Ok me and some friends are starting a DH party . They decided to make me the GM and ive never bee one.

So can people give me some tips on how to be a GM.

Read the rulebook, because you need to be comfortable with the rules. You don't have to know everything, but you need to be comfortable enough to run the game without constantly refering to the rules.

Read the chapter in the rulebook about GMing. It's got some helpful tips.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lots of folks here on the forums will be happy to give advice.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You will. Even experienced GMs get rules wrong or set up bad scenarios. It's just a fact of life. Don't let it stop you.

Above all, have fun!

Oh, one other useful tip: watch a lot of movies/TV shows and read a lot of books. Not only are they great sources for adventure ideas, they are great sources for ideas about the different ways people can talk, act and react in the kind of crazy situations you find in rpgs. Don't be a afraid to "borrow" characters, events and even entire adventures from your favorite show, movie or novel.

Pretty much everything that friend Lucius said. The only thing I would add is, your first time out use one of the pre-made adventures. Either one of the ones in the backs of various books/supplements, or one of the free downloads, or one of the official adventure series books. In my opinion, that will be easier on you than trying to dive into the deep end right off the bat.

Then, once you have completed that, sit down with your players and discuss what you all liked and/or disliked about it. Take notes. Then you can use those to decide how best to go about coming up with your own adventures.

Oh, and don't be afraid to change something to suit your likes/dislikes. As a GM, that is your inalienable right. But if it is a rule, just make sure that you are consistent in applying it, and that it is fair.

And remember that games like this are NOT a competition between the GM and the Players. It is a collaborative effort to tell a fun story, that everyone gets to participate in.

Hope that helps, and good gaming.

I would start by running a small/simple scenario just to get a feel for the rules and the way the game plays.

The demo scenario Shattered Hopes is ok for this purpose, though it is not a very interesting adventure as written. I ran if as my first Dark Heresy game, and it is basically a tutorial in the form of a short dungeon crawl.

When my players first picked up Warhammer Fantasy 2nd edition some years ago, we just ran a short scene where bandits attacked a small village, again just to get a feel for the combat mechanics.

Read and re-read the rules and GM sections of your core book a few times. Make notes if you need to. It looks a little intimidating, but it is really not that bad. The key to this particular game is making on the fly judgement calls on how easy/hard something would be and assigning bonuses or penalties (usually in blocks of +/-10 or sometimes 5) and then let they player roll. Remember that the "baseline" difficulty in the game (no modifiers) is "difficult": This means that an "average" roll is at around +10. Also be sure to remember that suitable equipment for a task will usually grant some amount of bonus to the roll: Climbing is easier with a rope, Medicae is easier with a medkit. Usually really bad consequnces for failed skill tests hit at around 3 degrees of failure or worse. So for example a climb test failed by one degree might simply indicate "no progress" while failure by three degrees is often "you fall, gravity wins." Even if they fall they might still be alive... Roll falling damage and have the player subtract their character's Toughness bonus (but not armour!) from the result. You are not dead until a critical chart SAYS you are dead.

The other concept that is sometimes difficult for players and GMs to grasp is the opposed roll. In most games a "failed" skill roll is just that, failure. In DH (and RT/DW) when you are resolving opposed rolls a "failed" dice roll can still end up in success if it failed by less than the other guy! This doesn't help you much if you just rolled a 98 while firing your bolter but it DOES lead to some amusing moments of drama in a game: {Player rolls and groans, announcing 3 degrees of failure on an attempted Conceal skill test and warms up a handy Fate Point... But wait! The guard just rolled 4 degrees of failure on his Awareness test! The player begins to brag about their "Mad ninja skilz"}

Since your players are new to the game and you have never played or run it either I would suggest downloading the (free!) Shattered Hopes adventure from FFG. The story is pretty thin but that is one of the reasons to it first. Quite simply, if you mangle it who cares? No one misses out on the "deep and complicated story" due to some unfortunately timed error. Also it was released BEFORE the DH core book, so it assumes that the GM and players are new to the game and is set up to be a "how to play" session that is masquerading as an adventure. Each scene literally provides "how to do this part" hints. This is the scene where you learn how to overcome obstacles and use skills. This is where you learn to gather info. This is where you learn the ambush rules. This room is BAD to shoot in, so we are showing you how melee works.... There is plenty of room to add more material to the adventure as written. At the end of the session if anyone's characater died (don't forget those Fate Points!) or someone decides they really would like to play a different character concept they can do so with minimal disruption to any game continuity. Once everything is settled in and people are more comfortable with the game system then move on to either Illumination (back of your core book) or Edge of Darkness (another free download). Edge of Darkness is easily one of the most popular adventures according to most groups. One change I WOULD definately make in Shattered Hope is the effect of failing the Toughness test against the "bad crystal". Replace the "fail and instantly mutate" result with "fail and get an annoying pile of corruption points." Maybe 2D5 or so?

