Hello, New GM here

[Dirty Fishmonger]

Hi,

Me and my friends are starting a campaign and I've taken on the responsibility of being GM. I just need some help with the general meeting to meeting scenario set-ups, any good resources for those set-ups, any additional books I would need besides the Hero's Handbook, and anything's I should avoid in my campaign. I already have a setting and general plan for the campaign, I just need some help with the meeting set-ups. Thank you for all the help.

[Thakowsaizmu]

Talk to your players, see what their expectations are, tell them what yours are. Work together to create the setting, the heroes, the villains and the world. It takes stress off of you and players tend to really enjoy having some creative say in the setting. I wouldn't ever allow them to stat out a villain, for example, but having a back story were Wonderguy's first public appearance saw him battling Terrorlady is a good bit of background. Talk to the player, see what Terrorlady's general powers were, then stat her out and have her appear later to confront the team. Fun stuff like that.

Also, I have found that starting as a team is also very handy and avoids the contrived "meeting at a bar" scenario that D&D has made so tired.

[biggmcg]

I've lifted a fantastic idea from 7th Sea for my game. Write a series of 20 questions that the players need to answer about their character before they even see the book. That way they have a very clear idea about what their character is all about, and they don't just start picking random powers "because that looks cool".

It also gives you great ammunition to write in nods to minor details that they've included, and allows you to nip anything in the bud you feel might not fit into your campaign before they've got it down in black and white on their character sheet. A player manifesto, pointing out what style of game you want to run, and giving out some basic information about your setting, is also very useful.

And most importantly of all, HAVE FUN! It's your game as much as it is your players', so relax, enjoy yourself, and your players will enjoy themselves too.

[Kevin_MacTaggert]

"Meeting/Set-Up" should be based on your Players.

I like high-action intros that lead to Player meets. Let the Players demonstrate what their PCs can do in high fashion - build that confidence & they will feed your introductions. Go "BIG" for your Players, know what they want & they will give your Story everything it needs.