R

unning a roleplaying game is work. Its fun, its

rewarding, it stretches you and makes your mind
function in new, exciting ways... but its work.
Thats okay. Work is good. Anything worthwhile requires
effort and attention, and in gaming especially, more
effort and attention is likely to yield a better outcome.

If youve never run a game before, it can seem overwhelming. Its not. I
dont know you, but Ill go out on a limb and assert that people dumber than
you have run successful games. Running a game requires effort, but its not
something so esoteric and complicated that only a brain surgeon can do it.
The GMs duties boil down to this: When the players show up and their
characters are ready, you present them with a situation. They react to the
situation. You present the outcomes of their reaction. They react to those
outcomes. Lather, rinse, repeat. The whole art of running games comes down
to creating settings, stories and circumstances, then altering them as the PCs
go through altering them in ways that are fun, challenging, exciting, and
which open new opportunities for continued play.

The GMs Basic Duties

Now youve got conict (can Holmes predict correctly?) and

dialogue and interest and even a dnouement. (Dnouement is

Heres the meatandpotatoes stuff: Plot, character, conict. If

French for Everything gets explained.)

you can accomplish these practical tasks, youre there, or at the

very least you have an excellent start.

In this case, the characters drove the plot, because Holmes made

GMs who fail at these can be termed incompetent. Im not

PCs to do that, so as a GM its a good idea to have an event devel-

his bet and initiated the conict. You cant always rely on your

saying that to be unkind, but to distinguish them from the

oping or even better, a couple of them.

dysfunctional GMs Im going to discuss later. If you take it easy,

Events for a plot should focus around a conict (see below).

pay attention and keep everything in perspective, you should be

They should involve repercussions that the characters care about.

able to run a game functionally and competently.

Paper Tigers

The Plot

Every so often, I like to throw some obnoxious and

A story is when things happen. Cool characters alone do not

obviously inferior opponent (or opponents) against the

make for a good story, even if theyre in a cool setting. Here, Ill

PCs. Someone they can handily defeat without major

show you.

consequences. Someone, in other words, who serves

mainly as a foil so that the PCs get a chance to show off

Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes walk into a bar. They have a few

how buff they are.

drinks, talk about last nights game, and then they go home.

The nobrainer example is the bully in the bar. He picks a

ght, wont take no for an answer and winds up supine in

Thats not a story. Thats not even a joke, because it doesnt have a

the gutter with his teeth broken and his kidneys bruised.

punch line. Plot is the punch line.

Many games offer a more social milieu, so the example

might be a sneering lecher who gives the PCs a chance to

Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes walk into a bar. Holmes says

befuddle and distract him so they can get the nave coed

to Tarzan, I bet I can predict what youll order if you let me

(or other victim) out of the way.

examine your hands. Intrigued, Tarzan complies. Holmes squints

There are no big moral issues here. Theres no massive,

at Tarzans ngernails, turns to the barkeep and says, Hell have

plotreinforcing reward. Its a chance for the PCs to show

seven shots of Scotch. Thats incredible! says Tarzan. Howd

off, pure and simple.

you know? Because you had the same thing last night, you lousy

Is this pandering? Well, a bit. But people play games

drunk, Holmes replies.

because theyre fun, and being a cool, competent guy who

can handle himself adroitly is fun. One core element of

A Quick Lexicon

gaming is escapism, and easy victory is a nice escape.

The problem lies with diminishing rewards. Throw up a

On the off chance you dont know these acronyms...

paper tiger for a character once every three sessions or

PC: Not Personal Computer or Politically Correct but

so, but no more than that. Make sure every character gets

Player Character. A character controlled by a player,

one periodically. Dont overdo it and most importantly

meaning, not you. The PCs should be the most important

make sure they dont interrupt engagement with

characters in the game, though not necessarily the most

real tigers.

powerful.

If every problem is easily resolved, it stops being a story

GM: Game Master or, if thats too S&M sounding,

about a cool guy doing neat stuff: It becomes an unstory,

Game Moderator. The person adjudicating the rules,

because the character never encounters a task that lives

presenting the plot and deciding the outcomes after the

up to his abilities. If your players start taking success for

PCs make their choices. In other words, you.

granted, its going to stop feeling like success.

GMC: Game Master Character. Any character you

Paper tigers remind characters that theyre competent and

control, that is, not a PC.

can get stuff done. But theyre intermittent rests between

bouts with durable opposition.

The characters should be able to alter the outcome, but it

The way you bait the hook can make it more appealing, and to

shouldnt always be easy.

nd the right bait you need to look at the characters backstory.

The rough outline of plot starts with some sort of introduction

Backstory means everything that happened to the characters

or story insertion or plot hook. It progresses through rising

before the game began. Sometimes the GM provides part of

action, arrives at a climax, and then theres falling action.

the backstory. (For this game, you all have to be in the starport
at Ursa Minor, and you all have to know and get along with

The Hook

one another.) Sometimes the GM provides all the backstory.

