DMing Performances

[Loxmardin]

It's a request for a very specific kind of feedback. All else can go into my other thread, located here.

Anyway, I request feeback on my DMing performances, as the title suggests. Events in particular that I'm referring to in this case are the Kidnapped events (Threads one and two) and any of the smaller events I've ran. One patrol with the Blood Knights, so far, and a Kodo Run in Ratchet before the restart.

Anything in particular that you like about my DMing style? Anything I could work on until next time?

I apologize again for not finishing the intrigues for Kidnapped: Encore!

[Xigo]

... There's little I can say here, as I have not actually been in any of your events where there wasn't a mass of players.

Speaking of which. You controlled the chaos of 20+ people during the kidnap event I was in quite well. It's hard to manage that many people at once.

However, I found that once we began to enter combat, things slowed down significantly. I might suggest you have two people go at once during such massive events. It speeds things up considerably, so I've noticed.

[Loxmardin]

However, I found that once we began to enter combat, things slowed down significantly. I might suggest you have two people go at once during such massive events. It speeds things up considerably, so I've noticed.

Duly noted. Combat's not my strength when it comes to DMing, but I'll work out some kind of tactic for larger scaled battles.

Thank you for the input!

[Clovis]

I might suggest you have two people go at once during such massive events. It speeds things up considerably, so I've noticed.

I did this during large Frostbrand Events. Certainly helped the speed, Lox.

I've never personally been in one of your events sadly, BUT I'D LIKE TO CHANGE THAT. :|

[Tales23]

Next time you do an Event Loxy, let me know I'll join you and let you know what the father of Coth Dming thinks about it. (Epeen +1) But in all seriousness I could use the RP and I think I'd be a good judge, oh is my guide still around I should update it.

[Goarn]

I've never been in one of your events, so I can't really give feedback, but I may as well give some things I think work well when I DM.

Set a hard time for emotes. I generally tell everyone one minute or I skip their turn (....though I usually don't keep track. It tends to scare people in to going quick.)

Other than that, Xigo's idea is rather good, I'd suggest it if you have 10+ people.

[Loxmardin]

Yus. When I run events like Kidnapped, I tend to have 20+ and sometimes 30+ people around at the same time.

It's amazing and frightening.

And slow!

[Goarn]

I once tried making a system that would handle a very large groups. I didn't get a lot of feedback, but I suppose it's worth mentioning, it did move things along quickly.

What I did was organize everyone into groups. Let's say you have 30 people. You have 6 groups, and treat each group like one 'person'. A group leader rolls once, and everyone in that group succeeds/looses based on that roll.

As I said, I only ran it once. I suppose if you ever need to save time, you could try that system, though I personally didn't like it that much.

[Loxmardin]

I'm going to bump this thread up, since Kidnapped! v3 started yesterday. If you're participating and have any kind of feedback regarding my style as a DM (or anything that comes to mind on related subjects, for that matter), please post it here.

Is there anything you wonder? Any thoughts on improvement? Anything you specifically like and want to see more of?

Any kind of feedback, really. Everything helps me make things more interesting for the people participating where I DM.

[Xigo]

Generally I simply just enjoy how you tend to keep things open. Leave the players with rules, and judge them on how they followed the rules at certain intervals.

Just be prepared for when you eventually do the combat event at the finale! Remember! 2 or 3 people at once!

[Loxmardin]

So. Things have been going up and down with the event and players have come and gone. I can't help but feel I'm doing something wrong since there are few pauses to the dramatics inbetween the roleplaying. If anyone has any feedback whatsoever on what could possibly be improved on to make for a better environment for everyone so it doesn't have to be boring or straining for people participating, please tell me. After all, I'm holding my events for people to have fun. And if people aren't having fun, I'm doing something wrong.

I'm aware the Kidnapped event was experimental and rather sporadic since I tried to enforce rules that I didn't enforce during the last two and there were plenty of misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Even the intrigues seemed to stir some OOC unease that leaked into IC or otherwise caused arguements that weren't even supposed to happen in the first place.

