Hello! I am Amberlin and I'm new here on Iwaku. Although I have roleplay and DM experience from DnD, I am still new to the idea of forum roleplay. I do have some ideas running around in my head about a few rp's I could post, but I have no idea how I would go about GM'ing them. Are there any good examples I could learn from about being a good GM? Are there any rules of thumb new GM's should know before hand? I have been scouting the forums and different posts, but so far I am still perplexed. I guess I just don't want to start something and see it crumble because of my lack of experience/knowledge in the area. Perhaps there is a GM faq floating around somewhere?
Thanks in advance!
You can GM in any way you want to!
Basic, mostly-expected responsibilities of a GM include:
- coming up with the setting and plot
- setting up the IC and OOC threads
- answering questions about the roleplay
- approving/rejecting characters snd players (optional)
- settling small problems/disputes in the Roleplay
Things you may need to decide/resolve as GM include:
- small player disputes
If someone is forgetting/ignoring your rules, leaving other players behind, contradicting your descriptions, or otherwise making the Roleplay not fun, you can politely ask them to stop or leave the RP. As a GM, your words carry a little more weight. NEVER BE CONFRONTATIONAL and if they ignore your polite request, use the report button and let the staff handle it.
- OOC & IC separation
We try to clean this up, but it's very helpful to have the GMs encouraging their players to only post RP posts in the IC thread, and keep player-to-player convos in the OOC thread. This separation is so that people can see all OOC together, instead of getting confused or missing memos because some stuff is there and some is attached to character posts.
- keeping the game interesting
Make sure you have some plot twists and candies up your sleeve to keep characters moving/doing stuff, because otherwise they will often either 1) get bored and leave 2) split off into their own subplots, leaving the main story mostly forgotten
Different ways I've seen GMs operate include but are not limited to:
- The Iron Fist
If players have anything of their own they'd like to add to the story/setting, it must be approved by you.
- The Democrat:
Let the players vote on what should happen next, what kind of peril to face, whether to trust the NPC, and other decisions
- The DM
Play Dungeons & Dragons style and let the dice answer!
- The Sharer
Let the players share your job and add plot twists, setting elements, new powers, NPCs, and other stuff without an approval process
- The Compromise
Only you can add big stuff like a new map areas, the actions of the villain/other important NPC, or a main plot development, but players can go nuts adding small-time NPCs, items, describing rooms and other areas, and non-plot-derailing twists like getting lost, getting attacked, finding a map, or taking a pizza break.
Just do whatever you feel comfortable with! GMing an open story or slice of life Roleplay is even easier because you can remove 'keeping the story on-point' from your to-do-list.