Do not be afraid to kill characters or make things brutal, but always be fair about it. The players have magical "oh ****!" panic buttons they can whack on a few times (Fate Points) so it should ideally be bad decision making or really awesome story twists that kills people off more than bad dice rolls. Failed a dodge against a heavy stubber on full auto? Might be a good time to spend Fate and re-roll that dodge. Fell off the top of a 40 story building? Well crap... Might want to burn Fate and then explain how a rusty piece of rebar sticking out of the side of the building managed to get snagged up on the character's flak jacket and they are merely dangling over the sidewalk instead of imbedded in the sidewalk. Fate can also be spent to regain Wounds during game play, a fact that is often forgotten by new groups.

If you can afford it, I strongly recommend picking up the DH GM's kit (Screen and small booklet). Unlike many other games the DH screen is full of USEFUL things for a GM and charts that you will end up using alot. It also includes some fun GM tools (random critter generator, sample poisons) as well as an adventure "Maggots in the Meat" that introduces a NASTY recurring alien species. As an added bonus it is sturdy and looks good.

I like everything I have read so far. I just wanted to emphasize what I find is most important.

1) Know your players. Their play style. Their preferences in a game. etc.

2) Know in a broad sense what their characters can do. Know what their motivations/goals are. Play the 20 questions game.

3) Know the personalities of your primary NPCs. Know their motivations etc.

4) Keep a notepad handy while in game as you flesh out NPCs, setting etc.

nakano said:

Some of the best advice sofar. Play the game to entertain your players.

Edge of Darkness is the must use starting adventure, a fantastic mini sandbox of a adventure. Get it HERE

Hey guys thanks for the tips OH and the adventure.

Now after the demo story ive got an idea for a story.

In the story im thinking the group has to capture and i mean CAPTURE a lord inquisitor who has gone to chaos. But i have not finished it but what do you think of the idea.

Pod Droppa said:

If you have a really great idea for an adventure or a scenario, don't do it. The last thing you want to do is waste your best ideas on your first session where everyone is trying to learn how the game works. They won't pay much attention to the story as they'll be still figuring out what all their stats and skills do.

And be prepared. If you're running a published adventure, make sure you know the way that adventure plays out so you don't have to pause to read something while they wait for you to catch up.

BYE

LuciusT said:

hehe, yeah, like when I first started Gming, I misinterpreted the rules about characteristic advancements. While the book says you get +5 for every rank, I accidentally thought that each rank is the next MULTIPLE of 5, so I had people adding +15 to their characteristics after buying a rank three upgrade!!! When the groups psyker ended up with 95 willpower, I began to grow suspicious...

Pod Droppa said:

I'd agree with H.B.M.C here, don't do it just yet. It's a good idea and if you use it straight away you might end up regretting it later when you realize how you could have made it even cooler. Besides, the characters would probably need to be fairly highly ranked to capture a Lord Inquisitor (or to even be allowed to try and hunt down a rogue agent of that magnitude) so running a few of the pre-made adventures to give both yourself and the characters some experience is a good idea.

Edge of Darkness (free downloadable from the Dark Heresy support section here on FFG) is a really good scenario for example.

Being a GM is like being a conductor for an orchestra. Your players are,,, well you players.

They might be good musicians, they might be bad musicians. You have a mix off jazz musicians and classical musicians and rocks musicians that all want to take the game in different directions.

You can't do their job. You might have chosen the notes, or even written the symphony, wave you arms all you want to, but they got to play it, they have to if bring it to life and make if fly. Character, witty and smart dialog, understanding where you want to take the plot, go with the plot etc.

Your job is to make the best of them, to make the symphonies they play rule, to make them enjoy each sessions, to make the jazz musician and rock musician to work together. To keep the rhythm, keep the song flowing.

