To start things off, let me note that I am aware that this is not the first topic of its kind. In fact, numerous persons have already posted good guidelines on things like these, for example the ones listed in this thread here: https://www.rpnation.com/topic/260970-how-to-dm/
Furthermore, there are some old threads from before the update that offer good advice - I already had a look at them some time ago, and will certainly dig them up if this turns into an actual project of mine (or, to be precise, before that happens).
So, what is this all about? Lately, I've been looking for a new dice-rp to join, preferably one in a medieval-like setting. Most of the rps I'm participating in as of now are more futuristic-oriented, so I was looking for something different. But while there are a couple of interest checks out there that point into the right direction, they mainly seem to have abandoned the idea of playing by post. Whether this is due to the lack of a decent dice roller on the site or something else should not be important here - the relevant thing is that this makes rping for some of us, including me, rather difficult due to timezones and real-life restrictions. Therefore, the question arose: What if I would try to set up a game myself?
The problem: Neither have I GMed before, nor am I actually experienced with either dnd (5e for me) or Pathfinder, which seem to be the systems of choice for such a setting. I have read through the rules of both of them, and created characters myself, but all the games I joined basically died off before I could experience the whole range of options and decisions. So the first question here probably would be: How much experience should the gm have with the system he is using? Would you strongly advice against using them without having played through at least a short campaign based on the system, or do you think that they are simple enough to jump in (with proper time investment) when restricting to the basic rules? I imagine that things like encounter-balancing and various other challenges are certainly much easier when you already have a certain feeling how these kind of things tend to work out.
The second question is related to the time investment: How much time do you tend to invest in an rp you've created on your own? Of course, the initial planning will be time-consuming - and working out the small details along the way takes time as well. It would help a lot to have a proper estimate on the efforts needed in comparison to an rp where you're just participating as a pc. This question has another background as well: During my time here, I've had rps with both very dedicated and rather inactive gms - the first kind managed to actually revive already dead rps multiple times, creating memorable moments all along the way, while the latter kind managed to have rps with very invested players die off within days. I feel like if you're gming, the first ones are the examples to look at, and therefore I wouldn't like to commit to gming an rp without having enough time to actually make it work.
Thirdly, is there anything you'd advice a new gm in particular to do or not to do? Anything you should leave alone until you have more experience, like too complicated or too simple plot lines etc.? I'd imagine a plot with a major twist after every single encounter might be harder to gm than a rather linear story line.
Lastly, something random and rather specific that just came into mind: What is the usual length of fights you are aiming for? Most rps I've seen are aiming for about three actions of each character until things are done, sometimes a bit more than that. Is that the upper bound for things to stay interesting?
Thanks in advance for any kind of reply, feel free to redirect me to other threads if the questions are already covered there in a sufficient way. I could bet to have read a thread about the second one at some point, but I wasn't able to dig it out - the search function sadly showed no result. If something is incomprehensible, don't hesitate to ask. English is not my first language, so there might be unclear points along the way that I would gladly specify.
Furthermore, there are some old threads from before the update that offer good advice - I already had a look at them some time ago, and will certainly dig them up if this turns into an actual project of mine (or, to be precise, before that happens).
So, what is this all about? Lately, I've been looking for a new dice-rp to join, preferably one in a medieval-like setting. Most of the rps I'm participating in as of now are more futuristic-oriented, so I was looking for something different. But while there are a couple of interest checks out there that point into the right direction, they mainly seem to have abandoned the idea of playing by post. Whether this is due to the lack of a decent dice roller on the site or something else should not be important here - the relevant thing is that this makes rping for some of us, including me, rather difficult due to timezones and real-life restrictions. Therefore, the question arose: What if I would try to set up a game myself?
The problem: Neither have I GMed before, nor am I actually experienced with either dnd (5e for me) or Pathfinder, which seem to be the systems of choice for such a setting. I have read through the rules of both of them, and created characters myself, but all the games I joined basically died off before I could experience the whole range of options and decisions. So the first question here probably would be: How much experience should the gm have with the system he is using? Would you strongly advice against using them without having played through at least a short campaign based on the system, or do you think that they are simple enough to jump in (with proper time investment) when restricting to the basic rules? I imagine that things like encounter-balancing and various other challenges are certainly much easier when you already have a certain feeling how these kind of things tend to work out.
The second question is related to the time investment: How much time do you tend to invest in an rp you've created on your own? Of course, the initial planning will be time-consuming - and working out the small details along the way takes time as well. It would help a lot to have a proper estimate on the efforts needed in comparison to an rp where you're just participating as a pc. This question has another background as well: During my time here, I've had rps with both very dedicated and rather inactive gms - the first kind managed to actually revive already dead rps multiple times, creating memorable moments all along the way, while the latter kind managed to have rps with very invested players die off within days. I feel like if you're gming, the first ones are the examples to look at, and therefore I wouldn't like to commit to gming an rp without having enough time to actually make it work.
Thirdly, is there anything you'd advice a new gm in particular to do or not to do? Anything you should leave alone until you have more experience, like too complicated or too simple plot lines etc.? I'd imagine a plot with a major twist after every single encounter might be harder to gm than a rather linear story line.
Lastly, something random and rather specific that just came into mind: What is the usual length of fights you are aiming for? Most rps I've seen are aiming for about three actions of each character until things are done, sometimes a bit more than that. Is that the upper bound for things to stay interesting?
Thanks in advance for any kind of reply, feel free to redirect me to other threads if the questions are already covered there in a sufficient way. I could bet to have read a thread about the second one at some point, but I wasn't able to dig it out - the search function sadly showed no result. If something is incomprehensible, don't hesitate to ask. English is not my first language, so there might be unclear points along the way that I would gladly specify.