Treasure Tables is on hiatus as of December 13th, 2007 -- after two years of daily posts, I needed a break. If you're looking for GMing material, I have two recommendations: the hundreds of posts in TT's archives, and my new project, the multi-author GMing blog Gnome Stew. Happy GMing! -- Martin

Keep Your Goals in Sight - Literally

Thu. December 15, 2005 

When I start a new campaign, I usually have a few distinct goals in mind. To help myself stay focused, I write them on a notecard and clip that card to the inside of my screen. This works well for me — it might work for you, too!

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Comments

2 Responses to “Keep Your Goals in Sight - Literally”

  1. Fred Wolke on December 16th, 2005 2:23 pm

    Can you explain this concept in more detail?

    What kind of goals do you have, as a GM?

    I’m curious because my goal, as GM, is usually “Make sure everyone has fun” and anything else is subordinate to that one.

  2. Martin on December 16th, 2005 4:27 pm

    Sure thing, Fred.

    What I’m thinking of is along the lines of two of my earliest posts here on TT:

    Every Campaign is an Experiment
    The Bones in the Soup

    The first one (my first post ever, actually!) covers the idea that every time you run a game, it’s different than your last one. The second covers laying out the goals and underpinnings for my last D&D game.

    What I’m thinking of here is a combination of the two: I have some things in mind that I want to do differently, or that go against my “default” approach to certain situations. Those are the goals I clip to my screen, to keep the in mind throughout play.

    For my last game, an Eberron campaign, they were: “Skip the boring stuff” and “Lots of pulp action.”

    The former was a reminder to fast forward through travel, micromanagement, etc. as often as possible, and the second was to help me remember to bring out one of the things I like most about Eberron.

    Does that help?