So, You Want To Be A Gamemaster


Hey there. This is all pretty new to you, isn't it? Sure, you might have seen some shows or movies, or even participated as a player before... and those things should help, but there are still so many lessons to learn. Let's start the first one, then.

 

Contents

  • Your Table, Your Fun
  • How To Interact With Players
    • Talk, Talk, Talk!
    • Keeping In Touch
    • When Not To Talk
  • Your Role As A GM
    • Being A Mediator
    • Being A Rules Referee
    • Being A Narrator
    • NOT Being An Author
  • How To Fulfil Your Role As A GM
    • Don't Stress
    • Act
    • Be Firm
    • Be Fair (Or Even Generous)
    • Be The Example
  • How Can You Start?
    • Start Small
    • Things To Know Before
    • Look For Examples
    • Do A Session Zero
  • When To Start


Your Table, Your Fun

The first thing to establish is what everyone should know about the game: every group is different, and that's alright. If you contradict some generally accepted golden rule but your group still has fun, go with it. This is what really matters.

That being said, it's always worth listening to advice - in case you can learn something new and useful, or even gain a new perspective. But when you do consider someone's thoughts, keep in mind that your group may be very different from theirs.

 

How To Interact With Players

Talk, Talk, Talk!

The most important advice anyone could ever give you about GMing is to speak with your group. If you maintain open, honest communication with your players, you'll avoid countless problems. It makes sense if you think about it; communication is key in any social situation, especially one where people interact with each other for fun.

 

Keeping In Touch

As the GM, you'll most likely need to find the best way to communicate at a distance. Most people have some sort of online group, somewhere like Discord or Messenger, which makes organising schedules and transferring information much easier.

But make sure your players are actually okay checking that platform daily. I see so many GMs making a complete Discord server with die rolling bots and dedicated channels, and ending up disappointed because one of their players never looks at it. Instead of your preferred platform, you should utilise the one the most players already use. If there's someone who doesn't use the target app, tell them: they don't get excuses for not checking it. Timely communication is essential for TTRPGs, so handle it as such.

 

When Not To Talk

In time, you'll learn that some things best go behind the scenes, without the players knowing about them. But until you have a firm grasp on the basics, I recommend you to stay away from keeping secrets about anything but your actual plots and plans.

However, sometimes you have to stay discrete. If a player is being problematic, you want to talk with them only at first; likewise if you're talking about their backstory or character. Always make sure not to offend or hurt anyone.

 

Your Role As A GM

Being A Mediator

The GM always has the final say; many believe this to be the #1 rule to most TTRPGs. You will be responsible for a lot of things going on, at least the most responsible out of anyone. It's important that you have a sense of this; when there's a disagreement or conflict, you've got to think about what's the best way of handling it.

Conflicts can occur outside of the game or at the table, and they can involve you or not; they can be about anything from rules to real-life friendships. But in any case, you'll need to maintain proper communication, and remember the goal: to resolve the problem and have fun.

I can't teach you the communication skills and empathy you actually need to solve conflicts, but here's some general advice:

  • Just say it's over. Some conflicts can be easily solved and forgotten about. But make sure no one feels ignored or teamed up against.
  • Make sure it doesn't impact the game. Things away from the table (like breakups or family drama) should stay that way; otherwise, find a way to avoid problems by taking a month-long break, for example.
  • Know what everyone thinks. If it gets to a certain point, you might want to ask for everyone's opinion about an issue to make a more informed decision. Again, make sure everyone feels heard and valued.
  • Don't be afraid to make radical decisions. Sometimes the best thing you can do is change something significantly, like kicking out a problem player, for example.


Being A Rules Referee

Most games have at least a few pages of rules, and many have way more. As the GM, it's your duty to understand the rules of your system, so that you can mechanically handle the game in an efficient way. But you don't need to know all the rules; you can always stop to quickly look something up in your rulebook.

Sometimes you'll forget rules for certain things and won't have the time to look them up, or you'll encounter a situation that has no rules made for it, or you'll want to do something differently from the core system. Here's what you need to know about making rules and mechanics:

  • Know how it works. You need to understand the basic statistics and mechanics of your system, in order to properly balance improvised rules. For example, advantage on a d20 (rolling twice and taking the higher) increases its average result by about 4; knowing this helps compare its value with other bonuses or mechanics.
  • Just go ahead. Seriously, this is just one small part of the game, so everyone will forgive you if you make a mistake. Just make sure the ongoing situation is resolved with a quick ruling and get on with the game.
  • Reflect. You don't need to do this, but it can be beneficial to simply think through improvised rules you had in your last game. What was good or bad about them? How could you change them to make them better? Answering these questions helps you do better in the future.


