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submitted 1 month ago by Ziggurat@fedia.io to c/rpg@ttrpg.network

Many of us, have read GM-sections in RPG, RPG blogs, forum discussions, and sometimes books about the storytelling art.

All of these contains tons of interesting tips/techniques (and some will contradict each other, you don't GM a gritty mega-dungeon and high-school drama game the same way), so I am curious which ones are your favourite and how do you use them in your game

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[-] INeedMana@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I hope it's ok that I don't put links. I think the ones that are from blogs should be easily found

  • Lazy GM - creates a habit of loosely planning the plot, so you can have a bag of things to use, without having to railroad, and changing the plan because of players' actions doesn't hurt
  • don't plan plots, plan obstacles - when you get into the habit of thinking what could be an obstacle in a situation, you don't have the game to go this or that way. You only switch between applicable obstacles
  • onion plots - "who needs what, what for, but they can't because of what". That way coming up with a follow up is easier
  • run combat like a dolphin - mainly, remember to describe things. Yes, I have to actively remember about doing that
  • stars and wishes - to me this is the most constructive form of after session summary. If I ask "what you didn't like?" (roses and thorns), to me it is not clear how to improve. When it's about "what you wish/wished for?" it's much easier to decide whether there was a problem with expectation management or maybe a cool idea that I passed up
  • yes and+no but - mainly, even if we are playing a more trad game, I don't ask for a roll if I (the plot, of course ;) ) need the thing to happen. I ask for it to answer an additional question "will the character do this well enough to uncover additional details?". Unless we are in a simulationist wounds&initiative combat, the roll to me is a plot device, not plain success/failure

And thing I came up on my own but might be only because how my mind works:
Do split the party
What I often do is present the obstacle, ask around what the characters are doing after learning that. Then I choose the sequence that I feel has the most meat on it - story to be told and go one by one. Even if an idea surprises me, I've found that by the time another player rolls their dice I already know what to do with the previous one. And when scenes have fewer participants, it's easier to manage spotlight and have lower stakes per scene

this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2025
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