Door to Darkness for upcoming games. I will say that in The Haunting, the bed can be surprisingly deadly and the floating knife fight was super-intense both time I ran it. Depending on how your players respond to CoC you can figure out that balance between action and investigation you want to give them.
Hey congrats on your first time being the GM. Seths vids are really great - everyone of them. I am now GM for a few years and still learned, or realised a lot of stuff I didn't knew before... Thanks especially for the CoC rules videos by the way :D Just one thing: You may think you are perfectly prepared and nothing can go wrong and it will be the most awesome game to ever have seen the light of day... or evening at the kitchen table... But - while your first game may or may not be awesome for different reasons, you will have more and awesomer games later on. You will learn, get experience and get better with every session... What I want to say: Don't burden yourself. Don't expect way too much. You might be hyped, but don't hang the bar too high. Seths tip about telling yourself to have fun no matter what - embrace it. You will have a great game. Maybe stuff doesn't work out as planned, people may lough more and get less of the creeps as intendet but regardless: people will have fun and you will have fun.
You're my favorite tabletop RPG youtuber, and this was already one of my favorite videos the first time. Glad to see it revisited as my group is dealing with possibly having to kick someone out right now. I have been upset about it, but seeing how this person violated many of these agreements we make when we decide to play RPGs together at least makes me feel better about the issues I've taken with their actions. Great content as always Seth!
Hello, Seth. Thank you very much for the video, it was great as always. I’m a professional GM, and love watching videos like this. Side note, I didn’t know how else to reach you, but I just wanted to say I bought Mountain of Daggers the other day and I read it way too quickly. You are an amazing author and I can’t wait to pick up some of your other work!
A trick I use to remember game rules is to make up index cards with rules that are complex or a little more exotic when I’m preparing for the session. They usually consist of a short blurb about the rule, a reference page number of the book the rule comes from and the game mechanics involved in using the rule. Before long you have a bank of theses cards that you need only review before the session.
Hey Seth! I just wanted to say you have a great video library compiled that I've been going through. I really appreciate all of the points you talk about and it is helping me to consider subtle aspects about gaming I used to take for granted. I also have noticed a marked improvement in my game master abilities since I've started watching your series. Keep up the great work, I need more of that wisdom!
This is one of my favorite videos to show players ever. It's smart and informative and anyone watching who has ever played a group ttrpg goes "Oh totally!" During this video. I only wish the player part was first. My players all whined about having to sit through the GM part. Thanks for the great content Seth!
I want to add here that what has worked wonders for me in scheduling games has been to select one specific non-weekend day (weekends tend to be used for trips and holidays) and just say "be there or be square". No other scheduling method has been as successful as this.
Once again Mr. Skorkowsky nails it. I have been playing since 1977 and really fun always comes down to the social contract. Thank you for communicating this so we..
So basically, have manners & be a responsible person, these tips work extremely well in life also. Btw Great video! You're doing an amazing job, loved the "Two Headed Serpent" review/diary that was super cool.
Many years ago, we had player who was late to _every_ session, if he showed up at all. Turned out he did it on purpose to "teach people they couldn't control him and his time".
@@regor4118 Very much so. Had it been today, we would've asked him kindly to be on time or fuck off. Too bad we were all too socially awkward back then. My current group is awesome. Everyone has family, work and/or pets so people know not to waste everyone's time because no one has a lot of it.
great video. I could not agree more with your break down and tips for gms and players. I'm new to being a gm and im struggling with the scheduling, it ain't easy
Schedules never get easy. With everyone's families/hobbies/jobs we book our game days normally 1-2 months out. We only meet once a month most months, but knock out a 8-10 hour session when we do finally meet up. Once upon a time (college) it was every Friday for 3-4 hours, but those days are long gone for us.
I would another rule that I consider very important, which is "comunicate your expectations". Like just actually explicitely agree on the social contract and what kind of game everyone wants to play. Or just even send your players to this video. In any case, just communicate what's expected of the GM and the players so everyone knows the stuff. If you leve it implicit on the "Let's play next sunday" it may not work right? Better to just talk about it beforehand.
Great job updating the video. I really liked the original, but you definitely show how you have improved at making these videos with this. I try to get my players to watch all your videos, here's one more link to send them :)
Seth, you're the Man. I really enjoy your videos, the insight and philosophy to our hobby is great to talk and think, and your reviews are right on the spot. In fact, you got me into Call of Cthulhu, I'm going to DM The Haunting this Sunday. Keep it up, we're looking forward to your videos.
Thank you for this Mr. Skorkowski. Until I saw the original video I didn’t have a name for this concept. I have since reshared your video about a half dozen times and will continue to pass the word. Keep up all the good work, and have a great day!
Seth, thanks for all of your videos. You have come up with a great format. I can tell gaming with you is fun and efficient with the scripting of your videos. I wish you 10x the subscribers! Now if only movie goers of certian beloved franchises would learn & follow rules #1...
In Improv comedy, we have a saying: "if you aren't having fun, you're the asshole." I love that rule #1 is "I'm going to have fun today." In other words, "don't be the asshole."
