Role play spice.

[Legacy_muvs32]

                I have decided in my infinit wisdom (Wis-2) that I might share some of the stuff I used as a PW DM to increase the feeling of life and atmoshere in the virtual table top.

 first up, crafters, and enchanters to a degree.

 What to do with lower level PC's who wish to have a character become a prosperous weapon or armor smith?
 
 When a PC is only able to craft the more mundane items there is a sense of "why do it" that prevails most places. My thought is that a player that wants to RP becoming a contributing vendor of smithed goods ext. should not have to grind levels just to be able to make a weapon that the other PC's will buy. Since most PCs if not all will acumulate most of their items through *robbery and mass murder* during their adventuring it is unreasonable to rely on them purchasing items from a level 8 crafter and making that player's crafter feel valued and such even in an RP sense.

 I will start with this, after seeing the PCs bring in scads of loot  to a city/town to sell to the good ol general merchant ext. I would think and have DMed those PCs acquiring a certain amount of recognition from the NPCs, a certain bit of reknown amongst the general populance. Would not the merchant tell tales of this or that adventurer bring in some unique item or how a certain group has become so wealthy through adventuring? This is an excellent place to start getting your PCs involved in the daily events of a city or town without it just being a tavern talky thing.

 Back to point, have an NPC buy crafted items for evn 15-20 more gold then the ingame, generic merchants. Example: PC Hermes holds aloft a sword much like the one in his own scabard and declares " this is a sword that I have smithed with me own hands, I poored my sweat and soul into forging a weapon as fine in quality and in beauty as mine own" he goes on to tell storis of dangers and daring to onlookers and afterward several NPCs get into a bidding war to have this sword...most likely to place above their fireplace '>

 You need not overdo the coinage but for a sword that they would get nothing from another PC or maby 15(usually less) gold from a shop they could receive 50-70 gold. At least try to offer something for the time they (the player) invested in creating this future master smith PC. Later on things will work themselves out but only at much more powerful levels and grinding to get the best materials ext. I had great joy in players being so appreciative of being thought of and given the time and DM love to create a memorable and most notably, a valuable and respected PC.

 I DMed where there was a 'Market Monday' player driven event where crafters sold their goods to other PCs but I would login to doll RP xp when warrented, which was often, and to also bring in NPCs who wanted to get their grubby little hands on some of those fine items that those famous or notorious PCs were carting around with them.

 The adventures would have been the rockstars and beloved TV personalities in those days...a medieval type fantasy world days given:) and should be treated likewise.It was always rewarding to draw players in and they gave back by providing me with an awesome reason to continue to invest time in DMing and world bulding ext.

 It isn't always, or even usually I.M.H.O. the haks, the bright lights and fancy bells and whistles that draw in to the story/server the fine players and cool/interesting/multi-demensional characters. Rather, it is the RP sense of the world and enabling the PCs to be able to not only interact but access what is too often taken for granted or even outright ignored in a fantasy RP world. Haks are cool and I love when used well but giving time to increase the worlds 'live" aspect is without parallel and will be rewarded by investment from the players.

 Market Monday was not my idea but I used it for what it was worth and I saw it grow from 2-3 PCs to 10-15+ and made a great jumping off point for further adventure. Some of the best sessions I ever had did not start off with "Out of the very fabric of darkness itself ejakulates forth a demisuedohellfirecrazystatdestructionlich so powerful, that when it farts it causes the death by suffocation of any creature of les then 6HD" well..maybe not that bad but you get the idea. Plus, since market monday could be counted on and run by any DM it was a reliable way to get ALL pcs involved regardless of race class, and most importantly levels.

 I just thought  I'd throw this out there as I am no longer DMing and miss doing, and playing, this kind of stuff.

 Damn I miss DMing, guess I should invest in playing more :innocent:
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_muvs32]

               As a note: I am sorry if I came off as a know it all or such. I don't mean to show a haughty nature when in fact I am not haughty. This is meant as a DM sand box for ideas, sharing what worked for the DM but most importantly the players...the group.

I will be starting a PnP campaign in June using the Barbarians of Lemuria, a rules light d6 egine RPG. It will be a Hyborian, Conan'esq campaign but a lot of things that work in D&D and more specifically NwN will work for any RPG of similar genre. I would like some folks to help me along to becoming a better DM and sparking my creative juices.

I do like the one-off type story starters that T.S.M. dude kindly provided but I'd like this to be more specific in it's player involvement campaign and world building effects ext. I hope that if anyone has a suggestion or 2 3 4 '> that they will also supply examples as I have tried to provide. Also what might help me and others is describing how it might work and what the wanted benefits could be and whatever drawbacks or caveats might arise, especially if you also have the fixes and work around for it in hand!

I can use all the help with campaign/world building and player management that I can get. I hope some of you will provide it here for free and for all to gain from.  So thanks for taking part or at least reading.

