The trouble with GM advice is that very little of it is universally true. There are a lot of different approaches to roleplaying and what works for one is toxic in another.

In that spirit I guess my top tip would be to read Robin's Law of Good Gamemastering. This is not because I'm a big Robin Law's fan (I don't think I have any of his games) nor is it because the book contains deep insights; it doesn't.

However what RLGG succeeds at doing (in a reasonably non-judgemental manner) is showing how different players come the game table often looking for different things, even when they are all taking part in the same game. Likewise is also shows how there isn't just one way to GM but an array of techniques for the GM to use and their effectiveness isn't absolute but situational.

As such the secret to successful GMing is understanding your players and adapting your GMing style to make the most of the group you have.

Of course if you already have a homogeneous group of players who are particularly suited towards your preferred style of GMing, kudos! For the rest of us the real world in a place filled with compromises.

Here's a really simple tip that virtually nobody does but which I've found makes a huge difference: Have players roll initiative at the end of combat and use those values for the next encounter.

By moving this bookkeeping task to a time when a lot of other bookkeeping and stock-taking is being done, you drastically improve the pace of your game sessions. Most importantly, it allows you to jump straight into the meat of a combat encounter without going through the tedious business of collecting initiative scores: It makes ambushes more surprising; it makes dramatic confrontations pop.

Quote from: LordVreeg;672937Every GM thinks they can wing it as well as they can do a prepped game.  But nearly every GM disaster I have watched has had one thing in common.  Too much winging it.

I tend to agree with LordVreeg. A lot of this "prep less" advice is missing the mark: The problem is not the amount of prep; it's that you're prepping stupid stuff.

You don't need less prep. You need smarter prep.

For example, did you just spend an hour writing a 3 page biography for one of your NPCs? I virtually guarantee you that you just wasted a bunch of time. Did you spend four times as long keying your dungeon because you insisted on writing out polished boxed text instead of just throwing down some bullet points of the pertinent details? Yeah. You just wasted your time again.

Some tips for smart prep:

(1) Try to avoid prep which cuts off options during play.
(2) Don't prep anything which could be just as easily generated during play.
(3) Try to avoid prepping any specific plots. And definitely avoid prepping any outcomes.

All of the best DMing tips I learned from Erick Wujcik.  Most of these are in his two Amber RPG books, which I would absolutely recommend to anyone, even if you have no intention of ever running amber, just for the GMing advice contained therein.

RPGPundit

I'll throw in two pieces of advice.

Know the system you are running, BUT don't stress about getting the mechanics perfect to the book, run with what you think makes sense, and if you don't get what was exactly written it doesn't matter. Even IF you want to run RAW for some reason, its better to keep the game going than to always get things "right" and ruin the pacing and break everyone out of play.

Pay attention to the players. Try to identify what they find fun, and what they find a pain, and try to keep a bit of what each player finds fun in the game.

A lot of mine have been covered especially about prep and such. Except when you wing it have faith in yourself that you'll figure it out after game when you have time.

Solicit honest feed back.

And if you ant to get better. Pick one weak thing you want to improve and focus on it until you have improved it. Don't try to be a better GM be Better at describing Combat dynamically then be better at NPC interactions then etc. . . Focusing helps you remember what you want to improve and once you have the skill, you have it just keep it up.

Just my thoughts

Because I haven't seen it yet - Before you say no, try hard to find a way to say yes.

As for prep, it's both.  I might phrase it as - Your time is not infinite and neither is your best effort.  Know your limits, trust your strengths, and prep against your weaknesses.

And along those lines - Never underestimate the power of 'good enough'.  Perfection is rarely useful in RPGs.

Quote from: LordVreeg;672937the more prep and the more data you have, the better the feel for the campaign and setting and the more consistent the setting appears.

Every GM thinks they can wing it as well as they can do a prepped game.  But nearly every GM disaster I have watched has had one thing in common.  Too much winging it.

I agree based on the statement 'As well as'

Preperation should always provide some degree of positive influence.

That being said, many gm's are real life wizards with winging it.

Quote from: Bill;673256I agree based on the statement 'As well as'

Preperation should always provide some degree of positive influence.

That being said, many gm's are real life wizards with winging it.

true that.

Don't throw anything away!

At least not until you've copied and filed it away for future use.

• That 3rd level cleric you played back in junior high school who got killed by a normal snake?


• That tower you designed for your wizard in someone else's campaign?


• Those cool magic items you custom-designed that the PCs never found?


• That pirate ship with crew you rolled up in another campaign but never used because the PCs pussied out of adventuring at sea?

Save 'em all up and use them as needed or desired. I have them on index cards in plastic boxes and when I need an encounter, a ready-made replacement PC, a treasure trove or a diagram for a ship/tower/tavern -PRESTO!

The more stuff you save up, the better this works. A name change here, a stat change there and even the players who have been gaming with you for years won't know the difference.

Quote from: Elfdart;673277Don't throw anything away!

At least not until you've copied and filed it away for future use.

• That 3rd level cleric you played back in junior high school who got killed by a normal snake?


• That tower you designed for your wizard in someone else's campaign?


• Those cool magic items you custom-designed that the PCs never found?


• That pirate ship with crew you rolled up in another campaign but never used because the PCs pussied out of adventuring at sea?

Save 'em all up and use them as needed or desired. I have them on index cards in plastic boxes and when I need an encounter, a ready-made replacement PC, a treasure trove or a diagram for a ship/tower/tavern -PRESTO!

The more stuff you save up, the better this works. A name change here, a stat change there and even the players who have been gaming with you for years won't know the difference.

Great advice!

Recycling is very handy.

Quote from: RPGPundit;673153All of the best DMing tips I learned from Erick Wujcik.  Most of these are in his two Amber RPG books, which I would absolutely recommend to anyone, even if you have no intention of ever running amber, just for the GMing advice contained therein.

Hey, hey, hey. This is the RPG forum, not Other Games. If you keep trolling these threads with crap from non-traditional games like Amber the site owner is probably going to drop the banhammer on you.

But seriously, though, I think one of the best pieces of advice from the Amber books is the bit where Wujcik has the GM tell the player to describe the outcome of their successful action. Wouldn't you agree?

I think there's definitely a prep sweet spot - I've under-prepped and I've over-prepped. The most valuable bit of pre-game prep for me is probably NPC creation - personalities & goals, not stats. NPCs create a living world that feels worth playing in. Next most important is a good map for the game to take place in. Maps create player choice/freedom. Getting the map scale right is important, too, it fundamentally affects the feel of the game.

Quote from: S'mon;673464I think there's definitely a prep sweet spot - I've under-prepped and I've over-prepped. The most valuable bit of pre-game prep for me is probably NPC creation - personalities & goals, not stats. NPCs create a living world that feels worth playing in. Next most important is a good map for the game to take place in. Maps create player choice/freedom. Getting the map scale right is important, too, it fundamentally affects the feel of the game.

Ok, I need to admit that I feel that setting development as prep is part of gaming, and manymgms don't feel that way.   The sweet spot ideal may be a good one...at least for most gms.

Quote from: Justin Alexander;673463Hey, hey, hey. This is the RPG forum, not Other Games. If you keep trolling these threads with crap from non-traditional games like Amber the site owner is probably going to drop the banhammer on you.

But seriously, though, I think one of the best pieces of advice from the Amber books is the bit where Wujcik has the GM tell the player to describe the outcome of their successful action. Wouldn't you agree?

I like the bit where he talks about the importance of story