Sacrosanct
Legend
5e gets criticized a lot for having poor support/guidance for new DMs. Which rulebooks do you think do a really good job at this, and what specifically do they do that you find really useful for new GMs?
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Rulebooks with best GM advice
- Thread starter Sacrosanct
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hawkeyefan
Legend
I think that "Heart: The City Beneath" has solid advice for new GMs. First, they have a nice one page image that can be printed out and referenced in play. This is the core mechanic... everything that happens in the game will start with this process.
This is near the front of the book where they go over the rules. Then, later in the book, they have a "Running the Game" section. They offer general advice to three tiers of GMs: those new to GMing any game, those new to GMing story games, and those new to GMing Heart. I don't recall ever seeing this in another book.
After that, they offer several pages of advice on how to handle all aspects of GMing Heart, including principles and best practices. Then it closes with something I also find to be refreshing.
This is near the front of the book where they go over the rules. Then, later in the book, they have a "Running the Game" section. They offer general advice to three tiers of GMs: those new to GMing any game, those new to GMing story games, and those new to GMing Heart. I don't recall ever seeing this in another book.
After that, they offer several pages of advice on how to handle all aspects of GMing Heart, including principles and best practices. Then it closes with something I also find to be refreshing.
I nominate Mausritter. For me, it's actually the perfect distillation of OSR principles, and it teaches GMs how to run a game but also how to prep a sandbox in an extremely succinct and economical way. If you follow it's suggestions and tables you'll easily have enough material for a campaign. In terms of advice, it provides a very simple and easy to remember set of principles that will favor player skill. It helps that the theme of the game (being a mouse) helps make the principles easy to follow.
MGibster
Legend
Let's see, there's Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads which was released for Cyberpunk 2020 in 1994. While it was specifically created to help GMs with Cyberpunk, a lot of the advice in there is applicable to most any game you run. It has tips on how to get all the characters together besides meeting in a tavern, how to run a long term campaign, what to do with power players, creating atmosphere in game, etc., etc. It's good solid advice for running any game.
Sacrosanct
Legend
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Eyes of Nine
Everything's Fine
Apocalypse World - Agendas and Principles great general advice
IronSworn and Ironsworn:Starforged both have good advice similar to what is discussed in this thread for their games themselves
IronSworn and Ironsworn:Starforged both have good advice similar to what is discussed in this thread for their games themselves
As I posted in another recent thread, there are three designers who I have found to give really first-rate GMing advice:
*Vincent Baker, in Apocalypse World
*Luke Crane, in Burning Wheel and the Adventure Burner
*Robin Laws, in HeroWars and HeroQuest Revised
If brevity matters, then I would suggest Vincent Baker in In A Wicked Age.
*Vincent Baker, in Apocalypse World
*Luke Crane, in Burning Wheel and the Adventure Burner
*Robin Laws, in HeroWars and HeroQuest Revised
If brevity matters, then I would suggest Vincent Baker in In A Wicked Age.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Cyberpunk Red also has some good advice for GMs. It teaches about plotting beats, but also how to improvise and recover when the party doesn't do the thing you expect.
D&D 4e's DMG 2 likewise had solid advice, probably better than the 4e DMG 1. Looking back in my development as a GM, WEG's Star Wars opened my eyes to a lot, treating running a game like telling a story for the first time.
