First time RPer wants advise

[MissMilkMaid]

So being completely in love with the Dresden Files, I brought the RPG even though I have never done this sort of RPing and don't know anyone who has. I'm familiar with the Desdenverse, having read all the books at least once and I'm familiar with story-telling, having written fanfiction. I have also done some cooperative story writing, so I know a bit on interactively working together to make a story. However, what I know nothing about are the mechanics, processes, rules and exceptions. I got both "Your Story" and "Our World" but they're so big I find it overwhelming, especially since I know a good deal of the information and am mostly trying to glean process/mechanics, which I think would be better done by talking to people who are RPers.

I got two of my sisters to agree to play with me and they're as big a noobs as I am. I'm the GM. I didn't have much trouble with the city sheets, but we are a little confused about the characters sheet and what stunts, powers and everything means. Emily just copied Harry's character sheet since she wanted to play him, but Mary is trying to makes a sheet for Dean Winchester, (yeah the guy from Supernatural,) and we weren't exactly sure what stunts and levels, aspects and concepts to use and how they are applicable. We read the sections in the book, but that's nothing like actually having experienced what "Superb" Presence mean in the RP.   

We played our first, uh session... (is that what it's called?) tonight and I think it went well enough, though I was little confused on how much the GM is suppose tell the players, what power I have and how I should be narrating the scenes.

Mostly I would just like general advise. Maybe people can point out some really obvious things RPers should know, but complete noobs are clueless about. Like, should all the PCs be at the same level? Harry's sheet has him at "Submerged" does that mean Mary needs to play Dean on the same level? What about the NPCs I'm playing? Do they have to have certain power levels and abilities on level with the PCs? I think we're on the right road, but I'd like some sign posts to make sure.

What I would really like is to have a game with an experienced RPer, does this work over computer? Maybe we can get involved in a games here.

[Becq]

First of all, trying to explain the rules in general is a daunting task, and would basically require cutting and pasting the rulebook here, which wouldn't help you since you already own a copy.  If you have areas of confusion, that might be easier to address.  I'll try addressing some of what you discussed above:

First, regarding playing online.  There is a PbP (Play-by-Post) forum that you might want to look into, recruitment is done here:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/board,47.0.html

Regarding what skills mean (ie, 'Superb' presence), you'll want to start by looking at 'The Ladder' on page 16 of the Your Story book.  For example, 'Superb' translates to '+5'.  So any time you make a roll that relates to the Presence skill (see page 136), you roll the dice and add 4 to the result.  You, as the GM, are responsible for decided how difficult the roll should be; if the roll+skill is at least equal to the difficulty you chose, then the character succeeded at what they were trying to do.  You can use the Ladder to help determine difficulties, too: If only someone who was pretty 'Good' at the skill would be reasonably likely to succeed, then use 'Good (3)' as the difficulty.  So if the character rolls dice+skill and gets a 3 or higher, then they succeeded.

[UmbraLux]

So being completely in love with the Dresden Files, I brought the RPG...

Welcome to a great (and time consuming) hobby!  

We played our first, uh session... (is that what it's called?) tonight and I think it went well enough, though I was little confused on how much the GM is suppose tell the players, what power I have and how I should be narrating the scenes.

Think of it as building a story together.  It's not your story as GM, it's the group's story.  The advice in the back of Your Story is pretty good.

Mostly I would just like general advise. Maybe people can point out some really obvious things RPers should know, but complete noobs are clueless about.

Most important, don't be afraid of getting things wrong and fixing it later.  Second most important, unless it would be completely disruptive, err on the side of the players.  

Like, should all the PCs be at the same level? Harry's sheet has him at "Submerged" does that mean Mary needs to play Dean on the same level? What about the NPCs I'm playing? Do they have to have certain power levels and abilities on level with the PCs? I think we're on the right road, but I'd like some sign posts to make sure.

It's usually best to keep the players on the same level.  I'd certainly recommend doing so until you're experienced enough to know the ramifications of different levels.  One note, they don't need to spend the same refresh to be 'on the same level' - those who spend less will simply have more fate points.

There are some guidelines for NPC refresh in the book (YS:333) but I'd start small until everyone is used to the combat system.  

What I would really like is to have a game with an experienced RPer, does this work over computer? Maybe we can get involved in a games here.

There are play by post games here I think.  Virtual game tables are also possible.  Another option is checking out your local game store.  (I still prefer in-person play to virtual table tops.)

A general comment on Fudge dice - the average roll (~62%) is going to be +0.  So even a +2 can be a big deal.  

