How to GM: Losing the Fear of your first time

The GM is the untold hero of RPGs, being the storyteller and the antagonist, a chameleon that can be your biggest ally or your worst enemy. When the GM accepts the mantle, they gain both a huge responsibility with their players and the great joy of guiding them into a world of joy and wonders. Deciding to be GM for the first time can be a huge step. If you have been a player before, you may have an idea of the main job. They have to be NPCs, special effects, part of the team, storytellers, support, and co-writers for the story.  GMing can be a dreaded experience. Suddenly, you have to balance encounters and character arcs and know monsters and rules, but fear not! In the How to GM series, we will tackle some common mistakes and advise on how to GM, not necessarily focused on a system, but on a general style.

The most important part of the job of the GM is not the rules but the story. You have to want to tell a story in collaboration with the players, taking into account their opinions, feelings, and decisions, even the bad ones, by showing them the consequences. That being said, there are some misconceptions about GMing that we must strive to eliminate. The first and most common is that many new GMs feel is them against their players. This happens when game masters see themselves as a competition to the players. You are all there to have a good time and enjoy yourselves, it is not a competition.  Another common mistake is to just follow an adventure to a T. The table is a creative space where you can develop new ideas and concepts and take any chances your players give to continue growing their characters and developing their stories. Most of the recent adventures offer many different paths that leave space to be creative and develop your own ideas.  Some GMs like to use the rule zero (the GM is always right), but they have to remember that without players, there can’t be a GM.

You may be asking, “If I like being a player, why should I try to be a GM? It sounds like so much work !” Well, for one, it is fun to be in a position where you can steer stories. It is a big jump, but it is worth it. The look on your players when they hear your descriptions and pay you all their attention, the reaction to the plot twist or revelation you have been saving for the past eight sessions, and finally, the satisfaction you get when they say that they enjoy it and ask for the time of the next session is something hard to describe.