Being A Narrator

As the GM, you represent the entire world to your players. You're the eyes, the ears and the background knowledge of the characters. Mastering how to give information to build a proper narrative can take years, but here are some useful first tips:

  • Don't describe everything. It can be very tempting to fully describe people for example, saying everything from their eye colour to their height. But don't bother; no one will remember it anyway. What you need to get through when describing anything is the feeling. If it's a broad-shouldered, bearded warrior with the stern face of someone who knows death, you don't need to describe their crooked nose and dark gaze. Similarly, you can describe a dimly lit underground mushroom garden with vibrant plants and fungi, without saying there are stalactites and stalagmites. People's imaginations will fill in your descriptions - differently, but that's not a problem (and when it does rarely come up, the misunderstanding can be cleared quickly).
  • Keep it simple. You don't need voice acting or acting skills, or even a diverse vocabulary to be a great GM. Seriously, all you need is start telling a story in your way. You'll pick things up on the way of course, and they'll help a lot. But trying to do something you can't is the first step towards thinking you can't do it and stepping down; so don't try to forcefully do voices and accents, or try to use a more diverse vocabulary than your natural speech. You can develop these skills later, when you have some kind of grasp on GMing.
  • Look at the pacing. You likely won't start with this skill, but it's important to know that pacing the narrative of a game is the most essential in telling the right story and getting your players engaged. Sometimes you want to keep things moving, and on other occasions, you have time for discussion. Again, don't worry if you don't yet have the brain power to focus on this, but know that it exists and majorly influences what playing in your game feels like.


NOT Being An Author

Many GMs make the mistake of trying to write a plot ahead of time. Don't be one of them. If you want to be in control of the entire story, GMing is not for you; just write a book. You should accept that the players have a major role in the story; so don't try to force a plot on them. Instead, just prepare the world for adventure and let them play in it.

Of course, there are situations where you'll be planning more things than usually - oneshots, for example. These single-session adventures have more strict plots, because they need to tell a whole story with a time limit. But as a general rule, you want to keep the liberty of your players as intact as possible.

 

How To Fulfil Your Role As A GM

Don't Stress

At first, you will likely be conscious about lots of things, and after your first session you might feel like you've done a terrible job and haven't achieved what you wanted. Don't worry. GMing is best done your way; with time, every problematic aspect will either turn out to be fine, or you'll learn how to do it right. No one expects you to be perfect, because no GM is perfect.


Act

GMing is a bit like a mask you put on. To be able to lead the game, you need to be somewhat distant and objective, while paying close attention to everyone around you. It's akin to hosting a party, really; you need to keep your tasks in mind, while ensuring everyone - including you - has fun.

As a sidenote, this is also what helps you with anxiety. A little personal anecdote: I used to stress so much that my voice would constantly shake when I had to speak about something important or in front of a group of people. For GMing, I had to put on a mask of responsibility and narration, which helped me say the things I needed to. After about three sessions, I was perfectly comfortable talking behind the screen, and in a few months, my social anxiety was gone.


Be Firm

As the GM it's important that people listen to you; so the first thing to establish when talking to a new group is authority. Obviously, you don't need to be aggressive about it. Being decisive and speaking with the expectation that people will listen to you is generally enough to get people's attention.

Now, you might be thinking: 'but we just want to have fun, won't me being strict ruin that?' Well, if you do it right, it won't. Don't be mean to your friends, of course. But do be firm about the narrative, the social rules you've established and the game's rules. Because out of everyone, you're the most responsible for everyone feeling welcome at your table, and no one will take your game seriously if you keep retconning everything. And as I've mentioned earlier, it doesn't hurt when people listen to you.


Be Fair (Or Even Generous)

The other reason being firm is not an issue is that it doesn't mean you also aren't being fair. Because you absolutely do want to be that. Yes, this means admitting when you're wrong, learning from your mistakes and handling all players fairly. The last one is especially important; make sure you treat everyone fairly, and also that they feel like you do.

Some GMs spoil their players; they give them printed spell cards and character art, play customised thematic music during important roleplay moments and get fitting dice or minis for them. If you're one of these GMs, good for you and your group - but if you're not, don't worry. Remember: being generous is optional, being fair is not.


