Comments on: What to Do After GMing a Lousy Gaming Session

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 15:46:31 +0000

Zachary, when you say “a suggestion box,” do you literally mean a little box with a slit in the top that sits near your gaming table? I’ve never seen that done before!

By: Zachary Houghton

Zachary Houghton — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 01:41:58 +0000

To be sure, there’s nothing like venting and comparign notes with other GMs. I always think back tot he GM gathering at the bar in the Knights of the Dinner Table. It’d be nice if places had enough gamers to be able to do that, but after I’ve had a rough session, it really helps to bounce it off other GMs. First of all, it helps me see what went wrong, and remove it from that “my fault/their fault” realm of accusation. Sometimes it’s hard to look at our own failures or successes dispassionately. Peer feedback helps do that, but you can’t ignore that step #4–I’ve often incorporated a suggestion box or used email to ensure my players feel secure in offering feedback.

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 17:31:58 +0000

(CJ) My “post step” to your 5 steps is to save the notes from steps 1 and 2 (and maybe all the steps). Some of the stuff in steps 1 and 2 will look important, but isn’t. Or vice versa. Over time, the trends may give you more useful information than the isolated session data.

This is a great idea — an extension of the GMing naughty list, but viewed over time. I’ve added this to my post — thanks, CJ!

(Lilith) In my experience, discussing a session with another GM and going over both the good and bad points has been invaluable, especially when they’re also one of the players.

Right on — I’m embarassed that I missed this one! I’ve edited it in as Step 5 — thank you, Lilith!

By: Lilith

Lilith — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:35:12 +0000

In step 3, you mention “never stop learning” – it’s a lesson that can be expanded to everything in your life, not just GMing.

I would also add “discuss the session with other GMs,” but that’s been pretty well covered by this blog and the forums. In my experience, discussing a session with another GM and going over both the good and bad points has been invaluable, especially when they’re also one of the players.

By: Crazy Jerome

Crazy Jerome — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:14:40 +0000

My “post step” to your 5 steps is to save the notes from steps 1 and 2 (and maybe all the steps). Some of the stuff in steps 1 and 2 will look important, but isn’t. Or vice versa. Over time, the trends may give you more useful information than the isolated session data. (Sometimes, something that went wrong was just bad luck or an off-night. If it never happens again, it wasn’t really that important–or perhaps merely you now being aware of the issue is sufficient to fix it.)

As for tricks to get through the funk, I’d say to remember that if you never have a bad session (or at least part of the session was bad), you aren’t improving as a GM. Sure, you can have a bad session because everyone involved didn’t try very hard. There was no experimentation there. But fixes for those kind of things are the, “easy to explain, hard to fix” kind. “Don’t be so lazy next time,” will either work or not, depending on your motivation, but that’s bigger than gaming. OTOH, if you try new things, and they don’t work, you still got something out of the session.