Advice/Help Any Tips for Running a Group?

[bastion]

I want to start a fantasy adventure group based around an adventuring guild. I'm getting help from a co-GM but I've never run a group on here so I'd love any and all advice on how to manage it.

What kind of preparations should I be doing?
How do I make a good group ad?
What do I do when activity is slow?
Anything else I need to be aware of?

 

[nerdy tangents]

I used to do a variation of this way back in the day my best tips are this :

1. have realistic expectations on what you can and cannot control. A good part of what makes a roleplay successful is simple luck and player chemistry. So if it doesn’t succeed I wouldn’t take it personally. Just do your best and accept that it might flop anyway.

2. Remember you are first and foremost the manager. If you have a co-GM then work with that person closely to make a clear and consistent division of labor. When it comes to management of any type, organization and consistency is the absolute best indicator of success.

3. Have a clear set of rules for character application, player participation, and player conduct. Not only should you have rules you should also have clear consequences for not following the rules. This should be shared among you and your co-GM and also shown to the players.

3. When it comes to participation in particular make sure you not only have a clearly visible schedule for when you and your co-GM are available but also ask your players what their hours of availability are as well. This may sound a bit too job like but it will help keep the story progressing to divide your players up based on who can post when.

4. Do not allow certain players to post too frequently, nothing kills a roleplay faster like it becoming a 1x1 between two players who leave everyone else in the dust. This is where hours of availability come in, depending on who is available when there are a few different options to fix this. I can expand on all of them or a specific one once the RP gets off the ground.

5. To keep the story progressing have a schedule for time skips. This will be created based on when your players are available and how frequently you want people to post. I usually allow three to five posts per each scene. This gives everyone a chance to participate but does not keep you stuck in a scene forever.

6. You and your co-GM need to come up with mini quests for lack of a better word. I did a magical school roleplay once and here are some of the mini quests for that ;

- students go on a field trip to a deserted island (two parts)
- students have a cooking contest
- students play hide and seek with explosives
- students steal an item from a rival school

I came up with at least twelve mini quests before the start of the roleplay (for nearly every month of the year) and allowed players to submit additional ones once the roleplay started.

I would do something similar with your co-GM come up with mini plots to keep your players engaged and maybe move the over all plot forward a bit at a time (each of the school mini plots lead up to the final exam which was the climax of the story).

Thafs all I can think of right now.

tl:dr this is a lot of organizational work that’s gonna be a pain in the ass but will make it so much easier to keep things on track with other people.