Great GM: Telling a good story for your tabletop roleplaying game - Game Master Tips
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Here are some more tips on how to be a great Game Master and how to tell good stories within your tabletop roleplaying sessions whether they be Dnd, Star Wars or Numenera or Pathfinder or any system of RPG you choose.
Useful books for further reading:
Random Encounters: Volume 1: 20 Epic Ideas to Try in Your Role-playing Gamers: amzn.to/217AjKx
My Guide to RPG Storytelling: amzn.to/1WUn1jx
The channel where all the Roleplaying happens is the Bacon Battalion which you can find here: / @greatgmlive
I use questions and comments from my subscribers to create the campaign that will be played on this channel , so check it out.
To Stalk the Roleplaying group and myself go here:
Website: www.greatgamem...
Facebook: / bacon-battalion-rpg-43...
Twitter: / baconrpg 
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Most people on the internet concentrate on rules and modifications of the game as forms of advice. The truth is that we spend most of the time in RPG's story-telling and you offer a lot of insight into that. Really appreciate your work!
+Mike Kellett My thanks. Look I will be the first to admit it - I hate numbers. So story telling has to be my focus. What I like though is that it makes it a bit more universal and non-system specific. Welcome to the table!
I know this is a few years old, but I'm making my way through your videos. This was very helpful.
Glad to have you on board. If they can help your game improve then that's awesome! Feel free to ask questions!
My players managed to escape from a prison without killing a single guard, and even expended one of their two healing potions to nurse a wounded guard back to health. Now that they've turned a random grunt turned into an actual character I'm going to have to get him involved in the story... especially when they inevitably get in trouble with the law again.
+Andrew Fullerton It sounds like you have a very resourceful group! Mine had such a great time in our latest adventure - which goes live tonight - they were in a similar situation, though not as perhaps lucky as yours! :)
How did you do this?! In my most recent prison break, one of the players killed another player for no discernable reason.
OH! So I write a story of a villain trying to get something, and allow the players to interfere with that story.
That... That is something I had never even thought of. I was just writing a story of heroes (or villains depending on the players) defeating villains (or heroes).
This is really brilliant.
Man. Another excellent video.
Honestly, your channel could ditch the Let's Play videos and dedicate its format to these sorts of instructional videos, and probably do quite well for itself in the long run. Good production, decent audio, and compelling information delivered by someone who is easy to listen to.
Very good.
Wow, we got a nostradamus in chat here
Astute
This video series has definitely helped me develop the narrative for my current game! My favourite thing about GMing is seeing my players explore and change the story. The players are forever unpredictable. :)
Great tips, would love to watch some more. One point about modules - I use them as a starting point, a guide more or less. And then I branch off as its played until the endpoint bears no resemblance to the written pages.
I know these videos are from a while back but I would like you to know they still help me be a better GM. I use modules because I do shorter games for when our main GM gets burned out, but I've always been good at free-form stuff (had a huge chaotic campaign which was just stuff I had made that day, it was fun!), so I find it fairly easy to make the modules fit the players.
Thanks for this, I'd love to see more videos in the same vein!
Thanks so much, we'll upload more soon!
I have been running the lost mines of phandelver... and writing down possible consequences of what they do...
They have already easily convinced a goblin to help them in the redbrands hideout because they where kind to it at the beginning of the adventure.
The wolves where fed and let free... so there will be consequences there too.
They also burnt down the redbrands local watering hole....
so many homebrew bits I’m easing into the module story as im a first time dm... it’s making me think about the next part after this module is complete.... makes things easier to homebrew the next part of the story
Great advice in general, though as someone who loves working with modules, I just can't help myself but argue the points you made about them. First thing is about them not being written for the specific group at your table. Which is obviously true, because the author doesn't even know which players sit at my table. But here's the thing. No one has ever said that modules have to be run as written 100% and that you can't tailor them to your group the same way you would do with your own adventure. and I'd claim that it's basically as easy as to create an adventure and have to care for tailoring it to your group all by yourself. Or even easier because if you're like me and love to work with the players during character creation, you generally have all kinds of information to help the players connect their PC's general goals with the content of the module.
