http://sf-journey-creations.wikispot.org/Game_Master:_Major_DomoRecent Changes of the page "Game Master: Major Domo" on SF Journey Creations.en-us http://sf-journey-creations.wikispot.org/Game_Master:_Major_Domo2008-04-11 20:34:51Douglas.E <div id="content" class="wikipage content"> Differences for Game Master: Major Domo<p><strong></strong></p><table> <tr> <td> <span> Deletions are marked with - . </span> </td> <td> <span> Additions are marked with +. </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 34: </td> <td> Line 34: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 37: </td> <td> Line 38: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 39: </td> <td> Line 41: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 41: </td> <td> Line 44: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 43: </td> <td> Line 47: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 44: </td> <td> Line 49: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span>-</span> life - they are the only ones who give it that life and take it fro being a </td> <td> <span>+</span> life<span><br> + <br> +</span> - they are the only ones who give it that life and take it fro being a </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 48: </td> <td> Line 55: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ </span> </td> </tr> </table> </div> http://sf-journey-creations.wikispot.org/Game_Master:_Major_Domo2008-04-11 20:31:47Douglas.E <div id="content" class="wikipage content"> Differences for Game Master: Major Domo<p><strong></strong></p><table> <tr> <td> <span> Deletions are marked with - . </span> </td> <td> <span> Additions are marked with +. </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Line 1: </td> <td> Line 1: </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <span>+ = Game Master: Major Domo =<br> + <br> + <br> + When I write an adventure, I use an MT-like nugget format. But I maintain a<br> + web of loose connections between the nuggets. This allows the plot to unfold<br> + as driven by the player's choices. Some nuggets never get seen. Others get<br> + seen in an unexpected order. But the players are the driving force.<br> + <br> + I've been GMing regularly (1-6 times a month) since about 1983 (I got into<br> + RPing in 1981). Over those many hours of gaming and many campaigns, I've<br> + probably played with about 40 or 50 players. My D&amp;D campaign has seen up<br> + towards 30 players and over 40 characters as it enters its 19th year.<br> + Traveller, I've run in several multi-year stints (and some shorter ones)<br> + over that same period, along with a few fits and starts at other games.<br> + <br> + The lesson I've learned from willful, intelligent, imaginative,<br> + knowledgeable and funny players over the years is this: The DM hasn't got a<br> + story to tell. If he did, he'd be writing a novel and we'd call him an<br> + author. The *group* has a story to tell. The players can't get the job done<br> + by themselves and neither can the DM. Many times even good DMs lose track of<br> + this for some period of time. Players don't like railroads, they like to<br> + feel they control the destiny of their characters and their choices and<br> + directions. They are not fond of being forced down a path that satisfies<br> + some pre-construed notion of where a game is going that the DM has in mind<br> + since he has a 'plot' to advance.<br> + <br> + Especially as I and many of my players age (although we still have some new<br> + blood in the early twenties to liven things up), the game becomes more about<br> + telling a story and about character and the subtleties of interaction rather<br> + than the coarseness of combat and dice rolling. There is still that element,<br> + but there is far more depth behind it than two decades ago.<br> + <br> + So how would I state the job of Moderator or Major Domo?<br> + - To develop NPCs and run them, true to their motivations and limitations<br> + (including having imperfect knowledge, blind spots, and making mistakes just<br> + like the PCs do)<br> + - To develop situations with those NPCs into which the PCs can choose to<br> + inject themselves (or where, occasionally, the GM can inject them)<br> + - To apply the rules of the game and a good sense of balance to adjudicating<br> + the interaction of the players, the NPCs and their environment<br> + - Always remember, with great power comes great and commensurate<br> + responsibility<br> + - Always remember that your players are a requirement for your world to have<br> + life - they are the only ones who give it that life and take it fro being a<br> + stale collection of stats on a page to being a living, breathing interactive<br> + experience (the less you think of it as 'my world' and the more you think of<br> + it as 'our world', the better off you are)<br> + - Expect and depend on the players to go outside your pre-imagined<br> + directions (mine do it daily...). Plan for that in general senses. This is<br> + one of the reasons I don't overdevelop one particular plotline or encounter<br> + or location. If i do, the buggers will probably find a reason not to go<br> + there or to blow the place up. Make loose plans, outlines of how you want to<br> + run an NPC in play or how a location should generally look and feel and then<br> + learn how to fill in detail as you go. Get good at this and your players<br> + won't know that every nook and cranny wasn't carefully planned out, even<br> + when they abandoned your original storyline mid-path and went off after a<br> + side quest as if it was all that mattered.<br> + <br> + Thomas B, TML</span> </td> </tr> </table> </div>