Be well ya NwN mugs, muvs

P.S. I have not been using a word processor so please don't disregard due to my lack of grammer skills and such...my apologies in advance!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par muvs32, 14 mai 2011 - 12:23 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_muvs32]

                Well, I was thinking about something that was going on with the server I DMed on before I resigned. This is from my point of view the bane of RP servers and pervasive enoug that I bet all can relate.

 DM inactivity : I have always been told that showing up is half the battle and that to take on a responsability only to neglect it is dishonorable and more simply, doesn't make sense!!!.
I try to practice these things in my daily affairs so why would I not
do the same as a DM ion NwN. If I joined a PnP group where the DM rarely
showed I would quit the group in short time and I would not recommend
that others join that group based on my experience with it; is that
wrong?

 I remember when I was nominated then voted onto the DM
team of a PW. I was asked to make a reply post to a DM forum thread that
stated what was expected of me; things such as fair interaction and
responsibilities and the usual PW DM codes but one very important
stipulation was to run an event at least bi-weekly. The scheduled event
was highly desired and missing a week here and there was not a breach of
this DM covenant.

 I assumed a role as the Friday night DM and
would do a Market Monday night every other week. I certainly would have
to postpone or reschedule events as life dictated but I felt I owed my
best effort to the commitment I had made. Along with two other DMs being
active in this way we had a lively server with enough events to go
around and enough story lines to suit different taste. I do not know how
other DM teams  operate but they must be vastly different then the one
that I belonged to, given my experience.

  I will relate that
there were 6 DMs total but 3 active. The 3 inactive, strangely enough,
wanted just as much say in server direction and story arch as the
active. The non-working DMs would still be vocal on forums admonishing
players and weighing in on issues but not giving anything tangible to
the server and only putting more stress on the working DMs. The inactive
would make RP post that they rarely would follow up on and leave story
lines dangling or just fizzle out completely. These DMs I mentioned were
reminded of their responsibilities by the head man but after still
refusing to uphold their commitment they were essentially removed from
their post in all but name. We referred to them as honorary members of
the DM staff, thanked for their contributions and we moved on.

 I
think that Admins keep people on their DM staff in name only because
they are too afraid to offend or feel too awkward in asking their
friends to step up and DM. They enter into a relationship of
ineffectiveness and disappointment that would not work in RL at any
successful business or enterprise. Why do admins feel so at home in
stating "we have 6,7,8..DMs full well knowing that more then half have
not run an event in a year and may not even play NwN at all anymore.
This is false advertising at least and in poor taste in my opinion.

 Think
about it, if one of your DMs, even though they are cool and a player
favorite from way back, cannot commit to DMing any longer or at such
long intervals as to be ineffective, what is the harm in replacing this
persons spot on the DM team? Is it really going to crush a true
friendship because 'actual reality' dictates that this is the most
prudent and effective course? Is the admin totally irresponsible or
aloof as not to care to see to the needs of their player base?

 Real
life calls, things happen, interest change...but why tell players your
server has all this active story line and DM presence when really it is
only on the forum, not in game. DMs are in my view more then forum
admins, they are supposed to actually DM once in a while. Is on 3 hour
stretch every other week so out of line and demanding? There are some
wonderfully built mods out there and the admins wonder why they cannot
keep hold of the new players that check them out.



If your DM cannot seem to log on, ask them why, if it cannot be resolved
in the form of a straight course of action in an exceptable time frame
then move on. This is not about feeling not about giving someone the
boot etc. it is about administration, running a game, devoting the time
it takes to have a rewarding RP world, things like that. If I had ever
thought I would not be able to DM consistently I would have stepped down
myself, when  it came to pass that I was not seeing eye to eye with the
new team I did resign.



   What is the worst thing that can happen in electing a new DM or DM
team, maybe it doesn't work out and you have to try again but it is
probably better then not having any DM activity on a server. And I just
don't know why people who don't want to DM anymore (and if they are not
DMing, then they don't want to...) want to remain part of the DM team,
guess it's another one of those pethetic, puny human powerplays '> If
you can't even post you will be inactive for a certain amount of time 
but rather DM by always making suggestions etc. and not following
through on active support, what is the use or drawl to the position
being held?



 If you want to commit to DMing do! It's great fun and rewarding. If you
find you cvan no longer commit, be gracious and humble and caring of
others and step down to make room for the next awesome Dm! No shame or
dishonor in that, not a bit, and no feelings need be hurt.



 But if you have a staff of hanger on's and inactivity on an RP server
and the players voice complaint...don't take it out on them, see to it
that the DMs who want to participate do it and those who are not doing
much step down and make room. Why is this an option so underutilized and
overlooked?



 So many great servers, and specially the one I DMed on fallen....*wipes tear from eye*

 
 
Muvs