Topic: Being a Better GM

[Elton Robb]

I decided to start a new topic on becoming a better GM.  This is a chance for everyone to share their thoughts on what have helped them become a better GM.

I tend to follow the adage -> practice makes perfect.  Although I study a great deal, I haven't had a lot of practice.  Still, I get a chance to exercise the skills every once in a great while.

What are your thoughts?

[Raf Blutaxt]

I've found that practice allown will not make you a better GM. If you play with the same people for a long time, you will most likely settle into a style of gaming that will work for you all, but this is not the same as being a great GM. To become very good at the art of GMing, I've found that it helps to read and talk a lot about games, the things that make a game good and what your role as a GM is.

[yammahoper]

Make your players happy, and they will deliver a great game.

Now, don't forget to challenge and frustrate them too.  A GM must feel out his players, understand why they are there and what they want from the game, find a way to dangle what they want in front of them, make them jump through hoops to get it (very hard if a player absolutely refuses to jump through hoops), let them get REAL close, snatch it away, then (eventually) let them have it.  Or die trying.

If your table is three to five players, meshing together a game and story that offers a chance to fufill player wants becomes the GM's real obstacle to providing a fun game.  A plot that concentrates on one PC may cause dissent amongst the others.  A PC who is near diametrically opposed the the rest of the party in values, tactics, approach, skill set: all can create an impossible situation for the GM.  So a GM needs to learn to mesh and balance a party in order to be able to deliver a good gaming experience.

[masque1223]

The thing that I've found to be one of my best "tricks" as a GM is to give every character their own moments to shine.  I don't focus on combat to the exclusion of everything else, I include lots of opportunities for puzzle solvers, social experts, and so on and so forth.  I've found that this approach leads to a situation where even if the players have unbalanced characters in terms of raw power, it doesn't really matter, because everyone gets their own particular star moments, and everyone stays happy.

Granted, this might be a fairly basic insight for most, but I'm still relatively new to GMing, only doing it heavily for the past 5 or 6 years.

[RandalThor]

<snip> I include lots of opportunities for puzzle solvers <snip>

Boy, I wish I had some of these in my current group. I have had to hold them by the hand, so far.

OT: All that goes into being a GM (not to mention a good one) makes it hard to pick out a few key elements, there is just so much. But, if I have to....

I guess, for me it has been mostly a matter of friendship; are we friends? Meaning, do we do things other than game and have fun? If not, then it is likely that that particualr group will not work out, because as friends you can interact in a more relaxedand familiar manner that is conductive to having fun. At least, that has been my experience.

[VladD]

IMO: Becoming a better GM has to do a lot with knowing how to run a consistent world and knowing where to be mean and where to reward.
Although we could build a data base of interesting GM facts, but someone has already beaten us to the punch:

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/index.php

It is for GM's by GM's and most of it is system unspecific. There is a MONSTROUS amount of data collected there.

Happy reading!

[Witchking20k]

Cool.  I think confidence is important.  And also setting the ground work with the players.  When you are new to GMing or a particular system sometimes you second guess yourself.  As a GM you should be fluid & fair while weaving the tale; and sometimes you are going to have to just make it happen without expertise in a certain area.  Sometimes thats dice rolling, or rules, sometimes its details of a game world.  In any case; let the players know.

Example: I ran a ship combat scene.  Before the game began I pulled aside 1 player (in the navy) and told him that there would be some of that today, and that i know basically nothign about it, but I would appreciate it if he didn't "correct" me during the game play. 

After the session I asked him what I should know for next time; wrote it down, and became more familliar and a better GM for it.

[GrumpyOldFart]

Example: I ran a ship combat scene.  Before the game began I pulled aside 1 player (in the navy) and told him that there would be some of that today, and that i know basically nothign about it, but I would appreciate it if he didn't "correct" me during the game play.

After the session I asked him what I should know for next time; wrote it down, and became more familliar and a better GM for it.

Good call. An even better one would have been to get with him before the game and ask him that (especially if you can get a day or so lead time), as well as getting the agreement not to undermine you. It might have changed how you played the story.

[GrumpyOldFart]

If I had to give a single thing to do as an answer, I'd say to be a better GM, learn everything you can about every subject you can access, most particularly all aspects of physical/nature sciences and human behavior.

[markc]

If I had to give a single thing to do as an answer, I'd say to be a better GM, learn everything you can about every subject you can access, most particularly all aspects of physical/nature sciences and human behavior.

  I agree the more you know in general the easier it is to GM.
MDC

[GrumpyOldFart]

I agree the more you know in general the easier it is to GM.

Well, the easier it is to keep from tripping yourself up with logical or physical inconsistencies. The campaign at sea is a case in point. Even assuming that you understand the basics of wind powered sailing, knowing the relative advantages of a square rig vs. marconi (fore-and-aft) rig vs. lateen rig can give you more options on how to use the conditions of the moment to give yourself the advantage.

And of course, the moment you decide you'll never need to know such minutiae you'll aqcuire a player who does know it, and who won't be very sympathetic when you insist he not use his greater knowledge to his own advantage.

 

[Zhaleskra]

I'll state this one because I saw the opposite of what I'm saying done in an early adventure:

Never make an in character puzzle rely on player knowledge of the game's rules.

[GrumpyOldFart]

Another thing that can be drawn from the campaign at sea:

Okay, so you know nothing of wind powered sailing and you get a player who knows all of the minutiae. He (of course) wants to be able to use his knowledge to his advantage, and quite reasonably points out that doing so makes the setting logic more consistent.

You're trapped. How do you buy yourself time to at least halfway catch up to the level of knowledge he already has?

Easy, you require him to justify the character having that knowledge, not just the player. In the process, he catches you up on his knowledge, he can't help it. He pretty much has to in order to explain why the character knows what he does.

 

In other words, the easiest way to keep up with what your players know is to find in-game excuses for them to teach it to you.

 

[Vector Z]

Greetings all! This is my first post here, so my apologies if this is not the right place to introduce myself

I have some strong feelings on this particular subject, so I wanted to chime in, if nobody minds.

I agree with Yammahoper's assertion that satisfying your players' needs is key to being a great GM. At the very least, you players are a lot more likely to say that of you

I usually try to do this by 2 methods. The first is to simply provide lots of opportunities for them to use the skills they've chosen to develop for their characters. Players who focus a lot on developing combat skills are clearly anticipating (and probably hoping for) combat fairly regularly. On the other hand, characters with a lot of subterfuge skills would likely prefer more stealthy activities. If you're not sure, you could always ask them, nothing wrong with that That way they get a chance to "flex their muscles" and get a return on their investment of time and skills.

The second way is by making each character vital to the plot. This can be a little more difficult but is well worth the time spent figuring out why it is so important that the character is doing what he's doing. Every PC should have a reason to be there and a personal goal he is trying to achieve, imo.

Thanks!

[RandalThor]

Welcome aboard VZ.

[yammahoper]

Vector Z is obviously a genius.

 

[Witchking20k]

Welcome!

[DangerMan]

Staying sober....

[Zhaleskra]

Be willing to say "I could tell you why but that would make the adventure pointless."

[GrumpyOldFart]

Practice looking innocent.