Advice for an absolute noob GM playing DFRPG for the first time?

[NMosaic]

Hello, I'm a first time GM who wants to start with DFRPG.

Recently (as in 3 months ago) I've decided to bite the bullet and finally run DFRPG to get me used to GURPS. I'm not a complete noob to this system tho, I've had these books for 3 years now and I've once in a while read it and lurked in the forums. I'm planning to start with "I smell a Rat" this month. Do you have any advice for me before I head in?

My only prior experience is playing (not running) DnD 5e and a white wolf fan rpg

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by NMosaic

Hello, I'm a first time GM who wants to start with DFRPG.

Recently (as in 3 months ago) I've decided to bite the bullet and finally run DFRPG to get me used to GURPS. I'm not a complete noob to this system tho, I've had these books for 3 years now and I've once in a while read it and lurked in the forums. I'm planning to start with "I smell a Rat" this month. Do you have any advice for me before I head in?

My only prior experience is playing (not running) DnD 5e and a white wolf fan rpg

Well, self-interest warning: I've published over a dozen books for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG through Gaming Ballistic, and so there's an off chance I will accidentally slip into marketing mode.

But:

I Smell a Rat is an "introductory" adventure that nonetheless can test characters deeply if you get into the right zones of play.

But even before you sit down, some advice:

If you're trying to get used to the rules, and your players are starting to get used to the game, or at least playing in the 250-point range, you might want to start with some of the pre-generated characters in Delvers to Go (not to be confused with Delvers to Grow, by Kevin Smyth - and here's that self-interest alert - which is also for characters but in a different way).

One of the more challenging things if coming from other games is that the "on ramp" for making a character in a point-buy system can be rough. New players to the system may not know what synergizes well, or what sounds cool but can be a sub-optimal choice. Going with a pre-gen or Delvers-to-Grow built character avoids fun-killing traps out of the gate.

Alternately, before playing with your own characters, run an arena or gladiator fight between throw-away or pre-gen characters of the same basic profession the players intent to run and get use to the combat options characters have available to them. That may save some angst mid-campaign.

The DFRPG is a game where Sean (Kromm) wrote it so that the answer to "can my profession attempt [x]?" is usually "YES, and look awesome doing it!"

that doesn't mean that the characters can't be challenged! But it does mean they step to the plate with a lot of capability.

So, in short:


I think pre-gens or quick-build characters get you playing faster, and that's happier for everyone

I think an arena fight that has few to no consequences lets you dig into the capabilities of chosen professions in a useful way. I think this is particularly helpful for spellcasters, as they don't always play in way that is conducive to (for example) "I didn't say how far away are they, I said I cast fireball." (less pithy: mismatched expectations kill games).

I Smell a Rat is a good place to start, and it has more depth than you might think. BECAUSE of that, the GM really needs to read the whole thing first.

[NMosaic]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

I think an arena fight that has few to no consequences lets you dig into the capabilities of chosen professions in a useful way. I think this is particularly helpful for spellcasters, as they don't always play in way that is conducive to (for example) "I didn't say how far away are they, I said I cast fireball." (less pithy: mismatched expectations kill games).

I Smell a Rat is a good place to start, and it has more depth than you might think. BECAUSE of that, the GM really needs to read the whole thing first.

Of note what rules should I pay attention to a lot for this adventure and is it wrong to add some things from GURPS 4e like Riposte and some advantages from basic set?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by NMosaic

Of note what rules should I pay attention to a lot for this adventure and is it wrong to add some things from GURPS 4e like Riposte and some advantages from basic set?

It is not *wrong*. If you and your players are used to how things work already in combat, adding more options will be incorporated smoothly.

As far as other advantages, it will depend what they are, but by and large, things import well.

But as an example, there are a few nitpicks in things: You get ONE, count 'em, ONE block per turn. You do not get (by default) the ability to do seven Rapid Strikes at only a mild penalty if you have the right combo of advantages. You get ONE additional strike due to Rapid Strike. Prediction Attack (ranged Deceptive Attack) is MIA by default; Extra Attack does NOT require multi-strike as an enhancement to use. Techniques don't exist as such in the DFRPG. The slam rules are a bit different (and smoother in play, but that's my opinion)

All of these things are changes to the DFRPG that are not going to break your game if you do them the way you want. But they ARE rules differences.

Some spells were excised as well that can result in trope-wrecking (Teleport) and some of the potential complications with Allies are gone. A lot of social stuff was removed (sniff sniff...I put some of that back in my Nordlond setting).

Back to the beginning: for new players coming over from 5e, you and the new player really, really need to look hard at the spellcasting rules. They do not inherently play the same way. It's still resource management, but many spells are what D&D would call "multiple attribute dependent," so you cast with IQ+Magery ... but flip the spell at your foe rolling vs a DX-based skill at substantial range penalties because GURPS ranged attacks can carry substantial penalties. So...that's the sort of thing that can lead to sudden table surface inversion if not understood beforehand.

[Kalzazz]

Fireball is definitely the number one reason I've seen new players swap to ex players really quickly so very good to have everyone on board

If you don't have Delvers to Go the forum has many ready to roll characters conveniently listed in this thread
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=152990

Also there are many things you can do in a round to choose from, so one thing to remember is an inspirational quote

“No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.” Admiral Horatio Nelson.

It may not be the most bestest move in all cases, but just get in their and slug.

[benz72]

Vary the types of challenges and try to make each challenge solvable in more than one way. (Combat, Social, Trickery, Stealth, Avoidance). Get input from players on what type(s) of adventures their PCs desire, but twist it up a little or it will get boring. Throw in a moral quandary or conflict of interest.
Make Advantages useful and Disadvantages painful. E.g. the party will need to go someplace cold to have Temperature Tolerance be useful, so either plan to have the others face problems with not having TT or tell the PC with TT that the advantage doesn't apply in your game and pick something else.
There will need to be occasional Low/No mana zones to challenge 'I have a spell for everything' wizards.
Some opponents need to be hard to hit, or easy to hit and hard to damage, or easy to hit and damage, but have lots of HP.
Put in a challenge for each PC to grab spotlight time; no one should just be along for the ride.
Be careful of encounter expectations; sometimes it is hard for the party to know they are facing something from which they should flee.
Make information useful (Danger Sense, successful scouting, scrying, &c.) by allowing good use of info to provide an edge in an encounter.