My first time as a GM

[Samp]

So today I GM'd my first game. Not just Star Wars, but at all. To be honest, I do not think I did a good job, and I want to ask some advise. But first I would like to kinda post a quick run down on what happened (so you can be specific about how to help my game).

The game started well enough. They are part of a Spec Force team that has orders to recapture a listening post on Daltar. (Set just after the battle of endor). They gathered equipment and shuffled off to the transport. Everything was going perfect.

Now, I had planned for them to get shot down from a ground based turret. One of the players happened to be on his toes. After the first shot missed (i did not roll, just did a scene type thing) he jumped on the shields for the transport (piloted by a NPC) and with some smooth rolls and such he was able to save the ship so they could be dropped off. I awarded him 2 CP for the quick thinking.

Fast forward, they meet the enemy for the first time. They were able to sneak up and butcher them. I was surprised at how easy it was for them after seeing them play in the training mission and have trouble.

Now, one of the group members did something totally unexpected. I had told them the equipment left over (credit sticks, blaster packs/pistols, FA kits, etc) and also the Comms they had. He then spoke into the comm and with a very very good bluff (both roll and RP) was able to convince the people on the other end that everything was alright. (the planet had a predatory pack animal, and he convinced them that they were attacked by them, not the players)

They then used this comm to keep tabs on enemy patrols.

Skipping ahead I had planned for them to run into the battery that almost shot them down. The plan was that they would shut it down or destroy it. As it turns out they decided to skip it for a stupidly logical reason I had not thought of. That being that if the battery was shut down/destroyed the patrols looking for them would come back because they would know where they were at.

Now, originally I had planed that they kill the patrols one at a time to thin them out (or something similar), but because of them using the Comm they instead were able to avoid them all together.

So they skip the battery for now and head to the listening post. The problem was that I had not planned on them reaching it that day, but I ran out of ways to slow them down. Thinking back I could of been more creative.

So they reach the post. Now I screwed things up badly after this. From the Comm speak they were able to find out that 7 patrols of 4 (28 people total) were looking for them. Now, when asked for a floor plan to the post (they had one because the post was once a rebel base) I had no imagination and came up with something crappy as heck, and also way too small to house 28. Thinking back I had way too many patrols. Things fell apart from there. We stopped and we will play again eventually. I hope I did not screw things up too much.

So, to the advice:
Do you have any tricks to help yourself when the players do something unexpected? Or are able to progress faster then you had assumed they would and eat up your material?

Also, any ideas what to do with the 24 (they killed 4) bad guys? One plan was to make is so that the Imperials figured out they were faking and fed them false info, but I am afraid that wont work because they got that info rather early on (another mistake by me). Also if they were feeding them false info they would try to lead them into a trap, something that didn't happen.

Sorry for the long post. Any feedback is great. Ill check this when I can. Thanks in advanced.

[Jedi Skyler]

Well first off, kudos to you for being willing to step up and run a game. Not everyone can do it, and you've already caught a number of mistakes you've made, which is another skill not everyone has. That shows you're thinking, and want to make this enjoyable for everyone.

The first rule of being a good GM is: BE FLEXIBLE. The players are ALWAYS gonna do something you didn't think of, so get used to it now. Having said that, it's usually a good idea to have as much material ready in advance ahead of time to make it smoother and easier on yourself. That doesn't mean have a firm, etched-in-carbonite plan that can't be deviated from. That just means have a large number of things statted up-NPC enemies, NPC friends, wild animals, vehicles; anything and everything you can think of the party might POSSIBLY come in contact with. Doesn't mean they will, but you can have it in reserve if you need it.

It sounds like you went fairly well with the flow for the most part. As you continue to gain experience as a GM you'll get better at being able to start thinking in 3D, tackling the problem from all different angles. You'll begin to come up with totally new ways you can try to attack the party; the more creative YOU are, the more creative your PLAYERS will become as well, provided they give a rip about being a good player and having a good experience.

A good way to get ideas is to get your hands on some sourcebooks. These will give you stats, adventure ideas, and in some cases maps you can use, either as-is or adapting them to your needs. Whatever you do with the information you'll find them invaluable as a GM, because coming up with all that stuff completely on your own can be completely mind-boggling.

Always check here for inspiration. There are a ton of very creative individuals here, and I'd be willing to bet that probably 99.999999% of them would be willing to give you ideas and help if you but asked, which you have done.

[PsiberDragon]

Ok...

For what it's worth, as a first time EVER GM... it sounds like you did pretty well.

to answer your questions:

1) Players will ALWAYS do something unexpected. ALWAYS. Best thing: remember what it was like to be a player, and have eventualities prepared ahead of time (i.e. "What would I do in this situation?")
1.a) To slow players down, have one of the other patrols find the bodies of the ones they killed, and/or switch to a different frequency periodically - for security reasons.

2) Remember that it is just a game. The object is not to win or lose, but for everyone to have fun. I've run completely counterproductive (as far as game progression) games, and had a blast... and, conversely, I've run games that just steamed on ahead, and no one had fun... guess which one I prefer running.

3) Give your players false/out of date information. "Many Bothans died to bring us this information..." (Episode VI - Return of the Jedi). Plant booby traps. Scramble the security codes. Give an extra level of security that wasn't included in the briefing: the players were told they needed a keypad code, and a thumbprint.... what they actually needed was: keypad, thumbprint, and voice recognition...

