So, I just ran my first game on Tuesday.

I gotta say I am not sure if I liked it or not. I feel I could have liked it, I wanted to like it, not sure what the issue was. Well that’s a lie, I think I know but am not 100% sure.

I got a group together on www.meetup.com and there were 3 PC's and myself as the GM. There were two more interested but were unable to make it. Anyhow, one of the PC's honestly just annoyed me, kind of a flippant attitude and mostly a clash of personalities I think. The other thing that annoyed me was myself. This was my first time in a table top game, and so that means it was also my first time running a game. It went a little like this:

I read the scroll and tell them that they need to hide, the scoundrel hides, after a minute the bounty hunter also hides, the droid (annoying PC) asks if there are any other droids in the cantina, I told her no (Instantly regretting it) and she says, well I am going to go on stage and act like a lamp. I basically take this as she is going to act like she belongs and I tell her to roll for Cool. Everyone succeeds and they quickly dispatch their trackers. The junk shop went pretty well I thought and after that it got a bit out of control (Read: I let it get out of control).

Leaving the junk shop they split up, which through me for a loop, but I saw no reason to say no and the droid went to the ship and I did not think to add resistance around the ship. I had the droid roll for mechanic to install the hypermatter drive which was successful and then the scoundrel and bounty hunter got into the game and went to the flight command center and made it though with some good rolls and no fighting.

On the way to the ship the two PC's run into the storm troopers. (I let them get a little carried away here) I let the two run down an ally before the encounter starts. The encounter starts with the three troopers are bottled necked at one end of the alleyway and the PC's are taking cover at the other end. (During this time the droid has rolled for mechanical to check and make sure there is nothing wrong with the ship and has started it up) The two PC's decide to split up again, bounty hunter making a run for the ship (I let her) and the scoundrel stays back to hold off the troopers. I read that the troopers are extremely difficult, so I give him a boost die because he is behind cover, and them the black die because they are in the open and bottled necked. (I felt pretty good about this) the PC has a very good roll and then the troopers also have a very good roll with a critical, I did not completely understand how critical work so I told him he was shot in his shoulder that he fires with and took away his boost die and told him he would have a black die if he wanted to fight again (trying to egg him on to run). Of course he stated that he would stay and he actually killed a trooper on his second roll. He tool damage again only leaving him 2 or 3 health.

Mean while during the fighting the droid and bounty hunter get the ship up and running. After hearing that the scoundrel was pinned down decided they would fly the ship to rescue him. At first the droid wanted to use the ships weapons to take on the troopers which I told her no because the weapons systems would take too long to warm up. Eventually they agreed that they could hover over the PC and drop a tether, I made the PC roll for athletics to jump up and grab it which he succeeded.

Annnnnd end. At this point people had to head home so we ended it with everyone on board and the droid healing the scoundrel.

So, I am not sure if I didn't have a great time due to the personalites, or how fast and loose I let the game go, a few time I suggested what they should do so they could move a long or avoid a bad situation. I also really want to run a PC but no one really wants to GM yet. I asked here before about how long a game would take. Everyone said pretty much 4-5 hours and we ran though to the 7th enounter in 2 and a half hours, thats with getting the game set up and everything. I will admit we accidently skipped an encounter because I let them board the ship with out reading that there should have been droids there.

I'm a fairly new GM myself, I've run only a few games myself and I think, it's just inexperience. I know I always feel a little out of sorts when I run games and in time, you could be a great GM as could I. Maybe, like for myself I wonder, if I have the GM capacity. Some do, some don't. Despite me not wanting to do this myself, both of us should keep at it, keep learning and keep trying. Also, knowing the people you play with helps, you know what kind of people they are. After years of gaming with my group, I know their type of personality, what they want out of a game. You're new, if any of them put on their rules lawyer hat, then, they can step up to the plate and GM. Did you finish the adventure or did it evolve into people storming off mad about such and such calling? If you finished, you did fine. You and I just need more practice.

I'm a fairly new GM myself, I've run only a few games myself and I think, it's just inexperience. I know I always feel a little out of sorts when I run games and in time, you could be a great GM as could I. Maybe, like for myself I wonder, if I have the GM capacity. Some do, some don't. Despite me not wanting to do this myself, both of us should keep at it, keep learning and keep trying. Also, knowing the people you play with helps, you know what kind of people they are. After years of gaming with my group, I know their type of personality, what they want out of a game. You're new, if any of them put on their rules lawyer hat, then, they can step up to the plate and GM. Did you finish the adventure or did it evolve into people storming off mad about such and such calling? If you finished, you did fine. You and I just need more practice.