What I noticed is that in my country nobody had a clear idea of how to DM properly or what to expect. However, it helped me a lot playing online in neverwinter nights servers, because I could see how methodical DMing can be and thus how immersive it can get
hey, i wanted to start CoC and found your content by chance, i love your coverage on the campaigns, please make more content, i would also love to see more on how to be a good keeper, since i am still preparing for my first game of CoC in which i will be the keeper
You hit me where I live👊 thanks for sharing my likewise philosophy✌ I'm making this for my Pirate Borg game, my first game with this system and with these players... 2 experienced 2 new
Seth, I really enjoy your RPG videos & your three players. They are at least not like 2 out of the 3 players Chaz has on Man Shorts, they really want to play & not cheat. :
Wow! Terrific content! The best on RUclips period. I also have a submission that involves a sensitive subject but it needs to be said. We had a homosexual player and he insisted on playing female characters that constantly flirted with the male characters. I wasn't DMing so couldn't really control the flow, but one by one this player removed the energy and fun out of the room every time he played and eventually the group died. The DM needs to also be a social referee and prevent cringe worthy interpersonal garbage out of the game. It wasn't the fact that the player was a homosexual, the real issue was that the player was acting out his personal feelings and frustrations within the game and not role playing as his characters were always the same.
My after work D&D group only plays every other Monday at 7pm and now with WFH due to the pandemic there shouldn't be much of an excuse to miss the sessions. However, we have missed a few sessions because "Sorry, guys I slept in from my nap because I didn't go to sleep at 2am" or "I'm not feeling well because I drank creek water" or "My girlfriend and I are going to Ikea" or "Oh, I can't DM tonight because I forgot I had made plans with my family." Since we all know it's a fixed schedule I think the only acceptable excuse is that you have a deadline for work.
Were you at Ren Faire in Waxahachie, TX today? i would have sworn that was you! But I didn’t want to be an annoying fanboy... I’ve really enjoyed your DM advice.. 👍🏻
I'm just going to share this, thank you... We just had to have a second session zero because one of the (male) players keeps talking over my female players and occasionally tries to backseat drive them - I've talked to him about it both in and out of game, and it's getting to the point where I'm afraid I'll have to ask him to leave the table
Then if its not solved, asking him to leave is a must do. But remember its not only you (the game master) whos asking him to leave, its all of the group.
Francisco Roy De Mare and if it isn't solved after the conversation we had (I'm sending this more so there's another voice outside of the group saying it as well) he will be leaving. It will also likely end our friendships with him, which is what I don't like about the situation
Paul Springsteen this is an in-person group, and if I have to ask him to leave it will be the second time I've had to boot a player (another guy who threatened one of my other players in print... He was my roommate at the time too, and constantly begged me to let him back in the game... He'd been a problem player before that, but this is my first campaign and this was all in the first couple of months) I definitely appreciate your perspective from personal experience, and I'm sorry that you experienced that - it sounds like a horrible group to get into a game with at all
i have watched you for along time and you keep getting better after every video i love these videos your videos actually helped me make my games better i love your videos keep up the great work
Rewatching this again now that 2 in character actions made 1 player want to kill off their PC & leave, which lead to them fighting with the GM about communication and somehow I wound up in the middle. "Player Rule 4: assist with moderation." Guess I'm stayin' in the middle to work it out. Finally have a good group for the 1st time in years & don't wanna have it end now.😮💨 Thanks though, may have to show this to my group.
I tend to be a loud, assertive player, and as such I often "assist with moderation" by trying to notice when a less assertive player's getting steamrolled (by me or by somebody else) and interrupting with a question to direct attention that way -- a lot of times you can fix it with a fast "Sorry, James, I didn't hear that, what were you saying?" or "James, did you have a question?" Trying to use my loudassery to do good for others, I guess.
I don't do any maps. This sounds extremly dumb but I have a hard time memorizing anything and when I draw a map I'm restricting myself and my players. So I tell my players in the beginning of every round "I don't have a map. I will describe it to you and draw it when it has to be but I don't have any maps prepared. Orientation is not my strength." and it actually works pretty well. Though I usually don't play high fantasy but more modern RPGs where there are no "dungeons".
This is cool. I wrote something similar for LARP a while back, that touches on many of the same points. A couple of things I want to just add: the players and DM are not adversaries, even if they are in an adversarial role at the moment; party of knowing the rules is not breaking them (cheating is a lot harder to spot at LARPs than in ttrpg, and potentially more disruptive, imho).
I am the forever DM. More often than not I was the host and the caterer and the cleanup... my players have often boasted that I am the best DM and my stories were epic. I am honestly glad I don't need to clean up after some of them... but I do miss playing... and because no one else will ever run more than a one-shot, so, I *always* have a GMNPC... because I cooked dinner or I bought pizza and most of them don't clean up their trash so screw it, I get to play a character.
with regards to learning the rules; I got into the habit of getting the player to look it up after pointing it out, the players either side lend a hand, any players left get there turn earlier, everybody is doing something everybody is learning, the game play is not broken. the other is let the players roll for things that the gm might otherwise roll for, its up to the gm to inform them or not on the result... this keeps the players active in the game (so active that certain players refuse to throw them for random events so as to aviod being blamed for bad stuff happening!).
The social contract can be pretty important, yeah. One important aspect of it in my experience is awareness. In GMs and players both. Not all games are going to be winners, even with the best GM in the world. Combat can drag, encounters can get frustrating, players can get bored. A good GM is able to manage this, but not even the best GM in the world is going to be able to avoid it every single time. We're all only human, after all. We may miss clues or hints as to how a player is feeling, or we may be trying to manage it already, and they just haven't noticed. It's important for players to hold in mind that we as GMs aren't actually able to instantly fix a scene, and that it takes time to notice a problem, remedy it, and then implement that remedy. Especially if, even though one player is not enjoying the scene, another one is... It may very well be that the reason we haven't ''fixed'' it is that we're trying to manage it so that while it doesn't go on too long, the people who are enjoying it don't feel like we just suddenly cut them off. It's a balancing act, but sometimes I feel that players who have never GMed don't really realise just how much of one it really is. You need to manage a full party, do your best to keep everyone happy, make sure everyone can contribute, weave a story that everyone can enjoy.... there are going to be times when you just can't fix a thing instantly. So, awareness is a big thing for players. ''This scene isn't working, why isn't the GM fixing it'' vs ''The GM may be trying to fix it, let's give them some time'' and for GMs as well. We need to remember that what we weave comes as second to the players, it's all well and good to write a heart-pounding story of love lost and elder days now gone, but if you get too tied up in that to realise your players aren't enjoying it? Well, that's on you. Awareness on both sides. That's the key. Players should trust you to carry the scene, but in response, you need to be ready and willing to do that, and constantly checking to make sure they are not bored, bogged down or frustrated. You may not be able to fix it instantly, and that's fine, but you *should* be trying to fix it.
"They are the herder of cats"
Best description of the game masters responsibilities
@Mackenzie Jackson Find a new game. Delegating scheduling isn't bad, but an unfun game is.
Depending on some groups, herding cats is easier. Lmao
*Gets the crossbow*
"Cats you say?" 🤔
Analysing a joke is like disecting a frog. You might get a lot of information about it but you are killing it in the process.
That's a good joke/truism. I'll be sure to steal it.
Good
You should probably start with a frog that is already dead.
Dissecting a live frog is a little... red flag-ish.
that would technically be a vivisection that begets a dissection. I understood what you meant, I just wanted to be pedantic.
I think some jokes are even funnier after analysis. Understanding humor often improves it. Like anything, it's a skill.
13:27 "It's a giant trust game where everyone at the table is looking out for everyone else because you're all friends and you all came together to have fun."
In my opinion, this is the sweet spot of RPGs that is often underrated and unappreciated. Thanks for sharing!
Too bad Laura Bailey NEVER abided by this premise especially when it came TO 'acquiring' flying items or getting her GREEDY paws onto most other magic items in general as soon as they happened to appear... >:/
@@veng3r663 wow... just wow... o.O
it's the sweet spot of life itself man :)
@Michael Fox True. Especially now that they pander SO heavily towards the 'Les-Beauian' segment of their viewers these days... >:(
@@veng3r663 what?
"Failure to schedule games is the number one killer of groups." True.
This is all excellent stuff. Sharing this with my facebook game group.
My approach to scheduling:
Like poker night, the game happens on a regular schedule that does not change from month to month.
DM: "Alright, the game meets every second and fourth Saturday, starting at 6:00 PM."
Player: "What if I have work?"
DM: "Tell your boss in advance that you need to be finished by 5:00 PM on the second and fourth Saturday off each month."
Player: "What if something else comes up?"
DM: "I am running the game on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, starting at 6:00 PM. If something comes up that is more important, just let us know in advance. I will still run game for everyone who shows up."
Player: "But what if..."
DM: "If this schedule does not work for you, then it might not be the game for you. If it is a game you want to be part of, you have more than enough notice each month to make sure that nothing conflicts with the schedule."
In my experience, a regular and predictable schedule guarantees attendance, and every campaign I have run that has actually lasted more than six months (usually 2 and a half years on average) has been one that relied on a predictable schedule like that above.
I do the same, though if a player can't make it, ill check if everyone can make a new date. If not everyone can, then we continue as we had planned.
@@thundersheild926 Sounds like a good approach. I personally never reschedule because I have had too many players rely on me rescheduling a game session as an excuse to not respect the schedule for whatever reason. Players who know the game will continue without them no matter what are more likely to show up at the table.
@@AuntieHauntieGames fair enough. My main group is just my friends though, and I know what usually will work.
@@thundersheild926 My main group is my friends as well. They are just flakey and will take any excuse if they are feeling shlubby that day, ha ha ha. ;)
@@AuntieHauntieGames fair enough. For my group, I'm currently the only DM (though I'm trying to change that), so I'm the only way for them to get their dnd fix.
At this point in my life, I'm with a great group of middle-age (plus) players who have well-developed social skills and really none of this video is needed for them. But back in the day, basically every bit of Seth's advice would have really, really improved the quality of my RPG sessions.
I have the best players. Two out of three of them are seasoned gamemasters and use their experience not to judge me, a new GM, but to support me and make my job as easy as possible.
They agree to play at my place so I spend time prepping and they spend time travelling. They bring and pay for all the snacks and drinks, and one of them does our scheduling.
They are so awesome that I don't even mind that one of them occasionally falls asleep on my couch for a few minutes. (Full time worker + dad, and my couch is a total nap trap)
We all clean the clutter after the game.
Of course, they are all good rp'ers to boot, and like to hang.
They're the perfect group for a newbie GM!
Pru-Pruh wow, that is so awesome! Having vet GMs support you because they understand the work and difficulty involved in the endevor. I imagine they also give you advice and stuff, too?
Even if it has its own pitfalls, playing with players who have GM experience is really great.
They all know the struggles and problems a GM can be confronted with, mostly have a good grasp on rules and interpreting rules, know problematic player behaviour (and hopefully try to avoid it themselves).
So, my congrats on such an awesome group. Keep on rocking and making your own experiences. You might be a newbie now, but with such friends, I am certain you'll become a great GM :D
I am member of a small RPG-club. We all know each other since 15 years+ and most of them are seasoned GMs in different games.
It has, a said it's own pitfalls - seasoned GMs as players unfortunately know lot's of them dirty GM tricks you use to improve your game. And what just would astound less experienced players, just gets a knowing smile from them - they still roll with it however...
But - with youtubers like Seth here, you might learn something they don't know, and let them gasp in awe at some point :D
Wow... i WISH i had that... i had players, who just would explode in emotional bursts... in fact i wouldn't know if they were enjoying the game or not, and currently... out of the 7 players at my table, 3 of them are a coin flip if they'll actually decide to show up... even though its online and all 3 of them are not working... i am gonna kick those 3 out but it was a struggle to even get feedback for improving...
personally idk if i can enjoy a new dm running the game... i just feel so much was asked of me i spent soooo much time learning about the world and monsters and prepping games, i'm just not sure if i would really enjoy being a player at a new DMs group...
@@elgatochurro i had thr same issue. Everyone makes it sound like they are super excited, then something always comes up. Or they just no show.
And then we had one guy that could not figure out that having music playing on his phone and having conversations when it wasn't his turn was rude.
When it was his turn he would just automatically make the "coolest" choice or action.
GM: A"fter the battle, you find one of the bandits still alive. It sure is odd that they were working with a goblin raiding party, perhaps you should investigate"
PC 1: "We should question him. He must have some information about what's going on!"
AssHat PC: I shoot my bow at point blank range... *turns up phone music to volume level 11*
@@matthiasthulman4058 yeah sucks
Btw your GM gives you guys hints on what to do decisions wise? That's weird... and very nice... though would help explain how my characters miss details I thought were obvious like... having half orcs and goblins fighting each other... obviously showing they're not working together but yknow they're all monsters so they all died... lol
"The storyteller, the referee, the herder of cats" 😂
Thats what I'm gonna refer to myself as for now on
💕
*People need to watch this again and again .*
*This video / subject should be shared more & talked about .*
“What is a Game Master without any players?” An author.
or a madman
LOL, that is exactly what popped into my head when he said it.
Nah. There's a whole lot more to being an author than just flipping through some old Dragon Lance modules and wishing you had a group to run them for.
Seth Skorkowsky DM’s who use existing campaigns are more like co-DM’s with someone they have never met. A true DM, one who weaves the world narrative of their own accord, could very easily just... write a book, without their players.
The only real difference is you get to add new dimensions in story telling to a table that you can’t add to a text. The first are related to converting a 1D text to 3D-images, animations, and music. You’re essentially directing a movie, so you have much more power... but the second is player freedom or possibility. That is, your story isn’t just one time line, but hundreds or even thousands of divergent timelines, where only one timeline is explored. It really is a lot more fun and powerful than mere writing.
Without your players, you can’t see that storyline play out. You have to play it solo, and that doesn’t fully make use of all that freedom.
Although I’m starting to become of the opinion that even using an existing system, like D&D isn’t really playing it right. Ideally, you should be master of the game. Not only aware of how D&D works in excruciating detail, but also other systems, and you should be hybridizing and developing the best system and providing resources for your players to follow along... essentially, write your own players handbook.
True game mastering requires you master the art of reading your party, what they want, and morphing the game to be precisely that.
And honesty, D&D only gets worse the more I learn about game design. Balance, lore, fun, challenge, realism, immersion, nothing is done right.
mathig nihilcek as an Adventurers League DM, I'm offended greatly. It takes a lot to make pre-written modules fun for everybody.
I am just starting my preparations to become the GM for a Call of Cthulhu game group that is forming among our friends. My husband is already our DM when we play D&D, but you are, without a doubt, my #1 role model for how to be a proper Keeper. Your videos are informative and in-depth, loaded with valuable behind-the-scenes bits, I am learning so much!
Just wanted to say "thank you", and keep up the good work, Seth!! :-)
Glad to be of help. Hope you guys have fun with Call of Cthulhu.
I'm an EXTREMELY nervous person preparing to become a GM. Your point about expecting to have fun is SO helpful. That'll certainly save my players and myself a torrent of anxiety and doubt. Thanks.
Forget being nervous. Even a bad DND game is fun so I don't even worry.
May I ask how you're doing ?
There should been a rule on hygiene
"TAKE A SHOWER!"
JAX. Exe LMAO It's funny you say that bc my wife and I recently when to a con, and this guy in from of us stank to high heavens. She and I both were revolted.
I couldn’t agree more. I was once victim to this, it was awful
JAX. Exe I think that should be just a general human rule.
A whole shop smelled of b.o. Bring spitzer if you sweat easily
@@TheSubscriberWithNothing yes..but do remember what group we refer to. Its not meant to be deragatory
One of the sins I commit is not learning the rules good enough. I'm running a campaign as a GM and every single player at the table have more experience with the system than me, and I have hat really much fear of running the game. But I found out two things. First the narrative of the story took presence over the rules. And secondly I have a hole table of players wanting to help me sharing the knowledge of the rules of the game.
It have been so liberating just to do it and come out with a story I on my hard knew was decent.
I like to see the GM as a military commander of sorts.
You're job is to take care of your soldiers (players)
And like the Drill Sergeant standard of weather, "if you're cold, your soldiers are freezing. If you're hot, your soldiers are scorched"
If you're starting to get bored, your players are already half dead of boredom. This doesn't always compute conversely, but you get it.
Then again, a little passion, enthusiasm, and excitement goes a long way: if the GM is having fun (while looking out for everyone else, of course!), the fun tends to be infectious!
Oh my god that point at about 6:00 is so true
so many people are stuck on "If this isn't the next big thing it sucks" and won't let themselves have fun
Yes - you can hang up the bar much to high to ever get satisfied... It's more of a newbie-problem I think... But I know at least one particiular GM who suffers exactly from this problem...
Trying to get this one epic and dramatic adventure, while everyone else just wants to ... you know roleplay, do some investigation, have some chases, a fight or two - and after all a good laugh now and then...
Don't get me wrong - I don't talk about: The GM wants and actual adventure with plot, while everyone else just wants to murder every NPC in sight and get all of the sweet sweet loot...
They actually want to play the adventure, while the GM wants to celebrate some kind of rpg church service...
