How to be a Better GM

[Baron Opal II]

There is also How to Run and The Dungeon's Front Door by Alexis Smolensk.

 

[aramis erak]

My best advice is: be open to being wrong. If the players make good faith choices that your prep didn’t account for, or dice rolls really go sideways, then you just gotta be open to it.

QFT! Same with rules calls - if you misremembered, use your call in play, and discuss the errors at end of session...

My other advice would be: don’t get into arguments during the game. Make a ruling, if there are objections hear them out and be ready to admit you were wrong, but then make a decision and move on. You can always revisit later, perhaps in private.

If one's getting to that point, it should really be a group discussion at end. That kind of issue often is divisive, especially if it results in needed retcons.
If a retcon is indicated, make certain what level of retcon is acceptable to the group. Being open to retcons when something got badly botched mechanically or misinterpreted or misconstrued in the narrative is a hard pill at times, but it also is part of "This is supposed to be fun" (or equivalent but not fun merits).

 

[aramis erak]

My crowd also, There are more of us around than the impression one would get reading the forums. Or the online DM advice. It is something to establish at the beginning. I suspect that this is why prewritten adventures sell so well, despite all the advice to the contrary.

Forums tend to magnify the outliers...