This is what gets the players interested and, through them, the

(Youre all the children of a doddering and aged king. He has

characters. To motivate characters, it helps to hold out rewards or

to choose one of you to inherit the crown, but has not yet made

threaten punishments, or both. If theyre going to miss out on the

his choice.) Sometimes the GM doesnt provide a thing. If you

carrot and get swatted by the stick, its easy for them to tell what

go that last route, its perfectly fair to tell the players to come up

you want them to do. Great, right?

with a rationale for why they trust one another and are working

Yes and no.

together. Monitor the character generation process youre the

objective observer who can spot the character thats going to

I ran an informal online poll about bad GMs and one frequent

cause problems. (Since the others are all playing loyal soldiers of

complaint was about railroading where the GM has a very

the Empire, having a noisy insurgent ideologue in the party may

concrete idea of where the story is headed and permits no

not work. Conversely, You both want to make highly personable

deviation. Characters who act predictably get rewarded. Those

tactician characters, and the party doesnt have anyone with much

who dont are humiliated, robbed, damaged or otherwise

medical skill. Can you re-work a bit to address these issues?)

schooled.

Many games gloss over backstory, and many GMs let the players

While the GM is in charge of the world and what happens in

write it but then dont pay much attention. Thats wasteful.

response to the PCs actions, that doesnt give authority over

By examining what the players already decided about their

the PCs choices and decisions. This means you. Its essential to

characters lives, you can suss out what issues concern them and

respect the players free will when theyre deciding how their

what sort of game they want to play. For instance, if all your

characters think, feel and act.

PCs are charming, sociable, control many lackeys and servants,

On the other hand, a GM who shows up with no preconceived

and have low-to-absent combat skills, youre going to have some

ideas cant be accused of railroading, but she can be accused of

unhappy players if every problem requires a violent resolution.

apathy. Ideally theres an interplay between the characters desires

Conversely, if you give them plenty of chances to outwit, outma-

and your plots, but you have to nd a balance between cramming

neuver and downright lie their way into power, theyre playing

them into a script, and having nothing for them to do.

the game they want.

Luckily the gray zone between strict control and nothing

A good hook, then, has the following.

at all is quite broad. The solution is to create a situation thats

Promise of reward OR some threat that must be met

unstable, introduce the characters, and let things play out in a

A tie in to the characters backstory

manner that feels natural. Appeals to self-interest are good: So are

Im also going to suggest it should have

insinuations of threat. Using both may be overkill.

An obvious way to get involved

The hoary old gaming clich is that a stranger approaches the

PCs in a bar with a treasure map. This became a clich because

Flexibility for when the characters ignore it or approach it obliquely

it works: The appeal of gold and violence is enough for many

Those last two are pretty important, even though youll only need

characters. But lets see if we cant improve on it, hm?

one of them. If your plot hook is set on a far away island and the

PCs have no boat or money to hire one... well, who would blame

things up, especially in the beginning when youre getting your

them if they shrug their shoulders and ignore it?

bearings with your PCs. Similarly, if they keep failing, maybe

youre overestimating their abilities and need to ease things up

Its also possible that even the juiciest hook gets overlooked.

a bit.

Have a couple others on hand preferably a plan B that cant be

easily ignored. If the PCs decide that going out to the spoooooky,

Lets suppose your proposed plot is small abandoned fortress is

probably haunted castle isnt the game they want to play, well,

infested with zombies. A member of the local gentry, Sir Hook,

ne. Dont take it personally. Dont get upset and, especially, dont

has inherited the fortress and its contents after the death of an

punish them somehow. They control their characters, so if they

aged relative. He sent a servant to check it out and he never

dont want to go poking around some manky dungeon, have an

returned. Rather that go himself (the old place was dreadfully

alternative. See if they wont nibble on something that keeps

drafty and out of the way) hed like to persuade some hardy and

them in town, again something tailored to their interests.

trustworthy people to do it. But hell settle for the PCs.

No matter what plot they engage, try to be prepared for the

You expect the zombies to be pretty tough a notch or two above

unexpected. Players are creative types sometimes, maybe as

a paper tiger but nothing the party cant handle, even with a

creative as you, and they try to nd their way around things in a

few bad rolls. Your plot is, they get rid of the undead and either

way that hurts them least and helps them most. This is addressed

claim the fort or they take off with its contents. Furthermore,

at length under Conict on page 5, but the same advice from

the source of the zombies is a demon thats gathering strength

there applies here.

nearby. Your plan is for that demon to be the main antagonist.

Rising Action

You might decide to throw up some roadblocks before the

characters even reach the castle proper just in the interest of

Everything that builds up to a showdown and increases the

building up gradually and letting the players get the hang of their

tension is called rising action. As a general rule of thumb, it

new characters. First, they encounter a washout where a ooded

consists of the characters making a gain or suffering a setback.

river has swamped the road, stranding them with a garrulous

You want your rising action to consist of a mix some triumph,

local. If they can gure out a good way to get themselves over

some failure but you dont want to predetermine this. You

the river, they save some time. If not, they have to go miles out of

do not want to decide, in advance, that the PCs succeed at the rst

their way. If they can get themselves and the peasant across, shes

encounter, lose in the second, succeed in the third and fail in the fourth.

grateful and provides good information about the fortress.

Thats railroading at its most repugnant, even if you do it well

Second, they run into some suspicious locals who dislike outsiders

and it seems natural to them.

and try to bully anyone who looks weak, or maybe steal from

Instead, I recommend a variety of encounters that you feel are

anyone who looks strong. Dealing with the neer-do-wells success-

balanced, with possible rewards and obstacles arising naturally

fully gets them off the PCs backs permanently and earns them

from either success or failure. By variety I mean situations

some respect from decent folks. Failure (which includes brutally

that call for different skills some social, some physical, some

murdering them) alienates the same good people.

combative, some puzzling and so on. By balanced, I mean that

if you characters react with average intelligence and get average

The nal challenge is when they get to the fortress and get their

rolls, the outcome depends entirely on random chance. If they

rst inkling about zombies. Handled carefully, they can get in a

react really cleverly, they should overcome. If theyre stupid, well,

good position and get tactical advantages. Handled badly, its a

that should have fallout. All this is part of conict, so again

slugfest.

its covered there, on page 5.

