I'm a little shaky as to posting this thread here, as this might be better left for a LFG sort of area, but for lack of better direction (or even any direction at all), I find myself placing it here.

I've not yet had the privilege to actually play a game of Deathwatch, at a tabletop or over any of the bazillion online mediums that exist to play tabletop games across distance. I'm also finding that the harder I look into finding a game the more frequently I stumble across the reality that any games I find are specifically looking for a Gamemaster and not additional players. I find it reasonable that it would be the case, but at the same time it places me in a rather difficult position: I would not mind being a GM, but in order to GM I need to learn the game, but the only games that have any openings are ones that require GM's already familiar with the game. It's quite the Catch-22, and without much other recourse I look to here for advice and/or help.

Would anyone running an online game be able and willing to let me join them as an observer? I would not interfere or comment during the live game, but would watch to see how the gameplay works and how the GM constructed the game session and, if possible, consult with the GM between sessions to learn how to build an effective game. (I would not turn down the opportunity to actually play in such a game, but I'm setting the bar to what I feel is bare necessity.)

My contact information and availability will gladly be provided to anyone that is interested in taking on an observer/apprentice/player/newbie/etc.

Well let me talk to my group tomorrow as we get together every other Saturday for about five hours and see if they wouldn't mind a new player. We use google hangouts yo video chat with those that live to far away to physically show up. I dont see an issue but let me talk to them first.

That sounds excellent. Most of my Saturdays are open, the nearby exceptions being November 1 and 8. If you want a new player I'll have a character sheet generated by the end of the day, but even just watching would be welcome.

While I have no games available at present, may I or others be permitted to offer nuggets of advice which you may or may not pick up from watching?

While I have no games available at present, may I or others be permitted to offer nuggets of advice which you may or may not pick up from watching?

Absolutely! I'll take anything and everything I can get in addition to watching a game unfold.

I would let you take a look at our game...but we don't do remote play. I have 6-8 Regular players and we meet every sunday evening for about 7-8 hours.

That being said, some of the best advice I ever had on being a GM is from Chris Perkins at a convention (Bigwig with Wizards of the Coast.) He said the best way to learn how to be a GM is to just go BE a GM! If you can't run deathwatch, run a different game system for some short campaigns to get your feet wet and then go from there. I played as a player for many years before I tried to GM a game. This campaign is my first attempt and so far it's been going great! Get out there and join the fight!

Yeah just go for it. If your a newbie Gm just explain that to the group. They'll give you plenty of slack.

Also just make the first adventure stand alone. You don't need to make it a Lord of The Rings Epic or anything. Just think of some interesting books or films and take the core concepts and run with them.

An other way of constructing a scenario is simply create an environment like a military base or a stretch of Mag Line between two settlements think of a threat like invading Eldar Corsair or a xenos virus and then let the players do the hardwork of dealing with it.

The key for these kinds of scenarios is to allow the PCs enough leeway so your not shooting down all their ideas but not making it to easy for them either.

First few times you Gm don't get hung up on the rules

If a Pc wants to do something and it is not game breaking but your not sure they are correct with their rule interpretation then give them the benefit of the doubt and make a note to look it up afterwards. I always start the session with confirming what rules we got right or wrong last session.

Whatever you do have the confidence to know your the ref and the only rule that matters is everyone has fun.

Couldn't have said it better myself there Visitor Q. You are the ref and make sure everyone has fun. My first scenario I ran was a basic training mission to get a feel for the rules. It was designed to introduce the characters to each other and have them take their vows as deathwatch. Then I followed that up with the Extraction mission out of the main rulebook...which was awesome! They had a blast and by the time we were done we had a much better feel for the rules. Now at Rank three after a few months of player I can safely throw a 500 Mag horde of two dozen Chaos Marines at them with a few decent leaders and special weapons guys and trust that they will find a way to overcome it. My players are monsters though who know how to really stretch the rules to just shy of the breaking point, I don't mind though because we all have a blast.

Most important: Always expect your players to ruin your plot!

Or do what I do...make villains that act independently of the players actions... and if they never find them, the galaxy just goes ahead and burns anyway. Took my players months and months to pick up the threads of the main campaign arc in our game. They have thwarted some secondary villains for sure...but they JUST found the main story, which I find to be thrilling!