Comments on: Gamemastering Awesome!

By: John Lewis

John Lewis — Fri, 15 May 2015 22:06:33 +0000

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!
John Lewis recently posted…Can YOU Make Money By Roleplaying? – Introduction

By: Brunno

Brunno — Thu, 14 May 2015 13:01:42 +0000

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.

By: Samuel Van Der Wall

Samuel Van Der Wall — Tue, 12 May 2015 22:06:49 +0000

@ 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.
Samuel Van Der Wall recently posted…Your Child’s First Game Session