Be The Example

You'd be surprised how much of your energy is transferred to your players. If you speak loud and fast, and lean forwards or even stand up, things start to get exciting and speed up. If you talk comfortably, players will also lean back. You might have already experienced this from school lessons or work meetings; it's much more interesting to listen to someone who's excited than someone who's bored.

But this can go further; players will (to an extent) mimic the way you handle the game as well - if you're the kind of GM who jokes a lot, retcons and allows metagaming sometimes, you'll have a much less serious table than if you take your narrative and game completely seriously. Which, as a reminder, is not a problem; do whatever you find fun, or whatever fits your group more.


How Can You Start?

All that I've just said is very important, but it's just theory. It's nice and all, but you actually want to play, don't you? Here's how.


Start Small

I highly recommend starting with a oneshot (a single-session game) or a very short adventure. These things are much easier to plan, they work with the higher amounts of prep you'll likely do as a beginner anyway, and they're simpler. You'll also be able to give your players premade characters. If you don't want to deep dive into creation just yet, you might also want to look for modules (adventures written by other people that you can also use as inspiration).


Things To Know Before

You really only need to know a minimal amount of things to start.
  • The game and game type. Of course, you'll need to find the game you're going to play; D&D is a common choice for example, but other games with different genres also exist, like Call of Cthulhu or Cyberpunk. There are also reworks of existing systems, like the Star Wars overhaul of D&D (SW 5e), or different versions of a similar system, Powered by the Apocalypse, which are completely different games aside from the similar rulesets. Speaking of which...
  • The rules. Of course you'll need to read most rules at least once before you start GMing a game. Most games have a rulebook you can buy, but many also have online versions which can be completely free on occasion.
  • The players. You won't necessarily have to know exactly who's coming to play, but you want to roughly outline your team so you have at least one somewhat stable point in your planning.
  • The basic concept. These are your general ideas for a campaign or adventure. You only need a rough outline at first, something like 'I want the party to be in a savannah or desert, travelling with a caravan'.


Look For Examples

If you've never played a TTRPG before, it can be difficult to imagine what it looks like. Fortunately, there are a wide range of broadcasts that you can take a look at, or watch a few sessions and learn a few tricks. Critical Role and Dimension20 are popular ones.


Do A Session Zero

A session zero is a way to make sure everyone's on the same wavelength, and to give some information before an adventure starts. It's basically a session where you don't play, but rather talk about playing before the adventure starts (but of course you can also do one mid-campaign). Here are some things commonly done in such sessions:

  • Discussing technical aspects. Questions like 'when are you guys free?', 'where are we going to meet?' and 'who's going to bring snacks?' are due here.
  • Establishing safe words or boundaries. If a player has arachnophobia, it's best you know before you send them in a nest of giant spiders and get the minis out. Hopefully this is obvious, but you should never play with people's fears or traumas.
  • Teaching new players how the game works. Pretty self-explanatory: explain the rules and what the game looks like to the best of your ability. If there are any veteran players, they can help you out with this.
  • Talking about the game. If you haven't already, tell your players what the game is going to be about and what it's going to be like. Don't go into the details, of course: saying something like 'this is going to be the story of an unlikely adventuring group set in a primitive, somewhat magical steampunk world' is sufficient. Also talk about the general attitude you intend to have; it can be weird if most of them expect a lighthearted, shoot-the-enemy-and-take-the-loot kind of game and you prepare an adventure with complex political intrigue.
  • Creating or distributing characters. This is the time you create characters with your players (but you can also do it in private, outside of this session). Alternatively, you can prepare a few characters yourself that the players can choose, read through and instantly hop into play with. I recommend making a few more characters than there are players, just so everyone has the option to choose from multiple concepts.
  • Doing a test run. Sometimes (if you have the time) it's best you immediately try the game with your fresh characters; have them get in a brawl, or go hunting, or something very short that can teach the basics of rolling checks, fighting and how other key parts of the game work. This is also a nice way for new players (and you) to get a general feel of how the game is played.


When To Start?

Now. Seriously, as soon as possible. Of course you're going to need to prepare to an extent, but don't make the mistake of preparing every little detail or making a whole world for your first adventure. There are always going to be things to prepare and create, more resources to read and more ideas to have. The best thing you can do is actually go ahead and try.

Starting to GM can be very overwhelming, but it is for everyone. Don't worry, there are tons of useful resources online, and I will also be posting about other aspects of leading games. Feel free to ask questions or request topics in the comments. I hope you found this lesson helpful. 

See you next time!

 

Images from Pixabay