See how this works? Events crop up in their path, with potential

If your characters are waltzing through every encounter, tighten

and risk, but nothing thats really derailing or seriously deadly...

yet. You work up to that.

You can stretch out the rising action for some time. If the climax

arrive. But its also possible that they try to take the ght to the

comes too soon, it wont stand out as special. If you delay too

zombies, or that they make a run for it. Whatever they do, if its

much, though, your players are going to get bored waiting for it.

the climax it has to be tense, exciting and constantly in doubt.

The optimal amount of rising action varies from group to group,

If they ee, it has to be a thrilling chase scene until they get to

so I cant give you a perfect number of sessions. Just be aware that

the village... and then what happens? Are the villagers up to the

your particular players might have wanted more or less.

challenge of ghting a horde of the undead, or have the PCs just

doomed them? If they defend, can they hold them off despite

Climax

exhaustion and limited numbers? If they go out to battle, do they

The climax is the big nale in which the characters uncover

have a prayer in the world?

enough of whats going on that they can take decisive action. It

The climax should be the biggest conict in a plot line, and you

is often a great idea to set up the circumstances and then hand

dont want to clutter up a climax session with much fallout from

the resolution to the players. If you have a preconceived notion

side-plots or rising action stuff. Focus in on the big showdown

of the Right Way to handle the major issue, youll resist different

or debate or battle or escape. Test your PCs to their limits, and

solutions that might be as good or (lets face it) better. If you

heres the important part dont pull your punches.

think the Evil Overlord should be shown the error of his ways by
means of a space armada and that the climax should be the clash

When I say dont pull your punches I dont mean you should

of a thousand starghters, you may be cheating your players of

give your PCs an impossible challenge that inevitably kills them.

a different sort of satisfaction. Maybe they want to talk to the

You play the role of their enemies, but you are not their enemy.

Evil Overlord. Maybe they think hes not so much evil as misled.

Your job is not to beat them, but to give them a fair challenge.

Maybe it would be a better, more fun, and more satisfying game

Part of the fairness is that the bad guys may win. If the PCs fail,

for them if they could redeem him and persuade him to step off

dont torque coincidence so that they escape, and dont have

his dark path.

some GMC show up to save their bacon (and make them look like

For the zombie castle example, perhaps the PCs sent a messenger

chumps). Many players would actually rather have their characters

to Hook requesting backup, while they engaged the enemy. Then

go down to death ghting than get bailed out in a humiliating

they proceeded to lure the zombies into a series of deadly traps,

fashion by some pet character controlled by the GM. Better, many

dispatching some and chasing off the others without getting

would prefer to leave their character in an untenable position if it

too badly hurt. They gure Hook will show up rst thing in the

saved the other characters. You cant really ask for a better end to

morning to nd what a top-notch job theyve done, and then he

your characters story than He died saving everyone else.

and his soldiers can do the busywork of chasing down the strag-

Sometimes though, characters die stupid and pointless deaths.

glers that ed into the wilderness. The suns going down and no

Depending on your feelings and your judgment of the game, you

way are the PCs heading into zombie-swamp after dark.

may opt to spare characters who died only because some lucky

Thats when they see that the zombie-swamp is coming to them...

creep rolled an absurd string of unlikely successes. On the other

with reinforcements.

hand, maybe youre just ne with characters dying pointlessly

especially if it encourages the other characters to play through

Heres the climax: Can the PCs defeat the zombies? Do they need

their grief, and if it serves the plot.

to take them all out, or is it enough to survive the night until

the cavalry arrives in the morning? Did their messenger even get

By the same token, if they win, let them win. If you snatch their

through?

victory away at the last second by some petty and intrusive GM

plot crank, do you think theyll be happy showing up to next

You expect your characters to hole up in the fortress and play at

weeks session?

Night of the Living Dead until the reinforcements they sent for

Ill be honest, I cant imagine what would make a GM want to

the beginning of the comeback story emerges in an ending of

abuse his players that way, but in that poll I ran, that was a common

bitter defeat.

complaint that the GM was cheating so that the characters

Conict

always failed, or always failed if they didnt do exactly what the

GM wanted. If that sounds like fun to you, I dont know what to

Here we come to the brute, beating heart of it. Conict arises

tell you. Maybe running games isnt something you should do.

when peoples desires run into obstacles. The obstacle can be

another person (Im in love with a cruel mans daughter and he

The end of a story should be like the end of a great novel or a great

hates me) or nature (This grain is going to spoil if we sit out

movie: Everything comes together, creating untenable tension,

that storm in the harbor, and the famine was bad when we left)

and then it snaps and reshapes events. If its a good climax, no

or some other circumstance (Im really poor, and Id prefer to

character comes away unchanged. That should be your goal.

change that).

