Advice for a group of newbies

[mirkwoodfalcon]

Hello all!

Over the past summer, my brother and I purchased The One Ring Roleplaying Game from Cubicle 7 at GenCon. We got the core rulebook, HotW, TfW, DoM, and the dice set. Problem is, neither of us have ever played a roleplaying game before (as either players or as a GM), so we're fairly daunted by the task of setting one up.
We've started a weekly group sesssion (1 LM + 6 players) at the college we both attend and are currently running through The Marsh Bell, and things are going well. (At least, I think they are, hard to judge since I lack experience ) My brother is LM'ing, and I'm playing the game/reminding him of rules at particular times since we both took the responsibility of pouring through the books and figuring out the mechanics.
I've been interested in Tokien-related things for quite a while and love the lore, and I have found The One Ring to be exceptionally enjoyable. Kudos to Cubicle 7 for the fun game.

My question is, do any of you RP-veterans have advice for a group of 7 complete and utter newbies like us? (None of us have any previous experience, but our 3 sessions so far have been fruitful.) Thanks for your tips!

-Mirkwoodfalcon

[Glorelendil]

Yikes! That's a tall order: a group of 7 first-time RPGers!

Ok, here are my thoughts:

A lot of newer players, and even veteran players of other games, take the description of RPGs ("open-ended" "limited only by your imagination" "you can do anything you want, unlike a video game") and then say, "Ok, I want to..." and then go on to describe something that there doesn't seem to be any rule or skill for. An example might be, "I want to throw sand in the Orc's eyes to blind him." There's no rule for that, but rather than make up a rule for it, including modifiers for dice rolls, there are several options:
1) Roll the dice normally and let the player narrate the result. Does the orc hit him? I guess his sand missed the orc. If the orcs misses, and the player hits, he can describe how he threw sand in his eyes and it worked.
2) Preliminary rolls (Insight for Encounters, Lore for Travel, Battle for Combat) give extra dice that can be used. This is an EXCELLENT way to use those dice. "I'm going to throw sand in the orcs eyes, making it easier to hit him. Using one of my Battle dice."
3) Great and Extraordinary Successes are also a really good time to narrate these sorts of things.
But in general the idea is: "Roll the dice then narrate the result" instead of "narrate what you want to do and then figure out which dice to use".

The LM has a LOT of work to do, so to the extent possible he/she should allow the players to narrate things. If the orc skewers the player, let the player describe it, even though the LM rolled the dice. It will alleviate the creative work for the LM, and make players feel an even bigger part of the story.

DEFINITELY narrate Hope expenditure. Think about what it means to "spend Hope" and describe it to the other players.

Read some of the threads in this forum about Shadow points. It's easy to think of Shadow as just a punishment for being bad, which can lead to players arguing a rationale for their actions to avoid that punishment, but it's really a lot more nuanced than that. When players start reminding the LM, "I think I should get a shadow point for that" you're on the right track.


See if you can get invited to be an observer in any Play By (forum) Post games. Reading how other people are playing the game might give you more ideas.

If I think of anything else I'll update, but I'm sure other people are composing their own responses as I type this.

[Majestic]

Welcome to the forums, mirkwoodfalcon, and congrats on taking the plunge and jumping in and giving it a shot! Though it was over three decades ago, I very much remember how nervous I was the first time I GMd, as I'd only done a few sessions of an RPG before (and those were just me and a GM).

The number one thing for all of you to remember is to have fun! So the best thing the GM can do is to try to keep things moving. It's best not to get bogged down into trying to look up rules at the table, especially for newer GMs. Far better for the GM to make the best call he/she can, and move on. That rule can always be looked up later. Of course, it's important for the GM to try to be fair and consistent, too.

Take a look at those examples of play (like you have in the rules), as they can really help you out in seeing not only how tests are done, but also give a good idea of pacing and how often they should be done.

[Beleg]

TOR was the first game I ever GM'd, and I started that about a year or so ago. One thing I quickly realised was that as long as my friends were enjoying themselves, everything was great. We don't play very often, and as a result we're still now realising we've been misinterpreting rules, and they've only just gotten the grasp of Shadow not being 'bad'. So I'd say don't worry too much (or tell your brother not to worry too much) about getting all the rules spot on right away. It's very unlikely that the players will notice if a rule changes slightly between one session and the next because of a slight misunderstanding.

Equally, I definitely find it helps to ask my friends how they think it went afterwards, because then I have an idea of what to build on next time. Most importantly though, worry most about having fun, the rest will fall into place around that

[zedturtle]

All of the stuff above. Plus here's a few catch-phrases:

Rulings, not Rules: This has already be covered above, but if something odd comes up in the middle of a game, make a ruling and tell your players "This is how we're going to take care of it today... I'll find out more about X later."

Say Yes or Roll the Dice: Player characters are heroes, with both abilities and narrative significance above that of the average person (NPC). If they want to do something, let them or tell them they have to make a skill check. Don't declare anything impossible (just really, really, really difficult if appropriate).

You're a Referee, not a Conductor: Being railroaded as a player sucks. Most players will go along with a story, just to see what happens if nothing else. But sometimes players do unexpected things. It's ok to say, "Hey, you just surprised me... let's take a 15-minute break and let me work something up." Nobody expects everyone to be able to spontaneously readjust an adventure on the fly, especially when they're new at GMing.

Maximum Fun: Also covered above, but worth repeating. I enjoy myself the most when the players are having fun. Getting them to have fun is the goal. Not telling super-intricate stories or whipping their butts with a new monster or getting them to X place in Y amount of time. Let them do what they want in the game, whatever makes things fun for them.

Feedback is Essential: Playing face to face (which I do less of these days) is nice, because you get body language and facial expression feedback all the time. But no matter the venue, ask for feedback and be gracious in receiving both positive and negative feedback. The best thing a player can do is say "I didn't like X for Y reason." That's awesome... now you know what to avoid and why; or at least can get some idea of how to tweak things for the future.

[mirkwoodfalcon]

Thank you all for the insightful responses! I'll definitely take a look at some play-throughs to get a feel for how others are running the game, and I'll pass the advice on to my brother.

[Andrew]

Grab a copy of Hobbit Tales too. If you have trouble getting into the mood or narrating stuff, play a couple of rounds of that to 'warm up' before you start (or midway through, if you like). Also, having a deck of cards with Tolkien quotes and cool imagery on is great inspiration for the newbie LM - plus it'll help him out with making up hazards.

[Falenthal]

Use Rules Cheat Sheets like this:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2392

And write down in one paper the statistics and powers of the adversaries you're going to use during the next adventure.

It will save you time flipping through pages and supplements.

I also print the adventure we're going to play an underline the descriptive parts or where the mechanics are explained (like "Finding the chest requires 3 successes in an extended action" and such). Also useful for writing side-notes related to your group.

[Otaku-sempai]

If you have any experience with tabletop military gaming then using miniatures (or tokens) on a mapboard during combat might be useful in visualizing exactly what is happening. It is certainly not necessary, but it might be helpful.

[Falenthal]

Oh, yeah! Forgot to say!
Absolutley use Voidstate's Battle and Travel Mats.

I can't find the links in this forum, but you can find both here:
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/72263 ... stance-mat

and here:
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/72264 ... travel-mat


Edit: Well, the sticky thread TOR Resources has it, of course.

Travel mat by voidstate:
http://www.voidstate.com/rpg/voidstate_ ... mat_v1.pdf

Battle board by voidstate:
http://www.voidstate.com/rpg/voidstate_ ... t_v1-1.pdf