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First thing I'd suggest is that you not play the leader of this group. Your NPC should be nothing more than a bit player in the group. This is because the players will follow your lead, if you aren't gonna hurt your PC, why would you hurt theirs. Also, they don't need to think about the problems as hard because they can simply fall back on your character's leadership and they can relax more.

Make them sweat! It is OK to have an NPC that travels with the group, but don't let him make decisions or solve their puzzles - he (or she) should be a mouse in the corner in a room full of cats. Give the players mysteries and intrigue; give the players horribly life threatening periods of action and exploration; give the characters combat on a grand scale and small one-on-one battles and they will beg you to GM for them every time.

Otherwise, it sounds like you are off to a pretty good start. I play most of my games off the cuff like that, with nothing more than a plot and knowledge of the world in which you are playing. Have fun with it!

Congrats on running your first game! It's always a thrill. Love the good, don't sweat the not-so-good, and above all, make sure to enjoy yourself.

Like Beatmeclever said, it's not recommended that you have a GMPC in the group, especially not as a leader. NPCs and GMPCs should never be the focus of a group or game - the PCs should be. Your scenario sounds solid, but I would suggest perhaps that Mr. Welsh is a more distant presense - the boss who runs the supply base and handles logistics, while the group goes out to perform the contracts he arranges for them. Any NPCs the players decide to have along (and it should usually be their choice) should be subservient to the party, or at the very least, not superior to them except in very very rare and specific RP circumstances of limited duration.

100,000 credits is a huge reward for a first mission, and being as it's in gold format, is perhaps a bit showy. A tempting target for bandits, hmmm? Perhaps Mr. Welsh, toting around or knowing the whereabouts of all this lucre, gets abducted by a powerful group of bandits intent on stealing it, or torturing him to find out where it is. Now the group not only has to complete their primary objective to earn their payment, but now they have to go fight for possession of the payment itself, without having an NPC/GMPC leader to fall back on.

Ah heck, stop worrying about it. Advanced GMing techniques and tricks are for groups that have grown bored with your usual stuff. You and your players are having fun, right? Then, you are doing great.

Here is my advice -- be lazy. I mean it. Just going over what happened and tallying experience rewards after every gaming session used to take me an hour. Then there is that fact that the Palladium system expects you to roll up and figure stats for every NPC. Even the monsters have attribute dice to be rolled. To Dyval to that! Gather every NPC from the books (with a simple name change), every pre-rolled character and monster you can get, and use them. Change your beloved adventure if you have to, but use them. If you find an adventure module you like, use that too. Sleep loss is a harsh mistress.

As for the main Demon u can use a Monster from WB Mystic Russia, I think its called the Midnight Demon (pg.30). I dont have that bk with me.

I used the Midnight Demon (with a half doz. boggie men and a few orcs) in my group a few months ago but now i spend my time on the road at work. So it's rare now a days for me to play with my group. I get home and all i want to do is rest and be around my family.

Alas Poor Squiz I knew him well. Hi There All, I'm one of poor Squiz' players and I need to correct a slight goof on his part, the rest of us (2 of us) are Mercs Special Forces OCC in (slightly) modified Samon Power Armor, modifications (current) are replacing the missile systems in the arm w/the NG Heavy plasma cannon. And a CS MIlitary Specialist (spying on the group) in old school SAMAS (pre war campaign setting).

As a GM I'm constantly running to catch up to my players as they continuously come up w/ new and insane ways to beat me at my own game, but I still have a blast!!

Have a set of surprising situations that you could use anywhere (a classic one is 'two goons walk in and start shooting')

Have a bunch of these, so when the players walk off your script you still have some surprising/react now material to drop onto them, rather than them walking away from the exciting stuff and...nothing happens.

If you don't know what I mean I can give more examples...

Darkorinth wrote:

keir451 wrote:Alas Poor Squiz I knew him well. Hi There All, I'm one of poor Squiz' players and I need to correct a slight goof on his part, the rest of us (2 of us) are Mercs Special Forces OCC in (slightly) modified Samon Power Armor, modifications (current) are replacing the missile systems in the arm w/the NG Heavy plasma cannon. And a CS MIlitary Specialist (spying on the group) in old school SAMAS (pre war campaign setting).

As a GM I'm constantly running to catch up to my players as they continuously come up w/ new and insane ways to beat me at my own game, but I still have a blast!!

Sounds good to me. Players do strange things.

It helps that one of my players is truly genius when gaming/GMing, and his wife is an excellent roleplayer, and tho' I've a munchkin in the group he limits himself (yeah, contradiction in terms) to Munchkining stereotypes like Russian Borg or a Pre-Modern era Japanese Samurai and the like.

darkorinth wrote:

I don't even usually bother to stat up citters/NPC beyond giving them ATM, strike, parry and dodge bonuses and a damage listing. I don't usually even write it down, just run it out of my head.

If that is working for you, then more powwa to ya. I tried fudging the rules once almost ten years ago. My players were so upset by it that they ended the campaign and didn't let me run anything else for two or three years afterward.

Beyond differences in playing styles from one group to another, I am always concerned about streamlining or house rule use when dealing with a player who is new to the game. I have seen misunderstandings occur because a new player learned an unofficial way of playing a game, passed along this way of doing things to a friend in a different group, and started a cycle of people who have an askewed perception of certain games. Thus, I try to run games as they were intended, especially when a new gamer or a gamer who is new to the game is at the table. Since I often game with teenagers, there is always someone at the table who is new.

Keldane wrote:

People have emphasized being flexible, and some have suggested having back up plans. That's all well and good, and sometimes it's better to have no plans at all.

True but, that is an advanced technique. This is a thread about a GM who is running his first game. I strongly recommend using modules and any other prepared tools for a new GM.

I really don't think 100, 000 credits is to large a payment. Once you split it between all the players it's barely enough to repair your armour, rechard your eclips and pay for breakfast.

I like to throw in a party NPC. Not a powerhouse, but someone who has the skills the pcs might need but aren't interested in taking i.e. barter/appraisal et c. Also, after a half-hour of searching, it's easier to have the NPC pick a piece of paper off the top of a table and start folding it up, "to start a campfire with later", then to finally give in to frustration and scream, "Isn't anyone going to look at the map!?".