Falling Action

The samples above, by the way, are all external conicts. That

At the end of the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High you get

means theyre something outside of the character being thwarted.

brief blurbs explaining what happened to everyone after gradu-

There are also internal conicts, where a character is literally her

ation. Thats falling action. After the climax, everyone adjusts to

own worst enemy. Internal conicts arise when a character has to

a new position. Heres where rewards, both in-game stuff like

make tough decisions between two bad outcomes (If I lose this

wealth and gratitude, and rules-stuff like experience points, get

battle, my homeland may fall to the invaders, but the only way to

parceled out and explained. This is a calmer sequence where the

win is by killing by longlost sister) or has to choose between

characters get a chance to work out how they feel about what

two conicting goods (I love her, but if I marry her Ill never

happened and display that. Its also the time to plant seeds for

be able to inherit the crown, and shed never accept the role of

future adventures.

mistress.)

Lets assume the characters bungled zombie castle. They bailed

How does a character overcome challenges? Is she direct and

out and the zombies followed, killing one character after he fell

blunt? Does she seek the path of least resistance? Does she always

off his exhausted horse. The others got as far as the village and

try to choose honorably? Does she always seem to go for the

had time to panic the residents before the hordes showed up. The

most destructive, sadistic, harrowing option? All these things are

PCs and the peasants managed to repel the zombies but only at

a chance to be informed about a character, and all these things

the cost of terrible casualties. Now the zombies are back in the

give insight into what game the player wants to be playing.

fortress, the village is decimated and Hook shows up to a huge

Your job is to provide opposition. Not every problem has to be

mess. Hes not happy.

profoundly difcult go back to page 2. for my little essay on

Maybe the characters decide to just get the hell away theyve

cakewalks. But certainly some challenges should be, you know,

done enough, the peasants hate them and its time to cut their

challenging. Dealing with failure reveals as much character as

losses. Maybe theyre angry at Hook for sending them in unpre-

capitalizing success. More, probably. Dont be afraid to allow the

pared. Maybe they think he should compensate them for the

characters to fail if thats how the dice fall out. (Players, dont

zombies they did wipe out. Or maybe theyre devastated by their

be afraid to fail.) On the other hand, dont force them to fail by

failure and want to make it right, doing everything they can to

providing obstacles too powerful to overcome. Or if you do, do so

help battle the scourge and rebuild the village.

because youre setting them up for grudgy rematch at the climax:

Thats perfectly legitimate. How many movies have the hero get

Depending on how they play it, they could regain the villagers trust,

beaten like an American cricket team in the rst reel, only to get

or make an enemy of Hook, or rally back to defeat the zombies (and

payback sevenfold at the end? Just make sure the players under-

ultimately the demon responsible). If they do make a comeback,

its going to be far more satisfying because of this setback. But

stand that the characters get another shot... if they earn it.

Its not impossible, of course, that your players may have their

ensconced at both. I aint goin in there. Lets just starve em out a

characters do something really stupid. If youve made a point of

couple months, see if they crack and, if not, go in after the leaves

establishing how elite and deadly the Imperial Crimson Guard are,

fall when we can see what the hells going on.

and two of your PCs decide to charge them, with no strategy, for

This may be disappointing to you if you planned on that jungle

no very good reason... well, thats like touching a clearly labeled

hunt being the climax of your game. You can change-up on the

electric fence. In all likelihood, whats going on is something

y though, and have the monks counterattack one of the choke-

outside the game. The players are bored and want to stick it to

points after the rst month of blockade. Dont feel like you have

you, see if youre going to hold to your cherished notion of the

to pull some alternate climax out of your sleeve: By going for a

game or if youll give them a break. If you want my opinion on

waiting option, your players are showing you theyre willing to

this behavior, go read the section on Leadership. Or maybe

put up with more rising action. Theyre willing to gamble setbacks

the essay on how to be a player. Theres a dynamite section on

(as the increasingly desperate monks fall back on guerrilla tactics

kicking out troublemakers.

or unleash secret weapons) on the hope of getting an advantage.

A pointlessly easy adventure is just as stupid and ultimately boring

Thats ne. Save the climax for next session after youve had a

as a pointlessly hard one. Present them with middle ground. Make

chance to think of one.

sure they know when theyre probably getting in over their heads

When the players do something unexpected, dont punish them.

or that they can get out mostly intact, anyhow.

Understand that they arent trying to screw you. Theyre just

Now, theres a big difference between a player whos being

trying to resolve the conict, and you should be commended

contrary (or stupid) and one whos simply doing something you

for creating one challenging and realistic enough that theyre

didnt expect. The rst can take their lumps. The second you need

thinking creatively. Their unexpected action is a gift to you, like

to respect. For example, a group of PCs may meet the character

a reward for being a good GM. Its your chance to confront the

youve designated as the games major antagonist... and they may

unexpected the same sort of excitement youve been giving

try to join up with him. What do you do?

them. Cherish it.

Rules Resolution

The knee-jerk reaction is often denial. Dark Lord Soanso isnt

hiring! But why not? Why not let them be part of the problem

As GM its your duty to drive the rules. You decide when a

for a while? Maybe even for as long as they like. Perhaps you

character can do something as a matter of course, when it has

can use their service to show them, up front, just how horrible

to be rolled for, and when its simply out of the question. You

Lord Soanso is. (Well then, just break her legs and toss her off

evaluate penalties and, if your games typical, you hand out

the cart! Im a busy man, dammit!) If they get into it, clearly

experience points at the end of the session.

they want a game of being evil. You can deal with that by letting
them get their ya-yas out until eeeeevil just isnt fun any more.

This is a lot of power.

Then you can put out feelers about a redemption plotline, which

(You also decide how all the GMCs react to the PCs actions,

could turn out to be all the more interesting for having trolled

which is also a lot of power, but thats covered later.)

the depths before the slow climb to the heights.