The second point irks me even more, because I don't even think that it's true. Modules are as isolated from their surroundings as your own adventure, namely as much as you make them isolated. Even the most generic module has an outcome, which means consequences that influence their surroundings. Same with your self-made adventures, so if you allow those consequences to be established in your game world with those, there's no excuse not to do the same with modules built by other people. That goes even with shared world settings like the Realms or Golarion, unless you limit yourself because for whatever reason you think that the official lore can't be changed a bit. And if you're that type of GM, I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't allow your players to mess with your homebrew setting either.
Of all the videos on the Internet about GMing I love yours the most, to the point I actually loged-in (which I seldom do) just to click LIKE! And I love them not only for the awesome content (so incredibly educational and well done) but also, and especially, because of the way you talk. I want to be in your in your Game.
Really enjoyed your videos as a long-time DM myself. Keep up the good work.
Building my own world and prepping one shots/long campaigns for the future, and these have been great.
This was so useful thank you so much now I can finish setting up my rpg!
this helped so much, i'm currently writing an adventure set in the Shaar region of Fauren where the players are trying to build a new settlement and have been appointed as kind of caravan guards.
That sounds like a solid base. Lots of potential stories there. Let us know how it goes!
gonna be my first adventure actully
This videos are awesome, I was watching them and tons of ideas came across my mind. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience with younger GM, great job dude.
This is very informative and shows potential of good teaching at our favorite hobby. Subbed, liked and definitelly would follow tutoring if available at any cost! Keep it up!
This is the most informative video i have seen on anything related to dnd, I am a new gm with 6-7 new players, and I couldn't keep their interest with a story, as i couldn't make one seem real. This has helped me alot.
Hey! I'm sorry I don't know your name but as a player who has been playing for 1yr and had no intention of dming. You have inspired me to become a DM! I have binged watched your videos and have so far created an awesome world for my PCs to explore. Thankyou for your amazing insight (lol) into this realm of story telling. You really have revolutionized the way I think about storytelling.
Regards
Byron
I love a group storytelling mentality and the fact that a DM/GM can be a sort of facilitator, like you say, adding hooks, pace and agendas then let them loose to make up there own assumptions, directions and further plot discussions while, and I've seen you do it ;)... while you sit back taking notes to ad the future sessions without the players realising they were creating content ;) Keep it up
+TrollDust Detox Thanks for the feedback! And the encouragement... mwahahaha!
Good points.
I would like to point out a method that I always try to do when it comes to modules. When used strictly, they easily become a crutch or training wheels. However, when studied through a flexible lens, you can easily meet the needs which in this discussion modules tend to lack. It is true that modules can't account for everything, but just like the rulebooks for tabletop games, the discretion is up to the GM.
I did this constantly with my first attempt GMing; I used a module I had run before, but wanted to make things more engaging and exciting than they had been (I had had a lot of fun with the LMofP for D&D 5e). I noticed that a dragon encounter was included as more of an optional event, and so I altered the ending by making the dragon one of the ultimate bosses by having it attack the town of the PCs. I ignored a prompt in the module where a certain named wraith avoided creating spectors because of personal morals, and allowed him to work his necromatic powers on a player character who had recently died in the area, forcing the party to fight not only a powerful foe, but a former ally as well.
In my one-shots after, I tend to keep the setting; one of the PCs retired from adventuring and began rebuilding the town of Thundertree, which in a Christmas one-shot was beginning to attract residents due to the character's heroic presence; another PC similarly retired to watch over the mining town of Phandalin, serving as the head of the local Watch and protecting them from bandits and possible dragon attacks.
You can use a module and abandon it, taking with you and the party only the EXP and the items you collected along the way, or you can use the artistic liberties of a GM to make it a part of the world you want to create and return to. This isn't to downplay creating worlds yourself (you can certainly do that, and the first time I played, my GM simply changed the local to match his preexisting world), but I encourage you to not underestimate the inspiration you can glean from modules.
Once again, quite good. Simple common sense advice is always appreciated. :)
Common sense is often in short supply :)
New GM here, this is a fantastic series! Thanks for all the tips and advice. Awesome job!
Totally another level. Masterclasses about being a master :D thank you!
to tell the truth, I have begun just recently to take a liking to the table games, and I was looking exactly for this!!!! awesome videos!!!
Greetings from Peru :-)
I must correct myself, roll play games!!!