Good luck and have fun!

[Katarn]

Generalized Advice:

*Typically, online games are via chat or PbP (play by post).  PbP is drawn-out, but great for most of us who have limited time commitment during school.  For chat games see Mij and his wildly successful "Undertown".
*Yes, all PCs (player characters) should be of the same refresh level.  I can think of 1 exception (see below).
*If you can, get one experienced RPG player who knows the general ropes of these things- you could give him a slight power boost for a needed deus ex machina if needed.
*NPCs can be whatever refresh- small-town shrimp can be much weaker than your PCs, a major baddie can be stronger.  Just keep things within a manageable power level.
*Creativity, creativity, creativity.  GM's greatest tools.
*If your players don't get into their characters, it won't be fun.
*Think of GMing as a flexible story- it will never go quite as planned.  Roll with the punches, improvise, have fun.
*Check out the Resource Collection and example PbP for game mechanics.
*Ask all the questions you have in this thread, both now and as you go along, and someone here will try to answer your questions.

[MissMilkMaid]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your support.  

I'll check out the PbP links you gave me. I'd really like to see examples of how GM's are expected to narrate and what sort of characters people generally play. Are you usually expected to play cannon characters or originals characters in this sort of thing?

Anyway, we'd really love someone to show us the ropes, but as I said I don't know any PRers and the nearest game store is about and hour's drive away, so it's not the most convenient (or cheapest considering gas prices) place to be hanging out every other night of the week. If any of you live in Austin TX give me shout.  

Oh also, my campaign centers around a ghosts and a wizard's Death Curse. I couldn't find much in the books on Death Curses, though I may have missed the page. Maybe one of you can give an opinion on this idea I have and point me toward the best sections to read up on.

Basically, this guy was part of a group of witch hunters from a small racist town in Louisiana. He and his friends lynched a a young warden, who threw her Death Curse at him. The curse killed him and then enslaved his spirit to the ghost of the warden. Her ghost is stuck at the moment of her death and is full of rage and vengeance and it's forcing the spirit of this guy to hunt down other members of his group and also terrorize this little racist town.

I read up on the ghost sections, but I'm not sure what powers a ghost would have when it has the punch of a Death Curse behind it. Besides, he's not really a ghost, his soul is still there. It's just been disembodied and then enslaved to a ghost. Y'all have any ideas to bounce back at me concerning this? Or maybe some page references to give me.       

[Blechpirat]

Basically, this guy was part of a group of witch hunters from a small racist town in Louisiana. He and his friends lynched a a young warden, who threw her Death Curse at him. The curse killed him and then enslaved his spirit to the ghost of the warden. Her ghost is stuck at the moment of her death and is full of rage and vengeance and it's forcing the spirit of this guy to hunt down other members of his group and also terrorize this little racist town.

That is a wonderful idea. I'm going to steal it for my game!

[sinker]

We played our first, uh session... (is that what it's called?) tonight and I think it went well enough, though I was little confused on how much the GM is suppose tell the players, what power I have and how I should be narrating the scenes.

As a general rule for role-playing the GM is the story. The GM controls all of the world around the players, while the players simply control their characters. The players can not dictate anything other than their character's reactions and the GM can not dictate any of what the character's do (unless of course it is the world acting on the characters). That being said, FATE is very different. The players have a good deal of influence on the world in the form of declarations and invocations, and the GM has a decent influence on how the characters react via compels. However initially I would stick with them being primarily in charge of their characters and you being primarily in charge of the world until everyone has a handle on things.

As far as how you narrate things everyone is a little different, however generally you want to present the players with a situation and then ask them to react. Describe to them the world around them and the characters in it. They should take care of the rest.

[Obsid]

As has been said, there are a lot of different ways to GM. The easiest is to make a railroaded story and focus on stats. I think people who enjoy that sort of thing are either autistic or need a life. The hardest is to make a broad world and let the characters play, the story unfolds based on the characters choices (where they go, what they do) and how the world reacts (rinse repeat). I think GM's capable of this are either geniuses or need a life.

I like to start a game on a railroad story-focused game, which I do through an intense plot hook. This serves both as a start for the story, and a chance for the players to get used to their characters. Then I broaden their choices throwing plot twists at them in an episodic fashion. The longer the game goes, the bigger the episodes, and more important the scale. But that's because I'm not a genius, and I like to delude myself into thinking I have something resembling a life.

