With the exception of PBtA and the new edition of Unknown Armies, most games other than having some general, not very useful GM advice, don't really have anything that explicitly says "here's a checklist of the things you do to prepare your campaign, here's a checklist of stuff you do before each session, and here's in general how you do stuff in the session." It's there some book I'm unaware of that provides this for RPGs in general? I know there would be a major disjunction between the Sandbox and prepared adventure situation, but I'm still super unclear about what I should do prep wise and exactly how to run stuff correctly.

I would kill to have a checklist that was something like:
- session prep
--- read through last week's session prep and brainstorm 1 od more adventure ideas and responses from the world to the events that happened ;
-- for each major antagonist / front or whatever, brainstorm their next action
--- how would the players see any of the above
-- if a new situation / adventure is required
--- review your inbox or buckets for adventure ideas
--- create a situation for the above
Etc.

Does someone have something like this? Does it exist in some book ?

Thanks!

If it helps, I'm currently running The One Ring with stuff from the Darkening of Mirkwood.

I think Kevein Crawford's Referee guidance in books like Stars Without Numbers and Red Tide do this kind of work very well.

These might be what you're looking for:

The Lazy Dungeon Master
Sly Flourish's Dungeon Master Tips Book

There are actual 'for Dummies' books for GURPS, D&D and Vampire... I haven't read them, so I'm not sure how much they cover the OP's checklist... but they might have some general use.

Well it doesn't really address the modern administration stuff... but in terms of GMing in general, I'm a pretty big fan of Mike Pondsmith's "Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads."

It's fun, insightful, and a good foundation for GMing (regardless if you play Cyberpunk2020)

Read the explanation in Atomic Highway, it's even free:).
As a bonus, you can read the free version ofs of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Stars Without Numbers and Godbound.

I'm not sure whether Fantasy Dice system has a free version, and I'm sure that Legends of the Wulin doesn't have one. This is unfortunate, since they would count as the "advanced" material, explaining how to do consequences in a sandbox game.
Granted, there's a hint of illusionism there, too, which you should ignore just as you would ignore the system, unless you are planning to run it.

At least, that's what I would recommend, obviously it would be only geared towards sandbox!

Quote from: AsenRG;942628I'm not sure whether Fantasy Dice system has a free version, and I'm sure that Legends of the Wulin doesn't have one. This is unfortunate, since they would count as the "advanced" material, explaining how to do consequences in a sandbox game.

Gonna just toot the hell out of my horn: just right now I'm the shmuck writing the successor system to Legends of the Wulin. The exact thing I'm writing for out-of-house playtest literally right now is a quickstart/how-to for the system.

And it's geared towards sandbox play. So there ya go.

Quote from: ChristopherKubasik;942556I think Kevein Crawford's Referee guidance in books like Stars Without Numbers and Red Tide do this kind of work very well.

Also Godbound. Kevin could very well write a stand-alone GMing guide and I'd be all over it.

ACKS and its recent supplement (Lairs & Encounters) also have some good GMing advice, as does Alex Macris' old (2010-2011) Check For Traps column at The Escapist.

Quote from: The Butcher;942644Also Godbound. Kevin could very well write a stand-alone GMing guide and I'd be all over it.

ACKS and its recent supplement (Lairs & Encounters) also have some good GMing advice, as does Alex Macris' old (2010-2011) Check For Traps column at The Escapist.

Butcher are you my fairy godmother?  Now I have more Macris writing to enjoy! Bippety boppety boop!

Quote from: Azraele;942679Butcher are you my fairy godmother?

Egads, I hope not.

Enjoy!

Jennell Jacquays (and Paul Connors) wrote the excellent edition neutral Campaign and Catacomb guide as part of the 2e GM book series. Despite the name it is full of great general advice for running a table.

That series Complete Book of Villains and Creative Campaigning are also very good. The Villains book is particularly well done.

I also like Aaron Alliston and Harold Johnson's DM's Design Kit but I've read some harsh (and imo misplaced) criticism of it so YMMV but I think it would be particularly helpful for running something like The Darkening of Milkwood. BTW that may be one of the finest campaigns I've ever read.

I also think the 5e DMG comes with the best advice and tools for a new GM of any of the editions but I'm less sure of its direct use for something like The Darkening...

Quote from: PencilBoy99;942552Does someone have something like this? Does it exist in some book ?

http://gamemastering.info/ is the best book out there.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;943019http://gamemastering.info/ is the best book out there.

Opinions on that account vary strongly.

I quite like this short GMing guide from Greg Stolze: Link

Well worth a read at just 13 pages and free...

Quote from: AsenRG;943049Opinions on that account vary strongly.

True. Some players will always be crap players.