Hello Peru! Would love to visit there one day. I'm glad this can help you - please if you have any questions just leave me a comment somewhere and I'll add it to our list of videos to still do!
Player expectations can vary a lot from player to player. Having a good setup or Act I is important. Getting from Act I to the great confrontation in Act III is a struggle.
I appreciate the advice. I was doing a zombie survival game with my family. Their characters were looting a storage locker and for a success roll I asked them to describe what they found. My son said he found a pistol because the owner of the locker was a FBI or CIA agent. Then my daughter's PC found a button that opened a hidden door to another room that was empty except for a pair of nunchucks. The next day I thought about if they ever got into a bad situation I can have that CIA agent save them. It's like you said the story will write itself.
I’m doing a series of solo GM concept videos and your perspective is an interesting meta-view in light of mine
This channel is so helpful!
Hello from a freshly new dm ! Excellent video definitely helps me with my campaign , which I plan on placing in a Victorian esque setting
That was a great video, Thank you so very much.
I'm a quite new DM and I totally agree with your criticism against modules.
I'm currently running Storm King's Thunder and I'm baffled at how badly the narrative is set.
There's almost no sense of urgency, nothing that urges the players to actually care about rampaging giants, no real villain presented until the very end and no presentation of why the level 4 PC's should stop the giants instead of some level 14 NPC knights from the citadel.
I have found that I've had to rewrite 80% of all encounters, set pieces and story, which kind of defeats the purpose of a module.
Often we can miss the intent of the writer of the module - which is in itself a failing of the module. But I hear you! And agree with you!
Wonderful work sir. I applaud the content , delivery and production of your series!
I am just returning to the hobby after a lengthy absence. (THAC0 days were the last time I played :) This series is helping to jumpstart the creative cogs once again !
+Kevin That's awesome! I remember Thaco days! That's one of the reasons I became a GM. It meant I didn't care about Thaco! lol
I actually started out with a module of my first session (the starter set). we were all new to 5e, and it was my first time playing it DMing, so I figured that using a module would save me some leg work. couldn't have been more wrong. there were dozens of scenarios the players came up with that I was not prepared for. Long story short, the climax of the arc came, not after they freeded the mines, but when they had to destroy the bloodthirsty cult of goblins the cleric and wizard had created in Cragmaw Castle when they tried to turn the goblins against the hobgoblins and bugbear so they could rescue the dwarf in the ensuing chaos.
Ah that adventure... my players ended up with a goblin tied to a stick that they'd use a trap detector and shield... sigh. So much fun.
@ Josh Bergman - with really inexperienced players... like never played before - I almost always let them build characters they think are cool and then put them through a 'bootcamp' beginning. So as young Jedi they attend a master, as young knights they have to 'build' a fort. Whatever. So they slowly come to terms with how to play, and how to work as a team... though team and players is a relative term :)
Good solid tips that I enjoyed very much.
When is part 3 coming?
But using a module can be great too, though you will have to adapt the module for the players and bend the story to your will as a GM, and you'll still need to use your own imagination to expand the module yourself :), great video though! :D
my players managed to kill the villain in the beginning ^^
+leon guignon Wow what a great opportunity for you! Ask yourself this question - If the villain is gone - was he working alone? Did he have minions? Now you have a fantastic opportunity to have your new villain arrive and THANK the players characters for removing his enemy! He disappears in a puff of smoke before they can react of course. Always go back to story and from the Villains point of view. There are ALWAYS bad guys :)
+From the cave they became the bad guy because of a demonic staff, and the game went to trying to get the staff to trying to rule the world, fortunately they didn't quite managed yet, I don't know what adventure to give them once they rule the world, I don't want them to go to space and expand the same game bigger and bigger, but I can't just say: "hey you just lost what you've done", maybe I'll try make them go to a different universe so when they come back somebody else found the staff and they have to destroy him to continue ruling the world, hmm ... and he could be a little novice at things so strange stuff will happen
+leon guignon Think about BIGGER villains - what do the other Planes of existence think about a bunch of no goods running the place? Have the planes unite to send assassins etc. Or have a party of adventurers go back in time using a Wish spell. You have to somehow isolate the players characters so they have a chance to prevent it. Just some thoughts.
