Now all the way back in february I ended my first year of ever storytelling for a roleplaying game.

My superior, ODie, asked if I could put together a guide of all the things that I learned from being new to storytelling. And well as you can imagine it’s been quite some time since, and well I’ve only just got around to putting some thoughts down.
Over time I shall update this with new pearls of wisdom.

1. Document everything!
   By everything I mean everything. If you have an NPC, document everything you can think about it, no matter how inconsequential it’ll come in handy later if someone else needs to portray the NPC.
   If it’s a plot element, even if it’s a loose strand not quite worked into anything, document it.
   Trust me, you’ll forget things.

   Basically, the end result of all this is, by the time you’re ready to step down and let someone else take over, you should have a huge amount of documentation about everything you’ve done.
   I hated a lack of anything when I took over.
   Vague memories are nothing compared to solid information.

   And don’t forget to back things  up from time to time. Having spare copies doesn’t hurt. Not having them does when you need them.

   It’s worth the effort early on when you need it later.

2. Find out what your players want at the beginning and regularly after that.
   Doesn’t matter how elaborate and awesome your plots and stories are, if your players aren’t interested, then they’ll stop playing, that simple.

   Give them a bunch of options, see which ones your players pick, it’ll give you an idea what kind of game they like.

   As long as you pay attention to what revs your players up, they should have fun, tell their friends and keep turning up.
   All going well what you like and what they like are similar.

Well that’s the tip of the ice-berg, I’ve been out at a metal club, my feet smell and I’m tired, but I promise I’ll write more as I think of more.

Remember kids, these are what I’ve discovered. Some may be obvious, but better to list them than not.
So until I post more on this, adios.

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