WHAT HATH THIS MADMAN WROUGHT???
   
It is impossible to believe an author of a GMing Guide would encourages readers to simulate HUMAN SACRIFICE when beginning their gaming sessions!!! It was shocking and disturbing to read, but prospective buyers should know what lies within this book.
On page 13, the author Venger As'Nas Satanis guides the reader how to engage in a virtual ritual sacrifice to open their RPG sessions:
   
“Your game table is your dais. Imagine your victim writhing before you.
Your victim is bound and naked, consumed by fear. Feel the ritual knife in your    hands.
Grip the blade and focus your energy. It is through this energy you    empower your game session.
Drive your blade downward in a single stroke.
See it plunging into your victim's heart!”

   I thought this was very strange gaming advice, but I felt bound by the spirit of honoring the author's desire for a thorough review of his troubling work. So in exchange for a free PDF, I gathered my gaming group and told them what we were about to do...

    None of the above is true. Zero! Nada! None!

   None of my silly drivel is in Venger's excellent book, but considering the author's name is Venger As'Nas Satanis, I bet my nonsense didn't sound too far fetched, did it?

Here's quick overview about what's really in the book!

THE GOOD

• Plenty of good quality dark fantasy artwork. Several pieces are absolutely inspiring especially if you enjoy “Lovecraftian” monstrosities.

The PDF is great because the B&W eye candy gets printed out as player handouts.

• Venger's passion for RPG gamemastering is infectious, fun, educational and entertaining. I've GM'd for 35 years and this book taught me new tricks.
• All the sections are bite-sized, making it terrific bathroom reading. Between a dump and squirt, you can learn something fresh and exciting!
• Venger's advice is the real deal, not white room conjecture. This book was born from hard won experience at the game table

and shines with insight and wisdom. This is not forum spank or nostalgic recollections of high school gaming.

• If you want to become a better Game Master, buy this book and try out the advice at your game table.

Not every bit will work for every GM, but novice and intermediate GMs will benefit greatly. I wish this book existed in 1980.
[/LIST]

THE BAD (for some)

• Venger admits to having a screw loose! I love authors with strong voices and unusual viewpoints, but readers who prefer more mainstream “family friendly” voices in their RPG material may find Venger's approach uncomfortable. For me, Venger's eccentric and bawdy style only added to the fun.
• Some GM advice is couched in terms and examples focused on old school D&D, even though the actual point of most advice is valuable regardless of your favorite RPG. However, the D&Disms may bother some readers.

THE UGLY (or YMMV)

• Not everybody is going to be cool with a book with “Fucking” in the title. There is also some “salty language” in the text.
• There are naked breasts in some artwork. We all remember the thousand innocent lives lost in the Janet Jackson Superbowl wardrobe malfunction, so I wanted to warn you. Most women are drawn beautiful and powerful, but a couple appear as victims. Also, lots of men get skewered.

That's the review! Below is me just waxing philosophically about the book. Remember kids, he who wax on, wax off.

IMMERSION UBER ALLES!!
Venger's talk about becoming a “Boss” isn't about dominating your players or system mastery, but becoming a great Game Master adept at creating immersion.
Venger's approach is “how to” exercises to build skills to increase immersion, to do more to help players suspend their disbelief, to vanish from the table and emerge in the setting. If immersion is important to you, the lessons Venger teaches are highly valuable.
   
I've read his PDF three times and sat with it for a couple months before writing this review. I wanted to thoroughly digest Venger's thoughts versus my own 35 years as a Game Master. My background is more one-shots, convention demos, or short home campaigns (10-12 sessions usually). Like Venger, I pride myself on delivering a superb game for my players. What I loved most about his book is rediscovering the lessons I “know”, but have forgotten or allowed to become too background.
Also, I can say Venger taught this old dire wolf some new tricks.

For example, Venger suggests not asking “What do you do?” after describing the environment or predicament because “do” is about physical action and leads to assumption the player needs to take some game action – attack, cast spell, whatever. Instead, he suggests silence after a description. I've played around with this suggestion and I can attest the results are interesting. There is power in the quiet moment where the players absorb and imagine the situation. Give it a try.

WORLD CREATION
Half of Venger's book is devoted to questions for the Game Master to consider as they develop their campaign, all designed to add adventure hooks and touch points that bring the world alive to increase immersion. His focus is taking mundane or common aspects to the next level – not always gonzo, or weirder, or even deeper, but tweaked so players feel a combination of fresh and familiar.

