Common mistakes that less-skilled GMs make, We`re not perfect either Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Iota]

Ok folks,

I guess it is time to have a little reflection this time on mistakes a GM could make.

I experienced to crucial mistakes during GMing:

1. Cry for NPCs and enemies you created.
I always spend a lot of time creating the NPCs and enemies in my adventures. They have a background, a motivation, they are more than numbers. But the way my players prefer to play even the NPCs usually get killed. Sometimes I had really a hard time to let "my" characters get killed, but every afford to save them would up set my players. So the lesson I´ve learned: don`t cry. You know what your players are like, so don`t hate them for doing what they always do, just enjoy your cool NPCs and enemies and let them die.

2. If your group likes on particular style of playing (shooting a lot/ no shooting at all/riddles, etc.), give them what they like.
If you try to change them by giving them adventures which don`t fit their style, they will get frustrated and you will too. It`s a game, the only reason to play it is having fun and you`ll have the most fun if your players have fun.

[Jhaiisiin]

Not always. The guy who typically runs our SR games is a notoriously bad roller. I mean, max 1-2 successes as a general rule kind of bad, and usually complete failures or glitches.. It doesn't matter the dice, or the game system. That's just how it is. Another guy in our group (typically our oWoD GM) rolls exceedingly above average number of successes as a rule (in the open, so he's not fudging his rolls). He has had to fudge his rolls to save PC's in our WoD games more often than he can count because of his rolls (Hooray, 15 successes on damage, 2 on soak... uh, you only had 2 boxes left? Err... you're unconscious!).

Sometimes it's just a person's luck with dice. Granted, my situation is likely fairly unique, but it doesn't make it impossible. It's not always player tactics that get them killed.

[Cain]

Sometimes it's just a person's luck with dice. Granted, my situation is likely fairly unique, but it doesn't make it impossible. It's not always player tactics that get them killed.

I have an unbroken string of critical botches, every time I GM Shadowrun, going back to the late 90's. At least once a session, I will roll a critical botch, and this includes the SR3 days. You know, back when you needed to roll all 1's?

Even so, I've had a few big rolls, too. I've never come close to running a character out of Edge due to a lucky streak, nor do I think I will. If the average character has an Edge of 4, I need to utterly destroy him on a roll five time before I need to fudge. If someone's getting ganked five time a game, something is seriously wrong.