RPGnet Columns
03-28-2005, 02:38 PM
Post originally by Ian Sokoliwski at 2005-03-28 13:38:25
Converted from Phorums BB System
Great column! I particularily like the 'alternate worlds' Terminators (probably the CoC idea the best).
This topic (the lack of time for the GM to prepare) is what really has led to my style of GMing in the last few years, and why I started my 'Winging It' column here, focusing on this style of preparation (or lack thereof) and play.
I could not count the number of times I had everyone over and ready to play (whether Vampire, D&D, or whatever) with absolutely no idea what was going to happen that session (just cause real life does tend to get in the way...). Eventually, with the aid of very talented and eager players, I became quite comfortable with this style, looking to old throwaway plot hooks I had stuck in the game earlier, spending five minutes thumbing through an old 'Dragon' magazine or two, or thinking about a cool plotline in a recent movie or TV show I had just seen. Indeed, sometimes I would just form an interesting image in my head (I'm a very visual thinker - a function of being a professional artist) just as everyone sits down, and quickly come up with some ideas to get the characters to enact or come across that particular visual idea ('an old man in robes standing on the deck of a pool filled with black water, with the room surrounding him covered in runes and other magical-looking symbols' was how one recent session became inspired).
The trick is not getting to nervous about not being able to come up with good ideas. If you relax, usually they just happen. If you get all tense with worrying that the game will suck, well quite often it will end up sucking.
Converted from Phorums BB System
Great column! I particularily like the 'alternate worlds' Terminators (probably the CoC idea the best).
This topic (the lack of time for the GM to prepare) is what really has led to my style of GMing in the last few years, and why I started my 'Winging It' column here, focusing on this style of preparation (or lack thereof) and play.
I could not count the number of times I had everyone over and ready to play (whether Vampire, D&D, or whatever) with absolutely no idea what was going to happen that session (just cause real life does tend to get in the way...). Eventually, with the aid of very talented and eager players, I became quite comfortable with this style, looking to old throwaway plot hooks I had stuck in the game earlier, spending five minutes thumbing through an old 'Dragon' magazine or two, or thinking about a cool plotline in a recent movie or TV show I had just seen. Indeed, sometimes I would just form an interesting image in my head (I'm a very visual thinker - a function of being a professional artist) just as everyone sits down, and quickly come up with some ideas to get the characters to enact or come across that particular visual idea ('an old man in robes standing on the deck of a pool filled with black water, with the room surrounding him covered in runes and other magical-looking symbols' was how one recent session became inspired).
The trick is not getting to nervous about not being able to come up with good ideas. If you relax, usually they just happen. If you get all tense with worrying that the game will suck, well quite often it will end up sucking.