GM Advice and the Perfect RPG Game
There are tons of blogs out there for role playing games. Add on the podcasts and you have even more sources that give you advice on how to make your game better. Now, I do appreciate the articles, even the ones that seem to be the same from one publisher to the next. I don’t mind hearing the guys on FearTheBoot.com talk about how to manage trouble players and then hear the same thing on the DM Guys podcast. Note: I don’t think the DM Guys have actually covered the topic, I just use these two sources for example purposes.
Take notes. Use music. Create a list of names. Get the right miniatures. Use handouts. Think of ways to set the tone by not only describing what the player characters see, but also what they smell or hear. With all these bits and pieces, and there are tons more, I’d wonder if it’s possible to keep them all in your pocket and remember to pull them all out when game mastering your game. Holy cow, never mind the 300+ pages of rules that we should have a grasp of.
Maybe I’m being a bit cynical, but it just seems that these pieces of advice can surely add to a game. No question about that. I just wonder if the perfect game is just not possible to achieve.
I think the advice may pertain to those that have little to no experience. Perhaps that they’re most helpful to those audiences. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t say my GM style is the be all end all, but experience does help. I also think we GM the way we do because it’s habit or we have our own preprogrammed way of doing things. Sure, we can try something new, but don’t we all revert to our own ways?
I think I need to play with other groups to really see how different approaches to game mastering can really appeal to me.
Thoughts?
Comments (6)
Mark
January 7th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
The quest for the perfect game is continual. It’s really not possible to get there but it is possible to get things to come close and then you get a great gaming event. It may be that because we’re all amateurs at this (at least the only ones I know) that we are striving without seeming to succeed often enough. GMing is a combination of acting, storytelling, story writing, and f/x person and unless you practice, it’s off-the-cuff, even with planning. Note that I’m differentiating “planning” and “practice” – getting accents down and reproducible is not a casual activity (for me at least). Getting the timing of when details are essential and when they’re going to bog things down, again, comes with practice and experience. The list goes on. Face, we’re hacks at this and unless we become professionals, it’s not likely to change from the “it’s fun most of the time, but then, there was that time…!” situation. At least, that’s my take on it.
Dave
January 20th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
What you are looking for is that game that everyone enjoys and talks about for years to come. In pursuit of that I think you would start out “doing it your own way” and add and subtract things as you go. Find out what works for you and do it.
Dave
January 20th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Do those blogs ever talk about a Character Driven game as opposed to a Plot Driven game? What I mean is for example take the TV show NCIS. I would say that it is more character driven then plot driven. What makes the show interesting it the way the characters interact in a given situation, as opposed to a show like Criminal Minds which I would say is more plot driven.
Does your players like a more video game approach, solve the puzzle kind of thing ,or more of a roleplaying approach, where the character’s personalities can interact with each other as well as with the NPCs.
Master Dwarf
January 27th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Thanks for the comment Mark. I’d agree. I sometimes wonder how our expectations change over time. I wonder how horrible my childhood games must have been, but back then they were awesome. Right?
Master Dwarf
January 27th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Guess you gotta go with what comes to you, listen to feedback, enhance, repeat. I wonder sometimes that players may hold back for fear of offending the GM.
Master Dwarf
January 29th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Unless we become professionals… *rubs chin & smiles*
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