Because you have this power over the game, it behooves you to

It doesnt have to be a big moral curveball either. Perhaps youre

use it wisely, in the pursuit of everyones fun. Ill say again that its

planning a lively and lengthy game of deadly cat-and-mouse

not your job to beat the players. Lets face it, if you want to beat

through the thickly forested emplacement of the Jungle Monks

the players and by beat the players I mean look like a jackass

of Ereg, but your PCs decide, Hell, weve got those crazy monks

and ensure that your friends are miserable so you can ride some

bottled up. Only two ways out of the jungle valley and were

petty authority trip you will.

Instead, its your job to keep the playing eld level and to keep

If the mechanics seem too fussy or clunky to you, by all means

the game interesting. Most games have tools built in for making

change them. Altering rules so they suit your tastes is as honorable

things easier or harder. You can use these, not only in response

and reasonable as cutting the garlic in a recipe if garlic makes

to whats being tried, but in reaction to whats at stake and how

you gassy. Most of the time, this sort of tinkering boils down to

much it matters. You may decide that a particular fact a characters

deciding how much authority you want to cede to the rules. This

trying to nd in a library is both rare and irrelevant. In that case,

is a matter of personal taste just make sure your players know

you might want to just tell him he cant nd it and move the game

how its going to go. If youre slanting simulationist, (meaning,

along. But if hes really adamant about wanting to know, you can

you let random factors ltered through the rules be the ultimate

give him the fact as a freebie and move the game along.

arbiter) then study! Make sure you know how the PCs skills or
abilities or devices work so that youre consistent when they use

Heres how you decide how challenging any given task should be,

them, or when they try some fancy maneuver. If youre going

in no particular order.

narrative (meaning, you apply your common sense and use the

How difcult is it within the game setting?

rules to sculpt outcomes), be really clear communicating to the

How big is the reward?

players what they need to roll and get for this particular action,

Does it make the character look cool?

and strive to be as consistent as you can. Nothing ruins the fun

Will it derail the plot without providing new opportunities that are

of a game as much as the feeling that the GM is being controlling

and arbitrary... unless its a GM so hesitant that shes looking up

as good?

rules in the big book every twenty minutes.

Things that are more difcult according to the logic of the setting
should have rules penalties obviously, lifting lead bricks is

Im not saying you shouldnt ever consult the manual during play,

harder than lifting clay bricks. Thats the objective difculty.

but try not to break tension or interrupt the ow of play to do it.

Games have tense, fast-paced times and they have down times. If

If the reward for success is disproportionately large, you may

you must check the book, do it during down times.

want to raise the tension by making it more difcult.

Alternately, if succeeding makes the character look cool and

Character

isnt going to ruin some other players plan, or bring the plot to a

The players control the main characters. You portray everyone

premature and less exciting end, you may want to keep it simple.

else. This is a big job. To make it easier, remember that not every
stablehand, or even every head honcho they meet, has to be as

The plot consideration takes the most GM nesse. You dont want

intricately detailed and elaborate as a PC. Its okay for a character

to cheat either to ensure success or preclude it. But at the same

to be sketchy or two dimensional if shes only involved for a few

time, you want the challenge to feel real and urgent. By keeping

scenes and then dies to show how the monster works. The players

your nger on the pulse of the game, you can know when its

can project a rich inner life onto that GMC if they want, but by

time to make things harder and when its time to make them

and large theyre more concerned with their own problems.

easier. Your rst duty is to enable the players to tell a good story
with their characters, not to give them a cakewalk or a steady diet

For the purposes of running GMCs, we can break them into

of failure.

four categories: Major characters, minor characters, antagonists,

and extras.

Its also a GMs job to understand the rules. When players have
questions, theyre going to ask you. You do not want to end up

Extras are people who are basically setting. They dont need to

pawing through this book in the middle of the action while you

have individual names, they dont need stats, theyre there to take

refresh your memory about how somebodys Fleshly Plasticity

the PCs hats and answer questions about where the bathroom

power works.

is. In a ght, theyre unworthy opponents, and any marginally

competent ghter should be able to cow or clobber them without

an element of plot, and he has a personality, and the PCs have to

even rolling.

deal with him as an individual. Minor characters may or may not

need stats, but they certainly dont need a full character sheet a

Minor characters get names because they recur and have some

few simple notes like Make inspiring speech, 7d and Resist fast

stake in the plot. The bombastic settlement administrator who

talk and im-am, 8d may be enough for that mayor. To portray

could be an ally or a pain in the neck is an example here: Hes

Keeping the Villain Alive

PCs tend to play for keeps. If someone gets in their way, their

Political Connections.

instinct is to instantly escalate to lethal force. On the surface, this

commander, thats likely to give bloodthirsty PCs some pause.

looks like very sound tactics nip a small problem in the bud

Setting your blaster to Disintegrate isnt just a matter of

before it becomes a large problem.

personal vendetta now, its armed insurrection. The more political

If the bad guy is the sector

your game is, the better this works, since his followers are able to

But its poison for plot.

make trouble for the PCs. But not all PC groups operate legally, or

The best plot is one in which there is one unied issue or problem

maybe you want a villain whos an outlaw himself. While this is a

or enemy and, over the course of much effort and despite many

good option, its not universal.

setbacks, the characters either overcome it (and have a happy

Disguise.

ending) or succumb to it (and die in tragic glory). If they nd the

Perhaps their opponent is known

only as Mister Crimson, no ones seen his face and he has

bad guy whos in charge of it by the second session and whack

countless tricks to conceal his identity. Killing him isnt the issue

him, that tends to deate the plot.

the immediate challenge is to nd him. (Paging Mr. Soze, Mr.

