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100% GMing
Treasure Tables is dedicated to game masters, offering GMing advice and ideas and a community of GMs helping each other run great games since 2005. I'm Martin Ralya, and I've been GMing since 1989 and writing for the RPG industry since 2004.
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
Every GM Should…
Sat. September 30, 2006
Let’s play fill in the blank. The only restriction is that what you fill it in with needs to be gaming-related.
Every GM should __________ at least once.
What’s the first thing that pops into your head? What does that tell you about your experiences as a GM? And how would you fill in the blank after some reflection?
More posts about: Nature of GMing
Comments
20 Responses to “Every GM Should…”
… kill off a well-loved player character …
1) … raise from the dead a well-loved player (to complete the quest) …
(Just had the death and resurrection last night. Very kind of my DM to raise one of my char’s 2 best friends. We know we’re close to the end. How could we start over with a new character then?)
2) … experiment and do something that puts them out of thier comfort zone …
(Cliche saying, but true. I felt so silly using stick puppets. But, it did add to the game and will probably do that again.)
Every GM should LIE at least once.
Whether it’s to save a character’s ass, or to allow the Villain to get away, a good lie beats a dice roll every time.
Every GM should improvise an entire session at least once. It gives you a great idea of what you really need to prep for and what your talents will take care of naturally.
Every GM should kill off a favorite NPC at least once.
…laugh…and the sentence should end “at least once a session”. It’s so much nicer when your GM seems like a reasonable person.
Every GM should be willing to consider any given houserule at least once.
If the rules aren’t working, then the game’s probably not working.
Every GM should play at least once.
Basic, I know.
Every GM should try using another GM’s style at least once.
I second Ramza. I played in a real game (I don’t really count PbPs or this one crazy one I’m in) for the first time in years yesterday. And oh, how it rocked.
Every GM should finish a campaign at least once.
I nodded along with almost everyone’s answers. I particularly like the “improvise a session at least once” recommendation.
Every GM should collaborate with one or more other GM’s on a campaign at least once.
Wow — these are great answers!
I’ve written about winging it at least once, getting out of your comfort zone and playing to become a better GM here on TT, and I couldn’t agree more.
“Every GM should try using another GM’s style at least once” and “Every GM should collaborate with one or more other GM’s on a campaign at least once” both caught me by surprise (in a very good way).
I like to experiment as a GM, but I’ve never taken someone else’s style whole cloth and tried to emulate it. That sounds like a great learning experience.
Ditto with collaborating — I’ve considered it, but never tried it, and man, would that be fun!
While many of the suggestions above provide good learning opportunities, I don’t think it’s a good idea to set out to check off each item on this list…
Some comments on individual suggestions:
Killing off a well-loved PC: a good learning experience, but man, if I new my PC died because my GM saw this list of suggestions and decided he needed to gain that learning experience right now…
Raise from the dead a well loved player: Gee, I wish I could do this… I guess I’d be torn between one of my high school gaming buddies who died of cancer within a year or two of our graduating, or Glen Blacow who was such a mentor to me… Oh, you meant raise a well loved PC… Sure, as long as it fits the game and is not a deus ex machina (though using a dem would be a good learning experience).
GM lying: I assume you mean a lie at the player level, not a lie at the game level (NPCs should lie all the time). I’m not sure this is a necessary learning experience…
Improvising a session: as long as this suggestion allows for “run a game that allows for improvisation if you are running a high prep game.” Improvising, say Champions, to the extent that you don’t even have villains prepared, could be pretty painful for the players (please wait an hour while I stat up these villains to some minimal level…).
Killing off favored NPCs: sure, as long as it fits logically. See killing off a favored PC above…
Houserules: sure, though better would be to suggest every GM make an effort to find a game that really fits his players at least once.
Finish a campaign at least once: what do you mean by this? Depending on the game system, that may be hard to define. D&D really doesn’t have a defined end.
Collaboration: I’ve considered trying this several times. It might be a good thing to be open to, but finding someone who it would actually work with is a pretty hit or miss proposition. And you need a game that’s appropriate for this.
Frank
[...] At some point in your GMing career, a PC is going to die during one of your games. It’s inevitable (some might even say it’s recommended). [...]
Checking off everything on the list would be weird — I agree. But checking off the ones that jibe with your own style and experiences? That sounds pretty good to me.
…follow the players…
I’ve gotten some amazing ideas from listening to the players shoot the bull over what’s coming up next. A few times, I’ve completely changed the adventure because their ideas were cooler than mine.
[...] GMing: Lots of fun, although too much of it (especially without also playing) can lead to burnout. Involves a variety of activities, both before and during games, that aren’t always fun on their own (for me, that’d be prep) — but when blended together, they add up to awesome. Adventures and sourcebooks can do some of the heavy lifting for you, but you can also do everything on your own. Never varying your style gets old before too long. [...]
Telas: Yep, that’d make the hypothetical checklist for me — following your players is always fun.