Advice for running an Adventure (and not just a game)

A little background on me to help you get started.  I started playing AD&D when it was still a set of "books" that were stapled down the middle.  I also knew the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they were just an ad in the back of Dragon Magazine.

My friends would always throw me into any game as the DM and it took a few times playing with them as the DM to understand why.  I found out from watching them that not everyone can be a good Game Master. Here is my advice for anyone wanting to run an Adventure.

First off make the Villain "real".  Build him up with quirks and problems and fears.  As the 10 commandments of villainy state, He should not just have issues but the whole Subscription.  This is probably the single most important thing.  Really work at making the villain someone that your players can hate.  Remember, 10,000 hit points is not tough.  2 hit points and a knack for getting out alive is MUCH tougher.

Remember that a good Adventure is a STORY and as such cast your parts appropriately. Look at who you have playing and never be afraid to cast the role of hero on a Different person than you first thought.

Adapt your Adventure to what your players do.  Always be willing to bend your adventure a little to fit around what the Players do.  Remember, YOU know the story already and they don't.  Lead them into it.  This may mean you have to be as subtle as a sledge hammer sometimes but you must help them to find their own way.  It will be far more enjoyable for your players if they think they found it out on their own.

If you have a hard time writing a story, Steal One!  there are really only 7 basic story lines in the world so find a good story and adapt it.  Please try and make it enough different so that players can't tell what it is.  You do not have to flesh the whole story out, just the basics.  Your players will really tell the details.

Here is my most important advice. Roll your dice behind a screen and then NEVER look at them for the important parts. This is a story and as such certain things must happen.  I have rarely, if ever, seen the dice come up the way they should in a critical situation.

Make the player "think" he's going to die.  Get him down to just one hit point and then get him out of danger by the skin of the skin of his teeth.  Reward outlandish efforts.  Think about it, what would Indiana Jones be without his whip?

Don't make it easy.  If a non-critical story element gets side tracked because of a die roll, Let It!  See if your players can recover.

I think that the single hardest thing to do when making a good Adventure is to let your Players think that you will let them all die. Don’t be afraid to kill off the entire party if it is unavoidable but don’t go looking for it either.  If you can put them on the edge of death, without actually killing them off, then the victory at the end will be all the sweeter.    Your players will know that they won out with skill and daring and will praise you as a GM/DM for years to come.

Well,

There is some sound advice in here, but having run games the last six years at Gencon, I would advise that running a Con session is different that running an adventure, which I found out to my chagrin ;?)

First.  Prepare, prepare, prepare!!  I cannot stress this enough!  Have all your characters and NPCs complete, as well as your adventure complete, down to narrative descriptions for key areas.  Also, be familiar with the gaming system, and have a cheat sheet for combat and key activities already filled out and available.

Second.  Time, time, time!!!!!  Remember that you most likely only have four hours...minus the time for people to show up, get their crap out, and get familiar with their PCs.  Plus you will be handling up to eight folks - generally more than your local gaming group back home - which means every event will take longer than you anticpate.  Be careful how long an adventure you plan - I would bank on getting half of what you and your group at home get done in a similar length session.

 Umm.....I am sure there is more, but I have to get a beer now.

We had a whole prior thread on running convention games. They really are a different animal. Wonder where it went?

Anyway, some brief stuff:

*Have pregenerated characters.

*Players roll all dice at once (see the PH for this rules variant)

*No more than one minute on a rules lookup. Move ahead in the initiative order (if it isn't critical) and delegate the rules lookup to someone else at the table.

*Before play go around to each player and point out the highlights of their PC. If someone isn't familiar with the system, have them switch seats next to someone who is and can act as a mentor.

*Plan on max three combat encounters and max three roleplaying encounters.

*If you're playing D&D 3.#, consider not rolling for initiative. Instead arrange the PCs from highest initiative modifier on your left to lowest on your right. Go from left to right around the table for initiative.

*Map ahead of time. This one is crucial. That ten to fifteen minutes you save shuffling papers away and moving the sheets about then drawing can be done at home. (You get more detailed maps too.) Use the big one inch graph paper pads from Staples. Fold them up. Then plunk down for every encounter. Don't even pick up the old ones, just drop the new map over it and get them when the game finishes.

