DM Pro Tips

No Alignment

An important aspect of TOG is that there is no alignment listed on any given character's sheet. What this means is not that everyone is good, what it means is that you have to keep track of who's being a dick to other people, who's being nice, and treat them accordingly. For example, if a character takes any chance he can get to beat up random people, he should take penalties to starting relationships. Therefore character actions and especially character-citizen interactions should be closely monitored.

Cheat & Steal

Perhaps the two most important things that you can do as a DM are lie and plagiarize.

Lying and cheating is important on a small scale. Sometimes, dramatic context overrules a roll of the d20. If you just really need a villain to make an impression, or don't want to kill a character over something lame, you should forsake the die roll and just decide what happens. This is a TRPG, not a video game. You can also modify the system in any way you feel is beneficial (or detrimental, if you're a sadist) to your campaign. This includes bringing in elements of other TRPGS as you see fit. Perhaps you want different races, or you hate mana for some inconceivable reason. The point is, the rules you play under are only a framework for telling a story and having fun beating people up. If bending the rules means more fun, do it.

The other item, stealing from other authors, is something all DMs do, even without realizing it. Taking character archetypes and plot concepts from other people is perfectly okay, a long as you aren't blatantly obvious about it.

THE Planner

Utilizing the planner will make any TOG DM's life easier. The easiest way to use it is to print out a bunch, and just put everyone's events on yours, rather than giving one to each player. I can't think of a better place to say this, so I'll just say it here: not everyone has to be present for a fight. In fact, if you have party of more than three people, it should be divided for most fights (with the notable exception of bosses). Solo fights are cool too. Just make sure people are there for the pivotal plot-forwarding battles. If anyone gets both the Early Bird and the Night Owl feats, and they are awake for all blocks possible, make them take a -3 penalty to all Hit rolls the following day.