New GM; Fantasy Game; needs help b4 2nd session

[DwarvenHeart]

My friends and I (12-15 of us) have created an annual weekend getaway we call Cabin Con. I have almost no GM experience but know the most about the system and want desperately to get enough turned to GURPS to play it regularly. I've made a 1-shot fantasy adventure with PC's that couldn't be made w/ d20 rules. After taking 6.5 hrs to run only 1/2 of the 1-shot on a test group, I've ID'ed problems. Wondering what you could suggest to solve them.

1. Taking too long to react to the PC's actions while they solve the mystery. (Villain reactions, NPC locations behind the scenes, and remembering key info about the mystery)
2. NPC character sheets have a poor format, making it difficult to locate info quickly.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by DwarvenHeart

My friends and I (12-15 of us) have created an annual weekend getaway we call Cabin Con. I have almost no GM experience but know the most about the system and want desperately to get enough turned to GURPS to play it regularly. I've made a 1-shot fantasy adventure with PC's that couldn't be made w/ d20 rules. After taking 6.5 hrs to run only 1/2 of the 1-shot on a test group, I've ID'ed problems. Wondering what you could suggest to solve them.

1. Taking too long to react to the PC's actions while they solve the mystery. (Villain reactions, NPC locations behind the scenes, and remembering key info about the mystery)
2. NPC character sheets have a poor format, making it difficult to locate info quickly.

Those problems seem a little unclear, can you be more specific?

The NPCs have stats as YOU assign them. Therefore you are free to change/modify/guess at them to KEEP THE STORY MOVING.
A few possible solutions:
Break the stats and skill levels into easily recalled values
(low, avg, good, world-class vs. 8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15) so your dumb strong guard has IQ8, ST12, DX&HT10, one or two appopriate skills at competent level(12), and some other untrained stuff at 10.
Your King's advisor, renown for his wisdom has IQ14, ST/DX/HT10 and a few professional skills at high level(15)

THe players will only pick up a few salient points about each NPC they meet (The tall guy, the guy good with a spear, the stealthy guy). These are the things you need to be able to recall quickly to KEEP THE STORY MOVING along, while other details fade into the background. How important is it really if the peddler's merchant skil is 11 or 12? Does it make the game better? The odds of it even effecting a roll are miniscule, so don't get bogged down with those details.

For running a mystery it may be important to keep track of who knows what when. This is a storytelling and administrative (record keeping) problem. Have you as a GM decided who the guilty party is yet? Do you know what their motive is? (this is not a stupid question, it is possible to run a quite good adventure with many potential suspects and have the end result variable to accomodate the story as the PCs wander through it.) Anyway, if you have, it may be easiest to outline what all the other interested parties know at which times. e.g.
PCs, killer, town watch, mayor & public are our interested parties.
Time 0
PCs, town watch & public start knowing nothing
mayor knows there is guild infighting between factions
killer knows he is planning to 'bump off' a rival

Time 1 Kiler acts
Killer knows what, how & why

Time 2 (next day)
Town watch knows what
public & mayor find out later
PCs hear a rumor that evening

Time 3 (first clue...)

Hope that helps.

[Witchking]

To risk repeating ben above....

Named opposition I would stat out (mostly tho I might leave 3-4 pts loose for "reasonable they should have this but I forgot skills"

Mooks for planned combat encounters I would stat out loosely with 8-10 pts loose for "non combat do not matter" skills.

Generic NPCs...maybe a 2-3 sentance description; 'bright, funny alchemist with odd sense of humor and a deific grasp of handicapping the local ponies.'
From there I would be focusing on making the encounter memorable, via voice, attitude, posture, etc etc...no cardboard faceless NPCs.

If a stat related question came up and it was not plot critical I would look at the writeup (alchemist probably IQ high (12-14) possibily some Luck and or Charisma all other stats mostly average) make a 10 sec estimate and then wing it.

If I think the NPC will recur I will usually add anything I think up to the notes so that he will be "that" when the PC's come back.

Record keeping and stats are neat, but the object is to have fun so I try not to let my own prepwork become the enemy...

Good Luck...

[DwarvenHeart]

With some further feedback from friends both in/outside of the trail group, I realize most of my problems and possible solutions to them:

1. Had a great story but few notes. I spent a great deal of time either recalling details of the mystery (who knew what, clues, etc). This made deciding on NPC actions take even longer. This lead to problem 2.

Answer: Create descent notes about the story: list of clues, who knows each one, names of the victims, etc.

2. Failed to keep chit chat down to a minimum

Answer: Make a house rule of only using a character's name while in game. Have 30 min to catch up before game time. Ask that we keep chatting to a minimum before gaming.

3. Combat was a bit slow.

Answer: Have combat cards and a small list of the combat actions posted on the back of the GM screen. A combat table with everyone’s DR, Damage, etc. on 1 paper instead of scattered across small note cards, easy to lose and fly about.

I made a very poor attempt to sum up my original problems. I'm very confident that if I commit to these (and additional items on the 2do list) tasks, my 1-shot will be very fun. I think some data organization and experience is all I'm missing at this point. :)

What do you use to keep track of info?

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by DwarvenHeart

I made a very poor attempt to sum up my original problems. I'm very confident that if I commit to these (and additional items on the 2do list) tasks, my 1-shot will be very fun. I think some data organization and experience is all I'm missing at this point. :)

What do you use to keep track of info?

I use two pieces of paper for each important NPC. The first is their character sheet, statted out like a PC. The second is for background and notes. It's one thing to have disads, it's another to have written notes about how NPCs will react to given situations. You don't have to be a Coward to avoid combat. I also include appropriate notes about motivations and knowledge.

If the NPC Sir Smedley Higgenbottom knows about fine art and the plot involves an art theft or scam he should get a 'roll' to figure things out, but not as the mouthpiece of the GM. There are times when, during the game, something occurs to me that I hadn't see before, and if the PCs are stuck I will use an NPC to deliver the solution I myself hadn't foreseen before play began.

You already admitted that you don't have a lot of GM experience and much of that only comes from running games, and that translates across all game systems. Running the game system also helps in ways that don't translate from one system to another.

One other thing, post your OOC rules from #2 on the back of your GM screen so the players can see it during the game.