+leon guignon We did this a book early in a module and had a good laugh. Silly dragon forgot Paladin crit smites kills.
Hahahah
Are you related to C.S. Lewis? Your voice is AMAZING
Thank you this is so helpful
Awesome video, you look like Nick Frost btw
Your videos are fabulous
Thanks for the videos. I found the idea of framing the plot in terms of the villain really interesting. Any suggestions on how to engage players who are new to RPG's and therefore, have little to no expectations or experience?
That's some really good tips. Just subscribed to your channel
+Michel Parpaillon Welcome to the table! I hope you can find a lot more. Also if you have ideas on videos you'd like to see - let us know!
+How to be a Great Game Master For now I'm watching all the existing videos, but as a new GM I'm sure I'll have some ideas on videos I'd like to see :)
Enjoy!
I don't think there is anything to stop a module from connecting to the rest of the world...I think it depends on how you want to implement it. I mean, if you want to just say "we're doing this module and then we're going to forget about it and go back to our other stuff", sure it is disconnected, but if that is what you are doing it would make more sense to do the module with new characters and retire them immediately afterwards. On the other hand, if you weave the module into a broader story about the changing world, then it can be just as impactful as anything else. For instance, the modules for The One Ring RPG are phenomenally well-written and they involve decisions and actions that the players can take which impact the future of some of the peoples and places encountered, at times even suggesting how one particular decision might affect a certain place many years down the line for the GM's campaign considerations. They will mention how an encounter with an NPC might be different depending on what the heroes have done or accomplished prior to even beginning the module. It will mention how later encounters with that NPC should be impacted by what the players do during the module. And wherever these things are missing, it is the job of the GM to add them in, connecting the current events to the events before and after.
Also, just because a module is self-sufficient doesn't mean that it is complete. I believe that it is the GM's imperative to adjust the module according to the PCs and to add characters and dialogue and seeding and hints and side quests etc. etc. etc. in order to personalize the story. Any additional adventures run could tie into the module, tie into the broader story, or possibly even connect the two. Really, I think the trick to using a module well is to grind down the edges and make it fit seamlessly into your broader narrative following those PCs.
This video could be completely full of lies and I would still believe you. Excellent presentation :)
watching this video give me a indea of making a campaing where the villain whants somephing badly but the players without knowing it are helping hime get it
How would you feel about the entire drive throughout a story being the intentions, decisions, and actions of the PC with only being given a set of scenarios to interact with, yet given a large amount of freedoms? I've been attempting for about a year and a half, with feedback, to forge this through purely homebrew statistics and story/lore as (in my opinion) d&d 5th did not fit to my style of progressive GMing and left too much to a d20 ,but my first group of PCs was offset by the lengthy randomness, large scale of my world, and the fact that I "strayed 'too far' from continuitive linear storytelling",(they actually enjoyed my homebrew combat) even though I left my "main storyline" fully accessible and most side adventure semi-relevant to the game world. I have slight feeling I had just over complicated/over detailed the small events and tidbits of my world that it convoluted the atmosphere of my game and world. You are a master among storytelling, so I would love some detailed feedback.
Lol. "Insert the giant banana"
Indeed :) 🍌
I hate modules, I ALWAYS make up my world for my games as DM. That way I can always change or create at my will, to make the PCs the important ones.
My friends want me to make a campaign (even though they couldn't sit through a premade one for more than 3 sessions each being 1-2 hours long) when i asked what they would want to see or what theyd like to do they all said they either didnt care or know. I've never been so annoyed 'cause i have to make this campaign blind and anytime i give them any info they complain
I'm currently in the middle of me and my players first ever D&D campaign, so we're using the module that comes with the starter kit. I really have to agree with you though, I feel like the module is severely limiting what I can do. I don't dare to have huge consequences because of how it might affect the world and somehow screw up the storyline.
But even with saying that, I also feel like I'm doing what I can to have the world react to the player's actions.
For example: The party inadvertently caused trouble at one of the local inns and are now banned from entering it. One of my players got arrested for a petty crime and ended up befriending her guard through sarcastic banter. There was also this inn where the antagonist faction usually spent their recrational hours. (Different inn from the first one) This leads into the biggest thing to happen as a consequence of player action. A player (the one that got arrested, for a completely different crime) snuck in to the antagonist faction's hideout (not the inn) and sliced the throats of three sleeping bandits. A few days later the corpses were hanging off the roof in front of the closed and now abandoned bandit inn, throats showing and the words "We know" carved into the wall.