One tactic is to have an enemy government or guild or corporation.

Keyser Soze...) This also opens up the classic plot twist of having

With big faceless collectives to battle, scraping off the leadership

the nemesis secret identity be a friend or ally of the PCs.

level is just one tactic. Someone new pops up and the Church of

Achilles Heel.

the Leprous Wolf continues. Nevertheless, having an identiable

from anyone. Some opposition can only be destroyed by some

face of evil is powerful. So here are some ways you can introduce

highly specic and arcane means destroy the One Ring, bullseye

an enemy individual and keep him alive long enough to really

that thermal exhaust port, pour a small quantity of water on her.

drive the characters mad with rage which, in turn, drives the

The drawback of this approach is that you may have one idea

players mad with joy when they defeat him.

Dodge.

Hey, Sauron didnt bother hiding

of what the vulnerability is, but your PCs just cant gure it out,

A villain with spectacular

becoming increasingly frustrated with what looks like a railroad

evasion abilities who isnt shy about running like a whipped dog

plot. Theres an escape hatch to this, which is to simply decide

can survive a long time. Its indisputably frustrating to ght a guy

that their most plausible theory about the weakness is correct (no

you cant hit, but its also hard to respect a foe when the most

matter how far aeld it is from your plan). If youre okay changing

common comparison is he runs like a whipped dog. But this can

your plot midstream, ne. If its not to your taste, also ne just

be made to work, if youre ready for them to mingle contempt

be aware of the pitfalls.

with hatred.
Deadliness.

10,000 Minions.

Some games, you know your

PCs certainly respect an enemy

enemy, youre condent that you could wring his neck... but hes

who decapitates one of their tough ghters on the rst pass of

miles away in his black basalt fortress and the army between you

a ght. They may ee him, especially if the system youre using

and him is pledged to his defense. The only real problem with

has a reputation for deadliness. On the other hand, hysterical fear

throwing waves of minions at the PCs is that it may start to feel

may make them feel cornered and force them to ght until only

repetitive. The cure is to spice the mix with other options: If this

one group leaves. If it comes down to that, your plot is derailed

guys got such a following, other authorities are unlikely to want to

no matter who wins. Deadliness is a good combination with the

get on his bad side (political pressure) and while he himself may be

dodge emphasis, however. A guy who gets cornered and slices off

no combat shakes, he could employ skilled body doubles (disguise)

a PCs arm before escaping isnt someone to dismiss as long as

and bodyguards (dodge). Its especially juicy if that bodyguard is

he runs after proving himself. However, both combatintensive

someone the PCs like or at least respect. If you can pull off that

survival strategies are far from foolproof, as the occasional

scene where they say, In other circumstances, we would have

unexpected underdog victory is a feature of many games.

been friends. Yes, good ones. To the death, then? Im afraid I

can accept nothing less then youre golden.

minor characters, give them a memorable element or two

Heres how it works. You play the characters senses. When they

a particular way of dressing, a habit of speech, a big ghastly scar or

enter a scene, you describe it, telling them what they see, hear,

some behavior tic and keep that consistent. Even if they players

smell and otherwise observe. Note: You dont get to tell them what

dont remember the name, they may remember, Oh yeah, the

they feel about what theyre seeing. Thats the players job, though

coachmans daughter with the stutter.

it rarely hurts to say something like, Yeah, it looks like your

brother struggled a long time before he died. Looking closer, you

Interestingly, the more the PCs interact with minor characters,

see they pulled his ngernails out. How do you feel about that?

the more real those characters become. Dont ght this. Some

In fact, any time you want to stall while you gure something out,

big and unexpected fun can arise as characters get promoted from

or just want to slow things down for pacing purposes, you can

wacky neighbor to major ally.

play psychologist and ask for a read on the characters emotions.

Antagonists may or may not get names, but their purpose is to put

Many players love to tell you about their characters.

up a ght with the PCs, pure and simple. You may not catch the

Good description shows the important (or maybe just most

name of that goliath on the battleeld whos coming at you with

obvious) stuff without bogging down in useless embroidery.

a sword in one hand, a shield in another, and a big warhammer

Good description uses a lot of senses on a battleeld the

in the third what the? Three arms? Yikes! but hes certainly

characters should feel mud under their boots and hear the cries

a cut above the hat-holder. Characters like this should have full

of the dying and the wounded, louder even than shouts of terror

combat stats, because their function in the plot is to have long,

and command. They should taste smoke and smell blood with

glorious ghts with the PCs. (If your players dont care for battle,

each breath as the sun beats down on the chaos.

you may never need an antagonist. Most players care.)

When players ask for more details, supply it but dont sweat it. If

Major characters are those who are involved again and again, and

theres no particular relevance to how a given GMC is dressed,

who either support the PCs and need their support in turn, or

you can make something up or just gloss over it Hes dressed

most commonly are the enemy against whom the characters

very nicely, isnt terribly evocative, but may communicate to the

strive. Youre going to portray these characters a lot, youre going

player that this isnt a detail that needs to matter much. Describing

to need to make coherent decisions on their behalf that feel real,

his furs and jewels may, however, communicate exactly how

so you need to get into their heads. These characters are, for you,

rich he is, or his taste, or his history. After all, a guy in a fancy

as detailed as the PCs should be to the players. You should identify

and nicky confection of lace and pastel fringe creates a much

with them... as long as you dont fall into the trap of wanting

different impression than someone in exquisitely cut but subtle

them to be the main characters. The PCs are the main characters.

gray velvet.