This is one of the main reasons I've seen on why people hate Critical Role, they say it gives people high expectations. XD
@@SquirrelGamez But I enjoy watching them... *Sadly walks away to "Christmastime Is Here."* 😢
This reminds me of a rule we as a group had to implement due to a pair of players abusing the DM's patience. They both had (D&D 3.5) characters with abilities cherry-picked from at least 7 different books each. This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that they each had to constantly reference the books to see remember what the abilities did and, to top it off, they couldn't remember which book had which ability. Naturally, this bogged down the game when it was their turn; frustrating the crap out of everyone else.
So we voted to implement the rule: "If you want it, it needs to be fully-detailed on your character sheet and I don't care how many extra pages it takes." The two players complained initially, but they were out-voted; the games sped up nicely after that. :)
I can understand not wanting to copy the whole ability from a book 7 times for the different books but kind of surprised they didn't have a note or sheet of paper with the
ability name
what book it was in
and what page it was on
just to speed up the constant researching it since if I had several abilities from difference sources I'd probably do that anyway just for the sake of maybe comparing some of them for synergies or " its kind of the same ability but this one in this book is more what I want or just better"
@@wolfyblackknight8321 We did suggest that, but got blown off. Hence, the heavy handed rule.
@@JakeSweeper understandible personally I'd feel a bit bad for needing added pages of character sheets at the table but if the gm is cool with it or even enforces it for the sake of speeding up the game and not getting bogged down in looking stuff up it dose seem to be effective also I hope your day is going well
If the players don't know their abilities, their pcs don't have them. Problem solved.
This video is one I revisit often. Considering your anthropology background, I think a good sequel would be on the RPG social contract, the Session Zero, and the function of the Session Zero making social expectations of each individual enumerated, unified, and concrete for a group. Cheers!
You are easily the best RPG youtuber out there. Keep on rocking!
Heck yeah!
I dunno, Puffin Forrest is pretty fucking cool. However I will say this: good RPG YTers are awesome and the more the merrier.
Jeremy Johnson More the merrier! Each one brings different contributions to the table. I enjoy taking a tour of all the offerings. Different perspectives and approaches enrich the gaming experience.
Seth is my favorite active RPG youtuber, but I have to give a slight edge to the Gentleman Gamer in his heyday. Seth fills the hole the The Gentleman left behind.
Puffin Forrest is entertaining but I personally think he gives kind of bad advice. I still agree that it is good to have some selection!
Holy shit. The "whatever happens, have fun" really got to me. I guess a bunch of us put a lot of effort in GMing, so we kinda forget what it is about in the end. At least I did. Thanks.
social contract... brilliant! been playing since 1973... it was always in place, but rarely discussed. going to make it much more conscious/up front in my games. also, ive been taking many things too seriously... "whatever happens, im going to have fun today." you would think it obvious for a GAME- but not always there... thanks so very much for that reminder!!!
Great video. There's one thing I would add to the food section, that being "don't hog the food". It sounds simple, and like common courtesy, but every game I've played in, no matter the group, always has a player who hogs the food. My "favorite" example of this being a player who, at the start of every game, would grab one of the two chip bags (normally the largest one) and would proceed to eat all of it, only occasionally letting us take a chip or two. When we got mad at him over this, because you know, it was one of our TWO chip bags, he would ALWAYS say, "well other people ate it too." Despite the fact that they only ate a few, when he said so. That's the worst example, but I can't be the only player/gm this happens to.
DarthR0xas
Not quite as extreme as your example, but it happens to me too
I've had that. We used to have a player who would ignore the food that was left out for everyone as the communal food and go straight for our normal food. No big deal, but he could zero-in with almost supernatural ability and grab that one special thing you bought for yourself. He could do this within 10 minutes of his arrival. I remember once I had picked up a bag of some very nice beef jerky as a treat for myself. It was unopened and not out in the open. He'd eaten nearly the entire thing before I was even aware he'd found it. My wife and I used to hide the good stuff just before game days because he was so bad about it.
Seth Skorkowsky
Yeah mine isn't nearly as bad as that. Usually I buy like 2 bags of chips for my game and the one friend immediately opens both of them and eats about 70% of the chips within the first 10 minutes of playing. We find ourselves pretty hungry later on
When everyone used to come to my house to play, I always set out bowls and ask them to use them for their snack ostensibly so there was less noise and trash at the table. Also, for hygiene reasons. Some folks don't want to eat the food after your hands have been all over it. Use paper bowl for easy clean up. If they put up a fuss, ask them to bring their own bag.
DarthR0xas as simple as not letting him eat anything, and if he wanted any food, he would have to bring his own. End of the story.
I had to laugh about clean-up. Back when we all started having kids, one of our gaming friends had their baby over...and left a dirty diaper sitting on a bookshelf. Clean up after yourselves!
One of my friends brought their dog over and it pooped on my floor with diarrhea... She just left it for me to clean up without even an offer to clean up after her own dog. Seriously, yeah, clean up after yourselves! LOL!
"Who is this guy I'm subscribed to with 20k subs?" ... "oh... it's this guy... why does he still have 20k subs ;-; give him more"
"While many players haven't thought about the social contract ..."
Sir, both John Locke and Rousseau were required readings in several courses for my degree.
Actually, Rousseau's is my "the book" that I seem to buy every time I encounter a volume.
A lot of this carries over to tabletop gaming in general. I host several groups at our FLGS and one of the hardest things to overcome is the toxic players that show up believing that being in a public space and having paid a table fee now entitles them to hold everyone else hostage to their behaviours. Being the only store in a small town, it's a delicate line to walk between maintaining the social contract and cutting the owner's source of income. Thanks for putting this video up, great stuff!
