1st time DM questions

[Denarian Stormborn]

Hello, I'm pretty green about RPGs (Level 5 of my first ever d&d campaign) but I've gotten hooked. I've been a Dresden files fan for years and knew there was an RPG but never looked into it. Basically I have two questions:

1. Are Your Story and Our World the only books I'll need to competently DM a campaign?

2. How involved should my players be in selecting a city, making faces, setting type decisions?

[Taran]

1. Yup.  Although people here might recommend some of the pre-made adventures to get your feet wet.  I don't know them, off-hand....maybe someone could provide a link?.....

Also, check out the DFRPG Resource Collection page...it's a sticky topic on this board

It has lots of NPC's, Powers, Monsters and anything you might need.

There's also lots of people here who will answer any questions you have...for those ambiguously worded rules...

2. I would have them go through the whole thing.  It gets them more invested in the NPC's/world etc...

I usually ask my players to make at least one NPC and one location they see their character interacting with.  More is better if your players like to do those kinds of things.

Obviously, you'd keep some stuff secret.  You want some things to be a surprise.

[fantazero]

Hello, I'm pretty green about RPGs (Level 5 of my first ever d&d campaign) but I've gotten hooked. I've been a Dresden files fan for years and knew there was an RPG but never looked into it. Basically I have two questions:

1. Are Your Story and Our World the only books I'll need to competently DM a campaign?

2. How involved should my players be in selecting a city, making faces, setting type decisions?

1. Alright, take all those lessons you learned from D&D, got them? Throw them away. You won't need them. You only need Your Story. Our World is Neat if you (Like me) work by Example, something Evil hat is um...lacking on sometimes. Like heres a bunch of "Examples" but we won't really explain how or why they work together (MAKE AN OFFICIAL VIDEO OF HOW DRESEN IS PLAYED)
2. World Creation IS PART OF THE PLAYING. Making all your characters TOGETHER avoids some common pitfalls of gaming. If everyone knows each other, you don't have to deal with "why would I help the Paladin if i'm a thief" also, it avoids having your PCs meet in a Bar. Try this, avoid having your PCs meet at a bar the whole campaign. Also, if you and your group spend 10-15 minutes making a "Night Club" it avoids this "I'm going to burn it down" really? REALLY? We spent 15 minutes making that bar, you're not going to burn it down. Really spend like 10-15 minutes on EACH aspect, like REALLY think about them. I also played in a campaign from hell where the GM had maybe 15-30 Plot threads going on at any given time, the problem? We didn't know who HALF the NPCs were, and the GM had the memory of a GOLDFISH and couldn't remember who they were. If I, as a player, have a had in making characters, it gives me a "Clue" of who they are, and why I should care about them.

Personal Tips.
*7 Aspects, are 2 too many. Start off with 5. "Unlock" aspects as you play (make it part of the major and minor milestone).
*Start off  lower refresh , like feet in the water. If this is your first Dresden game, maybe have everyone start off as pure mortal, and work from there.
*The Rules are the Rules are the Rules, expect when they're not. I personally don't like the part in character creation where you and ME have to take an aspect from the same "story" I'm fine Guest starring in your story in  a way, but you getting attacked by a troll while getting a Pizza, might not be that big of a deal to my character, but it's fine that i'm there and I helped.
*Rules Lawyering is fun for none. If theres a "rules" question, save it for the end of the game, seriously, make note of it and get back to it. But nothing "ruins the fun" like having to sit through a 45 discussion on White Court Feeding blah blah blah when you're not a White Court Vampire, and don't care.
*Scene Aspects, Campaign Aspects. Make them taggable for free the first time, it really encourages people to USE them and to PLAY THEM.
*Fate Points are a currency, that means if your characters don't spend them and horde them, they become worthless.
*Social and Mental conflicts are real things. If you DO burn down that night club, thats a social hit, think of the show Firefly, basically they had a reputation that effected them. Maybe have Social consequences clear at the end of a session instead of at the end of a scene.
*NPCS don't fight to the death. They will try and run, or call in back up.
*If you have a magic user in the group, and they are throwing shift 3 fireballs at mortals, their need to be consequences. It's been talked about, but have an NPC Concede before your wizard throws a fireball, his concession? Death. I wouldn't have your Wizard take a law breaker the first time, but I would mention, next time you're going to have to.
* Remember that Dresden is a Mystery, what makes a mystery? One of the best Mysteries? The Big Lebowski. Use it.

