Running a Successful Campaign: Tips & Tricks for Week 6

Weekly Tip/Trick for Friday, September 28, 2012

  1. Remember the Books are Just Guidelines – One thing that kept me from becoming a DM at first was a limited understanding of the rules.  You don’t need to know every rule to run a game.  The way I like to look at it is to think of the books as guidelines, not rules.  They are great for solving disputes, and keeping a structured game.  They are not the 100% have to follow rules though.  If you don’t like a particular rule, change it.  Just make sure you inform the players.  If you think of a cool idea in mid-session, but you didn’t have it planned out beforehand, just wing it and look it up after the game if you have to.  Last, but not least, don’t be a rules lawyer!  If a player missed something on accident, don’t punish them for not knowing or remembering the rules.  Understand that it was an honest mistake and move on.  This doesn’t mean ignore every rule in the book, because this often leads to chaos.  All I’m saying is you don’t need to know every rule in the book to be a good DM.  In fact, I think it can sometimes take away from games when Player’s/DM’s focus way too much on rules.  Just remember the basics and the rest will come with time.  In my opinion, the best way to learn the rules anyways is to be a DM.   There are indeed a lot of rules, but I see DM’s who have been running for longer than I’ve been alive who still forget rules all the time.  When all else fails, just ask.

Having said all this, there are some rules you should consider knowing before running a game.  After all, the books are there for a reason.  I recommend you learn at least some of the basics in order to keep a well-structured game.  Here are some basics that will help you get started:

    • Skills (Players Handbook, page 61 – v3.5):  You don’t need to memorize them, just know when it is appropriate to have players roll skill checks.  For instance, when a player is looking for something in a room, a search check would be used in lieu of a spot check in most cases.
    • Combat Basics (Players Handbook, page 135 – v3.5):  Most of this can be learned just by asking, but knowing the basics to combat will avoid the 20 minute explanation of what you can read in 10 minutes.
    • Magic & Spells (Players Handbook, page 169 & 196 – v3.5):  Again, you don’t need to memorize this.  A basic understanding of how magic works and is cast can go a long way.  As far as spells go, it might be a good idea to bookmark the spells page (pg. 196) in your players handbook for quick spell reference.  Almost every session someone has to stop to look up a spell for one reason or another.  Having good book marks can save loads of time.
    • Rewards (Dungeon Masters Guide, page 36-42 – v3.5):  This is a guideline for basic XP (experience points) rewards.  Looking this up can be done after the session or in downtime.
    • Others – If you have time, looking up equipment, deities, races, and classes can be helpful too.  Especially if you want to cut down on the number of questions you will have to ask your players.

The list above may look like a lot, but is actually about 20 minutes total reading time max.  If you have not read through these, don’t worry.  Most players will be happy to help out a new DM.  As long as you keep your first few games simple, you will learn a lot of the basics quickly.  The most important thing to remember is to be creative.  Knowing the rules is not what makes a game fun.

I hope these tips have been helpful so far. Please feel free to leave any comments and I’m always open to feedback.  Next week, we discuss the most important aspect of running a game.

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