Starting DMing my first proper campaign on Thursday evening at my local FLGS.

Think I'm about as prepped as I'm ever going to be, and read evry single tip and hint, and helpful thread I can come across.

Any other final pearls of wisdom form this awesome sage like community?

You got this I find that if you relax and don't get overly control freakish as far as what the PCs do (meaning let them make their own choices), this game is easy to run.

Enthusiasm from you is a big component, genuine excitement will help the players to allow themselves to be entertained by each other and by you.

7 minutes ago, Archlyte said:

You got this I find that if you relax and don't get overly control freakish as far as what the PCs do (meaning let them make their own choices), this game is easy to run.

Enthusiasm from you is a big component, genuine excitement will help the players to allow themselves to be entertained by each other and by you.

Cheers dude. Thankfully enthusiasm is something I've never lacked where gaming is concerned, will keep ot at the front of my mind.

Good luck! The main thing is to have fun, so don't sweat the details too much. If something comes up you're not sure about, just make a decision, move on, and let the players know you'll learn it for next time. Sounds like you're a heck of a lot more prepared than most people, so no doubt you'll do fine!

45 minutes ago, whafrog said:

Good luck! The main thing is to have fun, so don't sweat the details too much. If something comes up you're not sure about, just make a decision, move on, and let the players know you'll learn it for next time. Sounds like you're a heck of a lot more prepared than most people, so no doubt you'll do fine!

Cheers man. Am always happy to just wing it in most situations in life, lol.

Enjoy the show!

And a little bit of post-game advice... make note of what the players responded to and took and an interest in. It will be good fuel for the next time.

Good luck!

25 minutes ago, jendefer said:

Enjoy the show!

And a little bit of post-game advice... make note of what the players responded to and took and an interest in. It will be good fuel for the next time.

Good luck!

Thanks, planning on doing a little debrief at the end of the session.

Erm....

1) plan a small encounter for each players obligation in case it comes up - Bounty Hunters, Debt Collectors, having the ship impounded, have the players find out someone has been asking around for them.

2) a generic encounter - escaping beasties (NOT A RANCOR for the first game!!!) , fleeing slaves, - there was a community fan made pdf that had set environmental encounters too: sandstorms, blizzards etc IIRC

3) expect the unexpected - you can NEVER plan for anything the players may do

4) Wing it and have fun.. narrative dice can be awesome once you get the hang of it.

Have a list of random names for npcs, businesses, and ships handy. Invariably during the game, someone is going to ask "what is its name" having a list available makes it easy to just grab one, make a mark on it and you now have something you can reference later.

This is a nice tool if you have computer tablet when running. Otherwise jot a few down before the game

http://thompsonpeters.com/eote/misc/npcgen/

My recommendation is to know the characters at the table and their motivations, so you have an easier time pulling them into the story you're telling. I find the more character driven the story becomes, the more engaged the players are. I don't do random encounters ever. Everything should be in service to the greater story.

Good Luck, Kid.

You're going to need it . . . going up against something that big!

I am happy to report the first session went really well.

Didn't finish the module I'd written, but had lots of rp fun, cool character interactions, hooks seized, things investigated, and not even a shot fired.

Still the big finale will be a big kickoff, really looking forward to it in 2 weeks time.