What do you want to do better as a GM?

[delphonso]

GMing is a skill, you get better with practice, time, and advice/observation of others. Personally, I love GMing. I love writing a story where I don't control the main characters and collaboratively making a world with friends.

But like every skill, you'll hit a plateau. And that's where I think I've been the last few years. I'm sure a few of us have. So -

What do you want to improve in your GMing, and maybe we can all share some advice and tips. What do you think you're doing well, and what can you experiment with?

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I have recently decided to try and do this professionally, so I have literally been working to improve my skills by running more games for more people. However, because this is new and uncharted territory for me, there isn't an obvious plan or roadmap to follow for success. So I had to come up with my own ideas and give it a shot.

(I realize this is not the same thing and could lead to a whole different topic for discussion, but the points about improving your GM skills are highly relevant to this. To that end, I will not discuss business-related or professional advice here. Just focus on the GM stuff.)

I know that I am good and competent at what I do. My own personal style and unique personality help to distinguish my own brand, so to speak. But as soon as I decided to make a serious go at this, my first step was to figure out ways to prepare myself as a professional as opposed to someone who just ran more games for strangers, fun, and profit.

I have been running games on a message board for the last few years due to my work schedule, but that recently changed. So the first thing I did when I got more free time (and my wife's support, of course) was to put myself out there again for more face-to-face games with people I did not already know. I first considered 5e D&D because it gets more interest and there is always a demand, but then I decided to see if I could get interest in the game I truly wanted to run, Edge of the Empire. Sure enough, there was interest and I quickly found a dedicated group of players. I have been running the campaign for them every other Saturday since August, and we have become good friends.

I treat every session like an audition and a training exercise. I pay close attention to my performance and read the reactions of my players to provide clues to what works and what needs improvement. Since I began, I have continually focused and improved on my pacing, organization and prep, and my ability to focus less on the rules and books to capitalize on more play and fun during time at the table. Turns out the group is a lot of fun and the campaign is still going strong.

I have also run a couple one-shots to teach others who were curious about the system, and try to get them started with their own groups. I even did a GM demo recently to demonstrate the mechanics of the system and how to incorporate some of the fundamental principles of improvising scenes, collaborating more with the players to build a scene, and using theater of the mind more effectively by removing visual aids like maps and minis (and also when maps and tokens are actually useful).

Now that I have gotten my stride, so to speak, I am getting ready to ramp things up with more games and more groups. I want to be able to focus on several ongoing games and systems at a time to become more diversified and able to accommodate more demands. This may require more time management on my part, finding ways to simplify prep and being more prepared. I also need to be more knowledgeable with rule sets, or at least comfortable enough to adjudicate on the fly as needed.

In short, the first thing I asked myself when I chose this route was "Why would anyone want to pay me to run games for them?" And that has become my roadmap, not only for my future professional career, but also for my mission of self-improvement.

There is more I can share, but I have babbled long enough. I am interested to hear ideas from others.

 

[aco175]

I want to work on more of the exploration and roleplaying pillars over the combat. I think there is room for more set up and description in my games. We like the fighting and gaining levels and magic and such, but having time with the shopkeeper and lords. Making them more lifelike and giving the NPCs quirks and such may make my games better.

I do like having enough planned out for each game. I tend to have some encounters written down and plan for some things I think the players will think of. The group says they like things, but we have been playing for a long time and I'm sure they would say it either way.

 

[Ulfgeir]

I want to be better at writing adventures. I have lots of ideas, but getting something useable is difficult.

And need to be better at improvising seamlessly.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

@Jacob Lewis , I thought you did a great job walking some newbs through EotE. Thanks for that!

 

[Jacob Lewis]

@Jacob Lewis , I thought you did a great job walking some newbs through EotE. Thanks for that!

Thanks! I really enjoy teaching games and bringing new people into the hobby. I may be able to do something more soon.

 

[LordEntrails]

Stepping into the persona of NPCs. My NPCs are not memorable. I know the techniques, but I never use them when it becomes actual game time. Whether it is speaking in first person, or adopting a voice or mannerism, I always forget to do it.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I wish I had better acting skills. I can't do accents, and like LordE above, my NPCs often fall short of the mark I would like to achieve.

 

[delphonso]

[snip]
There is more I can share, but I have babbled long enough. I am interested to hear ideas from others.

Thanks for sharing, Jacob - this is an interesting journey I have yet to encounter. I pretty often bring new people into the world of DnD and love giving people their first adventures. There aren't any game shops where I live, so unfortunately, I can't run games in shops, as I'd like to. Getting used to new players is probably the hardest part.

I want to work on more of the exploration and roleplaying pillars over the combat. [snip]

I've also noticed that groups that have played with the same dynamic for a while tend to be peacefully satisfied with whatever they're used to. Throwing in some intrigue and social interactions would certainly shake things up.

I want to be better at writing adventures. [snip]

These are two tough things to balance - improv and writing adventures. Generally, I think knowing the beginning and the end of a session is enough, and improving the middle (especially NPC interactions) is a good way to do plenty of both.

Stepping into the persona of NPCs. [snip]

I wish I had better acting skills. [snip]

It's surprising how much of a difference accents can make. Putting on the voice is basically like putting on a costume, and helps get the players in that mindset. I reckon you can find some videos which teach you how to do easy accents like Cockney and Cajun.

----

Personally, I feel like I'm very weak at scene description. I tend to have a very visual imagination, but when we get to a room, I often skim over what it looks like. I don't think it's a problem or that anyone else notices, but boy I'd like to get better at this.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Stepping into the persona of NPCs. My NPCs are not memorable. I know the techniques, but I never use them when it becomes actual game time. Whether it is speaking in first person, or adopting a voice or mannerism, I always forget to do it.

I wish I had better acting skills. I can't do accents, and like LordE above, my NPCs often fall short of the mark I would like to achieve.

You don't necessarily need to step into a role to bring a character to life. Not everyone is comfortable or proficient at it. But the good news is that is not a requirement. Simply describing the character's manners and what he says is sufficient for narrative purposes. Coming up with smart dialogue on the fly isn't so easy unless you had a lot of practice, like voice actors or writers. So don't beat yourself up over that.

My one bit of advice for NPCs is to think of an actor or a character from a movie or tv show that you already know. For example, the first NPC the party meets in the Starter Set for DnD 5e is a veteran guard they rescue from goblins in a cave. I decided he would be played by John Cleese, complete with an English accent and attitude.

"Right! About bloody time you showed up! I think they were going to eat me! It's just a flesh wound. Now where are my things?"