Tips for Game Masters

by Alan De Smet

You are a Dungeon Master, a Storyteller, a Referee, an Animator, a Marshall, a Director or whatever your favorite role-playing game calls it. You are a Game Master. The GM. It's hard but rewarding.

Most role-playing games have a little section of how to run a game. They discuss setting the mood, crafting stories, reacting to player surprises, and more. Great stuff. But none of them seem to give you concrete suggestions, tips to make your life as a GM easier. Any given game may have a suggestion or two, but certainly not a nice complete list.

Here is my collection of tips, appropriate for most role-playing games. I've tried to keep each short and sweet. If you've got any comments, let me know.

• The Golden Rule - If you're having fun, you're doing it right.
• Email - Use email to organize
• Player and Character Questions - Ask for character background between games
• Random NPC cheat sheet - Have a list of random names, and possibly traits, to pull from
• Have mini-encounters ready - A few prewritten small episodes can be handy when you're not sure what is next.
• Keep copies of player character sheets - Having your own copy of the sheets gives you several advantages.
• Get a confidant - You need someone to talk to
• Never defend your actions - Listen and explain, but don't defend!
• Take responsibility - Take responsibility for your game
• Players must understand your universe - If they don't, something is wrong
• Players must be empowered - Players must make meaningful choices
• Understand your players - Pay attention to them as much as you want them to pay attention to you
• Have unrevealed backplot and setting - Details you don't reveal give your game depth.
• Stay at the table - and pay attention to your players
• Keep your group small - Fewer players is usually better.
• Never let the game stall - Tips of keeping your game moving when the players want to stall. (long)
• Start out with a bang! - Action is where it's at.
• Put the gun on the wall and use it - Plan ahead, foreshadow, and keep things dense
• Brainstorming plots - A bunch of different ideas for brainstorming plots.
• More articles - Good GMing articles by other people
• Unsorted Tips - Tips not yet sorted into the rest of my pages.