A "What the F@ck?" Kickstarter - How to Game Master like a F@cking Boss

Yeah, I know that the real title of this Kickstarter doesn't use a @ in place of the letter "u" in the most versatile word in the English language. I do try to keep curse words out of the blog post titles as best I can, so @ it is.

In any case, Venger is back with a new Kickstarter - How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss.

Now, first rule of a successful Kickstarter is - have it written before putting your hand out. By his own words, Venger has only about a third of this done as he kicks off his request for funding.

I'm not impressed by the percentages mentioned above. Oh, and no cover art yet. Heck, no sample art at all.

edit: Cover art and artist name added to the Kickstarter page. Venger does listen to advice. Now if only the boiler plate could sound less like "get laid with Secrets of the Masters."

But there is this excellent example of wooden dice trays that Venger puts together by hand. Pledge $111 for one of these.

I know Venger has a high opinion of himself. More power to him. I would like to have the following explained (I know its hyperbole) - which "Game Mastering practices of yore" are "weighing our hobby down."

The time has come to set down what I've learned so that you, too, can wrestle the untamed crimson dragon that lurks in the shadows beyond the lowly Game Mastering practices of yore, weighing our hobby down.  To wrestle with the dragon and win... that is what I shall teach you!

Hey, we get the secrets of the "Hidden Masters!"

I'll be going over the entire Game Mastering process:  tips, tricks, techniques, outside the box practices of the Hidden Masters, state of mind, confidence, insecurities, combat to non-combat encounter ratio, improvisation, room for improvement, dos and don'ts, random tables, as well as, a number of other topics.  Everything you need in order to Game Master like a fucking boss!

Why the fuck do I feel like I've stumbled across some damn website trying to sell me "secrets" that will make me "a Fucking Boss", grow my penis, improve my memory, bring me untold wealth and help me lose 50 pounds in just 5 weeks?

Because it reads like the very same shit.

Want to improve your Game Mastering skills quickly and effectively and for free? Be a player in games run by different GMs. Take the bits and pieces that work for you and improve your skills. Most importantly? Have fun.

Getting My Feet Wet - Returning to My Proper Place Behind the Screen

As I alluded to in the previous post, it looks like I may be DMing before I expected to be, and with a system I know very well, but have been away from for at least 20 years.  Yes, I'm talking AD&D 1e.

I expected my return to be GMing a play test document for an unreleased fantasy RPG (no, not 5E), so really, if I screwed up, I could have blamed the system...heh.  Not that I would, but at least my lack of knowledge could be explained.  If I screw up AD&D, I'll have no one to blame but myself...

At the very least, I'm going to have to go to storage tomorrow night, and grab my Player's Handbook and my two copies of OSRIC.  That should give me a couple of days to bring me back to fighting ability.

I'm going to assume that it is very much like riding a bike, and 15 years away from the chart side of the DM screen will fade away fast, but I am open to any advice one wishes to offer.

Shit, I'm almost begging for some advice.  Help a brotha' out! ;)

What Do You Consider Yourself - A DM or a Player?

I wish I had a cool looking screen like this
I do have the cool looking booklets tho' ;)

I ask, because even though I was out of active gaming for a number of years AND when I did return it was as a player, I still consider myself a DM first and foremost.

In my old groups, I was the main DM.  In the college gaming club, I was the only DM.  I was comfortable in that role.  Not everyone is.

I suspect that amongst gamers that blog, more associate themselves as sitting behind the DM screen then across from it.  The urge to create, to share, even to control your own little universe - blogging allows one to fill those needs.

So, where do you sit?  DM?  Player?  Both?  Neither?

As an aside, I may be back behind the DM screen this sunday.  Damn.  Exciting and scary ;)

Does Game Mastering = Riding a Bike?

It recently occurred to me that it's been about 14 years since I last ran an RPG session.  Amazing and kinda depressing at the same time.  Two years ago was the first time I rode a bike in 11 years (and it had been 12 years before that singular bike ride).  Riding a bike took me a few minutes for my body to remember everything, but after that it was natural.

Digression: (not game related) That singular bike ride 13 years ago needs a special mention.  It was in the South Bronx during the tail end of the crack epidemic.  My unit had arrested a number of, for lack of a better name, crack heads.  Our van was full of bodies, and as my arrestee had been on a bike, it was my responsibility to get that bike back to the Station House.  It was a bit over a mile, so I figured I'd ride the bike back,  Bad idea.

I was about 3 blocks from the arrest scene, coasting down hill, when the unit's van pulled up along side me with their emergency lights on.  Over the loudspeaker I heard: "The bike has no breaks!"  I tried the hand breaks and sure enough, nothing.  No breaks, lots of intersections and downhill.

"He says you gotta use your feet!"  "When you slow down!"  Slow down?  I was accelerating!  Here's a cop in tactical boots, full uniform with awkward gun belt going downhill without breaks being chased by a marked police van.  The van began getting to the intersections before me to stop what little traffic there was.  I tried dragging my toes to slow down but it didn't seem to be working.

At the end of the downhill was a junkyard, it's entrance at the end of the street I was on.  Thankfully it was open, and I travelled about 30 or 40 yards over assorted garbage and mud before wiping out on the hood of a junker.  Surprisingly, I managed to escape with little injured but my pride.  Well, that and the front tire of the bike looked more like a "U" now.

As the van pulled into the junkyard, I dragged the bike with me as I approached it.  Needless to say, both cops and perps were having a good laugh at my expense.  The kicker?  My perp didn't want the bike.  Said it wasn't even his.  He found it the day before.  He never expected anyone would try to ride it when he got arrested... at least until he saw me thru the van window and started screaming to my fellow officers that the bike had no breaks.  I left it in the junkyard.

End digression.

So, what I  want to know, or at least get some ideas about, is will my GM'ing chops come back, or will I be relearning my skills all over again.

Oh, and how do I avoid the disaster of 13 years ago if I get myself back behind the DM screen?(preparation and system knowledge is obvious - if you don't know a systems holes, it's like riding a bike w/o breaks... downhill... both ways... in 2 feet of snow ;)

Getting Back to GM'ing - Like Riding a Bike?

Maybe its more like driving a car in my case.  I'm fine with driving until I start thinking about it.  At which point, instinct goes out the window.  I start to over think (which may be why I have to look straight ahead when my son drives with a wall close on the left hand side... I start to over think).  When I start to over think, I get nervous.

Anyhow, I haven't run an RPG session since 1996 - I'm 15 years removed from it.  With the start of renovations, I'm also a step closer to running a game of Tunnels & Trolls or Swords & Wizardry via Fantasy Grounds.  I'm excited and scared by the whole concept.

Could be worse.  I could be terrified I guess ;)

Next step is painting the ceilings and the moldings...