It might be a lot to take in, but read the books. Especially read Your Story. Don't read it front to back, that's boring. Start the first few chapters through Character Creation. Then play with the lists (such as Templates, Aspects, Skills, Stunts, Powers, and magic examples), it doesn't matter if you really understand what you're reading at this point, think of this as osmosis. Then go through and read the instructions part of chapters in whatever order pleases you most. It works best if you can trick yourself into enjoying it. Once you've read the book, you'll have a fairly good idea regarding the game (I'm still on the last step of that process and I like to think I understand the game fairly well, but that's probably because I'm clever).

As for OW, I don't really see the need to read it through. OW converts known aspects of the Dresdenverse into game terms and mechanics. I think of it as a reference book, and I weep for anyone who reads encyclopedias all the way through.

You can find Death Curses in YS282. But I wouldn't worry about the mechanics too much in your story, it's a plot devise more than an actual spell.

[sinker]

Obsid reminded me. You should really read the section titled running the game. It covers things like how to frame a scene (I.E. how to narrate, pg YS307), how to set difficulties (pg YS310), and what NPC's should look like (pg YS326). Plus it's all of 20 pages to read straight through. If you really want some help on creating the story (and getting a better idea for what your job is) then keep reading through the next chapter too (which is only another 25 pages).

[crusher_bob]

The Penny Arcade Guys did a podcast of DnD 4th edition that people seem to have enjoyed, can be found here.

I think that looking at PbP games is not a great primer for trying to learn tabletop games, because PbP games tend to take out all the table talk, and tend to use character voices much more often.  The main part of playing a tabletop game is keeping the game moving, and PbP games don't highlight this social skill as much.  That's why I'm pointing you toward the podcasts.

Next, important tip for the DM, you don't 'own' the story.  And trying to limit player choices or actions to try to get them back on 'track' typically just irritates the other players.  If the players aren't following the story, it's usually much better to take it up with the players, 'above' the game, rather than try to do things in game.  So for example, if the PCs totally want to paint their houses instead of trying to rescue the princess, you need to ask the players directly "hey guys, why aren't you trying to rescue the princess, which is the adventure I planned for?", doing in game stuff like causing their houses to burn down, so they can't waste time painting them (or whatever it is they are trying to do instead) tends to just generate resentment among the players.

More concrete example:
The adventure you have planned is the standard princess rescue.  Some big bad has kidnapped her, and the King is offering a big reward for her safe return.  That's what you expect the PCs to do.  Instead the players decide to spend their efforts helping out a minor street urchin character who was introduced last session, and ignore the princess rescue completely.  It's very bad to do stuff like kill off the street urchin, or have the street urchin be kidnapped by the big bad too, or have the characters arrested and forced to look for the princess on pain of death, or something.

Next, if the player comes up with a way for their character to be 'awesome' or is just more capable than you thought, and this 'ruins the story' it's usually better to let the results of the awesomeness stand, and save any discussion about rules until after the game gets done.  Trying to suddenly negate the characters action in the game almost never goes over well.

Example, you have the party about to get in a fight with a bunch of red court vampires.  The party wizard whips out a large zone wide evocation that should flatten all of the vampires.  Suddenly making the vampires fireproof, or having a yet another group of vampires show up, or spending several minutes arguing about the evocation rules are usually not good for the game.  If you think there was something screwy about that, make a note to check up on the rules after the game, not during the game.  The only time that a rules discussion should stop the game are when they might result in PC death or maiming.  You can always stamp out new NPCs.

DM of the Rings has some funny examples of ad GMing (and bad players), usually with some reasonable advice under the comic itself.

[Richard_Chilton]

I'll check out the PbP links you gave me. I'd really like to see examples of how GM's are expected to narrate and what sort of characters people generally play. Are you usually expected to play cannon characters or originals characters in this sort of thing?

No one else seems to have chimed in on this, so I will:
In the vast majority of RPG you make original characters.  The ones from canon are generally NPCs.  In the DFRPG you are generally expected to play a good guy who is involved with (or at least knows about) the supernatural world.

How to narrative? Here's an example.  This is set in an old house, on that has seen better days.  The PCs are about to enter what was the ballroom where three gangsters are meeting with a sorceress:
GM: So you're opening the door? The room is a large one; it looks like an old ballroom that has seen better days.  Over in the left hand corner as you look in there's a bar with some dusty taps.  Someone installed a glitter ball on the ceiling, and boy does it look out of place.  There are some chairs set up on the right hand side of the room, facing a dais where the band might have once played.  Three guys are sitting in the chairs while a woman in a dress is talking to them - or she was.  She falls silent as the door opens and the three guys turn in their chairs to look at you.
What do you do?
Player: "What does the people look like?"
GM: The guys are all in cheap suits and the woman is wearing a black dress with lots of silver jewellery.
-
And of course, this being the DF RPG, the players are free to make declarations about what they find in the room.