Have you seen similar advice in other world creation guides? Probably, but I appreciated the reminders. Venger provides an interesting an language guide for “evil words”, several 100 entry background charts to quickly flesh out NPCs and PCs in fantasy games, and a dozen charts for creating cults, monstrosities and their motivations (and one chart for Stupid Gnome Hats). Will you use all of them, most of them or few of them? Depends on how many world creation guides you already own!

VALUE BEYOND GAMING
It may not be a popular notion, but I firmly believe the skills of a roleplaying game master can transfer into professional situations, or at least compliment many professional talents, especially the ability to create presentations and deliver them to a group. There are passages in How to Game Master like F**king Boss that remind me of Zig Ziglar and Stephen Covey (big thinkers in “how to sell” market), but I do not know if that was Venger's goal.  

He's got solid thoughts on the power of saying No, sudden improvisation and being okay with risking failure if you are committed to examine your attempts post-mortem. Anyone takes the time to master Venger's lessons on how to present concepts to players and be the best presenter possible is going to enhance their non-gaming presentations as well. Before you scoff, consider how modern education and corporate training relies heavily on gamification to teach key skills.

Final thoughts? Slay that sacrifice! And buy the book as a holiday present for your favorite Game Master!

I'm glad you took the time to absorb my explicit tome.  Your review was certainly worth the wait.  I hope it brings joy to your Game Mastering duties in the years to come.  

Don't hand it down to the next generation after you die - have the book buried with you!  Cause you never know...

VS

Okay, the "silence" instead of "what do you do?" part?

THAT impressed me.

This really makes me want to get this book.  I agree that GMing, at least if you get to be any good at it, can help with other things "out in the real world", I've seen it be the case.

Besides Game Mastering, I've been a student of self help in various forms.  I used to listen to my Dad's cassette tapes of Earl Nightingale in the car on long drives.  I involved myself in esoteric and occult pursuits that's pretty much all self-directed.  For a few years I threw myself into pick-up artistry.  And I'm sure that some readers are aware of my cult leader background.  

There's a line running through it all.  Glad I'm not the only one who recognizes that.  

VS

Never bought a "how to GM" book, but I might get this one.

"How to Fuck your Boss Like A Game Master!"

On another forum, I was asked to post a sample of Venger's writing. I choose this section "Draw a Story Map" because its a method I know works because two great DMs I know both use this. Before and during their campaigns they curate a visual library of pics to give players a sense of the people, places and things in the game.

QuoteDraw a Story Map
I've seen this sort of thing before, but the idea was brought
home by my friend Vb Wyrde. Basically, this is a map that tells
a story. It doesn't just include where one place is in relation
to another, a story map includes litt le pictures that go handin-
hand with each major location. Th ese images bring the
journey to life. Jott ing down notes nearby is also a good idea
- anything to jog your memory, as well as, adding mystery for
curious players who take a peek at it. If you'd rather not draw
it out, cut out pictures and paste them together like a collage.
You could photocopy it all when you're done, adding colored
pencil in order to make certain elements pop.
Th is goes along with an idea I had a couple months ago. Before
embarking on a new campaign, create a vision board to go
along with it. A vision board is merely a visual representation
of your many adventures. Of course, this is easier to do
aft er playing than before. A post-game session report full
of pictures should be the least amount of eff ort you put into
campaign visualization. But if you know the important pieces
that will be prominently featured, either draw a story map or
create a vision board so you can see the journey rather than
just reading it. A visual record of events is key.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;863338"How to Fuck your Boss Like A Game Master!"

Sir, I thank you.

Good review Spinachcat.

And somebody just had to ask that, when is Alpha Blue going to be out:D?

Quote from: AsenRG;866009And somebody just had to ask that, when is Alpha Blue going to be out:D?

Sometime in January!  Thanks for asking.

VS

Quote from: VengerSatanis;866122Sometime in January!  Thanks for asking.

VS

January is gearing up to be a fun month. And especially fun if you like forum drama, it seems:).

You're welcome;).

Quote from: AsenRG;866176January is gearing up to be a fun month. And especially fun if you like forum drama, it seems:).

You're welcome;).

Forum drama?  

VS

I suspect Alpha Blue just might attract the attention of people on a particular forum, and there shall be drama if that happens;).

I believe that's called free publicity!