Posts Tagged by game mastering philosophy
| September 10, 2010 | Posted by John Arcadian |
A little while ago a buddy of mine decided to run an impromptu game. It was his second attempt and he did pretty well. There were only a few newbie GM mistakes and the game went over pretty well for the limited time we had to play. The biggest thing that I saw, and that sparked a thought in my head, was that the game was overpacked with details and sub-plots. There were too many plot lines going on at once, too many things for…
| September 24, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
Do you ever step back from being the Game Master for a second, look at what is going on in the game, and imagine the action at the table as if it were a TV show or a movie. Even the most boring combat I recently ran has been brought up by the players in their stories because of the cinematic qualities it had. Role-playing games, movies, and TV shows can have a lot in common. Movies and TV shows make a good metaphor for…
| September 16, 2009 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
There is a vast gulf between the phrase “my players” (or “your players”) and the phrase “the players” when used to refer to your gaming group, or to another GM’s group. It’s not just semantics — it really makes a difference in how you think about GMing, how you approach the games you run, and how you treat your group. It can be hard to break the habit of saying (or writing) “the players,” but there’s a reason you never see me write it here,…
| June 22, 2009 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
The AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide opens with this line: You are one of a very special group of people: AD&D game Dungeon Masters. AD&D 2e was the first game I ever GMed, and the one I’ve run the longest (though it’s been quite a while at this point). I first read those words back in 1989; I was 13. And I thought that was the greatest thing ever. A special group — that I was part of! That gave me a lot of…