[Taran]

I want to touch on something fantazero said.

If they spend 15 minutes making a bar, they won't burn it down.

The same goes with NPC's.  I played in a game where a player treated EVERY NPC like shit.  Like they were nobody's that could be abused.  This would often back-fire (since you can't go around treating everyone like shit), but my point being this:

 If I work hard to make an NPC and give him aspects and a personality with friends and enemies, I'll have more invested when interacting with said NPC.

Lots of people give D&D a bad rap on this board.  I like D&D.  My personal opinion is that a lot can be learned about GMing any game by playing DFRPG.

D&D can sometimes have a GM vs Player atmosphere especially when designing challenges etc.(especially if you play the old Gygax games). and it's very mechanics/crunch focused (IMO).  Honestly, my D&D GMing improved significantly after playing this game.  It's a different animal but take the lessons to heart and carry them into all your other games.

In any case, I don't want to talk too much about the differences about the games, since it can become a touchy subject here.

[Sanctaphrax]

1. You just need Your Story. Our World is an optional extra.

2. The more the better, generally.

*If you have a magic user in the group, and they are throwing shift 3 fireballs at mortals, their need to be consequences. It's been talked about, but have an NPC Concede before your wizard throws a fireball, his concession? Death. I wouldn't have your Wizard take a law breaker the first time, but I would mention, next time you're going to have to.

You can't be serious. That sounds terrible.

[Haru]

regarding 2:
I've tried 2 sessions of fate with different settings, where I alone was responsible for building the setting, because the players didn't want to in one session, and time restrictions made it necessary on the other. Both games went pretty meh.

A big part of the city creation stuff is not necessarily creating locations and NPCs, but getting on the same page about what type of game it's going to be. The type of characters and locations you create will influence that, of course, but it will also be influenced by talking about the ideas you have. Once those ideas are spoken out loud, everyone is on the same page, and the games can begin.
Difficulty in communication is something I've seen a lot of gaming groups struggle with, and the creation phase of the game addresses this really beautifully, by making you talk to each other about what you expect or want from the game. Skipping it is not a good idea.

[Mr. Death]

*If you have a magic user in the group, and they are throwing shift 3 fireballs at mortals, their need to be consequences. It's been talked about, but have an NPC Concede before your wizard throws a fireball, his concession? Death. I wouldn't have your Wizard take a law breaker the first time, but I would mention, next time you're going to have to.

Agreed with Sancta -- this is a terrible suggestion. There are dozens of better ways to enforce lawbreaker without yanking the rug out from under a PC like this.

[fantazero]

Agreed with Sancta -- this is a terrible suggestion. There are dozens of better ways to enforce lawbreaker without yanking the rug out from under a PC like this.

you don't MAKE them take Lawbreaker, I meant it more of a "if your wizard is going nuts and not worrying enough about magic use, this is what you do"

[Mr. Death]

you don't MAKE them take Lawbreaker, I meant it more of a "if your wizard is going nuts and not worrying enough about magic use, this is what you do"

It's still a terrible suggestion. There are many different ways to do this--starting with compels intended to curb it while giving the player a choice rather than slapping him with, "Well, you're a Lawbreaker now because you won the fight."

[fantazero]

It's still a terrible suggestion. There are many different ways to do this--starting with compels intended to curb it while giving the player a choice rather than slapping him with, "Well, you're a Lawbreaker now because you won the fight."