True enough, on all counts. Luckily you have been with your group for years, this is just a group I met for the first time online. So there is bound to be friction as everyone gets use to each other.

Well, I wouldn't say lucky....A lot of the time, once we hit level 2, we move on to another game. I did manage to get us to level 12 in our D&D game, but even that had like a 6 month break. :-(

Our current game, despite the book being out on PDF, the GM wants to wait for the hard copy. So, we played for an hour, then went about discussing the mission in and out of character for the next 5 hours. Then the GM hit us with that after 3 weeks off because his brother wasn't in town. Then, 2 weeks ago, went on about how he's working on a Zombie Apocalypse game with another system. All this after 2 weeks of working on characters. Even my girlfriend who has only ever played 5 or 6 games ever, is a little annoyed about.

You did just fine. I have been running and playing RPGs for many years and if my first session had gone that well I would have been very pleased. I agree that you just need practice. Do you have a FLGS near you? If so I would check them out. I run games and mentor new GMs at mine and I know many other stores do the same. Find local people too, if you can. I could go on and on, but the reality is that it takes practice and dedication to be a GM and there are far too few of us.

It's really hard to have your first time roleplaying with people you don't know and running the game yourself.

expect the unexpected.

Your session sounds fine. It makes for a pretty good Star Wars story from what I can see.

If I were to give any advice, I'd say stop worrying about letting things get out of control. Players have much more fun in a session where a GM says "yes" to their ideas than no. Try to avoid telling them what to do, as that's no fun at all from a player perspective.

Like Crimson Death said, definitely expect the unexpected. Players WILL NOT proceed from point A to point B the way you hope or anticipate.

GM'ing is a skill, and it takes practice. This is something that many people really don't understand. Read advice, listen to actual play podcasts, think about what would be fun for you as a player.

The most important thing is that everyone at the table has fun.

You also have to remember this was the beginner game it makes no pretenses or apologies for being a linear adventure, there is pretty much only one path, if you play it as intended, each encounter is there only to teach you a few aspects of the game. The proper role playing comes about when you play long arm of the hutt.

I've run Escape from Mos Shuuta three times for rank beginners. On average it's taken about 2.5 hours so it doesn't sound like you went through it too quickly.

From your description you did a couple of things pretty well:

1. You allowed players to split up. This is not the easiest thing to manage and I see plenty of new GMs preventing their players from doing it. Practice makes perfect and also eventually new players learn that splitting the party can be deadly in certain environments so it happens far less. Although all the time in the Star Wars movies.
2. You didn't go back to the rule-book for everything you didn't understand. That's actually good GMing, not bad GMing. Rather keep the game flowing, make rules decisions on the fly, and then once everyone has gone home you can review what you did, get the correct ruling and tell them all about it at the start of the next session. Time to look up how critical hits work.

Everyone has the ability to GM within them, it's just practice and experience that comes next. Good luck and I hope you continue gaming.

Curious, what happened to Trexx and why didn't he stop the droid just moseying about his ship?

Say yes to everything, except droids pretending to be "lamps". Or make such behaviour punishable by having her detected instantly next time...

Also during the beginner game I wouldn't have allowed them to split up and would have told them so out right, saying something like "this session is to learn to game so it won't be as free and loose as future sessions will be." Actually parties splitting up is a pain in the ass as it is anyway...

On top of all that if a character keeps fighting a battle he is unable to win, drop hints that tell him that "you see a possible escape route through an alley on your left", "you don't know how long you can hold out", "you feel like you've reached the end of the road" or flat out tell him "this is a battle you can't win".

It is a game to learn the system and understanding when it is time to run is part of learning the game as well.

Otherwise, I think you handled it really well!

Sounds like the players may have had more fun than you. If you're going to continue playing with the group I can recommend that you meet them outside of the game for social gathering. Grab something to eat, shoot the breeze, talk about the kind of game each player wants to play... keep it informal. Watch for any players speaking over and drowning out the feelings and opinions of others. This will help you get a sense of what game the group would like to play and see if that gels with your sensibilities. It could also smooth over ruffled feathers with the annoying player.

