Advice/Help I need advice on being a good GM

[AnthonyWrath]

Hi RPN community I need advice on being a good GM for an rp in going to be making soon and I would like your help on tips and ideas of what I can do to make the rp run smoothly and stay interesting. Any and all advice is welcomed and appreciated.

 

[Hall Kervean]

Uh, I won't be much help, because I only gmed once, I didn't gm too actively, and it was on Roblox, but uh
-Stay active; if you don't post on your own RP, neither will anyone else
-Come up with basically filler scenarios in the RP that will pad time and (maybe) offer some sort of in-RP reward while you try to come up with a way to progress the plot somewhat
-If you don't have a plot in place, then come up with a list of scenarios and then flesh them out in your head before applying them in-RP.
-Communicate with your players; if there's confusion over something, if there are players fighting, or if your players need your help or you need to give the players some help, do so.
-Don't drag your RP scenarios. Take it from the guy who thought a stalemate was a great way to progress the plot; do not drag your RP scenarios longer than necessary. If you genuinely think it will add to the RP to add a "twist" that would lengthen the RP *or* drag on the RP in some other way, then ask others and be sure you have a plan to cut it short if enough players express that they're becoming bored.
-Don't favor one RPer over another
-Give a detailed character sheet or a very loose one; a detailed one will make some people unable to complete it and other people able to give a full character description while a very loose one will make everyone able to complete it and many people unable to give the full character description they want/need.
-Be sure to adjust your CS to your roleplay. Don't use the standard like/dislike background appearance when asking for someone to create a nation.
-Be sure to flesh out the rules and loopholes of your roleplay, was well as any system or mechanic you use in the roleplay (i.e. if you want to do a magic system, flesh out the rules and drawbacks and exceptions to the magic rules).
-Be sure to flesh out the backstory of the setting and story.

That's about it from the guy who hasn't GMed much/very successfully.

 

[Idea]

Before I say anything else, we need to get a hard truth out of the way. Even if you execute perfectly, that's still only 30% of what's neededed, in other words, not enough. A king can't rule without subjects and a roleplay can't live without players. What you can help your odds, but ultimately , your success or failure will be mostly luck if the draw. You need the right melting pot of players to form an active, lively and functional community around your roleplay, and to get them sufficiently close and cooperative to enjoy the particular style you chose for your roleplay. So 99/100 times, roleplays are just gonna die. It's a fact that one needs to accept before they start GMing, or there will many more hardships they will experience. Even getting a roleplay off the ground at all isn't easy at all.

That said, what experience I have I would like to try and share. Do of course take everything I say here with a grain of salt, but I hope it can be useful for you.

One thing I will always advise is planning. The more you can get solid and ready beforehand the more smoothly and intelligently you can introduce it to people, and the faster you can get things ready. While garnering interested, attempt to lay out a plan for every section your RP will need, and what will be in it. If possible, start writing those sections as soon as you get any interest. While this may seem like a potential waste of time, it can also potentially save you from having lost the players from the sheer wait. I also advise having a ready plot in mind, with openings, but already having some things set at least. Namely, in your interest checks you're gonna want to communicate what kind of characters the players will be playing (take a medieval war, the players ought to know if they're gonna be playing the ground troops, the generals, a special unit or whatever else), what the goal of the roleplay is (as in what the characters are ultimately supposed to be heading towards or trying to achieve), the general tone (more cheerful and slice of life-ey, more comedic, dark and gritty, that kind of thing) and of course, the technical details (post requirements, rules and barriers for entry like writing samples or limited number of players)



So by my recent experience, making a good roleplay first and foremost starts with asking yourself "what RP do I want to make?". I don't mean just the plot and setting, albeit those are important parts of the RP as well, but also the things of ultimate importance to the RP. Is there a message to communicate? Do you simply want to explore the concept of a particular world or form of magic? That kind of thing.
While many would answer they want an RP that lasts and everyone can have fun in, having that as your goal means you are ultimately willing to sacrifice every other aspect of the roleplay for that to happen. But anything needed for that goal, you won't budge on.