Your work is to notice if the group got some problem and fix it with them. If its communication problem, make them talk. If the symphony you chosen/written don't fit your players change it. You got to take the input and out they give you serious consideration, no matter if it was voiced or something you notice. Your not perfect and if the players have some sort of suggestion is probably a good one.

You got to trust you player and learn to let go of the control. Trust them to play awesome riffs they come up with and roll with it, work those idea in to the symphony.

And conducting and playing is taxing. Every now and then take a break, when you feel you need it or notice that you players notice it during the night.

To really enjoy the analogy, have a look at this video about leadership styles and being a conductor. Says a lot about how to lead and GM

www.ted.com/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_conductors.html

Follow up to my earlier post.

By knowing your players, you can prioritize the time spent learning the game. For example if your group tends to prefer combat, learn those rules first. If they prefer more NPC interaction, learn the setting. If investigation is their thing, focus on those rules.

To be honest, when I started running the game 2+ years ago, I pretty much ignored the rules and focussed on setting, as NPC interaction and roleplay was my group's focus. I had the luxury of learning the rules as we went.

There are still times that my players know the rules better then me. And they will call me on it. When that happens, I ask that they show not tell me the rule, so I can read it and make a ruling.

Again, there is a lot to learn. If you know what your players are looking for, you can prioritize your learning.

OH yeah dark heresy came out like 3 years ago.

Yeah my friends have all played RPGs before but i havent. And none of them have ever been a gm. And im pretty imagitanive so they chose me.

In addition to all of the above, have plenty of maps handy. I recommend spending an afternoon with a stack of graph paper, cranking out maps for "generic" locations (bars, storefronts, outdoor marketplaces, sections of factories, etc) so you will be prepared when your players strike out in an unexpected direction. Heck, even some of the official modules (noteably Edge of Darkness ) lack maps of key locations. I guarantee you will be glad you have them to fall back on at some point...

Or just do what I did and buy every D&D tile set ever made, as well as things like the DOOM board game, Space Hulk and so on.

I'm a little obsessed with maps...

BYE

very useful advice. as a first time dark heresy gm (love it so far, prefer it to playing ) this advice is very good.

Should i have my friends use the demo characters or should i have them make there own.

Oh look that's up to them.

The main obstacle with demo characters is that people will fight over who they want.

The main obstacle with making your own characters with a new group is that you can spend so much time making the characters that you never get to actually playing the game.


I'd say ask them all before the day you're holding the game, just to make sure.

BYE

What I typically do is use the first session as a discussion of who wants to play what. Let the party hammer that out, I will make suggestions if the party has any serious gaps in skills and we go from there. That is usually also the point where I discuss concepts with my players. If I had to put it all on a timetable it would look sort of like this in a 1st 4 hour session:

• first 15 minutes, chitchat, catching up etc
• 30 minutes, general overview of campaign. Introduction to the world as it were.
• 1.5-2.5 hours, character creation, discussions with players about concepts and backgrounds
• whatever time is left, the intro to the game in character.

That is a general sort of timeline that I have used in a variety of systems over the years. Its not formalized or anything, just sort of a retrospective look at what I have done when I have kicked games off. I always try to get some play in the night of character creation, as it gets the players into the feel of the game sooner rather then later. Even if it is only the "lets get them all together" scenes, that culminate in them waiting together for their Inquisitor/briefing officer to arrive, it tends to be enough.

I have one last question. Is there any where i can print out a quick rules sheet. Like a website where all the rule are.

I personally don't know of one, but a good piece of advice is, if you're using a friend's copy, write down the most important rules that the group will need both for yourself and everyone else.

Then again I'm not aware if you're trying to print off the rules for yourself, or for your players that way they've got some working knowledge of things.

They should have included a reference sheet in the GM-kit. In fact the GM-screen is supposed to be a reference sheet but like all other companies ever they have failed at understanding what should be and shouldn't be in the GM-screen.

As for pre-made versus home-made characters. If you are playing for the first time and everyone is trying to get a hang on both the system and the setting, then pre-made characters can work really well. Just hand them out arbitrarily, play a scenario, and then make new characters for the next one. It's easier to make a character you are happy with if you know a little about the setting and the rules.

nakano said:

What questions would YOU ask in the 20 questions game, just so I can pilfer them to use 4 a guide 4 my game as 2 wat the characters want from it