*Bring a box of pencils. Weird huh? You'd be surprised how many people don't have something to write with.

Make sure your Con adventure has a conclusion to you can actually achieve in 3.5 hours.  Nothing worse than a long, involved adventure that leaves you 15 minutes from the end when you've got another event scheduled right after this one.  If you need to remove encounters in mid-stream to make things fit, that's what you've got to do.

NascragMan:

Make sure your Con adventure has a conclusion to you can actually achieve in 3.5 hours.  Nothing worse than a long, involved adventure that leaves you 15 minutes from the end when you've got another event scheduled right after this one.  If you need to remove encounters in mid-stream to make things fit, that's what you've got to do.

NascragMan,  You have the spirit of what I am talking about!  I know there are time limitations to all games at the con and that is a very important item to take into account.  The spirit of the first post is to get GM's thinking about the story more than the mechanics and every story must have a great ending.  Even if you do have to skip a few things to get to it. 

This is all new to me...let me explain..To carbon date myself, I started gm'ing in 1980 yep that long.  I have gm'd several different systems like D&D (one of my favorite) twilight 2000 and Pendragon and have played in several others as well. 

 Here is the thing,  I have designed a new rpg system and will further beta test it at gencon this year along with it's first module.  I have pregenerated characters (taken from the book) that will be available for use (approx 8-10)  Is that enough??

Each session (2 parts) will consist of 4 hours.  The first 1 hour to 1-1/2 will be for players to familiarize themselves with the characters and I'll give a brief rundown of the rules.  I will send a e-copy of the book to those who sign up and want to preview the system prior to gencon.  the second part will be to conclude the game module.  Does that sound realistic??

I know that running a con game is different than running a game with a known group so any other advice will be most welcome. 

Ceege:

 I have designed a new rpg system and will further beta test it at gencon this year along with it's first module.  I have pregenerated characters (taken from the book) that will be available for use (approx 8-10)  Is that enough??

That would in part depend on the number of players for the event.  Assuming no more than six, 8-10 should be sufficient. 

Each session (2 parts) will consist of 4 hours.  The first 1 hour to 1-1/2 will be for players to familiarize themselves with the characters and I'll give a brief rundown of the rules.  I will send a e-copy of the book to those who sign up and want to preview the system prior to gencon.  the second part will be to conclude the game module.  Does that sound realistic??

Because you're playtesting your RPG, you'll have some additional concerns.

1.  You're going to want to allow sufficient time for feedback.  If you want the players to tell you more than "Yeah, thanks - it was fun." after the event, then you probably want to wrap of the module early, so that you have at least 20-30 minutes for the players to tell you what they think is good, what needs tweaking, and what doesn't work at all.

Whether the four hours give you specific time depends on a lot.  How complex is your rules system?  How important is the setting?  Is it a generic fantasy backdrop, like D&D, or specific to a place and time, like Shadowrun?  How long is your module?  With no more than 1.5 - 2 hours to finish the adventure, you probably won't be able to do more than a quick dungeon crawl/bar brawl type of scenario.

2.  I'm assuming you're running this as a sign-up event, rather than giving demos in an exhibit booth.  If that's the case, you need to be clear in the event description that A) this is a playtest, and B) you're looking for feedback. 

3.  When they give you their feedback, really listen, especially to what they didn't like about it.  Most gamers don't suffer from a shortage of opinions.  When they do offer criticism, don't get defensive.  Don't say "Well, I wrote it like that because..."  Also, ask for suggestions on things they would change.  And be prepared for completely opposite opinions from different playtesters due to different playing tastes.  Some appreciate lots of tactical rules, while others have their eyes glaze over if they even hear the phrase "attacks of opportunity".   Also, give the players a business card with your email address so they can give you additional comments if they want, or if they prefer not to make harsh criticisms face to face. 

Good luck - I hope it works out for you.

This thread just helped me out immensely - thanks guys.

