Dont try to run a quest unless you know what you are doing when playing in one. You do not need to know weapons damage rating, what every spell does, what bonus every piece of armor gives ect.. but you should know the basics inside and out. You should be able to calculate things for your own character. If you dont know why certain rolls are done, how to calculate your own damage, how to figure up your own HP's in armor, what bonus's apply to which rolls, ect.. Then your not ready to GM quests yet.

Game mechanics are just as important as storyline. The rules are in the gaming system section of the pages read them over and over. If you do not understand something get help before you run quests.(Gospel)

Tip: Print out or copy the pages with the spells listed on them. These are the hardest details to memorize because they do so many different things. The wording is often very important to exactly what they can and cant do. This is also a good idea for some of the more commonly used misc items.

Tip: If a player uses an item or spell your not familiar with dont be afraid to ask him what it does. Make sure to look it up later incase the player didnt inform you correctly. This will help you remember the item or spell in the future. It will also allow you to give the player accurate info so he doesnt think his character can do something it cant.

Keeping control of the room is not always easy but it is very important. Your job as GM is to keep focus on the task at hand i.e. The quest. Dont be afraid to be harsh with players that are disruptive no matter who they are. Feel free to bark orders and flex your muscles. If players do not respond then kick them out of the quest or even the room. Do not act like your afraid to seem mean.

Some players will try to walk the line and push your buttons deal with them swiftly right from the start. Once youve made examples of a few of them you will find you will have far fewer hassles in the future. Reputation comes in handy. (Gospel)

Tip: Normally give only one warning. OOC talking should never be tolerated. Tell non-questers to be quiet. Dont direct orders at just one player. Make a blanket statement such as "Non-questers shush" or "Knock of the OOC" Kick the next person to violate the rule.

Tip: Old players can sometimes be a problem. They can sometimes be a "Rules Lawyer" stateing "This is the right way to do this or that" or by saying "I do things this way" Deal with them harshly. Even if what they are telling you is accurate they are out of line. The proper time to teach you a rule you do not know is After the quest not during it. Mistakes are to be expected from new GM's and even old ones. Contradicting you mid-quest is unacceptable behavior. Simply state "Educate me later maybe I'll do it differenly next time" If they continue kick them out.

Out of uniform GM's can be especially guilty of this. They sometimes want to show their knowledge of the game or flex their own muscles by contradicting the GM in charge. When not in uniform they are just players treat them as such, perhaps even harsher. They are supposed to be setting an example, disruptive behavior or contradicting a fellow GM should never be tolerated.

It is your job to keep things going at a pace your comfortable with. You are the guide, stay ahead of the players or they will run rampant. (Gospel)

Tip: Dont engage in idle chit chat with the players. You are supposed to be running a quest not encouraging them to BS. If you are not focused on the adventure they wont be either. Off the subject talking slows the quest down and makes it boring for those who actually wish to participate

Tip: Only take as many questers as you can handle. I recommend starting out your first quest with 8 max. Once your more comfortable in your role add more. This will give you less to handle and keep up with. This also gives the players participating more to do. Smaller quests are more fun for all involved. (Gospel)

Tip: If the players are moving to fast just say "Stop a second" Respond to everything they have done or are doing then say "OK continue" Do this as often as needed to keep ahead of them. If you are overwhelmed with their pace you will miss things. This will frustrate some players.

Respond to everything they do or try. If a character sniffs the air describe what he smells. If a character searches a room state if he finds anything. If a character experiments tell if anything happens. These responses can be very brief if they arent important such as "The air smells clean" "Search reveals nothing new" or "Nothing happens" Or detailed if they matter. Just respond so the player knows his actions arent being ignored. (Gospel)

Tip: Combat should almost always be in "Turns" If you simply let players swing at will you will quickly find your screen flooded. Call one or two character names at a time. Tell anyone going out of turn their acions are being ignored until their names are called. If they continue attacking out of turn kick them out until they can learn to follow directions.

Tip: Unless you are an extremely fast typer I suggest you only call dmg after each attack i.e. 200 dmg inflicted. Long descripts of each sword slash and blood flying might look cool and sound neat but they slow things down drastically. The speed of combat is more important than the detail. Players get bored waiting for their turn. Zip through them as fast as possible.

When fighting multiple creatures give a brief descript of each dieing such as "It falls dead with a thud" Then keep going. If fighting one big baddy give a more detailed description.

Tip: If players are just sitting idle tell them to "Do Something" Sometimes they get sidetracked or are waiting on you to type something new. Let them know you are waiting on them and poke them to get moving.

Get stats and get moving as fast as possible. Dont waste time on this portion of a quest its boring. Dont engage in chit chat with the players. State what you want to know and hurry them to send it.

Tip: Make the players add up their own max HP's, max dmg, max cures, ect... If they dont know how, then do it for them and make them write down their totals for future reference.