This video has really helped me with my sessions. When I am prepping for games now, I know I have to get to the point where I have the attitude "We are going to have fun today." It sounds completely obvious, but there have definitely been times where I went in worrying about what kind of time the group was going to have and the game suffered for it.
Y'know, as someone with a history of social anxiety, both historically but especially over the past couple years, I'm increasingly finding that using the mantra of "Whatever happens, I'm going to have fun today" to be some of the best advice I've ever heard, both at and away from the table
'the herder of cats' - so very true. I love GMing but that is how most of my groups are. :)
Yep, this is going to be the video I'm showing to all my players at the start of the campaign from now on.
The players in my game were so irresponsible, treating the GM like he was their secretary and personal slave, so he got fed up and became a player. I became the GM and got treated poorly again, so I cut those toxic players off and now play with only two or three people.
I happened upon one of your videos about bad players about a week ago, then watched some others. I’ve only been RPGing for almost a year and wanted to take the jump into being a GM. Your videos on CoC have really inspired me to get into that particular game and introduce it to my game groups. I’ve ordered the basic materials needed and we’re creating characters and getting into it on Friday. I really feel ready to do it due to your fantastic explanations. My level of excitement is beyond words, thanks to you. Thank you.
Wow. Glad to be of help. Have fun with it. You know what you want your first adventure to be yet?
I’m going with the old ‘go to’, The Haunting. I still need to read more on chases and magic, but that adventure doesn’t really deal with those. It’s perfect for me and my players to get our feet wet in. Plus with your recommendation, I found some great handout material online that will push the enthusiasm for my players to continue on future investigations.
That's a great adventure. Since you're new, I also recommend Edge of Darkness (if you can find it), Dead Light, and maybe look through Door to Darkness for upcoming games. I will say that in The Haunting, the bed can be surprisingly deadly and the floating knife fight was super-intense both time I ran it.
Depending on how your players respond to CoC you can figure out that balance between action and investigation you want to give them.
Hey congrats on your first time being the GM.
Seths vids are really great - everyone of them.
I am now GM for a few years and still learned, or realised a lot of stuff I didn't knew before...
Thanks especially for the CoC rules videos by the way :D
Just one thing:
You may think you are perfectly prepared and nothing can go wrong and it will be the most awesome game to ever have seen the light of day... or evening at the kitchen table...
But - while your first game may or may not be awesome for different reasons, you will have more and awesomer games later on. You will learn, get experience and get better with every session...
What I want to say: Don't burden yourself. Don't expect way too much. You might be hyped, but don't hang the bar too high.
Seths tip about telling yourself to have fun no matter what - embrace it.
You will have a great game. Maybe stuff doesn't work out as planned, people may lough more and get less of the creeps as intendet but regardless: people will have fun and you will have fun.
This helped me go to sleep last night I was feeling extremely stressed thank you!
You're my favorite tabletop RPG youtuber, and this was already one of my favorite videos the first time. Glad to see it revisited as my group is dealing with possibly having to kick someone out right now. I have been upset about it, but seeing how this person violated many of these agreements we make when we decide to play RPGs together at least makes me feel better about the issues I've taken with their actions. Great content as always Seth!
Hello, Seth. Thank you very much for the video, it was great as always. I’m a professional GM, and love watching videos like this.
Side note, I didn’t know how else to reach you, but I just wanted to say I bought Mountain of Daggers the other day and I read it way too quickly. You are an amazing author and I can’t wait to pick up some of your other work!
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it.
I saw the original social contract video and I thought it was fine. However, I see how much you've developed as a presenter and editor. Well done!
Thank you so much for updating your Social Contract video. You're the best, Seth, and my players and I all love your work!
A trick I use to remember game rules is to make up index cards with rules that are complex or a little more exotic when I’m preparing for the session. They usually consist of a short blurb about the rule, a reference page number of the book the rule comes from and the game mechanics involved in using the rule. Before long you have a bank of theses cards that you need only review before the session.
Hey Seth!
I just wanted to say you have a great video library compiled that I've been going through. I really appreciate all of the points you talk about and it is helping me to consider subtle aspects about gaming I used to take for granted.
I also have noticed a marked improvement in my game master abilities since I've started watching your series. Keep up the great work, I need more of that wisdom!
This is THE BEST video to show your group before starting a game/campagne. Thanks Seth!
This is one of my favorite videos to show players ever. It's smart and informative and anyone watching who has ever played a group ttrpg goes "Oh totally!" During this video.
I only wish the player part was first. My players all whined about having to sit through the GM part.
Thanks for the great content Seth!
I want to add here that what has worked wonders for me in scheduling games has been to select one specific non-weekend day (weekends tend to be used for trips and holidays) and just say "be there or be square". No other scheduling method has been as successful as this.
Once again Mr. Skorkowsky nails it. I have been playing since 1977 and really fun always comes down to the social contract. Thank you for communicating this so we..
So basically, have manners & be a responsible person, these tips work extremely well in life also. Btw Great video! You're doing an amazing job, loved the "Two Headed Serpent" review/diary that was super cool.
Many years ago, we had player who was late to _every_ session, if he showed up at all. Turned out he did it on purpose to "teach people they couldn't control him and his time".
I have one that's doing that now, for essentially the same reason. It's really annoying and disruptive.
Pfft that player is bonkers. Just don't play.
@@regor4118 Very much so. Had it been today, we would've asked him kindly to be on time or fuck off. Too bad we were all too socially awkward back then. My current group is awesome. Everyone has family, work and/or pets so people know not to waste everyone's time because no one has a lot of it.
But by making himself late he was letting you control him and his time
Shared this with a newer dm who's feeling burnout. Really rings true
I'm going to share this with all of my players. Thank you for the videos and getting our group into Call of Cthulhu.
