Some players like starting their character design from the mechanical stats, while others like starting from the inner/outer conflict. What do you all do to make support both of these character writing styles, while making sure the invidivual players don't paint themselves into a corner? I struggle with helping my party align their characters in way that pulls the party in the same direction while not stepping on each other's toes.

So I recently finished reading through Jonah and Tristan’s role playing book as well as Return of the Lazy DM. Both excellent reads by the way and you should check them out as a game master, but does anyone suggest other books on running games?

An interesting obsevation came out of player discussion at my table (PF2e a mechancially heavy game). Some of the best RP of the campaign so far game from one character depending mechanically on another. Needing a partner for positioning to get flanking. The psychic giving another player an extra strike to finish an enemy. The healer keeping the tank in the fight. Aside from the mechanical benefit, it creates bonds that came up in campfire RP and discussions and led to in game connections and friendships. I would note that the characters that are more self sufficient do not see the same level of connection and interweaving of stories.

I am sold on moving the games I GM to a more proactive style and I am lucky enough to have plenty of players that would like to play at my tables. My question is how do you get players on board with the proactive style? - Do you ask them to read the book? Just the first chapter? - Do you just discuss/pitch it at the table? - Do you suggest looking for players already on board or converting the players already in my orbit? Any thoughts or experiences are welcome.

We are unbelievably excited for the launch of the second book in the Game Master's Handbook series, and follow-up to the Proactive Roleplaying book: The Game Master's Handbook of Collaborative Campaign Design! This book walks GMs through planning and executing full campaigns, from a full Session -1 system to kick things off to finishing every arc in a satisfying conclusion. We are so, so, so proud and grateful to share this with you, and we can't wait to hear what folks think! You can find it on Amazon (link below) or with all major book retailers, so check what's available near you! We can't wait for you to read it! We'll have more news for you soon, so keep an eye out! Thank you all again for being a part of the journey, and we'll be chatting with you a ton in the coming days. There's an invitation to this lab in the book this time, so we're expecting a few new friends in the coming weeks. We can't possibly convey to you all how grateful we are for the welcoming, helpful, and kindhearted people here, and we trust that vibe will continue as we meet new folks. Talk to you soon! Tristan https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Handbook-Collaborative-Campaign-Design/dp/1964487048