Advice for new Keepers?

[Full Metal Potato]

I'm going to be running a game of Trail of Cthulhu for some folks in my gaming club this weekend, and I was wondering if anyone had some advice for a new keeper. I've run a bit of DnD 3.5/Pathfinder and a decent sized Eclipse Phase campaign, but this is my first swing at Lovecraftian gaming, as a player and a GM. I've got to keep things pretty short - under 2 and a half hours - and my players will be just as new to gumshoe as I'll be. Any words of wisdom for me?

[D6xD6 - Chris]

The good thing about GUMSHOE is that it is very easy/forgiving for a GM new to the system.

My advice:

1.  Use pre-gen characters.
2.  Hit the ground running right away.  Have the scenario begin with all the characters together while something is going on
3.  If you are planning your own adventure, keep it simple:  know the antagonists/baddies goals, know the key floating clues the PCs need to know, and know the characters.  Don't overplan.
4.  If you are using a designed adventure, just make sure to read the entire thing at least once, and then make yourself a cheat-sheet to use.
5.  There are great (and free!) resources on the Pelgrane Press websites.  For all my GUMSHOE games, I tend to use sample characters and the GM Cheat Sheet for The Esoterrorists http://www.pelgranepress.com/?p=317
6.  MAKE.  SURE.  EVERYONE.  IS.  HAVING.  FUN.
7.  THAT.  INCLUDES.  YOU.
8.  Use the "pulp" rules at first. 

[TMayesing78]

I've been planning a 5th Edition D&D game since GenCon in a world of my own making.   Inspired by elements of the Malazan Books of the Fallen, The First Law triology (and related novels) and Castle Greyhawk. 

I would also like to run a roaring '20's era Wild Talents game.  Inspired by the Shadow, & Green Hornet.  Low on earth shattering super powers, long on a potential mafia gang war and "steam-punk" exoskeletons.

[TMayesing78]

Sorry that was suppose to go into a different thread.

[RadioactiveBeer]

Make sure everyone is on the same page, explicitly. The fastest way for a game to spiral out of control is for one guy to think this is an action-adventure, or a comedy.

Also, make sure they know not to approach it like it's D&D because the play styles are VERY different in CoC. If you go at it like a D&D party - never split the group, try to avoid potential dangers etc - you end up with a really dull game that doesn't go anywhere.

[PirateLawyer]

Make sure everyone is on the same page, explicitly. The fastest way for a game to spiral out of control is for one guy to think this is an action-adventure, or a comedy.

Also, make sure they know not to approach it like it's D&D because the play styles are VERY different in CoC. If you go at it like a D&D party - never split the group, try to avoid potential dangers etc - you end up with a really dull game that doesn't go anywhere.

What D&D have you been playing? I've never seen D&D parties willingly avoid danger. The usual problem with D&D players who try CoC is they get all gung-ho and try to go kill the monsters without a care in the world. This typically gets them killed - if they are lucky.

[RadioactiveBeer]

Well, I personally play as little D&D as possible and probably wouldn't have kept up with tabletop gaming if D&D had been the only option available. The players I know who are most responsible for that style of uber-conservative play are the older generation of D&D players when it was much higher lethality and adversarial GMing was the norm. The ones that come up with the "never split the party" rules and treat them like religious doctrine even in situations where splitting the party is a major strategic advantage, treating every room like they've just entered the Tomb of Horrors, that kind of thing.

Also, I find D&D games (and other games with less of an investigation focus than CoC) are set around the mentality of "the story comes to you and you react to it", whereas in CoC the players are expected to be much more active in investigation and pursuing leads once set off by the story seed. Again, this is really my experience with a certain subset of gamer rather than a broad comprehensive statement on the entire gamer.

[Thorn]

I'm pretty new at running games myself.  Over the past yea,r I've learned that it can mess with the flow of things if you over think every element.  For a few games I ran, I made up an elaborate flowchart that listed every possible (or so I thought) route.  I spent way to much time referencing the document which had to disrupt the story.  After some reflection, I decided to give up control of the story and allow players a larger hand in creating the experience.  This move made everything appear more fluid and natural.  I believe I learned this lesson by listening Caleb's reflection on running No Soul Left Behind at Gen Con.

As far as Trail of Cthulhu goes, I find it is helpful to have an idea of hints and details you can include in narration to spur players on to making point spends.  Nothing kills the gaming buzz like when a PC walks in a room and starts spamming a lists of skills they want to use.  It's like listening to someone read off a grocery list of abilities and totally breaks immersion.

[RadioactiveBeer]

.  For a few games I ran, I made up an elaborate flowchart that listed every possible (or so I thought) route.

Do not try and predict player character logic. That way lies only madness.