I wouldn't judge them too harshly on just one session. You're sensitive because it's your first session and you're trying really hard to make it work. It's their first session, and they're exploring the boundaries of what's possible. It may be the irritating guy was going through his own self consciousness and acted out. If he's still and idiot by the end of the next session... then chat to him alone and explain how he is making you feel. It's your game, and you don't have to play with people who irritate you. It's sometimes had to do, but its better to do it earlier than later.

And like so many here have already said, practice practice practice. It'll come. I've been gming since 1985, and last week my players completely destroyed my carefully plotted storyline. haha. Yes it *hurts*... but that's the game. How well you roll with their actions, the better they enjoy the story.

You did just fine. I have been running and playing RPGs for many years and if my first session had gone that well I would have been very pleased. I agree that you just need practice. Do you have a FLGS near you? If so I would check them out. I run games and mentor new GMs at mine and I know many other stores do the same. Find local people too, if you can. I could go on and on, but the reality is that it takes practice and dedication to be a GM and there are far too few of us.

I have no idea what FLGS is. I will say I am lucky and the comic book store I am near has a lot of gamers so it should be easy to meet up with GM's and learn some things.

Like Crimson Death said, definitely expect the unexpected. Players WILL NOT proceed from point A to point B the way you hope or anticipate.

GM'ing is a skill, and it takes practice. This is something that many people really don't understand. Read advice, listen to actual play podcasts, think about what would be fun for you as a player.

The most important thing is that everyone at the table has fun.

I am quickly learning that I should expect them to do what I expect, or the book expects. I like the idea of creating stories so I will stick with being a GM untill someone who is better at it comes a long so I can create my own guy. I will say I havn't listened to any podcasts, but I think thats probably going to change in the next day or two.

I've run Escape from Mos Shuuta three times for rank beginners. On average it's taken about 2.5 hours so it doesn't sound like you went through it too quickly.

From your description you did a couple of things pretty well:

1. You allowed players to split up. This is not the easiest thing to manage and I see plenty of new GMs preventing their players from doing it. Practice makes perfect and also eventually new players learn that splitting the party can be deadly in certain environments so it happens far less. Although all the time in the Star Wars movies.
2. You didn't go back to the rule-book for everything you didn't understand. That's actually good GMing, not bad GMing. Rather keep the game flowing, make rules decisions on the fly, and then once everyone has gone home you can review what you did, get the correct ruling and tell them all about it at the start of the next session. Time to look up how critical hits work.

Everyone has the ability to GM within them, it's just practice and experience that comes next. Good luck and I hope you continue gaming.

Curious, what happened to Trexx and why didn't he stop the droid just moseying about his ship?

Ok, the time thing was honestly something I was a bit worried about with me letting them do their own thing. I still went back to the rule book a decent amount but that was more for figuing out how to fight groups and how they did diffrent things.

Ahhh Trexx, this is really the part that got me to the point "Ahhh F Me, I screwed this up" When I let the droid onto the ship with no problems I couldn't magicly make trexx and the security droids show up so we accidently skipped an entire encounter. I played it off that he was on the way to pick up the hypermatter drive when they stole his ship.

On top of all that if a character keeps fighting a battle he is unable to win, drop hints that tell him that "you see a possible escape route through an alley on your left", "you don't know how long you can hold out", "you feel like you've reached the end of the road" or flat out tell him "this is a battle you can't win".

It is a game to learn the system and understanding when it is time to run is part of learning the game as well.

See I did this, but I always felt kind of guilty like I was trying to force their desisions on them, but at the same time I was trying to avoid the one guy getting killed because it would serve no purpous.

Anyhow thanks for all the great advice everyone.

Every GM has a different toolkit. Part of the process to becoming a good GM is to practice and try things out. Don't be afraid to try things out. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.

It is important to learn the rules for the game, but you have to keep in mind what the are meant to be. The rules whether you're playing star wars or Dungeons and dragons are a medium for facilitating active story telling. Once you understand the rules then feel free to bend the rules or even outright bark the rules if it helps facilitate story telling.

You had a pretty rough start so I can understand a bit of hesitance here but really looking at your setup as a whole, I can totally understand why it might not be a great experience. There where just too many things working against you between being a first time table top gamer and first time GM, not to mention playing in a system that is very narrative focused and doing so with complete strangers. Its not a good recipe for a good game I'm afraid.

