It's very tempting to simply repeat my recommendation for Justin Alexander's 'So You Want To Be A Game's Master' or his website 'The Alexandrian', but that's too easy.
Another RPG pundit that I've benefited from a lot is Scott Rhem, aka The Angry GM. His Tension Pool, or whatever it's currently called, is a great idea that I regularly used in F2F gaming, but much of what he writes is specific to certain circumstances, and aimed at long time GMs.
In fact today there's more advice for GMs and players that ever before, and there's only going to be more.
When I started playing, the rule books, especially the GMs section, contained useful advice, and then there were the magazines and fanzines.
A lot of this seems to have moved online now, and a GM or player can spend hours each day watching helpful advice rather than getting on with designing anything useful.
So I'll settle on one very wise piece of advice that a venerable GM, witnessing me stressing over preparing to run a session at the FLGS said;
"Looks like they're going to have fun tonight".
I must have mumbled something like I hope so, I just have to get all this ready for them.
He replied "Don't forget to have fun yourself".
Now I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember who said this. It was one of the other GMs at the shop. We'd regularly glance at each others games, but I didn't really respond beyond a mumbled thanks. I did try to catch him later, but I missed him*.
I'm certainly guilty of spending a lot of time trying to make sure that my game will be as good as I can get it. I want the players to have as much fun as possible.
Long time readers of my blog know that I've a tendancy to overthink things.
When I was in teacher training our tutor instilled in us a very 'belt and braces' approach, but quantum ogres notwithstanding, in RPGs this leads to a lot of wasted prep (in lesson planning too).
In the end, this leads to frustration and burnout, or at least, it does for me.
I came close to this with the 4E campaign. Ironically, one of 4E's flaws, the overly detailed and slow combat, especially at high levels, helped me here. I never had to plan in detail very far ahead.
I still ended up designing an entire dungeon based around a Blue Dragon that the players completely avoided though.
If I'd remembered to have fun myself I suspect the campaign might have ended sooner. I'd certainly have worried less about getting everything perfect. I'm sure as well that when the GM is having fun, the players pick up on it and have a better time too.
*Now I realise that this would be a better story if no one else had seen him, or that the staff had said "that sounds like 'Owd Tom'. He always sat there, right up until the night he died".
Still, it's possibly the best advice I've ever heard.
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