The other day I responded to a comment on a previous article, Let the Fun Happen, regarding the reader’s��fear of running out of good ideas and inspiration while running games, especially while running games on the fly. That got me thinking about my own style of GMing and how it’s changed and evolved over the years and how I approach keeping my own personal well of creativity from drying up. Here are a few things I’ve learned and adapted��over the years that help me bring the��AWESOME to the table.
Awesome Begets More Awesome
I used to have the habit of holding onto cool ideas for use at the “right time” in the campaign. I can’t count how many times these ideas ended up never manifesting at the table. Part of me worried that if I used up the��awesome when would the next awesome come around? What if my “awesome well” dries up? What I’ve discovered however, is that the well only dries up if you don’t use it. Moreover, the more awesome you draw from the well the more awesome the well contains.
Never hesitate to use your best ideas. Every day, every session, every encounter, put your best ideas out there. Your best stuff resonates with your players and returns to you amplified, feeding your own creativity and energy and refilling your well. Constantly putting out your best work inspires and motivates. You will discover that instead of drying up, your awesome will evolve and expand. Awesome begets more awesome!
Let Them Pick the Train
We’re all familiar with the concept of railroading players and the majority of good GM’s try to avoid it. I used to take��a lot of time crafting plots and story arcs and then spending way to much time at the table trying to get the players “on track” with these plotlines. I’ve come to realize that the energy I was wasting on getting the players on my train could be better spent on making their train interesting and exciting. Let’s face it, your players are going somewhere, let them decide where. You don’t need to have any idea where they are going, just focus on making the trip interesting and you’re going to deliver the awesome!
Give Them Options
I throw out tons of potential plot hooks and let the players decide what is important or relevant. When characters interact with travelers, come to a new town, or research local happenings, I mention lots of things that could be cool. There’s a crumbling tower at the edge of town people avoid; the Mayweather twins have been missing for a few weeks; some other adventurers just arrived in the village; a famous battle with a demonic knight occurred nearby, etc. I have no idea if any of these elements are connected, where they lead, or what they mean; but I don’t care. Throw stuff out and see what the players pick up.��The important thing I’ve learned about being the GM is that I don’t have to have all the answers, I only need to have the next answer and half the time my players provide that for me. Throw things out and see what awesome sticks!
Don’t Hold Back
I sometimes worry about letting some crazy idea or concept spin��the campaign “out of control” and somehow ruining everything. Looking back at previous campaigns I see points where I let things go crazy, and you know what? These ended up being some of the most exciting and memorable campaigns ever; the campaigns my players continue to talk about years later. Even for me they were exhilarating, I never knew what to expect and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified some nights about what I was going to do.
Ultimately I don’t worry about what to do anymore. I turn��to the players; I look at what’s holding their interests, I listen to their questions, and I pay attention to their own creativity. Then I take all of these ingredients and blend them into their journey. I don’t try to tell interesting stories, I just make the players’ stories more interesting! ��Instead of trying to control or direct things I just take a deep breath, sit down at the table, and unleashed the awesome!
Final Thoughts…
Being a gamemaster is��a lot of work, they call in running��a game for a reason. Becoming a great GM is a lot like finding love or happiness, you can’t force it, you can’t make it happen, and the harder you look the more difficult it is to find. But if you relax and let the game happen, without trying to force or manipulate it, you’ll discover that it’s a lot easier than you think to constantly bring out the awesome.
@ John – I COMPLETELY agree with not saving your awesome ideas for “the perfect moment”. That was probably one of my biggest failings as a GM. I would come up with an idea that was awesome (at least I thought it was). So I’d want to save it for the perfect moment.
Many times either the opportunity in-game passed or the game fizzled out. I believe that many times when the game fizzled out, if I had just unleashed those awesome ideas it would have kept both me and the players going. There is just no reason to hold good ideas back in my opinion. You’re risking too much by potentially losing the idea forever.
And in regards to your “idea well running dry”, I fully agree with the notion that it will never run dry. Sometimes it may feel like that, but in reality it doesn’t. The creative brain doesn’t work that way. I think if you use all your “good ideas” up, your brain will be forced to find a way to discover new and awesome ideas.
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Awesome article. I have never thought of running an adventure on-the-fly as something inspirational. This open-ended style of just throwing several hooks to the players and seeing which one catches is interesting.
Some GMs, including myself sometimes, tend to make the players fit the adventure you took hours to create instead of letting them browse freely through the game world.
Part of my GM journey has required me to plan less because as I’ve gotten older I simply have less time to prep a game (hell, sometimes I barely have time to play). Ultimately I don’t really consider myself a “sandbox” style GM. I think the more appropriate analogy for my GMing is “Lego” style (all due respect for the established trademarks!). I dump a whole bunch of different “bricks” on the table and see what the players pick up and start fiddling with. I just sit back and watch them ponder and create. Sometimes I add a new “brick” to their creation, sometimes I take a “brick” away, sometimes I toss a bunch of new “bricks” their direction.
But ultimately I am not the architect of the construct, they create it through their own story-telling and imaginations. I’m just the guy supplying inspiring tools and pointing out interesting complications and making sure they have the right environment to bring their own Awesome!
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