Post by Head Moderator on Dec 17, 2013 0:31:25 GMT -5
--CALL NAMES. I cannot stress this enough. Not calling names when you are in combat, even in 8 person adventures, adds on a great deal of time. I've seen it add upwards of a total of 20 or more minutes on an adventure just waiting for someone to realize it's their turn. To save time, please call names. This doesn't always stop the lag, but I can assure you from my experience, it will save you time.
--Write up all your flavor text / descriptions ahead of time for your adventures. Be sure to have descriptions of every room or area they will enter, exactly where the exits (if applicable) are, and descriptions of the bad guys. This will save loads of time, especially if you are a slow typer or suffer from lag. Pre-typing as much as possible will always save you time and allow more time for your adventurers to interact. There is no law against changing things you've pretyped either, I am constantly adding or removing things from what I've typed ahead of time to fit with what the group is doing, or things they are saying.
-- Remember that a DM has to be flexible. Did it take 2 hours to get to the first fight? You are not tied into going by your notes exactly as it's written... you need to be creative and flexible enough to change and add and take away things as the adventure progresses in such a way that no one in the adventure knows that you've had to alter the story, or anything. This is something that you learn and improve over time, a good thing to do if you are a new or fairly new DM is to write out more than you need, that way if things go fast and you need to fill 30 more minutes, you have something that pertains to your story, or if you can't fit it all in, you have options to drop.
--Try to include everyone. In large groups, certain people are going to get 'left behind'. People who are there with friends, who know a lot of folks, and/or have no issue getting involved and taking lead will sometimes overshadow new people, shy people, or people who have never been on an adventure and have no clue what to do first. Try to put in things that make everyone take a part in the story, such as asking for Spots and Listens when necessary and providing special info in IM to those that roll high enough so they can have a reason to step up -- or work in some type of Acrobatics, Athletics, Willpower or other type of save that everyone has to make, which also forces interaction.
from Pamela, Your Friendly Neighborhood DM
--Write up all your flavor text / descriptions ahead of time for your adventures. Be sure to have descriptions of every room or area they will enter, exactly where the exits (if applicable) are, and descriptions of the bad guys. This will save loads of time, especially if you are a slow typer or suffer from lag. Pre-typing as much as possible will always save you time and allow more time for your adventurers to interact. There is no law against changing things you've pretyped either, I am constantly adding or removing things from what I've typed ahead of time to fit with what the group is doing, or things they are saying.
-- Remember that a DM has to be flexible. Did it take 2 hours to get to the first fight? You are not tied into going by your notes exactly as it's written... you need to be creative and flexible enough to change and add and take away things as the adventure progresses in such a way that no one in the adventure knows that you've had to alter the story, or anything. This is something that you learn and improve over time, a good thing to do if you are a new or fairly new DM is to write out more than you need, that way if things go fast and you need to fill 30 more minutes, you have something that pertains to your story, or if you can't fit it all in, you have options to drop.
--Try to include everyone. In large groups, certain people are going to get 'left behind'. People who are there with friends, who know a lot of folks, and/or have no issue getting involved and taking lead will sometimes overshadow new people, shy people, or people who have never been on an adventure and have no clue what to do first. Try to put in things that make everyone take a part in the story, such as asking for Spots and Listens when necessary and providing special info in IM to those that roll high enough so they can have a reason to step up -- or work in some type of Acrobatics, Athletics, Willpower or other type of save that everyone has to make, which also forces interaction.
from Pamela, Your Friendly Neighborhood DM