OMFG that bit about the jokes is So Very relatable that the point you had about expectations and whatever is really easy to get. Great job!
great video. I could not agree more with your break down and tips for gms and players. I'm new to being a gm and im struggling with the scheduling, it ain't easy
Schedules never get easy. With everyone's families/hobbies/jobs we book our game days normally 1-2 months out. We only meet once a month most months, but knock out a 8-10 hour session when we do finally meet up. Once upon a time (college) it was every Friday for 3-4 hours, but those days are long gone for us.
I would another rule that I consider very important, which is "comunicate your expectations". Like just actually explicitely agree on the social contract and what kind of game everyone wants to play. Or just even send your players to this video. In any case, just communicate what's expected of the GM and the players so everyone knows the stuff.
If you leve it implicit on the "Let's play next sunday" it may not work right? Better to just talk about it beforehand.
This is one of my favorite videos on your channel
Thank you. That means a lot. I consider this the foundation to all of my RPG Philosophy. I'm glad to know you find it helpful.
Once again a wonderfully done video. Great job Mr. Skorkowsky!
Yay. I send all my players to watch your vids. Starting with the social contract. This will be nice for any new players. Thank you.
Mr. Seth. I love that you refer to yourself as We and Us... Makes your characters come alive and you look bonkers
Dude, in a perfect world... EVERY group would have a GM like you!
Great job updating the video. I really liked the original, but you definitely show how you have improved at making these videos with this. I try to get my players to watch all your videos, here's one more link to send them :)
You pulled no punches! Great review of how to make your sessions the best they can be.
12:18 what a reference, Tom Hanks first movie right there.
Seth, you're the Man. I really enjoy your videos, the insight and philosophy to our hobby is great to talk and think, and your reviews are right on the spot. In fact, you got me into Call of Cthulhu, I'm going to DM The Haunting this Sunday. Keep it up, we're looking forward to your videos.
Thanks. Hope you have fun with The Haunting.
Ramones bro seems like a guy i'd want at my gaming table. Would you consider doing anymore Delta Green videos?
Thank you for this Mr. Skorkowski. Until I saw the original video I didn’t have a name for this concept. I have since reshared your video about a half dozen times and will continue to pass the word. Keep up all the good work, and have a great day!
Seth, thanks for all of your videos. You have come up with a great format. I can tell gaming with you is fun and efficient with the scripting of your videos. I wish you 10x the subscribers! Now if only movie goers of certian beloved franchises would learn & follow rules #1...
In Improv comedy, we have a saying: "if you aren't having fun, you're the asshole." I love that rule #1 is "I'm going to have fun today." In other words, "don't be the asshole."
What I noticed is that in my country nobody had a clear idea of how to DM properly or what to expect. However, it helped me a lot playing online in neverwinter nights servers, because I could see how methodical DMing can be and thus how immersive it can get
hey, i wanted to start CoC and found your content by chance, i love your coverage on the campaigns, please make more content, i would also love to see more on how to be a good keeper, since i am still preparing for my first game of CoC in which i will be the keeper
Kicking the power gamer out of our group was the best thing to happen to it. Suddenly everyone started having fun.
This video helped me enormously. You just got a new sub.
By far my favorite RPG channel. Love the skits!
Kudos for illustrating players by using "Mazes & Monsters". Love it :)
You hit me where I live👊 thanks for sharing my likewise philosophy✌ I'm making this for my Pirate Borg game, my first game with this system and with these players... 2 experienced 2 new
Seth,
I really enjoy your RPG videos & your three players. They are at least not like 2 out of the 3 players Chaz has on Man Shorts, they really want to play & not cheat. :
Wow! Terrific content! The best on RUclips period. I also have a submission that involves a sensitive subject but it needs to be said. We had a homosexual player and he insisted on playing female characters that constantly flirted with the male characters. I wasn't DMing so couldn't really control the flow, but one by one this player removed the energy and fun out of the room every time he played and eventually the group died. The DM needs to also be a social referee and prevent cringe worthy interpersonal garbage out of the game. It wasn't the fact that the player was a homosexual, the real issue was that the player was acting out his personal feelings and frustrations within the game and not role playing as his characters were always the same.
My after work D&D group only plays every other Monday at 7pm and now with WFH due to the pandemic there shouldn't be much of an excuse to miss the sessions. However, we have missed a few sessions because "Sorry, guys I slept in from my nap because I didn't go to sleep at 2am" or "I'm not feeling well because I drank creek water" or "My girlfriend and I are going to Ikea" or "Oh, I can't DM tonight because I forgot I had made plans with my family."
Since we all know it's a fixed schedule I think the only acceptable excuse is that you have a deadline for work.
Seth, thank you for the videos, im enojying all of them, keep doing!
Another great video, Seth. Thanks for putting this together.
Were you at Ren Faire in Waxahachie, TX today? i would have sworn that was you! But I didn’t want to be an annoying fanboy... I’ve really enjoyed your DM advice.. 👍🏻
It was. You should have swung by and said hello. I wouldn't have minded.
There's one up there? You really should organize a meet and greet for that.
you're a very good youtuber, you're probably a very good gm!
I'm just going to share this, thank you...
We just had to have a second session zero because one of the (male) players keeps talking over my female players and occasionally tries to backseat drive them - I've talked to him about it both in and out of game, and it's getting to the point where I'm afraid I'll have to ask him to leave the table
Have you also talked with the female players of this? Are they aware? Uncomfortable? Have they talked to him about this?
Francisco Roy De Mare yes on all accounts, a conversation with one of them was actually what sparked the second session zero
Then if its not solved, asking him to leave is a must do. But remember its not only you (the game master) whos asking him to leave, its all of the group.