No, you're not reading correctly. You don't MAKE them take it, the first time, it's a warning.
Anyway, we've gotten off topic.
As not to get too far into D&D and such, D&D is a really really great Combat system, It just loses points (mechanically) when it comes to things like Role Playing

(click to show/hide)

and fun 

[Mr. Death]

No, you're not reading correctly. You don't MAKE them take it, the first time, it's a warning.

The whole thing is a misuse of concessions and is completely toothless anyway. For starters, a concession is not supposed to make things worse for the other party. A concession means the other party still wins. So it really cannot be used to screw the guy who "won" the fight without breaking the word and spirit of the rule.

And it's toothless because concessions have to be negotiated and accepted, and the player is never going to accept this concession unless the GM forces him to, at which point the GM is just railroading.

As I said, there's numerous better, fairer, and, most importantly, actually effective ways to curb wizards blasting people and to enforce the first law.

[Taran]

As not to get too far into D&D and such, D&D is a really really great Combat system, It just loses points (mechanically) when it comes to things like Role Playing

(click to show/hide)

and fun 

Fantazero, you're trying hard to de-rail this thread!

I disagree.  D&D is a great role playing system.  I actually think its combat system stinks.  It's too crunchy.  Some of my  BEST rp sessions were playing D&D.  There's way more to D&D than combat.

Maybe you weren't playing right...

Then again, my group Role-Played. Even playing D&D.  I'm sorry, but Role playing is not exclusive to FATE or DFRPG.

My experience with D&D is, often, people make these long background stories which, if the GM is good, will use to add plot and excitement to the game.

What I like about Fate is that they take things like "background" and incorporate it into the mechanics of the game.

I actually think the combat system is way better in DFRPG.  Consequences are better than HP's (IMO) and so are maneuvers (instead of static bonuses and penalties that you see in D&D).

Edit:

I'd also like to add that I've played 1st/2nd ed D&D where things like SOCIAL SKILLS didn't exist.  In fact, Skills didn't exist.  We still rp'd.  When certain decisions needed to be made, sometimes we rolled our stats.  Mostly, though, we just put the dice away and played our characters.

DFRPG has social combat.  So, really, an argument can be made that the game has turned rping into a mechanic that can be min/maxed.  Why role-play when you can just roll your +7 rapport and win? 

GM: The man is asking you to leave.
Player: "I attack with Rapport"


Sorry if this has come across too strong, but I think you should leave your prejudices out of your posts.

[blackstaff67]

I actually had the most fun in the game using the 3x5 cards with story ideas on them as the group started up.  Talk about six degrees of separation...!

[fantazero]

Fantazero, you're trying hard to de-rail this thread!

I disagree.  D&D is a great role playing system.  I actually think its combat system stinks.  It's too crunchy.  Some of my  BEST rp sessions were playing D&D.  There's way more to D&D than combat.

Maybe you weren't playing right...

Then again, my group Role-Played. Even playing D&D.  I'm sorry, but Role playing is not exclusive to FATE or DFRPG.

My experience with D&D is, often, people make these long background stories which, if the GM is good, will use to add plot and excitement to the game.

What I like about Fate is that they take things like "background" and incorporate it into the mechanics of the game.

I actually think the combat system is way better in DFRPG.  Consequences are better than HP's (IMO) and so are maneuvers (instead of static bonuses and penalties that you see in D&D).

Edit:

I'd also like to add that I've played 1st/2nd ed D&D where things like SOCIAL SKILLS didn't exist.  In fact, Skills didn't exist.  We still rp'd.  When certain decisions needed to be made, sometimes we rolled our stats.  Mostly, though, we just put the dice away and played our characters.

DFRPG has social combat.  So, really, an argument can be made that the game has turned rping into a mechanic that can be min/maxed.  Why role-play when you can just roll your +7 rapport and win? 

GM: The man is asking you to leave.
Player: "I attack with Rapport"


Sorry if this has come across too strong, but I think you should leave your prejudices out of your posts.

so much fail in one post

[Mr. Death]

so much fail in one post

It'd be a bit nicer if you actually addressed what he said instead of dismissing and insulting his post.