Your major characters exist to provide plot and resistance to the

PCs, so when its time for them to fall back and let the heroes

One pitfall to avoid is inconsistency. If there was only one door

be heroes, do it gracefully. When your beloved villain dies at the

into the room a moment ago (or last session), saying that there

PCs hands, it should be the climax of climaxes, your death of

are two now is going to confuse the players, snap the illusion and

Hamlet, but the PCs big scene.

lower their trust in what youre telling them. This is a problem.

Description

How much of a problem depends on how major the disconnect.

At last, a GM task that isnt fraught with peril! With character,

care and no one should. Big things though, you need to get right.

plot, conict and rules with all that stuff you have to keep a

Take notes. Review them before the gaming group is all together.

balance between fairness and story bias and fun maintenance and

It doesnt have to be awless... it just has to be better than the

everything else, but description, ah! Thats far, far less political.

players notes.

If its a minor detail, you can shrug and move on no one will

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Its impossible (and undesirable) to catalogue everything in a

Here goes:

given space. Tell them whats relevant but (heres the tricky part)

The purpose of the game is for everyone to have a good time.

be exible with stuff that might become relevant. Just because

no one noticed that theres a mop in the room doesnt mean the

This would seem to be obvious, but many anecdotes indicate that

room has no mop: If a player asks Is there a mop or something

people lose track of it. To keep your GM eyes on that prize, there

around? your answer should depend, not on whether you put

are some rather more abstract concerns, above and beyond just

mop on your mental list of room props, but on whether its

knowing how trip attacks interact with charging attackers. There

appropriate (No, the Dark Masters private meditation chamber

are elements of attitude. I hesitate to describe a GM mystique

does not have a mop) and whether you think theyre going to do

but certainly there are approaches that work and those that crash

something cool and/or scene-wrecking with it.

and burn. Heres what works.

Certain places, just by their nature, contain certain things.

Trust

Characters in a blacksmiths shop should be able to nd a

Your players need to trust you to run the game. You need to

hammer and some bellows. Characters in a forest should have no

establish a standard of fairness and stick to it. You need to make

trouble nding sticks and leaves. Characters in a library can nd

an effort to be consistent with the rules, with the facts of

books, paper and ink. Even things that just might be in a certain

description, with the personalities of your GMCs. They need

place... its often a good idea to let PCs nd them, as long as its

to feel that they have a reasonable chance to make assumptions

plausible and theyre not becoming ridiculously lucky. Giving

and predictions about the game world: If youre not consistent,

the players a little bit of ownership of the setting opens possi-

theres no point in doing that. If you arbitrarily throw meaningless

bilities for the characters. (Finding a broom in the blacksmiths

opposition at them whenever they try something unorthodox

shop, a character sets the bristles on re and makes a torch. A PC

or worse, whenever theyre nearing success theyll conclude

maneuvers a guard onto a patch of ice before trying to trip him.

that its your game and that youre just using them for your own

A character whips up a simple but elegant meal from forage at

amusement without giving anything back.

the campsite.) Furthermore, giving them that scope to imagine

Running a game is fun, making up the junglegym of the story is

gets them invested in the game. If they have some authority to

neat, but you have to trust the players enough to let them play on it

decide theres an incredibly heavy, elaborate and lthy spittoon

even if theyre not playing the way you expected they would.

in the tavern, theyre more likely to produce some interesting

and comical characterization or ght choreography involving a

You need to trust them, too. You must be able to trust your players

big dirty jar of drool. It gets them into it because its theirs and

to make a real effort to interact realistically and to commit to their

theyre making it, instead of having it be yours and theyre just

character. If they arent doing that, you cant give them the game

looking at it.

they want. If theyre not involved with the character and dont
really care, it doesnt matter what you put in front of them.

The GMs Advanced Duties

The difference is, when a GM doesnt trust her players, she has

If you can manage the concrete elements of conict, character,

so much power over the rules, the setting and the GMCs that she

description and plot, you are a competent GM. That probably

may be tempted to try and encourage the players to do it right.

makes you a fun GM... as long as youre applying those skills the

Then you just get antagonism. Instead, you have to use all the

right way. But even a GM with encyclopedic rules knowledge,

tricks in the GM bag to seduce the players and draw them in. Give

deft plotting abilities and a superb grasp of drama is going to fail

them spectacle and opportunity and challenge and excitement.

if she is running the game in the wrong direction, or if she misun-

Give them a fair game. Offered that, anyone with the potential to

derstands the point of the exercise.

play well, will.

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Tone Control

Leadership

Tone means the emotional backdrop of the game. Is your

This is a big one, and tough. Gaming is fun, its an entertainment,

game going to be gloomy and desperate, lighthearted and

and most likely youre going to do it with a group of friends.

frolicksome, or somber and majestic? These are tone concerns,

Most of us dont like bossing around our buddies we like to

and they inuence character, plot and description.

go along, get along, let consensus emerge in a laid back form of

democracy.

