[Pollette_Irieska]

I'm a complete virgin to DMing, but I let a group of my friends convince me to DM, with a little added peer pressure from my husband to playtest our home grown world. I've had some stellar DMs in the past, so I have a good idea of what I'm going for. However, I'm planning on running a long campaign studded with repeating bad guys, slipping modules in where I can to ease my workload.
Could I please get some advice on how to keep continuity?


Pollette

"Hi. I'll be your DM for the night. Bribes will be accepted before and after the game. Mountain Dew is in the fridge. Cheetos are on the table. Any questions?"

[BrotherMouran]

I'm sure there will be plenty of differing opinions, but for me, continuity comes from very broad based scripting. Before I ever get started with a new campaign, I try to have at least a general idea of what is going to be going on in the world at large; it doesn't have to be too specific at first... just general thoughts about what time of year it is, what country is warring another, and other 'current events' type things, even though they are things that may or may not affect the characters (yet). Keep these items in mind and remember that there's lots of things that occur while the PC's are doing their thing. When the PC's are in 'civilization' you can let some of these items out as they interract with your NPC's... it gives some life to the world as the seasons progress and various situations are resolved and new ones spring up. And once your PC's have some levels under their belt you also have some hooks out there that the PC's might want to look into themselves... items which you put out there to bring some continuity to your world end up evolving into the focus of your PC's adventure. Letting the PC's be able to choose their own paths in the world is what really brings continuity and life to a campaign.

[Celarnor]

Don't start with no idea of what you are going to have your world like. Build it up as much as you possibly can before you use it, otherwise you'll find yourself making stuff up at the table before really thinking about it and it's effect that it will have on your world. I, personally, made the mistake of having a very broad idea of what the world is like, and the only thing that I had that was really complete was the map. Keep as much background information as you possibly can at hand, because you never know when you might need it. Profile and map out every city and region, at least in general. You can never have too much information. By the way, I love your quote.

[Shadowborn]

1) Plan ahead. You don't have to have every single thing mapped out, every NPC written out with stats, every nook and cranny of the world filled and waiting to go. Just take the time before a game to figure out what the PCs will be doing and make sure you've got everything there covered. Then take a little extra time and predict what comes next, and lay the groundwork for that. Your players will always surprise you, so if you're not good at making things up on the fly, keep a few cheat sheets ready (i.e. name lists for NPCs, taverns, etc.)

2) Keep a journal. Make notes on important NPCs, villains, and character actions that may or will affect the future of the campaign. This will help keep continuity, and make it easier to plan ahead for future campaign events.

[Pollette_Irieska]

I really do appreciate all the advice. I've sat down and planned out about 4 sessions of possible encounters (along with ways to get their butts saved if sheer stupidity takes over and they start dropping), I already had a journal set aside, and I have a small host of NPCs, villains, and monsters ready to go. I do have one concern about my group, though....

I have two newbies and three longtime players. One of the longtime players is going to be my savior through most of this, I know. The other two, though, are hardcore munchkins, and just keeping them in check during character creation was hell. Any suggestions on how to keep the party from becoming unbalanced?

Pollette

[Shadowborn]

Luckily, I haven't had very many people who qualify as munchkins in my games. Therefore, I'm not much of an expert when dealing with such folk, but here are some suggestions all the same:

I find that if you are truely running a role-playing, and not a "roll-playing" game, the munchkins must eventually adapt or die. Not everything is about min-maxing your character into the ultimate combat machine. When the situation comes down to how well the characters can bluff, negotiate, or think their way through a situation, combat monsters don't help.

Encourage people to play by the spirit, rather than the letter, of the rules. Emphasize character concept over "what can I do to make this guy the best spellcaster ever?", and reward accordingly.

Most importantly, don't allow the experienced players to teach your newbies everything. I'm not saying they can't be instrumental in helping the new folks learn the ropes, but I've found in past games that sometimes people can hurt when they think they're helping. Occasionally I've had experienced gamers who felt it to be their duty to point out every time a newcomer was making a mistake, to the point where they would countermand what the person was doing and suggest what would be a more favorable alternative. Eventually, the newcomer felt they should just hand the character sheet over and let the other person run it. It's a problem to look out for.

[Celarnor]

On the note of role-playing versus rolling dice all the time, when I have one of the players rolls that I need to do, I usually make them roleplay the situation, but if they do somethiung stupid, then I have them fail miserably. I give them the chance for success, and it's their fault if they blow it. This is the best way that I have found so far to emphasize roleplay.

As to the problem with the younger people, I can't really help you there, I have never encountered the problem. I have more or less maintained my group through my entire DMing life.