I got all of that from the pre-made adventure telling me that there were two inns, a normal one and the bandit one, so to speak. It also said that the town hall had a few cells for keeping prisoners, no mentions of any guards with personality.
So in short: I feel I'm doing what I can with what I have and I cannot wait until we finish up so we can start my campaign.
+kainan613 Sounds like you are doing a bang-up job mate! We didn't even get to the town. We buried the wagon and contents, then tracked down the goblins by taking one of the goblins prisoner, tying him to a stick, and using him as a 'goblin divining rod'. We died in the cave. lol. But you seem to be doing a cool job with what you have! And let us know how your campaign goes - which beginning will you choose :p
Inspiring and entertaining reply, thank you. A "Goblin Divining Rod" sounds amazing and puts all sorts of interesting stories in my head. It's been written down and shall be incorporated eventually.
hahaha, Awesome
With what you're describing, you're already doing great!
However, if you're hesitant to create bigger consequences in order to not mess with anything in the module, consider logging those actions for after the end of the module. With patience you now have a grand surprise for later. Besides, having originated from material thought of as a module they're done and over with by now, it could be even more unexpected than usual.
In addition, you get the advantage of in-game time to help justify the sheer scope of the consequence.
Agreed!
10/10=👍
How do you feel about extracting details from modules to make them personal? For example, a PC is a renown Vampire killer and hears about Barovia. Or, creating/replacing an NPC in a module to make it more personal?
+Mike Kellett In a con setting I do this all the time. Although I write modules for cons, and play modules at cons I typically like to make them my own in some way. If only so that after module my players have a unique story to go home with. As for plundering material from modules for own use, go for it. We are all just reworking material to suite our own stories anyway. I use the monsters manual/guide whatever as a 'oh look - some stats'. Regardless of the creature, I use the numbers to quickly create my own unique beasts that don't come out of a book... but do... but don't... you get the idea,.
I keep trying to tell amazing stories and I've watched TONS of your videos. They feel helpful but I keep inundating my brain with so many ideas at one time that I feel like I can't commit to something specific.
How can I turn off my brain long enough to plug in the Who What When Where Why and How in "Someone wants something badly and is having trouble getting it" long enough to tell an actual story from start to finish?
I have a similar problem. I start with one idea then it just spirals out.
Ask yourself how many of those ideas will likely come up during a session or matter to your players. It's a lot of fun to world build but if it doesn't make a difference to the players then it was only for your sake. It's ok to write some stuff that's just for you as long as it doesn't get in the way of prepping sessions
@@Oniphire Right. I figure the next time I run a game, I'll try to do a session zero so I know what to provide for each player to make it fun for them. Also get somd background stuff to sprinkle in and get everyone invested.
From there I'll focus on what's in front of the party or hints I want to drop toward side quests or foreshadowing. But if it isn't primary or secondary to the session at hand, I'll jot it down and if they find out about it or touch on it, I can always slide something in but only when it becomes relevant.
@@AcePlaysTCGs Foreshadowing is so fun. I love it. I like dropping little hints, some so small and unimportant that it doesn't even matter if anybody picks up on them. If they do it's just a little bonus
@@Oniphire I haven't done it enough in my DMing experience, but I love the idea of being able to sprinkle plot hooks or tidbits especially from backstories. Enough for a character to pick it up but no one else to know and let it be that character's choice to bring it up to the party like "hey I've got some Daddy issues and it seems like it's tims for me to fsce them" or "Would it be cool next time we're not doing much if I seing by my hometown and pay off a debt". You know, whatever the case may be.
I don't do that nesrly enough. Stuff like that can take the heat off me. I find I much prefer a series of adventures that make up a campaign and ultimately uses the group to help the individual characters find themselves rather than 1 epic saga that follow a pre-written tale which probably has nothing to do with the PCs goals or dreams. The PCs should affect the story and choose where they go or what they do rsther than just fighting the dragon because "that's what the DM threw at us today."
