The first time player

By amrnads176, in Zombie Apocalypse

Hello and greetings to every one.

So i was so lucky to manage get my hands on the first book about the Zombies.

The problem is that nor me or my friends have ever played this or any other Rolle playing game.

I have decided to explore this oportunity there for i have to be the GM and prepar the game.

Cold any kind soul point me towards any source that would show me how to do this process...

I understand that the book provide the base information of the locations that can be used and the events that my happen there. But hat means that basicaly the whole story should be generated by me and the actions are pure improvasion between me and the PCs ?

If any one could provide any source except the information in the book i would be endleslly thankfull

Sorry for my spelling mistakes and thanks already in advance !

Oh boy.

So. Let's start at the start.

You have gotten your hands on a roleplaying game. Right? A roleplaying game is, at its core, a social event. Something to be participated in with multiple people all at once. Furthermore, it is a collaborative storytelling (social) experience. Everyone should participate to help make the story interesting and dramatic .

As the GM, think of yourself as the "clockmaker". You places all the gears ahead of time that will make the clock move, you wind the clock up, but then you let it go.

You put some interesting "gears" (events, locations, people, etc.) in place for the story, and you set the stage - but you let the players determine where the story goes. You are just the arbiter of the in-game "reality".

It is not your story, as GM. It is everyone's story who sits down to play. You should encourage your players to do bold, dramatic, interesting, and hilarious things. Because bold, dramatic, interesting and hilarious things are what make a good social gathering, right? And the best way to encourage them to do those sorts of things, is by allowing those efforts to have bold, dramatic, interesting, and hilarious results.

Note: this does not mean that you have to let the characters succeed at everything they do - when they fail a roll they fail a roll. But it does mean that you do not punish the players for trying those sorts of things. The hard part is finding a way so that when they fail (a dice roll) that it still causes something dramatic and interesting to happen in the story. Failure should complicate things, not create dead ends.

You should try to always say "Yes", if your player wants to do something. If your instinct is to say "No", instead have them roll the dice.

Now. This roleplaying game that you've stumbled upon is more deadly than most, AND pretty free-form. It's very easy for the players to take and accumulate damage. And there are not a lot of rules to let you know how various in-game actions "should" (or could) be handled by the dice, or other game mechanics. Which I guess is just a way for me to say, don't be discouraged if things get off to a rocky start. Focus on having fun, and allowing your players to create an interesting and dramatic story (instead of, say, an "authentic" zombie apocalypse story).

As for general GMing resources, I'd say YouTube probably has a bunch of stuff out there for you.

Good luck!

Hey.

Thanks for your answer. I recently made the first game and by my supprise my freidns acutally loved it. and recently asked me to host the 2nd part. Since after 3 - 4 hour play they did not manage to get till the frirst major point that was a army extraction point.

The game went smoother and i understood that the improvisation in the best way to lead the game, and bending rulles there and here is a good thing.

My prolem now is to figure how to transtion from a game that was ment a single session to a 2 session game or even more.

Glad to hear it went well!

I think the obvious answer is; Once the players get on the extraction chopper and lift off, it's revealed that the pilot was concealing a bite wound! He zombifies, the chopper crashes (with a PC having to make a check to stop it from being catastrophic?), and BAM, there in a new part of the world with a new challenge to face!

Youve maybe seen the thread, but to help extend the "life" of a campaign, I've put together a set of houserules. Check 'em ou t to help give your game some more girth.

On 3/22/2018 at 3:21 AM, emsquared said:

Oh boy.

So. Let's start at the start.

You have gotten your hands on a roleplaying game. Right? A roleplaying game is, at its core, a social event. Something to be participated in with multiple people all at once. Furthermore, it is a collaborative storytelling (social) experience. Everyone should participate to help make the story interesting and dramatic .

As the GM, think of yourself as the "clockmaker". You places all the gears ahead of time that will make the clock move, you wind the clock up, but then you let it go.

You put some interesting "gears" (events, locations, people, etc.) in place for the story, and you set the stage - but you let the players determine where the story goes. You are just the arbiter of the in-game "reality".

It is not your story, as GM. It is everyone's story who sits down to play. You should encourage your players to do bold, dramatic, interesting, and hilarious things. Because bold, dramatic, interesting and hilarious things are what make a good social gathering, right? And the best way to encourage them to do those sorts of things, is by allowing those efforts to have bold, dramatic, interesting, and hilarious results.

Note: this does not mean that you have to let the characters succeed at everything they do - when they fail a roll they fail a roll. But it does mean that you do not punish the players for trying those sorts of things. The hard part is finding a way so that when they fail (a dice roll) that it still causes something dramatic and interesting to happen in the story. Failure should complicate things, not create dead ends.

You should try to always say "Yes", if your player wants to do something. If your instinct is to say "No", instead have them roll the dice.

Now. This roleplaying game that you've stumbled upon is more deadly than most, AND pretty free-form. It's very easy for the players to take and accumulate damage. And there are not a lot of rules to let you know how various in-game actions "should" (or could) be handled by the dice, or other game mechanics. Which I guess is just a way for me to say, don't be discouraged if things get off to a rocky start. Focus on having fun, and allowing your players to create an interesting and dramatic story (instead of, say, an "authentic" zombie apocalypse story).

As for general GMing resources, I'd say YouTube probably has a bunch of stuff out there for you.

Good luck!

recently asked me to host the 2nd part. Since after 3 - 4 hour play they did not manage to get till the frirst major point that was a army extraction point.