Francisco Roy De Mare and if it isn't solved after the conversation we had (I'm sending this more so there's another voice outside of the group saying it as well) he will be leaving. It will also likely end our friendships with him, which is what I don't like about the situation
Paul Springsteen this is an in-person group, and if I have to ask him to leave it will be the second time I've had to boot a player (another guy who threatened one of my other players in print... He was my roommate at the time too, and constantly begged me to let him back in the game... He'd been a problem player before that, but this is my first campaign and this was all in the first couple of months)
I definitely appreciate your perspective from personal experience, and I'm sorry that you experienced that - it sounds like a horrible group to get into a game with at all
i have watched you for along time and you keep getting better after every video i love these videos your videos actually helped me make my games better i love your videos keep up the great work
Fantastic video! Thanks again.
Rewatching this again now that 2 in character actions made 1 player want to kill off their PC & leave, which lead to them fighting with the GM about communication and somehow I wound up in the middle. "Player Rule 4: assist with moderation." Guess I'm stayin' in the middle to work it out. Finally have a good group for the 1st time in years & don't wanna have it end now.😮💨 Thanks though, may have to show this to my group.
I tend to be a loud, assertive player, and as such I often "assist with moderation" by trying to notice when a less assertive player's getting steamrolled (by me or by somebody else) and interrupting with a question to direct attention that way -- a lot of times you can fix it with a fast "Sorry, James, I didn't hear that, what were you saying?" or "James, did you have a question?" Trying to use my loudassery to do good for others, I guess.
A subject well worth bringing up and one you presented well too.
I don't do any maps. This sounds extremly dumb but I have a hard time memorizing anything and when I draw a map I'm restricting myself and my players. So I tell my players in the beginning of every round "I don't have a map. I will describe it to you and draw it when it has to be but I don't have any maps prepared. Orientation is not my strength." and it actually works pretty well. Though I usually don't play high fantasy but more modern RPGs where there are no "dungeons".
just draw them out quickly as you work, like wipe and redraw with quick scibbles
Nice summary and explanation. This is by far the best explanation I've seen of the social contract. I just subscribed btw.
Since I'm not the DM in our group, I always volunteer to cook a meal. I don't mind. It gives me a chance to show off my cooking skills 🙂.
Just refered to this video in my videos. Thanks Seth.
This is cool. I wrote something similar for LARP a while back, that touches on many of the same points.
A couple of things I want to just add: the players and DM are not adversaries, even if they are in an adversarial role at the moment; party of knowing the rules is not breaking them (cheating is a lot harder to spot at LARPs than in ttrpg, and potentially more disruptive, imho).
all this contract talk makes me want to make a social contract devil called Gygax.
Gygaxion of the false dice gods.
"Communicate. Players, talk to your game master. Game masters, talk to your players. Players, talk to each other."
Game masters, talk to yourself.
I am the forever DM. More often than not I was the host and the caterer and the cleanup... my players have often boasted that I am the best DM and my stories were epic. I am honestly glad I don't need to clean up after some of them... but I do miss playing... and because no one else will ever run more than a one-shot, so, I *always* have a GMNPC... because I cooked dinner or I bought pizza and most of them don't clean up their trash so screw it, I get to play a character.
This video made me cry.
I love the rpg philosophy discussion
that MAZES AND MONSTERS photo!
If I learn nothing else from this video, at least I figured out the next T-shirt I'm going to buy.
with regards to learning the rules; I got into the habit of getting the player to look it up after pointing it out, the players either side lend a hand, any players left get there turn earlier, everybody is doing something everybody is learning, the game play is not broken. the other is let the players roll for things that the gm might otherwise roll for, its up to the gm to inform them or not on the result... this keeps the players active in the game (so active that certain players refuse to throw them for random events so as to aviod being blamed for bad stuff happening!).
A really damn good video, thank you Seth.
Just another great video. Thanks!
The social contract can be pretty important, yeah. One important aspect of it in my experience is awareness. In GMs and players both. Not all games are going to be winners, even with the best GM in the world. Combat can drag, encounters can get frustrating, players can get bored. A good GM is able to manage this, but not even the best GM in the world is going to be able to avoid it every single time. We're all only human, after all. We may miss clues or hints as to how a player is feeling, or we may be trying to manage it already, and they just haven't noticed. It's important for players to hold in mind that we as GMs aren't actually able to instantly fix a scene, and that it takes time to notice a problem, remedy it, and then implement that remedy. Especially if, even though one player is not enjoying the scene, another one is... It may very well be that the reason we haven't ''fixed'' it is that we're trying to manage it so that while it doesn't go on too long, the people who are enjoying it don't feel like we just suddenly cut them off.
It's a balancing act, but sometimes I feel that players who have never GMed don't really realise just how much of one it really is. You need to manage a full party, do your best to keep everyone happy, make sure everyone can contribute, weave a story that everyone can enjoy.... there are going to be times when you just can't fix a thing instantly.
So, awareness is a big thing for players. ''This scene isn't working, why isn't the GM fixing it'' vs ''The GM may be trying to fix it, let's give them some time'' and for GMs as well. We need to remember that what we weave comes as second to the players, it's all well and good to write a heart-pounding story of love lost and elder days now gone, but if you get too tied up in that to realise your players aren't enjoying it? Well, that's on you.
Awareness on both sides. That's the key. Players should trust you to carry the scene, but in response, you need to be ready and willing to do that, and constantly checking to make sure they are not bored, bogged down or frustrated. You may not be able to fix it instantly, and that's fine, but you *should* be trying to fix it.
Thank you! You did my request! Time to send this one to my friends :D