When describing things, you should focus on the stuff that matters - stuff that's important to the game or a red herring.  For example, there's no need to mention the grate on the central heating duct unless that grate (or the central heating) will be important later.  Or if the players ask about it.  For example:
Player: I think that the woman is Fairy of some type, so I'm going to roll investigations to declare that my notices the large iron grate for the central heating.  <Rolls> Got it! So the corner of the room opposite the bar has a "Heavy Iron Grate" on the floor.

Hope this helps.

Richard

[MissMilkMaid]

In the vast majority of RPG you make original characters.  The ones from canon are generally NPCs.

Well we got that a little backwards. The players are doing cannons and I'm doing a town full of original NPCs. Our closest experience to this is writing fan fiction, where the main characters are usually cannon, so we assumed the main character should be Harry. 

Thanks for the written out narration example, Richard. It helped. I was hoping to get an idea of how much detail to use and you covered that. And thanks for the podcast link Crusher, I'll defiantly check it out.

Thanks a lot everyone. I'm glad I started this topic. I think I'll feel much more confident running the game for our next session.       

[Set Abominae]

Wiki has a good overview article of what role playing is, start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game_(pen_and_paper)

Here are some decent links about the art of game mastering:

http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/category/beginners/

http://6d6fireball.com/rpg/5-beginner-gm-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them/

http://www.suite101.com/content/a-beginners-guide-to-dungeon-mastering-a366810

My personal advice is to think of yourself as the narrator in any good movie, tv show, or book you've read. You are that narrator, but you're also the director, editor, producer, and one of a group of writers for the show.

[sinker]

Oh, I also forgot about this. I think one of our more active members Bumbling Bear is in Austin. He posted this not too long ago.
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25976.0.html

You could PM him and see if he's still looking for players or even if he might be willing to let you sit in on a game and see what he does.

[Richard_Chilton]

Well we got that a little backwards. The players are doing cannons and I'm doing a town full of original NPCs. Our closest experience to this is writing fan fiction, where the main characters are usually cannon, so we assumed the main character should be Harry. 

RPGs started in settings without canon.  Go back far enough and what we now call PCs were special figures used in war gaming.  Then a series of semi-generic fantasy worlds were created while GMs were encouraged to create their own worlds from scratch.  After that companies started creating fantasy worlds so they could sell you the world box set and then supplements for every part of the world.

One way to look at DFRPG is Jim Butcher is playing in a game - his PC is Harry and he's writing up all the games (skipping the dice rolls and rules call) and now you get play in the same world.  The focus of the Dresden Files novels is Harry (with a couple of short stories putting spotlights on other PCs) but when you're playing the game the focus is whatever you want it to be.  It's a bit like writing FanFic about commanding a ship that doesn't interact with the Enterprise, Voyager, DS-9, or any other published Star Trek ships but flies around the Star Trek universe doing its own thing.

Developing your own characters - that's half the fun.  Only, unlike in FanFic, there are rules that specify what you can and can't do.  There are even rules that let the bad guys win if you blow a dice roll or do something stupid.  Yes, that means that sometimes PCs die - but all that means is you get to develop a new, replacement PC.

One thing that the GM should always remember is that NPC act as foils for the PCs - they should push the PCs to their limits and bring out the best in the PC but the game is ultimately about the story the PCs are telling.

Looking at the books we can debate over if Marcone is a PC or NPC.  I generally lean NPC because he rarely aids the group (and he's evil), but in a couple of stories you could argue that he's PC based on the actions he takes.  The battle in the depths - that was a very PC for him to do.  Generally speaking, Murphy is a PC, Thomas went from acting like NPC to being a PC, Micheal is a PC, Molly is a PC, and of course Harry is a PC.

Thanks for the written out narration example, Richard. It helped. I was hoping to get an idea of how much detail to use and you covered that. And thanks for the podcast link Crusher, I'll defiantly check it out.

Thanks a lot everyone. I'm glad I started this topic. I think I'll feel much more confident running the game for our next session.       

You're welcome.  At one time every RPG book had an example of play like that (complete with dice rolls) - but now that the hobby has been around for a while most publishers don't devote a page or two explaining things.

And speaking of your next session, you may want to consider doing a reset.  As in saying "now that we know better, why don't we start over with our own PCs?".  Then again, if everyone is having fun that's the main bit.

Richard