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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shallown" data-source="post: 1669762" data-attributes="member: 1368">To steer back to the topic.I found a few useful idea sa few years ago. I have been gaming for a while and like you most advice articles/books etc is old news to me. So here's my advice.Focus on what you stink at.Basically every sessionor few sessions choose an aspect of the game you are not great at. Mine for example is Combat descriptions. I get wrapped up in numbers and it becomes a "you hit, you miss" fight. So for two-three sessions I work on describing the fights better. I focus on improving one aspect for a while until it becomes more second nature than something to focus on. Then I choose something else I stink at and address it. Sometimes you have to go back and focus on something again to retrain yourself but that's okay. Most Gm's know what they are good at and what works for them so they also know what needs some work.Also get feed back. I do a Q&A session 2-3 times a year. And keep it from being. "yeah we like the Game" which is useless since it tells you nothing. I make the players list 3 things they like and 3 things they dislike. When they have to verbalize it in specific ways you'll be surprised what you'll learn. Somethings you thought were cool they might not care for. Also once you do this you can go into ask the GM session. Which is ask about things they didn't get and you'll explain them even if the characters would never know why  the Villian did X. If X no longer matters let the players know. This serves several purposes. A) It builds trust; When players know you do things with a reason they have a lot more faith in you even if they don't understand why something happened. B) it clears up misunderstandings; since they trust you more they may also just let something they don't get slide knowing you have a plan behind the scenes. Well sometimes you want them to have some idea of the plan and your carefully placed clues aren't getting through. This lets you know what the players pay attention to and what they ignore. If you explain the secret plan and the players say BS then you might realize your cluse were not clues at all to the players. C) Makes you feel cool; It helps your confidence as a GM to know you had your bases covered. If you can answer 90% of their Questions then you Rock. Just rememeber not everything has a clear cut answer and sometimes the answer is metagame versus complex BBEG plot. D) Invokes interest; when  you can't answer a question due to it still being something that will impact the game suddenly the players will take interest in things they might have previously brushed off. E) It makes you think; When you know this may come up you start thinking about your villians motives and why things happen in your world. F) Makes the players think ; Now the players start wondering about why things happen instead of just assuming "Becuase" The players start examining others motives and this can only help roleplaying and involvement in the campaign as well as immersion into the GM's world.G) I'm sure there must be other uses just can't think of them right now.Hope it helps.Blater</blockquote>

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