Is the secrecy simply not a good idea?

Should I try and cut down on the size of the events?

Any feedback. Any at all. If you don't want to post here, do PM me instead. Because I really wish to know if I'm doing something wrong. Most of the time, I'm horrid at seeing it on my own. If you can post it here, however, please do. If anything, it might stir some thoughts with others and give food for thought.

[Xigo]

To be honest, the ending sort of felt like a Deus Ex Machina moment. While no one explicitly came to save us... all of the guards showing absolutely zero fear and committing suicide was a bit silly. If it turns out they're not actually dead (which I strongly suspect), all of our efforts simply feel meaningless. Heck, all the actions of our characters -during- the fight felt insignificant. Though maybe I speak for myself too much there.

Faceless is an inexplicable monster in combat. It doesn't really feel justified. It just feels like she's... stupidly powerful.

The ending felt railroaded.

And in general, this just felt inferior to the previous kidnapped event.

Mind you, I did enjoy it. I just preferred the last one.

[Grakor456]

I pretty much mirror Xigo's comments as far as the final battle went. It didn't feel like we actually *did* anything. We just sort of marched forth, got trounced, and then it was realized that Faceless and the goons were too overpowered and so they just blew up to make victory possible.

As for the event itself...we had our runs of drama, which I think wasn't the fault of the event itself so much as those that were involved in it. Kidnapped was good for allowing interaction with people that normally would not have interaction, but that comes with the problem that some people just can't get along. RP styles will clash and drama will result.

One of the biggest challenges for this event, speaking as one on the victim side, was finding things to *do.* While imprisonment isn't intended to be fun ICly, it was difficult to keep victim characters active with things they could talk about or something they could work for. The change of pace and location for the last two days was pretty necessary, and a good idea, as the event was starting to run out of gas by that point in terms of holding player interest within those caves. This goes into the fact that rarely is playing a prisoner, as one would normally be kept, an actually fun experience. It's important to allow the victims things they can do to pass the time, and that wasn't ever really given to us.

On the guard-side, very few of the guards seemed to be actually interested in tormenting the victims, and the ones that did were secretly on the victims' side. This seemed to have left the guards with very little to do as well, and resulted in very few of the guards remaining active for the last-half of the event.

The anti-magic field was a mixed bag. On the one hand, it made First Aid a very useful skill and made injuries actually have a strong impact on the RP. On the other hand, some injuries went too far when people started going for broken bones, and then there was little way to fix them. I liked the field overall, as it gave Gunnar something to do by playing field medic, but I could see how others got frustrated.

The event was fun, though. It gave me a lot of character development for him, and let him build up a group of people that he can interact with in the future.

[Djura]

On the guard-side, very few of the guards seemed to be actually interested in tormenting the victims, and the ones that did were secretly on the victims' side. This seemed to have left the guards with very little to do as well, and resulted in very few of the guards remaining active for the last-half of the event.

Well, Andy did try to fist-fight Gunnar. But then Kril was being a fairy captain.

But yes, the event seemed... I dunno. The RP before the battles was interesting, and made you socialize with people you'd usually just shun. You built up respect and bonded with people. But the final battle? Eh, not so much. And Versich blowing into bits made me a sad panda.

Overall, a good, enjoyable event. Hope you host more!

[Loxmardin]

Thank you for the feedback. It's greatly appreciated. And yes, the final battle was a little weird on my end as well. I realized in the beginning of it that there really was no way to effectively fight Faceless and her goons without access to more firepower such as grenades or magic. Or, if the Shredder had come in sooner. It wasn't well thought out from my side and I apologize for that. Battles are and will forever be my bane when it comes to making things fun and interesting.

I will host more events in the future, yes. I don't plan on stopping. Though I'll probably try and work on my combat-DMing in lesser formats before I throw off anything grand-scale.

Because I simply suck at battles.

(And I'm sorry about Versich. QQ)