Decide on a tone before the game starts and youll save yourself
a lot of headaches headaches that are hard to explain without

That works... to a point.

considering tone, such as the dissonance caused when characters

In gaming though, the GM has more power. Its your setting

based on splatterpunk highviolence assumptions are tossed into

and your plots and while the players have the main characters,

a political game of intrigue and insinuation. Or the issues that

the burden is on you. If a player skips a session, the rest of you

inevitably crop up when one players character is desperate, one

can probably muddle through. If the GM blows it off, theres no

is frolicksome, and one is majestic. Somethings got to give there,

game.

or the party is going to constantly tug in different directions.

Like it or not, youre the leader while youre running the game.

One way to communicate tone is to tell your players This game

You should certainly be an enlightened despot who cares about her

is gritty and combat can be deadly fast, so be hesitant to escalate

players desires and who respects their input, but you can force

the GMCs are. Or to say, This is a talky game of somewhat

things to happen in a way that players cant. Ive cautioned again

satirical realpolitik people do cruel things for absurd reasons,

and again about abusing the authority that comes with being GM,

but as politicians the characters can often escape the consequences

but theres an upside to that authority as well.

of their callousness. Thats ne as far as it goes, but theres a

difference between having a tone and merely asserting one. If you

The upside is, you can lead.

tell them what youre planning and dont follow through, youve

If you act a certain way, the players are likely to model that. If you

misled them, and thats unlikely to turn out well.

prepare and have a good grasp of the rules, you can encourage

Once youve set the tone, maintain it. Description is the most

them to do the same hearing Hey, before the game starts,

immediate and simple way to keep tone consistent. If the game

you might want to brush up on exactly how long that spell takes

has a tone of moral degradation, and the PCs are the relatively-

to cast and how it works from the GM carries a lot more weight

clean heroes who are going to ght the power, you can reinforce

if shes not running to the book every ten minutes. It also carries

that by stressing details like muddy streets, horses with sores from

more weight than if it comes from another player.

being made to pull loads too heavy for them, the potbelly on the

If you break character in order to stick in a Monty Python joke

mayors mistress while urchins starve in the street... If your tone

during tense moments, the players are going to feel thats okay.

is bright and fully of shiny, heroic wonderment, you can describe

(In your game group, maybe it is.) On the other hand, if you want

the fresh air of the forests, the tall and graceful spires of the palace,

your drama to be pure, you certainly have the right to shush a

the dewy rosebuds climbing the trellis by the bakers house... any

disruptive player who cracks wise at an inappropriate moment.

and all those details might be in both games, but youve only got

Some people, assertive people, nd this very easy to do. If youre

so much time in a session to describe things. Concentrate, then,

not assertive, youve got a choice. You can put up with enjoying

on the details that t the feel youre after.

the game less than you should, or you can screw up your courage
and call out the tonebreaker. In most cases, the guy doesnt
realize it bothers you and simply making your position clear
one time sufces. But if a player consistently breaks the game...

12

or is rude to you... or is being a jerk to the other players... well,

Some GMs implement fairness by writing up a set of circum-

you may need to kick him out. This, too, is a traditional role for

stances beforehand, balanced against the PCs abilities, and then

the GM policing individuals so that they dont screw with the

letting the chips fall where they may as the players attempt to

collective. Its not necessary all that often, but when it comes

navigate their characters through it. This dungeon approach

down to it, youre better off booting the guy who cant play along.

has a long and honorable tradition. If it works for you, okay. But

If you dont, the odds are pretty good that the game dies a slow,

its prone to the death spiral effect if you construct it strictly,

painful death anyway.

in which one setback makes the next setback more likely, until a
cascade leaves the characters writhing helplessly. If you can run

Fair Conict

a good tragedy, that works. Otherwise, you might nd yourself

Why is gaming fun?

interrupting your plans to bail out the characters so building

It can be for the same reason that chess is fun you manipulate

some wiggle room into the initial setup is a good idea. Rigid prep

the rules to get an outcome you like. It can be for the same reason

like this also makes it harder to respond when the PCs get some

that poker is fun you calculate probabilities in a system with

wild notion and jam off after it. No matter how much you try to

random elements in pursuit of advantage.

prepare and anticipate, some day they will make your jaw drop.
Accept it, adapt to it and move on.

It can be for the same reason that a lm or a play is fun characters

are put into trying circumstances and deal with them (or fail to

Other GMs go session-by-session, adjusting this weeks challenge

deal with them in some compelling way).

based on last weeks actions. This requires constant effort, but its
easier to cleave to the players goals, actions and current success

The common element is conict, opposition and obstacle. It has

level. The issue with this approach is that your game may drift

to be a fair conict, too anything else is unsatisfactory. (No

and feel plotless. If everyones having fun, thats not an issue. If

one wants to play chess against an equal opponent if you start

its starting to feel stagnant and pointless, you may want to pre-

out down a queen and two rooks). But it also needs to hold out

load a little more to get a greater sense of direction.

the promise of improvement. The character (or player) needs to

be able to take concrete steps to better his odds and improve his

Youre going to have to experiment and nd out what works best

situation. At the same time there needs to be the real risk of over-

for your group and yourself, but thats actually a big part of the

reaching (or stagnating) and making the situation worse. This is

fun of it trying new things and enjoying unexpected successes.

whats behind all that rising action: Is the character on the right

As long as youre fair with your players, theyll usually forgive

track? Its also whats behind falling action: Did he meet his goals?

quite a bit. As long as you put in the work, even average players
can provide a more than ample payoff.

13