Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

Anxst · 07-03-2008, 03:13 PM

I've been GMing for 19 years, through a variety of systems, including the AMBER diceless system (which is crazy but fun work for any GM).

I've come up with some rules that make my games run well.

1. Be consistent. If you rule one way one time, and another way later for the same issue, you lose the trust of your players. This only goes as far as they can see, of course. as far as random dice issues, fudge them to hell and back as long as they can't see you doing it.

2. Remember the player characters are the stars. They are the coolest, smoothest, most heroic fuckers in the universe. If you make sure they know that and they get to demonstrate it, they'll love you forever.

3. Don't be afraid to tell the players YES instead of NO sometimes. If they go off on some track that could even a little bit reasonably answer the challenge you've set them (and you had no plan for it to exist/work/etc) say yes sometimes anyway. Work it in. Improvisation of things like that is hard and gets better with practice, but it makes the world come to life.

4. Prepare. Even 30 minutes of prep time can let you throw down an outline of where you want the game to go that night. An outline is the bare minimum to roll with. It lets you dangle carrots in front of the players that will keep them focused and interested. If you have a goal in mind you want them to head for, they'll realize it and work towards getting there with you.

That's always worked for me.

07-03-2008, 03:13 PM	#14 (permalink)
Anxst Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance. Location: Madison, WI	I've been GMing for 19 years, through a variety of systems, including the AMBER diceless system (which is crazy but fun work for any GM). I've come up with some rules that make my games run well. 1. Be consistent. If you rule one way one time, and another way later for the same issue, you lose the trust of your players. This only goes as far as they can see, of course. as far as random dice issues, fudge them to hell and back as long as they can't see you doing it. 2. Remember the player characters are the stars. They are the coolest, smoothest, most heroic fuckers in the universe. If you make sure they know that and they get to demonstrate it, they'll love you forever. 3. Don't be afraid to tell the players YES instead of NO sometimes. If they go off on some track that could even a little bit reasonably answer the challenge you've set them (and you had no plan for it to exist/work/etc) say yes sometimes anyway. Work it in. Improvisation of things like that is hard and gets better with practice, but it makes the world come to life. 4. Prepare. Even 30 minutes of prep time can let you throw down an outline of where you want the game to go that night. An outline is the bare minimum to roll with. It lets you dangle carrots in front of the players that will keep them focused and interested. If you have a goal in mind you want them to head for, they'll realize it and work towards getting there with you. That's always worked for me. __________________ Don't mind me. I'm just releasing the insanity pressure from my headvalves.