The Kernel Of A Game: You

As with all other things, it's always necessary to have a set of examples to work within, a common reference point for discussion.

And on the other hand, it's also a good idea, when discussing how to do something, to start at the basics and work from there.

Hence, the first project of sorts for the Gaming Garden --- an introductory guide to GMing, which officially begins now.

Why should you GM?

Many different games offer up many different reasons for someone to want to be the GM, the one at the center of it all, who runs the entire game. Let's take a look at a few of them.

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Actually, none of them do. They all offer the what, the how, the when, and the where, but not the why. So why the why? What elevates the role of the GM above that of the players?

You should GM if you want all the cool toys.

Seriously. What's cooler than having all the power in the game, and getting to play with all the fun stuff in the setting --- dragons, demons, angels, whatever, you get to play with it.

You should GM if you like writing stories.

Come on. If you're the GM, you get to write all the stories the group goes through --- whether it's saving the princess or destroying Frankenstein, you get to write the stories.

You should GM if you like playing all the cool parts.

The knight, the knave, the king --- these are all the cool roles you get to play out as the GM, all roles the players will interact with as their characters.

You should GM if you like making up the world.

When you played make believe as a child, were you the one who said the pile of blankets was the castle and the chair the evil fortress? Are you the type that draws elaborate linguistic systems and dreams of far-off fantasy lands? Well, you can make those fortresses and languages exist in a roleplaying game --- the perfect vehicle to explore them.

In all actuality, these are some okay reasons to GM. They're pretty standard ones for that matter. However, they all discount or exclude one thing:

The players.

No matter how you cut it, the game you play, the style you have, or the wonderful boatloads of rulebooks you bring to the table, the players are your worst enemy, best friends, audience, and critics all in one. You will love them and hate them all in the space of a minute; you will be with them and apart from them in a session.

The fact of the matter is, roleplaying is not just a storytelling medium, but it's a cooperative medium, at that. Despite an obvious allegory to you as the director and the players as the actors, the reality is that the players don't have a script to work on. Instead, you have reams and reams of notes, and they have a canvas to improvise and work their magic within. Let's look at each of the reasons again, this time with a view to player interaction:

You should GM if you like all the cool toys.

You should GM if you like using entertaining concepts as narrative techniques or show pieces. If you like Godzilla, don't think that playing Godzilla is cool --- no, instead, do you have that same sort of fire for exploring what the stories that Godzilla can be used in and create, like a Tokyo-stomping rage of destruction, a family looking to survive, and the challenges they face in rebuilding their lives when a giant lizard tail took out their apartment?

You should GM if you like writing stories.

You should GM if you like exploring a narrative idea. GMing is often quite painful --- you come to the table with a wonderful idea laid out, and just when the players are to be chasing the thief with the red scarf, they follow the woman with the bone charms instead. GMing isn't about a set plan --- instead, it's about co-operative storytelling, where well-defined protagonists explore a situation or plotline; it's about the joys of discovery and invention, where many thoughts make for a story better than just the thoughts of one person.

You should GM if you like playing all the cool parts.

As a GM, part of your role is to play all the non-player characters the players encounter, like the knave, the knight, and the king. And your goal is really to just use these characters narratively and then quietly usher them off-stage. Your non-player characters aren't there to be protagonists --- that's the players' job. Instead, they're there for narrative use, to establish the setting, and to be interesting. The hallmark of a good non-player character is not when they dominate the narrative, but instead when they are narratively significant and memorable, like the foster father the players return to every time they are in Mill Town or the too-slick, sharp lawyer the players never want to see again and curse every time they hear his name.

You should GM if you like making up the world.

You should GM if you like making up the setting, as it is the backdrop upon which all your other actions will be judged by. The most wonderful plot to ever be set to paper is sunk if it occurs in the Land of Pointy Trees, or features Semaj Dnob the superspy. Setting and mood are far more integral in roleplaying games because they are not just a narrative concept --- instead, they're far more relevant and needed due to the improvisational method of gaming. There will be times when your setting, theme, and mood are all you have to work with --- and you'll be damned glad you did them well.

Ultimately, the director and actor example may be the best. Are you the director-type, who wants to explore the story as a whole, as opposed to the actor, who looks for a challenging or new character to explore and enjoy playing? If you're that director, GMing's for you.

--- Arivia