Having a goal will let you have a sense of direction for your own decisions as a GM, as not having one will make you inconsistent. Both ends of that particular spectrum, the tyrant GM and the GM that just goes along with everything, tend to be horrible experiences for players.


The second thing to note is there is a distinction between you as a GM and you as a player. Don't make your characters the center of the plot, don't be the exception to your own rules. Both of these can be infuriating and confusing, not to mention practically asking to become too self-centered to properly care for your player's needs. In short, while as a player you want to enjoy yourself, as a GM your goal should be the good of the RP you set out to make. You don't have the responsibilities of GMing as a player, so you shouldn't enjoy the power of a GM either. Keeping that in mind will help you balance out what needs to be done better, and get closer to the point of view your players experience with the limitations you set.



Now going more into the meat of your questions, what you want to keep a roleplay interesting boils down to three factors: competitive advantage, pacing and diversity. You want to give your players what they came for fresh and fast.
Competitive advantage is the answer to the question of why the players chose your roleplay among the hundreds available. What makes it interesting to begin with, what's your hook? Figuring hat out isn't easy but if the players aren't given a frequent supply of it, they will simply start abandoning the roleplay. While extremely important though, this factor can be replaced sometimes, but again, luck of the draw there.
You also want to pace the roleplay right, and by that, I mean plot and posts need to at one advance fast enough that people aren't eternally kept waiting for every little avance , but also not so fast that the players are overwhelmed as soon as they join. Be sure to advance the plot in steady intervals and keep in mind players will usually have very busy lives.
Lastly there is diversity. Even if you have the perfect activity that is exactly what our players wanted, you're gonna be running on fumes very quickly if you are unable to evolve and bring change. If your RP only has one side to it, then you're going to be very boring very quickly.

 

[eyflfla]

Here is my back-handed advice:

Please read over your posts. This goes for everyone, but as GM it is especially important that you proof read your damn posts! Especially the very first one!. If a GM can't be arsed to check over his first post for basic errors than I don't expect him to be worth a shit later on.

Please be active. This goes for everyone, but as GM it is fundamentally important that you be active in your own damn thread! Check that shit everyday. Respond every day. If you know you have stuff coming up, like finals, a wedding, a divorce, whatever.. Don't start the RP yet! If stuff does come up, tell your players that. It doesn't have to be any harder then sending a text. Just post "Some stuff came up, I won't be active for a few days." If you tell your players when your next post, or information dump, or whatever will be up, make sure you honor that commitment. If you decide the RP has failed, at least post that you gave up so you don't leave half your players wondering.

If you can do these two things I can forgive a lot because if you care enough to do these two things it means you care enough not to muck up the other stuff too bad.

 

[ApfelSeine]

I've found that the best GMs are the ones who make an effort to understand each character that is introduced - both who they are and what their motivation is. It also is valuable when the GM makes an effort to incorporate story elements which appeal to the players involved. This can be done by asking directly. Of course, at the end of the day you're in charge of things, so it's up to your discretion what ideas would be worth it to implement, and which are not needed or useful. A good GM is one who listens to everything the players have to say, but relies on their own judgement of what will work and what will make for a fun rp.

 

[Beckoncall]

I think a GM lives or dies by the players you choose -- have a good teaser thread advertising a good fleshed out concept -- take applications and don't accept everybody. Have a plan for what to do if players fall out -- sometimes the best people in your game can just stop playing.

I'd be happy to talk ideas with you and flesh stuff out, I run my own game on RPN and besides stay active (or be open about it when you can't) the main thing is keeping things moving and trying to give people what they want, or if not that, what they don't expect.

I run "Lost Continent: Flight from Muurdaan" -- it's a nation builder and it's been going on for a long time now. So happy to help a fellow GM if I can.

 

[AbsurdNerd]

(I'm sorry, that's not very helpful. Just ignore me)