Page 1 of 1

I'd like to talk to some Dragonmech DMs.

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:56 am
by Sellix
Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in talking to me about Dragonmech. I want to try and run a game but I'm a bit timid on certain... issues.

I have my own copy of the DragonMech core book at my disposal, and I've read it fairly thoroughly a few times but... Uh... Well, it's difficult for me to put my request into words because it's a pretty tall order.

I guess what I'm really looking for is just a DM who has had a respectable amount of experience both DMing and DMing for a Dragonmech game and can just share with me how they've gone about running a game.

When you speak to me, please keep in mind that I've never... actually run any games, ever. I've only ever played one game of D&D 3.5, a single seven hour session. But it was so great that I've always wanted to play again. I have observed a few gaming sessions run by a friend of mine with a great deal of interest, however, and watched him closely to see his DM techniques in action. I know that there are potentially as many different kinds of DMs as there are players, and as a result certain DMs can be in conflict with certain players who expect certain types of gameplay.

That said, the majority of my knowledge is theoretical, not practical. That is to say, I've spent most of my time ( a lot of time )reading D&D books in depth because I've never found an opportunity to play the game, or even run it, but the more I read into the Dungeon Master stuff, the more I know I'd love to be a DM.

I presently use MSN and AIM. If you are uncomfortable with either of these services, I am not above downloading a different kind of messaging service to talk to you.

If you'd like to talk to me about this stuff, leave me a personal message with your instant messaging account name. I'll get in contact with you shortly afterwards...

In advance, anyone who takes an interest in helping me, what might be the greatest newbie ever, thank you for your help.

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:07 pm
by Stomphoof
I know for General DM Advice you can try the following forum:

http://www.treasuretables.org/forum/index.php

Its called Treasure Tables, and its a GM website devouted to being a GM.

Beyond that, I got nothing :) But if you head over there tell em Clayton sent ya :P

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:12 pm
by Sellix
Stomphoof wrote:I know for General DM Advice you can try the following forum:

http://www.treasuretables.org/forum/index.php

Its called Treasure Tables, and its a GM website devouted to being a GM.

Beyond that, I got nothing :) But if you head over there tell em Clayton sent ya :P
Thanks!

I visit that website regularly. It's part of my small folder of DM-advice related websites.

Like I said, most of my DM knowledge is theoretical... I have no practical experience.

I think I'll register myself up for their forums though and send a request there.

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 3:22 pm
by Oaksoul Elite
You know, I'm in the exact same boat here myself. Worse is that I've tried several times to start a game, and it's always fallen through. Then again, our DM to player ratio is kind of saturated right now, so it's hard to get anything started unless you can count on a lot of old gamers supporting you again. That'll be fixed soon, as most of our DMs graduate this year. Sorry I can't offer any advice - only understanding and empathy. If anything, I'd say be careful you don't let your history of theoretical work interfere with true DMing. Sometimes I think I've driven off potential players by discussing all my ideas in advance. I never could keep secrets . . .

Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 10:58 am
by Arek
If you're going to run a game, give players a rough idea of what to expect out of the influence of your views. Give them an idea of whether this will be combat-heavy, or skill-based, tell them how you're defining Law and Chaos, give them a general hint about what the optimal course will be. Something like, "It'd be best if the party really stuck together and didn't jump at every chance for treasure" or "Try to hear people out sometimes".

And it wouldn't hurt to ask around for a crash course in the game's glitches. I can think of the Cleric Archer, and Evocation Sucks, myself.

Edit: Oh, use AIM to talk to Scrinnameless. That's me, if you're wondering. I've only run a couple of games, but I'm pretty familiar with some tricks.