Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, I've been playing W:tA for a while now, and I've got a plot in my head that some friends expressed an interest in me possibly GMing. I've never done that... always just been a player... and I know there's a few things I want to do if I GM, simply because when I ran into the issues in the past, it always irked me.

One thing is, I want continuity. Nothing more frustrating fore me than to have a GM in the start of a game say that such-and such NPC is a Galliard or Ahroun, only about a month later, have them say they're a Ragabash. Maybe I'm a nit-picker, but when an NPC is introduced as someone's brother, and later changed to a cousin or childhood friend, it just sets off with me. So I'm really wanting to have everything laid out before starting, so I don't say something one month and change it the next, and have people feeling weird.

I also want to be able to give people a world they can play in, that's different from what they know (like setting this in a city they don't know the lay of) and allow them to learn with their characters.

Because of these (and probably a few others) I kinda know I have the possibility of over-doing or over-complicating things. I kinda want to avoid that.

So I'm looking for some advice from those of you who've done a game or two, especially in a GM line of play. How much is too much? Do you write everything out before hand, with a few notes on what could happen if they pick a few different options, or do you just wing it and pray for the best? Do you think fleshing out the story, and knowing where it could go before hand is too much, or should that be standard? When playing in a setting, do you toss up whatever grid map suits your needs, or do you take into account the actual streets and buildings in the town, to give it a feel of realism? What do you do when one of your players says "Wait... last time we went to the library it was across from the courthouse, and in the south of town, and now it's next to the hospital in the north?" or when they say "I thought Lisa was Aaron's sister, not his wife. What the heck?" (and making them a silver fang isn't an option... )

I'll help you out.

What I do is come up with a very vague idea that is direct, for example, a Garou Elder gives a mission to a select group of Werewolves (Sound familiar?). So, the group goes to the destination. Because your players will have very unique ideas, it is good to have back up plans, just incase things don't go as planned. Also if all else fails, have your improv skill up to about four dots. I feel that if you improvise some of the details to move the story along, use them! Especially if you can tell the story is going nowhere, fast.

Another example of good improv is when I was STing a group of about seven people in a mix of Vampire, Mortal, and Werewolf (The story is a bit weird as to why this group didn't kill each other. Funny arguements were held, none-the-less... cause I'm evil like that). Anyways, three of my players had to go on a trip, so I was left with members of a story that were basically like 'wtf do we do now?'. I used my brain to figure that the organization we worked for decided to put our group on 'vacation'. Our group basically did an entire side quest. It was a short fix, but it got us through the day.

Another tip is to provide NUMEROUS ways of rolling. For example, if a Malkavian wants to argue with 'Squish', his pet rock, he can roll manipulation to sway the rock's voice to let him do what he wishes. Should the vampire botch the roll, he frenzies (It actually happened...). However, what you can also do is let the Child of Gaia persuade the irritated Malkavian that the rock is just jealous of his superior brain power, and that she would wish the Malkavian give the rock the cold shoulder to teach the rock a lesson. A situation that would normally prove difficult was avoided with both a player's good idea and an open mind to rolls.

Lastly, a plotline can't last forever. Should a particular pathway of the plot become a bit boring, try to have some ways to spice it up. Perhaps a rebellion that swallows the party up, causing them to become swallowed in a new plotline, fresh and new.

Oh, and to solve your problem of forgetting NPC's, maybe it'd be best to keep a few notes around NPCs, some minor details to keep things in order.

That's my two cents.

Your map idea is just fine, but as I said, you'll still need to fudge things a bit. For example, I've yet to see a map that lists local gang hang-outs, red-light districts (well... Amsterdam, but still...), or other seedy places where Wyrm minions might lurk. And unless one of the players is from Boston, who would know if you are right or wrong?

Also, while I still think that more than two pages for any NPC, including stats, is a little much, you should feel free to be creative. And if you do overdo it, a good group of players will go along. Tell them you've got certain things prepared for them, but they aren't limited to just those. Let them know that certain locations or events might be very important, but they can go wherever they want. If the players know, up front, that you've given them great freedom, but sometimes you'd like them to go in certain directions, they will play along.