4) Don't be so hard on yourself... Mistakes happen. I've been playing for 20+ years, and running for 15 or better. The first thing I tell my players in any game I start: "I'm gonna screw up... either in your favor or in mine. I'm not perfect (despite what I tell you on a regular basis )" We are all human.

5) See #2.
6) See #2.

Keep us updated on what happens. And, if you have further thoughts and/or questions, let 'em fly.

And may the Force be with you.
_________________
"Love like you will die tomorrow. Hate like you will live forever." - Unknown

[hisham]

Of course the best thing to get the characters into the action so they're "in the planet's surface already" or "undercover in the Hutt cartel already" and so forth is to use the in media res procedure to get the players to be in the middle of things.

For example, you might start out the adventure by reading out the opening crawl to let them know what's been happening and what their mission is... then, BANG!

They're in the transport coming down in flames, with two dead NPC pilots, spinning down the atmosphere and the PCs must regain control of the transport before crashing into the planet. So the roll will determine how close they are from their designated drop zone.
_________________
The Enteague Sector | Cracken's Collection of Crackpots
In D6, of course.

[Jedi Skyler]

Psiber's got it right, Samp. It's a GAME. Everyone should be enjoying it; the moment that ceases, it's work.

I don't know about you, but I spend WAY too much time at work already. And if I'm not getting paid for it, it DARN WELL better be to my benefit. If it isn't, I'm not doin' it.

Psiber had some very good suggestions for how to stir things up. If none of those are to your liking, don't use them. Come up with your own. There are infinite ways a mission can go south, or at least run into some snags here and there. Heck, if nothing else, you can have the team stop for a break, eat their rations (that they didn't happen to notice were spoiled), then start making Stamina checks. Anyone who fails starts hurling. Believe me, it's very hard if not impossible when you're blowing chunks.

[vong]

Nice suggestions so far. Thats what i get for my timezone, people posting when im asleep, missing all the good posts.

Another thing you can do is have the patrols switch frequency in general. They could get a hunch that they are being tracked that way and turn them off all together. or just have a procedure in place that every x hours they switch the frequency for security reasons you never know how crafty people can be.
_________________
The Vong have Arrived

PM me if you want user created content uploaded to my site: http://databank.yvong.com/index.php

[Matthias777]

An idea I've heard suggested is that if you find yourself totally at a loss as to what to do, take a short break. It makes it easier if you don't keep snacks right where you're playing. Everyone can take a breather, get something to eat/drink, use the facilities, etc. Most importantly, YOU get time to think about the situation without your player's waiting impatiently for you to tell them what happens next while they sit twiddling their thumbs.
_________________
Arek | Kage

[Gry Sarth]

The other folks here already touched on all the broad strokes, so I'll go with some specific suggestions of what you could have done, and can bring up in the next sessions.

Vong's suggestion is the first that sprang to mind. It seems what really unbalanced your game was the players having all the info of the enemy via the communications gear. It's quite reasonable that they would have some security procedure to switch frequencies every so often. One of the players would have to be a crack comm-specialist to track the frequencies.

Another problem you faced was that the players evaded the patrols and had a peaceful stroll down the wild. Well, right there you could have been a very mean GM and turned the player's scheme on them. Didn't they use the native wild animals as a diversion? Well, it just so happens the diversion has become quite real, and there's a pack of them hunting the group.

NEVER assume the players will follow and objective just because it's there (like the battery that shot them down). You must come up with a rock solid reason why they should care about it and face the risks tackling that target. In the case of the battery, how is the group going to escape that planet afterwards? Whether they steal a ship or a rescue ship comes, that battery would be a problem that needs to be neutralized first.

If you drew the post too small, use that to your advantage. Maybe the imperials built a couple of secret underground levels under the original rebel post, that would surprise the players.

If you'd like an opinion on some other specifics, ask away. As for the broad strokes, be always ready to think on your feet, and when players turn the game into a completely unexpected direction, it's perfectly ok to ask for a break, go outside to where it's silent, and take a couple of minutes to brainstorm. It does wonders.
_________________
"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Ankhanu]

[garhkal]

[ifurin]

all of the suggestions so far are good ones so instead of rehashing them i'll try to go with gm style. when i run i try to have as much details pre-planed so i can roll with any unexpected happenings. in your case standard procedures for when there is a possible breach in security, or if the planet really does have vicious animals what are their hunting frequency in the area and how many are encountered at a time, ect. i always have about 2-3 times more material (both story and non-story) on hand just in case the players decide to go wild. some times it's fun to throw encounters at the party that they won't expect. such as a patrol that actually is fighting the natural predators, and loosing, what do they do? if the players just sit back and let the imps die then that could be construed as an "evil" act for those that are force sensitive. or maybe the players encounter the imps after the attack and there is at least 1 survivor, and he/she is going to die if the players do nothing.

questions: how far did the players get toward capturing the post? did you stop the game before they captured the post? would it be possible to say that the structure was a decoy?

thats just my thoughts.

[Samp]

HI, I just checked back. Thank you for the support. The next time I play I will take all of your advise. One good thing is it seemed that the players had a lot of fun, and thats whats important.

I guess I was just off guard on how so many little deviations can add up to huge changes.

Again, thanks for the help

[Jedi Skyler]

It's what we're here for!

Oh yeah, and to game!

[vong]

heh, skyler. you and your spamming the pbps

But yea, no problemo! ask away and we shall answer.!
_________________
The Vong have Arrived

PM me if you want user created content uploaded to my site: http://databank.yvong.com/index.php

[K21DUBIE]