Becoming a GM Today. Part 2: What You Can Learn From Others
When I started GM-ing, the assumption many people operated under was that if you wanted to be a Game Master, you had to learn how to play under one. You’d learn how they ran their game and your Game Mastering style would likely be a reflection of what you learned under them. But by that logic, who taught the first Game Masters back in the early days of Dungeons and Dragons? Surely Gary Gygax didn’t have time to tutor every single Game Master. In fact, many Game Masters starting out must have been self-taught, right? That knowledge had to come from somewhere. As I mentioned in my previous post, there are now a ton of resources available for you to use and today I am going to point you in the direction of some of the best ones and tell you what you can expect to find once you get there.
Now you may be asking yourself, “Karington, you are a professional Game Master, why would you freely provide these resources to inspire new Game Masters? Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive to your business plan?” Perhaps it is a little counterintuitive, but I want to provide new GMs a stronger starting off point than I ever had because I truly believe that roleplaying is for everyone. I also believe that the more people who play, the better the game is for everyone, and that starts with great Game Masters. Great Game Masters who have honed their craft can create truly wonderful experiences. In my opinion, the best way to help encourage new storytellers and Game Masters is to help provide them with a solid foundation. But the amount of resources available today is a daunting mountain of its own to climb on top of the already herculean task of learning all of the skills necessary for running a successful game; therefore, in this post, I have done the legwork for you and curated what I feel are some of the best resources.
As a part of my background was in academia, I am well aware that not everyone learns the same way. Some people prefer to read while others prefer audio books and still others prefer to watch instructional videos. As such, I have tried to provide a variety of different options.
If your preferred learning method is video, I suggest veteran Game Master Matt Coleville. Matt brings a wealth of experience to the table as he has been playing since the early days of role-playing. His videos are filled with humor, old movie references, and plain good advice. His videos are entertaining and I would suggest watching the following videos in this order to start:
Your First Adventure, Running the Game #1
Your First Session, Running the Game #2
Running Your First Dungeon, Running the Game #3
If you prefer to read blog posts (other than the expertly written and edited blogs on The Heart Monitor 😉) I highly recommend Gnome Stew a regular Game Master blog with tons of fantastic content that is often system neutral. The blog has been going strong since 2008 and contains loads of great ideas for content, as well as thought-provoking ideas for your campaign. Due to the overwhelming volume of articles, I would recommend starting here with their First Time Game Master Series before taking it all in.
FIRST TIME GM: JOB DESCRIPTION
FIRST TIME GM: LOOKING FOR GROUP
FIRST TIME GM: ESTABLISHING THE GROUND RULES
FIRST TIME GM – GAME PREP I – OVERVIEW
FIRST TIME GM – GAME PREP II – TECHNIQUES
If you have been reading The Heart Monitor for any amount of time, you will have seen that I have recommended Slyflourish.com as it is a fantastic resource for Game Masters of all levels of experience. Michael E. Shea creates some wonderful content here and all of it is useful and will help you run your games more efficiently. I would start by reading this “Getting Started” article which has a beautiful spiderweb of related videos, articles, and resources that you can use to gain familiarity with Dungeons and Dragons. Also, if you want to see a Game Master prep for a session in real-time you can check him out on Twitch or on YouTube.
Getting Started with Dungeons & Dragons
Sly Flourish's Lazy DM Prep Live
All of these resources are well and good but what if you find yourself in need of specific advice from a veteran Game Master? Well, you can always drop us a line at karington@openheartgames.com and your question will be answered, whether in a reply email, a future blog post, or both! I also recommend joining online communities for additional advice and inspiration. Obviously your milage may vary, but a lot of good information and inspiration can be gleaned by joining such groups. A quick search for Dungeon Master or Game Master Advice should turn up some good results.
I hope this blog post will give all Game Masters a solid foundation and a good starting point from which they can launch memorable campaigns. I hope you find it helpful, informative, and inspirational.
Next week, I will suggest some of the physical resources I have added to my Game Master’s toolbox over the years, including some old favorites and some recent purchases.
Until then, Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
