DANNY'S MASTER GAME MASTER GAME PLAN
a roleplayer's manifesto by danny
i really love playing tabletop roleplaying games.
not only do i really love playing tabletop roleplaying games; there’s a specific kind of play that i always default to when i want to experience them. i’m what people call a Forever GM, a title i wear with happiness and pride.
a Forever GM is someone who is always relegated to the position of game master in a group (when the game has one, not all of them do). the one designated to “run” the game as opposed to playing a single character in it. traditionally, the GM who narrates the story. they fill the role of any character outside of the main party, and they usually set scenes and resolve conflicts within the dice (or whatever other method of chance might be used). the GM is not the only storyteller (it’s a collaborative medium after all), but they’re likely the one who planted the original seed of the plot that everyone at the table helps grow.
side note: usually people separate modes of play into two categories: game master and player, but i don’t like that taxonomy because it feels weird to pretend like the GM isn’t also a player who is playing the game. we’re all doing make-believe, no need to separate us!
i love GMing. as someone who does creative work in a lot of different mediums (writing, interactive fiction, collage, design, audio production, etc), i can firmly say that being a game master is the most creatively fulfilling thing i’ve ever done with my life. there’s something so special to me about telling a story with my friends in this specific way. it lights up every part of my brain, it makes me smile just to think about! it’s also a skill i’ve been honing for about seven years now so i like to think i’m pretty good at it.
but i definitely didn’t start out that way. and as i ventured into the world of being a game master, i found myself floundering under all kinds of “proper” GM advice and instruction. the internet is full of resources and all of them just made my aspirations more confusing. i tried a lot of different things to get into the groove, but i never managed to find my footing…until i came up with a thesis statement, something at the core of every game i ran that lived in every creative decision i made, the firm answer to the age old question of why i even bothered to try.
my ultimate GMing philosophy is: no matter what happens, it’s good as long as everyone is having fun.
“but, danny, that’s so vague? how does that help you tell a proper story?” i’m glad you asked. once i realized what the goal of every campaign and one-shot was going to be, the actual story beats fell into place. all i had to do was think about what my friends liked the most. it helps that i rarely run games for strangers, but even then, a quick conversation up front regarding the game and a few observations about their humor or what they make conversation about is usually enough to get a rough idea of how to proceed.
i start every game with the beginning of an idea, some premise that grabs my attention. for example: i want to run a mini-campaign of DIE RPG in the style of a greek tragedy. my next step is to figure out who i know that would be most interested in playing a game like that. then i take what i know about each of the players and what kind of characters they’re making to figure out where exactly i need to take the story. is my friend who really likes funky explorations of multiple timelines playing? well there’s a strong starting point. what about my friend who loves characters feeling duty-bound to carry out impossible quests? a great point of direction to go from!
i’ll be honest, my initial planning phase for TTRPG campaigns is pretty bare bones. i have a plot hook, a way to get the PCs together and into the “action”, an antagonistic force and the antagonistic force’s ultimate goal, and a few scant details about the PCs individual character arcs. that’s about it. almost every detail after that is made up right before or during play, by me or by another player. how do i decide what details to add or craft scenes? you guessed it: i think about what my friends like the most.
i don’t just go in without a thought, though. i always have a session zero and i always make a point to ask my players explicitly for things they want to happen during the campaign. this can be as specific (“i want my character to have a surreal dream sequence about the death of her father”) or as general (“i want something really dramatic and angsty to happen between the PCs”) as they like. not only does this give me a lot of fun plot beats to work with, it also guarantees that even if i somehow forget everything my friends have ever loved, i’ll always have a few enticing storylines to pursue!
every time someone succeeds or fails a roll (or a card pull, or a coin flip, or a jenga brick pull, etc) and i have to describe the outcome in some way, i always consider: what will this person think is the most fun? i consider tropes, obsessions, their own creative work if they have any, conversations we’ve had about art or food or anything else under the sun. from there i do what i do best: make up a bunch of bullshit. but i can’t spin bullshit out of nothing. i need a foot in the bullshit door, a step on the bullshit ladder, a match for the bullshit flame. once i have something to spark the idea, that’s all it takes for me. then we’re off!
this philosophy has gotten me through a truly impressive amount of improving. it’s the guiding light that leads me out of the darkness of not having enough planned. it’s the happy memory of my pals grinning ear to ear as i gleefully describe how their character fucked up so so bad that fuels my GMing schemes and machinations. it’s the motto to end all other storytelling mottos.
say it with me, everyone: