Day 31: Best advice I was ever given…

I am really bad at this type of question.  I do not have a lot of GM buddies in real life and certainly none that “give advice” on the games I play.  I tend to play games left of center (yes – I know I play Pathfinder too but I prefer the more alternative games) and I am normally the one that instigates the games.  So the question here is not one that I can really answer.  So what to do?

The best advice I have ever given

OK, so I am going to do some of the things that I believe are the best I have written on site.  If you look at the back catalog on this site you will realize that there are over 800 posts here!  That is huge and more than an afternoon’s worth of searching.  I am going to highlight 5 posts that I am majorly proud of.  It is interesting to note that some of these posts are certainly NOT the ones that everyone read in a major way, they are the 5 that I liked the most.  Some of them even found some controversy as reader’s were diametrically opposed to my point of view.

You are not the author of the story

This is one about how the GM does not own the story and that the story is something that is borne of all involved players.  Too many times do GM’s plot out a linear story that they want to tell without necessarily even taking into account the players in any way.  You can find the post here.

Using local inspiration

Look, this one is not one that I actually wrote.  Kaitlyn Sweigart wrote it for the site and I am really impressed with it so I add it here for you to see how you can use local inspiration in a game.  Kaitlyn is a Californian and she shows how she uses that to tease out possible inspiration for games.

All about experience

Being a GM is not about knowing the rules – it is about building an experience and so I offer this post that I wrote while I was fully in the mode of teaching game design to actual students.

Running a dice-less system

This post sneaks in just over the top of the shock I received with my first game of FATE.  This one is about running Lords of Gossamer and Shadow, but is also about challenging yourself to learn new things.

A nod to all of you and the enjoyment of seeing your stories

Finally, a post of appreciation about another group.  This one is about Juan Garcia and his group that built a Ziggurat for their game of Pathfinder.  But in reality this is me just being amazed at all of the gamer’s and games that happen every day and a thank-you to all of you that share it for us to read.

There you have it!  At times I thought I was not going to get through this edition of RPG A Day but I am finally typing my last sentences.  The blog has been a little quiet while I have focused on getting the business working but I hope to be a little more consistent in my posts from here as I have missed sharing my thoughts with you all.