Damn. You have completely ruined conventional AP/module games for me. I know you wrote about it in the book, but the difference between a GM discovering the story at the table and revealing the story at the table really set in for me this week. It has been very hard not to write plot and outlines of what might happen. It is habit. But as I think about what to do when the current 3-year campaign finishes and what kinds of players I hope to get at the table, it has really settled in. **The reason I enjoy my tuesday game and finish refreshed instead of tired is that a story I don't know is unfolding in front of me.** Not just the flavor of what happens to the characters, but how the world changes. I am no longer thinking of whether something at the table messes up other plans. I thought I got it before, but nope, I was just scratching the surface of the potential. One such moment at a scene change: Mara is being guided out of the guardhouse with two guards and her boss Ehron (she is his bodyguard), with whom she is angry and disillusioned. "Sierra (player), I am going to ask you a question and I need you to respond immediately. As you step out of the guardhouse out into the square you spot two crossbow bolts flying at your group. Do you step in front of Ehron?" "No, I step in front of my new friend Rowan." Everything changes in the campaign and I can enjoy it becuase there is nothing written or prepared for me to rewrite or deal with. I don't need to modify any future maps or chapters in a book. The RP between Mara and the healer after he barely saved Ehron's life and learned who he was, I just got to listen and participate. Well, I might need to update a few faction goals before next session, but ...

A need without a solution... I am having the time of my life with my new campaign with a group of truely amazing players. None of these players started this way and we don't always have the luxury of picking the great group. It has me thinking about what practices from GMs and from other players helped them grow into who they are now. From my teaching background I clearly understand that at least half of what I should be teaching my intro chem students is how to be a good student and how to learn science in a way they can actually use it. Telling doesnt work and it is more complex than just rewarding good behavior. So brainstorming... - all of them have GM'd at least once, but they gravitate towards playing - all of them have played more than one system and more than one type of game (dungeon crawl, political, exploration, ...) - they all respect one another and value other players trusting them - they ask questions about other players and their characters - none of them are "doing a voice" but all of them vary cadence, word choice, tone, and have phrases they reuse in a way that we know when they are talking in character

Hey everyone, we’ve got a new interview to check out! https://youtu.be/Oc0LsOhj5fE?si=1DDsEVjlE3JAHHdS This week, we chat with Val from Corkboards and Curiosities about all things GMing, particularly styles of play and preferences when running the game. If you haven’t checked out her channel, I HIGHLY recommend it, she’s got some of the best production value for TRPG videos out there right now and some amazing advice.

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?

Since I started running proactive games, and especially with some collaborative worldbuilding, my games tend to be very fast paced. There’s always something going on, and my players are always sprinting forward as fast as they can. I’ve had a few groups say they want to turn down the speed a bit and have some lower stakes sessions, which they always call beach episodes lol, some time to just chill, talk to people, shop, engage in some tomfoolery, downtime, etc. I highly recommend incorporating that, especially if your players mention it. At first, it really went against my instincts—as a GM, I tend to prep by adding as much tension, raised stakes, and drama as I can cram in my notes, and I prep by specific encounter using a PC v NPC goal structure. So the more free form, laidback stuff made me nervous that it would be boring for my players—I felt like I had so little prepared! But it’s always resulted in a great time. My players will have the opportunity to do stuff they never would otherwise, and the Freeform format makes it so they really steer the story themselves. I’ll do very little and relax, and they’ll talk amongst themselves, form more goals, make allies and enemies, etc. anyone else had some good seasons this way? How did you prep for it?