Tip: Only take the stats you need. Max HP's, Max damage with 2 weapons, Max cures, and rezz bios are all I have ever needed to take.

Everything in this section is absolutely positively GOSPEL. Read it over and over. The tips found here are what make a GM good at his role and not just a player with a fancy nick and Ops. Nothing will cause you to fail more than ignoring this section. Nothing will frustrate players more than a GM that ignores these tips.

Characters are not something the GM should control unless they are under some form of mind control magic or insane or something. Players should always decide their characters actions. If they are forced to do somethng they dont want to "for the good of the storyline" they will get frustrated.

Tip: A GM should never state a character does something unless the character actually does it. i.e. "Sally opens the door" while Sally was actually just standing there cleaning her nails. If you want something done then say "Do something" as mentioned above. Or find a way to get the desired effect without using PC's i.e. "A strong gust of wind whips through the room blowing the door open" The world is yours to control. The characters are not. (Gospel)

Tip: A GM should never tell a player "You cant do that" unless its specifically against the rules. A character should be able to do or at least try to do anything it wants.

If a fighter in full armor with 10 dex carrying 300 pounds of gold wants to try to jump the Grand Canyon he is free to do so. If he plummets to his death thats not the GM's problem.

If a thief wants to burn the only map the party has to the Inescapeable Maze of Antioch while the party is in the middle of it then let him. Assuming he has the map of course. The party may be trapped now but thats not the GM's problem. The party shouldnt have let the pyromaniac thief hold the map.

If the dumb orc barbarian decides he wants to pour out the liquid which is needed later in the quest to open the portal home then let him. The party may be stuck but thats not the GM's problem.

It is your job to tell the players what they encounter. How they react is their business. Let them succeed or fail all on their own. Either way they will learn something. (Gospel)

Tip: Do not give players hints. Let them figure out things for themselves. If it becomes obvious they are not going to figure something out or they are getting frustrated then simply state "The GM solves the puzzle by (fill in the blank).. continue with the quest" If you spend 20 minutes providing hints then they arent solving the problem themselves anyway. Show them what they needed to do then move on. (Gospel)

Tip: A GM is not a storyteller. It is is job to set the plot. The characters write the story. If you have a quest planned and set in stone from beginning to end you are doing things Wrong.

A GM does not plan, he prepares. You should have a pretty good idea of what you want or expect to happen but in a properly GMed quest this should be flexable and not set in stone. Players should be expected to and even encouraged to use their imaginations to throw curves at your well layed plans. If the end result of the quest will not change no matter what the characters do then why bother going on the quest? Characters are not actors in a play following a script. They are supposed to be living breathing entities shapeing their world with their actions. You need to be willing and able to change things mid-quest if what you thought was going to happen doesnt.

i.e. The princess wants to hire mercenaries to slay the dragon attacking her castle. Simple enough right? She hands out some gold. The party goes off and fights the dragon. They are victorious. End quest. Thats fine in a perfect world and easy to run if the players decide to follow your planned storyline.

What if the party decided once they met the dragon to join him against the princess and help destroy her castle? Are you gonna tell them they cant cause it isnt what you had planned? If you do your making a huge mistake. The players will not have fun and your quest was a failure. If you let them join the dragon and simply alter what you had planned either they will destroy the castle or die trying. Either way your quest will be a success and fun. They will remember it and perhaps even talk about it in the future. That is what GMing is all about. (Gospel)

Tip: Do not start by running quests with complicated storylines. You will not be able to handle them without alot of experience. Your best bet is to start with short simple "Dungeon Crawls" and "Hack and Slash" quests. These are very easy to run and will build your experience for bigger and better things. They dont have many twists and turns so you wont have to alter much because of unexpected player actions. Examples of Dungeon Crawls and Hack and Slash quests can be found below.(Gospel)

Describe everything the characters encounter as best you can. The more you describe things, the more real they will seem to the players. Detailed descripts allow them to use their imaginations more which will draw them into the quest. Give them plenty to see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. Give sizes of rooms and creatures, state colors, throw in items which arent important but just decorations. More is better and will help set the tone and keep them interested. (Gospel)

Tip: Each room should be described with at least a paragraph using at least two senses. i.e. As you open the door you see firelight dancing on the stone walls of the next room. The faint smell of decay hangs in the air. The room is 20x20 on the far end you see a black altar. Laying on it is a woman dressed in white robes now stained red over her chest. A dagger is wedged into her body directly over her heart. Two torches flicker in the back corners of the room.

Tip: As the party enters and explores the room a little then you describe each item they examine with more detail. i.e.Someone moves to the woman on the altar: The woman is elven with long blonde hair and delicate features. Her eyes are still open shooting a dead gaze at the ceiling. The dagger in her chest has an ivory handle which is etched with odd writings. You can see the same type of writing carved into the altar. i.e Someone examines the torches: The torches are held in rings attached to the wall. They burn steadily but give off no smoke.