@@AcePlaysTCGs How do you do the epic saga AND make it about what the players want? I'm not very good at doing both at the same time and for my next campaign I really want to run an idea that's literally been knocking around in my skull for 20 years but right now in the early stage my plans are all about the epic saga.
I always wander how to scared my players throughtout my call of Chtuluh scenarios . Do you have advices ?
Oh, by the way, great channel, thank you! Il help me a lot. ^^
+Nicolas Walthery Its a good question and is on the list of videos that we will be making in the near future. It is really difficult to scare players, but there are a few... tricks :)
cant you just run a mod as a side ques?
Still not getting old.
I'm having trouble running my
Eldritch/eldrazi horror campaign I don't know what to do can some one help me??
Not really understanding why the villain has to be the one driving the story - what if the game is about the PCs breaking out of prison, for example? Then it's the PCs desires driving the story, and the prison providing obstacles to those desires, yeah?
he's not saying that shouldn't or can't happen, it's just the example he's providing currently in the video.
Do you have any advice on running a "storyless" campaign?
It's a great question. But I need some clarification - by storyless do you mean on there where there is no bigger story? It's just random little quests that don't link together and that are chanced upon by the characters?
+How to be a Great Game Master Pretty much, I've not got any larger plots or wars going on, my players are, at the start of the campaign, asked "where do you find yourself?".
With such an intentionally open question, they themselves will be helping to create the world setting.
I already have backup rules and scenarios in my back pocket for if they spring something like "I'm a dwarf, I wake up in an intergalactic truck stop toilet."
Wow! Total sandbox. It's a great question! Added to the list! Thank you for asking!
Nice video ! Have my support and...sub!
I don't really massively like the "roleplaying to tell a story" way of roleplaying. I definitely see the appeal to people who like that, though. But to me it's more about creating a believable ecosystem where the players can do what they want. Of course stories will be created because of the different characters and their interests, as well as the characters actions in the world, but that's about it.
Ah you're a 'Simulator' not a 'Narrator' type of GM. It's a perfectly valid and very rewarding way to run a game. I imagine though it must take a lot of prep? And the emergent stories must be as interesting to you as to the players no doubt?
How to be a Great Game Master
It doesn't take that much prep before a specific session, but you have to put down a lot of work into the setting itself (whether you create it yourself, or not. I usually do the former). I can spend years creating a setting. Mapping it out, setting up countries, leaders, interests, diplomatic relationships, etc. But I don't really create much detailed smaller scale stuff unless I'm struck by a stroke of inspiration or am particularly bored or something. I usually create the smaller scale things for a specific group inside the setting I use. However, due to creating a world it's very easy to reuse the same world and it's contents in many campaigns (and you can even use the actions of previous PC's as history in your setting). In essence, it's a lot of "up front" work, in return for it being much easier to create stories later and the world being a lot more "alive and natural". Instead of having a specific plot in your head, you can just ask yourself in a specific situation "what would this character do in this situation?" and just let it go where it takes you. Of course this can lead to some silly things if you're not very experienced, but you'll learn to create characters who won't completely screw up everything over time : )
I can see that it's not for everyone, though. Especially the kind of GM's who have a hard time thinking on the spot and needs everything laid out in advance. But to me, that doesn't really result in a very interesting world to play in. It feels more like a multiple choice story book in that case, y'know?
How to be a Great Game Master
Here's a pretty good video on the concept of creating a more natural/alive world. It's mainly looking at video games, but the same thing applies: ht tps ://ww w. youtube. co m/watch?v=wvwlt4FqmS0
Just remove the spaces (getting around youtube removing comments with links...).
Stop doing that to Rebecca and Matt slays
Want to be a member!? Want to be a member!?
what do you mean by giant banana
See the episode before this one.
Please, please, please, please! Please remember that these activities of imagination are perhaps easy for more neuro-typical people. Imagination is incredibly difficult for neuro-divergent people. It is incredibly disheartening to continuously hear that this easy and that everybody can do it. These activities are almost physically difficult/impossible for some people. The tools and scaffolding you provide are good but they're very difficult to put into practice for some people. We need different tools or different delivery of the advise because demonstrating how "easy" this is leaves us lost without understanding in the best case or creates a negative feedback loop in the worst case.