Sticky: Top 10 GM do's and don'ts

My top 10 list of things you should always try to do as a GM.

1. Give the players agency. Let them make choices in your game and make those choices matter. When they do something that should effect permanent change in the world, make that change real and felt.

2. Keep the action moving. If the players seem bored or if a conversation with an NPC is going nowhere, don’t be afraid to push things forward. This could just mean summing up the rest of the current scene and moving on, or it could mean throwing in an encounter - a fight begins, something catches on fire or blows up or collapses, or some other excitement interrupts the scene. You can do the same thing with combat - if the players have basically won but there are one or two stragglers still hanging on, I have them surrender or flee, or give the players the option to kill them outright or take them prisoner.

3. Use what they give you. When a player makes up a detailed background for their character or says they have a sick aunt or that their biggest motivation is fame, they’re giving you free material to build hooks that will draw them into your adventures. All you have to do is have the genius doctor their sick aunt needs be one of the hostages taken by the terrorists, or let them know that the winner of the archery contest earns renown across the nation, and they’ll be kicking in the door to get to your plot.

4. Take notes. Keep track of what happens during a session, of the names you’ve made up for NPCs and places, of the PCs’ progress through your adventure or campaign. Detailed notes not only help you easily pick up where you left off, they can also give you new leads or plotlines to introduce. When the throwaway NPC from 3 sessions ago shows back up and they’re a spy for the BBEG or they need the PCs’ help, you add continuity to the game and make the world feel alive.

5. Escalate! Make the players’ lives interesting. When they start losing control of a situation, push - raise the drama and raise the stakes. If they win, they have the satisfaction of having overcome the odds, and if they lose, they will want vindication, making them more invested in the campaign.

6. Blow up the world. Stagnation is a story killer - make big, sweeping changes, and make the players deal with them. When they succeed or fail at a big goal, make major and permanent changes that are the result of what they did or didn’t do.

7. Change things up. If you’ve just finished an adventure with a lot of combat, introduce some intrigue. If the players have been facing a bunch of cultists, have them deal with a corrupt politician, a rampaging dragon, or an angry mob. Monotony is a killer; keep things fresh.

8. Keep the spotlight on the players' characters. You’ve got the whole world to portray; remember the game is about the PCs. All of your cool narrated cutscenes and your interesting NPCs are there for one thing: to create an environment for the players to interact with.

9. Expect the unexpected. If there’s one thing you can rely on in a roleplaying game, it’s that your players will do something you haven’t planned for. Be flexible, and be ready to use whatever tangent they go off on to either pull them back into the story or to expand it. If you can find opportunity to grow your game world in new directions based on your players’ actions, everyone wins.

10. Challenge them! When your players start to feel in control of the game, throw something new or big or unexpected at them. They’ll celebrate their successes more when they feel they’ve had to work for them.

And my top 10 things to avoid as a GM.

1. Don't block players. If they come up with a clever solution that gets them through or around a challenge you set up, let them have it! This doesn’t mean they get off scot free - think about what new challenges their plan will run up against.

2. Don't let a skill check (or an action, move, etc.) be a dead end. If continuing the action of the game requires the players track Poacher Jack back to his camp, failing the track check shouldn’t be a brick wall. Instead, offer a different path or a consequence - Poacher Jack meets up with some friends and doubles back to ambush the PCs, or they lose his trail and take too long to pick it back up: by the time they get to his camp he’s long gone, but there’s a clue or two at the camp that they can follow.

3. Don't call for multiple checks for the same thing. If the PCs are searching a room, one die roll should decide whether they get the information they’re looking for. It’s fine to layer a situation - say, they find the lockbox with their search check and now they have to unlock it - but don’t call for a search check to find the loose floorboard and another to find what’s under it. Every time the players roll the dice, it should lead to progress (or a setback or consequence if they fail).

4. Don't steal the scene. Narrate enough for the players to understand the action and their surroundings, then ask them, “What do you do?” If you’re telling the players what their characters do, or if you’re narrating a movie to them or your favorite NPC is talking over them or doing all of the stuff and showing them up, you’re doing it wrong.

5. Don't rob them of their victories. When your players defeat the pirate crew and take over their ship, don’t sink the ship - use it as a setting for another encounter, have them need it to get to the next adventure, make it a plot device.

6. Don't let the rules be a straitjacket. If the rules don’t cover what the player wants to do, create one, or handwave it if there’s no call for a rule. Likewise don’t let rules lawyering - your own or your players’ - get in the way of a fun gaming experience. Everyone’s here to have fun together, not to win.

7. Don't get invested in the status quos of your world. Remember that the PCs are at the center of the game’s plot, make sure their actions matter. Change things, even big things, based on their successes or failures. If they’re crazy enough to assassinate the Duke, think about what the power vacuum leads to and be ready to take the game in a new direction.

8. Don't let the game get bogged down. If the players are having trouble finding the clue they need to progress, introduce a new source of information. Their phone rings and a contact has a new lead. Goblins attack, and they’re all wearing amulets with a mysterious symbol. You can lead them back to the clue you wanted them to find later, or have them discover the information through other means.

9. Don't turn it into a grind. When the players are 3 weeks deep in the same dungeon, fighting the same monsters every encounter, it’s time to shake things up. Throw in a social encounter, have part of the dungeon collapse or explode, send the characters on a mysterious dream journey to the other side of the moon.

10. Don't let yourself get burned out. If you’re having trouble thinking of new material, getting bored with the plotline, or you’re frustrated with the powergamer who solves every problem with their broadsword or plasma rifle, you need a change of pace. Take a turn on the other side of the screen, change games for a bit, run a humorous interlude. If you’re bored, they’ll be bored.