JT

One idea I'm using is making my adventure slightly modular. I have a hard time gauging how long a given adventure will take--it all depends upon the players, really. (Well, the size of the adventure also affects it but you get my drift.) I don't want the game runing 30 minutes short or long, as both are kinda bad. Therefore, I'm designing a scene or two that are optional. If the game is running long, I'll cut them and make my time. If the game is running short, I'll throw them in to stretch things out a bit. 

Also, get the game started ASAP. Players usually don't mind spending 5 minutes or so going over the rules, espeically if it's a unique or new game, but I've seen a GM spend 1 hour explaining the setting, rules, errata, history of the game, what he had for breakfast, etc. I paid money for that? Gagh. If you cannot explain how to play in 5 minutes, then consider introducing the rules in stages like a video game tutorial level. Explain a bit, play a bit, stop to explain something small, more play, etc. 

WJMacGuffin:

One idea I'm using is making my adventure slightly modular. I have a hard time gauging how long a given adventure will take--it all depends upon the players, really. (Well, the size of the adventure also affects it but you get my drift.) I don't want the game runing 30 minutes short or long, as both are kinda bad. Therefore, I'm designing a scene or two that are optional. If the game is running long, I'll cut them and make my time. If the game is running short, I'll throw them in to stretch things out a bit. 

Also, get the game started ASAP. Players usually don't mind spending 5 minutes or so going over the rules, espeically if it's a unique or new game, but I've seen a GM spend 1 hour explaining the setting, rules, errata, history of the game, what he had for breakfast, etc. I paid money for that? Gagh. If you cannot explain how to play in 5 minutes, then consider introducing the rules in stages like a video game tutorial level. Explain a bit, play a bit, stop to explain something small, more play, etc. 

I've been running convention games since 2000, at GenCon, Origins, and smaller gatherings.  Senor MacGuffin has hit the nail on the head with this advice.  I always keep a watch, or my cell phone, at hand so I can keep an eye on how fast the players are working through the scenario, and how much time we have left.  I also write convention games with optional scenes, that can either be inserted or deleted as needed.

It always irritated me when, as a player, we simply didn't have enough time to complete the scenario.  Thus, I have always worked that concern into how I run my own games.

I have never run a con game but the one piece of Dming advice I can give is that when you want something to happen make it happen. Don't reliy on the roll of a die. It really brings down you campaign when you really need something to go down and it dosen't

ctpygmy1:

I would advise that running a Con session is different that running an adventure {snip/edit}I would bank on getting half of what you and your group at home get done in a similar length session.

Yup. Think about what a good 4 hour session would hold and then cut that in half. You can always add material in on the fly. Cutting without leaving gaping plot holes is a real challenge.

WJMacGuffin:

One idea I'm using is making my adventure slightly modular. I have a hard time gauging how long a given adventure will take--it all depends upon the players, really. (Well, the size of the adventure also affects it but you get my drift.) I don't want the game runing 30 minutes short or long, as both are kinda bad. Therefore, I'm designing a scene or two that are optional. If the game is running long, I'll cut them and make my time. If the game is running short, I'll throw them in to stretch things out a bit. 

Also, get the game started ASAP. Players usually don't mind spending 5 minutes or so going over the rules, espeically if it's a unique or new game, but I've seen a GM spend 1 hour explaining the setting, rules, errata, history of the game, what he had for breakfast, etc. I paid money for that? Gagh. If you cannot explain how to play in 5 minutes, then consider introducing the rules in stages like a video game tutorial level. Explain a bit, play a bit, stop to explain something small, more play, etc. 

Along this vein, I write my scenarios using the old "inverted pyramid" format I learned during my time as a pre-journailism student.  In journalism, if the editors decide your piece is too long (and they usually do) they always cut from the bottom.  Thus a good journalist puts the most important info first.  In game terms this translates to having a small core advanture and then surrounding it with "optional" encounters or fluff.  You focus on getting your party to achieve one goal within the time you have to run your game, if they are on pace, you can start adding in the optional stuff and if they are not, they should at the very least be able to come close to achieving the primary goal.