Advice/Help How to be a good GM

[k0arr]

I’ve had this DND esque idea for a group rp that keeps building in my head but I’ve never been a GM before, and have never been apart of a group rp. I have no idea how these things are usually run and to what extent a GM participates or if they simply give a general plot and allow free flow from there.

Seeking any advice from people who have GMed before and things to look out for, what you usually set up prior to the start, how involved you usually are, are they usually turn based (everyone replies once in an order?) or free form? Should there be a designated ending point?

Just very new to this but would love to try my hand out.

 

[A Sparkling Zombie]

Hi!

GMs have their own style, in the same way a writer has their own. Two might have their own different philosophies that each have brought them success. I am running two groups that have each lasted over a year now, on a different site, which uses aspects I have seen another GM use, which has allowed their own to last for two years before they decided it was time to walk away.

First, set guidelines/expectations early. How often do you expect players to post? Do you have any response length requirements? Chemistry is important for a group to succeed. If one player can only post every two weeks, and another needs once a week in order to maintain interest, but the expectation wasn't specified, then both players end up joining and one of them is going to end up unhappy. They'll quit, which means there is now one spot unfilled, which could have gone to someone more aligned with the GM's preferences had they been upfront.

I'm running D&D campaigns (with changes to the system to make it friendlier for play by post), which naturally requires a DM to steer things. The one I've modeled my own roleplays after was running a GM-guided sandbox, which meant that the GM had his own events he was running, but players were welcome to play out other scenes alongside those. I think the GM guiding the game - to some degree - is the best approach. A lot of players I have encountered are not super proactive, and the only way a roleplay gets somewhere is if someone takes the lead, and it might as well be the ring leader! A GM can also be in a unique position to be the "player advocate" by being sure everyone is having a good time by being included. That maybe makes it a little easier if they are already guiding the story as a whole anyway.

That said, it's important to give players room to request their own ideas and to influence the plot/world. Perhaps not every roleplayer wants that, but a lot of them do, since the hobby is a collaboration in creativity.

Anywho, since I and my "mentor" guide our games, what I'm about to say has worked well for us. If you decide not to guide your game, it might not work as well. When it comes to posting rounds, what I do is...

• Begin a round with my GM post. In it, I will clearly display a deadline on when everyone should post by.
• Everyone can post in any order they choose.
• If everyone posts before the deadline, I will begin the next round as soon as I have the time.
  [*}If we're about halfway through the time period and some have yet to post, I might send a friendly reminder.
• If someone fails to post by the deadline, then I'll post the day after the deadline. That player is skipped and can continue into the next round. Usually, this means they don't lose more than a few seconds or a few minutes of IC time, so it's not a big deal.
• If someone consecutively fails to post for 2-4 rounds, then they'll be removed. It's not anything against them and they might have good reasons, but sometimes the player roster needs to be cleaned up. If they later decide to return, great!

Everyone has different schedules, so allowing a "freeform" approach to response order gives them all the freedom to act when it's convenient for them while still keeping the time period short. Maybe other GMs have used turn order more effectively, but when a roleplay uses a turn order, I've seen a single round take up to a month or so for a game that expects a post per week, depending on whether each player each takes a full week to post. Personally, I think that's going to kill player interest pretty quickly if they're essentially waiting a month for their next turn. People lose context over the scene, and their character, after a while, and the more of that context they've lost, the more work it is for them to regain that context, and when it starts feeling like work, it stops feeling like fun, and when it stops feeling like fun, they're gonna leave.

And while some people may hate the idea of deadlines on a hobby, I think providing that structure can actually help people stay on top of their posting. My "mentor" was already doing it when I started my groups. I didn't utilize deadlines until about halfway through, when I realized that half the group was floundering, and so was I, because some roleplayers are whimsical critters. If their free spirits aren't being held accountable, then the roleplay goes nowhere, because those free spirits are going to do many things under the sun before that next blue moon arises and they finally hunker down to respond.

I think that answers at least a couple of your questions. My extra two cents:

• If this is your first group, you will make mistakes and the group might fail, and that's okay! You'll need time to figure out what works for you, as well as develop the skill and wisdom in general.
• You'll almost always have at least one player drop, but don't be discouraged! Focus on the players you have, not the ones you've lost.
• Don't hold up your roleplay for one person. If someone got busy and doesn't post by the time they are expected to, that's okay, because, again, for the most part, the player won't lose more than a few minutes of IC time, which isn't much. Either that or the player was on their way out the door anyway, and you've just saved your game by keeping the momentum alive.

Hope at least some of this helps! Good luck!