The good news is that things do get better. You have your first session under your belt and probably learned a great deal. You now have time before your next session to get to know the rules better. Next time you meet your players they won't be complete strangers, hopefully it won't be so awkward. It takes time and effort to get a good game together, even when your an experienced GM playing with good friends. First sessions are notoriously unwieldy because frankly people are trying to figure out who the character they are playing are, how they act, what sort of narrative juice their made from.

One thing I can suggest is slow it down. Its not a race or a contest to see how many encounters you can get through. The goal is to find the game and frankly you don't need encounters or even an adventure to do that. Just put the players in a ship and ask them what they want to do.. let them talk to each other. People are natural problem solvers and they will come to some sort of conclusion together and build a story for you without any effort or planning. The trick is to present them with detail responses for when they do act so that their is always an answer to their questions, actions, inquiries. Like you pointed out, the droid player asked if there are any other droids in the cantina... that's your que, he's got an idea so the answer is definitively yes there is! Describe the droid, think up a personality for him and see what your player does with it. That in a nutshell is what role-playing is about.

[..] the droid (annoying PC) asks if there are any other droids in the cantina, I told her no (Instantly regretting it) and she says, well I am going to go on stage and act like a lamp. [...]

I realize in the beginners box you wouldn't have destiny points set up in the beginning, but otherwise this would have been a good oppurtinity to pointedly look at your destiny point pool and say "There could be droids in the cantina." Regardless, it sounds like you did well. A lot better than my first time.

My weakness is creativity, but I can offer you advice on rules, which is where I excel. Between sessions, try and review any rules you had to stop and look up. If they came up once, chances are they will come up again. Come back to each session having learned one new rule by heart. Thankfully, EotE doesn't have many conveluted rules.

I definitely recommend listening to some actual play podcasts; even if they aren't EotE. Those have been invaluabe, both in coming up with ideas, but also learning how other GMs deal with problem players and players going off the rails.

Oh and by the by, FLGS = Friendly Local Gaming Store.

A few people have mentioned podcasts. I'd never thought of it, are there any that are particularly notable?

I think the Order66 ones are the ones everyone is referring to

As far as I know, Order 66 aren't "actual play" podcasts. Some good advice though, and Skill Monkey is a gem.

FLGS is friendly local game store. Enjoy!

Trex now becomes the PCs' number one enemy, so the way you handled it was fine. When I ran Mos Shuuta, I skipped an encounter too, and my players used the cannons on the Krayt Fang to shoot at the Stormtroopers. They also took out the water tower during that game, and one of them got washed over the edge of the mesa, along with two stormtroopers (who "just happened" to have grappling lines on their blasters, and succeeded in firing them into buildings, thus saving themselves and the PC... who spent a destiny point to roll a Daunting Athletics check to grab a stormie's leg as he fell...).

Picture it in your mind as an action movie. The PCs are those heroes who can pull off the impossible, or at the very least kill themselves entertainingly as they try.

Order 66 has only one session of actual play content.

For non-EotE, I really like Critical Hit. The GM is a bit dry but very creative and is great about weaving a story, plus the players have some very funny moments.

I am currently listening to Nerd Poker which features Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program) and a bunch of his friends playing DnD. Anytime when a bunch of comedians get to gether and nerd out, you are in for some entertainment.

There's a podcast hosted by a member of both these boards and the d20Radio boards named Barefoottourguide. The podcast is him running his group through "Dawn of Defiance" a full length Star Wars: Saga Edition campaign. The sound quality isn't the best but he's really good about managing a large group of players, and he's an excellent source for learning how to run a premade adventure but also adding your own flavor to it. That podcast is "Threat Detected"

You're new. A lot of it comes from experience. As you’re new to the hobby, as well, I would encourage you to find a game that you can play in, learning from that GM as well.

If your crew had fun, and you had fun (other then the worrisome stress of “I’m doing it worng”) then I suggest you did a fine job. You will only get better.

It's really hard to have your first time roleplaying with people you don't know and running the game yourself.

Understatement of the decade.

The guy has played his first tabletop game as game master for complete strangers.

That is the roleplaying equivalent of a couch-potato climbing to the top of Mount Everest the first time he laces-up his boots.