Tip: Describe important baddies with at least a paragraph. i.e. The party encounters a demon. Instead of saying "You see a demon" you state: As you round the corner you see a massive figure. It stands nearly 8 ft tall with red skin and glowing yellow eyes. Two black horns spiral down its cheeks. It sneers revealing pearly fangs which drip some sort of green liquid. It wears black armor finely crafted and custo fitted to its gigantic frame. It grips a razor sharp battle axe in its clawed fingers ready for anything.

Tip: Pop up boxes come in very handy for descripts especially for slow typers. They keep things moving quickly and allow you to write long detailed descripts before the quest.

Building storylines around your PC's is never a good idea. It makes you look like you are craving attention. It makes you look like you are trying to put focus on your character or make him out to be something hes not. You have info and power to influence things which other players do not. That is just unfair and bad GMing. You are there to give other players things to do. You can not run and participate in the same storyline properly. (Gospel)

Note: Villians are not PC's use them in your storylines as much as you want. That is what they are there for.

Tip: If you have an idea for a quest which requires a PC talk to another player and use their PC. This gets them involved and interested. Players love storylines built around their characters. Use them as often as needed.

Note: This does not mean create a story that will unfold with the PC is the central character or hero. The player you recruit should no little or nothing about the actual quest. If you require background info about the PC ask for it then create a plot and let the players create the story.

You will find a quest is much easier to run if the entire party is together. While this is not always possible it is something to work on. Players get bored waiting for their groups turn to go.

Tip: Dont design quests which force the party to do multiple things at once. It is much easier to give them a series of tasks which must be done one at a time. If you do divide up the party into groups only do two groups max. This will limit each groups idle time.

Tip: Dont put multiple paths infront of the party. You will almost always end up with a few going one direction a few going the other. If you decide to put a fork in the road quickly bombard the smallest group with baddies. After a few of them have died they will wish they had stuck with everyone else and probably rush back to join the others. This may sound mean but its a good way to teach players the rule "There is safety in numbers" They may remember this in the future and save you the trouble of killing them next quest.

Dont be afraid to get your hands bloody. Hit the party with anything you can think of. A quest with only one survivor is usually much more fun than one in which noone is even hurt. RP is about fulfilling fantasies and performing heroic deeds. You can put characters in as much danger as you want. The challenge of just trying to survive is often half the fun of the quest. This is especially true in Hack and Slash quests which have little storyline. An epic battle with a 1000 ft long fire breathing dragon which slaughters burns then eats the party is bound to be more fun than a fight with a fuzzy bunny that wants to snuggle. (Gospel)

Tip: Super monsters with thousands of HP's that inflict 500 dmg per hit are fine and dandy but not needed to make a quest hard. 5 creatures with 500 HP's that inflict 60 or 70 dmg per hit are plenty strong enough to offer some challenge to any party.

Tip: Use deadly traps sometimes in the place of monsters. They are just as effective as strong baddies and make the party afraid to casually do anything. Useing them every so often keeps the party on their toes and adds tension which equals excitement. Youll know your doing this enough when parties creep through dungeons slowly and shout "Wait dont touch that" repeatedly, instead of busting down doors and rushing ahead like blood thirsty killing machines.

Tip: Use puzzles and riddles in your quests. Players should be forced to rely on their heads instead of their swords now and then.

Tip: Dont over do it. Its one thing to make things tough. Its another to make quests impossible to live through. The odds should always be at least 40/60 that a party will succeed. A party should rarely be completely desimated unless they have really bad luck with the dice or they do something really stupid. I can not tell you how hard exactly a quest should be. That is something you will have to figure out with experience. If you find you wipe out parties on a regular basis tone it down a little. If you find peeps rarely die in your quests turn things up a notch or two. Loseing half the party on a regular basis is just about right.

Tip: Give the baddies all the advantages the PC's have. Bad guys should have bonus's to hit depending on how powerful they are. If a creature has level skills Use them.

Most quests should be for 100/100 or 125/125. Only on rare occassions should you give more. Make the players earn their pay. If your to generous they wont appreciate it when they actually deserve a higher reward. (Gospel)

Tip: Giving bonuses of 10/10 or 25/25 to players that do particularly well is a much better practice than giving everyone more money and experience.

Tip: Giving out items is not allowed. Figure if you just let a player keep a +25 sword you just gave him $600 for one quest. Give players cash let them buy their items from the shops.

Tip: Dividing very long quests into part 1 and part 2 each run back to back each part worth 100/100 is better than one quest worth 200/200. This lets new players jump into part 2 and players that cant stick around drop out. You have just given more players the opportunity to quest without creating more work for yourself.