The thread about comics and RPGs go me thinking about a related topic: What's your style as a Gamemaster? Do you see yourself as a referee who enforces the rules of the game? Do you see yourself as a novelist who is telling a larger tale that wraps around the player-characters? Do you let the dice do most of the talking? Do you have predestined plans? Do you rely on stacks of notes or do you usually improvise?

I ain't been a campaign GM in ages so I'd be interested in hearing how others fill those shoes!

   We do try to add twists to the story. Little things like having the same character with two different personalaties or adding little things to our backround without messing up the game. It's the players who need to give something back creatively to the GM once in a while.

Skydiver wrote on Sep 24^th, 2009 at 8:29pm:


This is a really key point that I have to admit I'm only now truly learning after being (at least from what I've been told by others) an excellent GM for nearly 3 decades.

I try to have an overall storyline thought out, and one of the most significant things I do (as a GM) is prepare (extensively) all of the "to hits" for every possible character involved.  Let me give an example.

Let's suppose Dr. Apocalypse has a Power Blast attack as well as super Strength (and thus a devastating HtH amount of damage).  Let's then suppose one of the vigilantes has a Force Field defense as well as Heightened Defense.  For ease of this illustration, let's assume there is no + or - due to Level (though in reality I factor that in too).

So I list a page (or two or three) with all of my villains and their base chances to hit, and then I list the vigilantes on the other side, in columns.  I then simply cross-reference each and every player (PC or NPC) when they go to attack, to see what they need to hit.  For example, for Dr. Apocalypse, who we are going to factor has an Accuracy of +5) would read:

Dr. Apocalypse                     Player Character
Power Blast 21                                      1 (17)
HtH 10                                                 1 (6)

The only thing NOT factored into the above are two things: range (which hardly ever matters in V&V, as it doesn't start to give a negative until you get past 30") and facing.

So if Dr. Apocalypse attacked, I would roll a d20, and if he got a "1" it would hit past all defenses (and essentially do full damage to the Power score of the character and also hit the target).  If he rolled a 2-17, it would hit ON the FF and only do half damage to the PC's Power score.  If he rolled an 18-20, it's a clean miss (and we then know to roll for a chance of incidentally hitting something else).

If he was attacking from the side, you simply add 2 to each of these numbers; from behind of course you add +4.  Very simple.

I also do the same thing for the heroes.

This aids immensely, and (though it takes a lot of time up front), makes combat snap along very quickly, even with lots of participants.  Of course combat isn't the only part of an adventure, and I try to spend a lot of preparation time on maps, markers, props, and the like, to give a very visual feel to my stories (sometimes the map ends up being quite 3-D).

I also make charts and preparation for things like the NPC followers morale towards their leader, and I have full character sheets for all relevant villains.  I will usually outline the main acts of my story, which means that things will often happen anyway, even if the PCs choose to not get involved (so they might end up getting drawn into events anyway).  I then try to adapt to where the PCs want to go (I hate it when a GM is in effect playing solitaire and the players are only along for the ride), and let them contribute significantly to the unfolding story.

I try to stay fairly four-color, but we mix things up from time to time as well (occasionally getting grim and gritty, exploring the utterly fantastic, or dealing with the paranormal).  Variety (and the fact that it takes place in modern times) are two strengths to superhero RPGs, IMHO, and I try to mix in real-life events or topical issues occasionally, when I can.