Posts Tagged ‘gm advice’

[Edit: Thanks to the power of my accidental SEO fu, if you're looking for the panels & seminars at DunDraCon, go here.]

I’m pretty damned excited to announce some stuff I’ll be doing at DunDraCon 2011, February 18th-21st in San Ramon, CA. I’ll be hanging out with the redoubtable Jennifer Brozek, drinking at the hotel bar, or, well, both. For the events that don’t involve a bar tab, here’s what I’m doing:

How GMs can Bring their ‘A’ Game to the Table

Saturday 9:00 AM-10:00 AM, room 156

Having problems with your GMing? Or maybe it’s perfect…except for that one kink? Ryan Macklin and Jennifer Brozek have the solution for you! They’ll roll up their sleeves and show you how to use various techniques they’ve learned over the years to help you find your ‘A’ game. Get and keep your players hooked on your game while making your GMing easier.

Stealing From Indie Games: Borrowing systems, themes, and settings to enhance your RPG campaign

Saturday 10:00 AM-11:00 AM, room 156

There’s a lot of very interesting “gaming technology” out there for role-playing games. Systems such as FATE are really opening up story telling and leading to some very interesting gaming experiences. This seminar will talk about some of the cool stuff that’s out there and how to use it in more traditional RPGs such as D&D or CHAMPIONS.

[Note: This is a late addition, and my name’s not on the schedule. But I’m totally going to be there, rocking with Bruce Harlick & the rest of the crew.)

Learn From Our Mistakes

Sunday 5:00 PM-6:00 PM, room 156

Jennifer Brozek and Ryan Macklin, award winning veterans of the RPG industry talk about what it is like to write RPGs and for each other. Combined, these two Swiss Army Knives of publishing have authored, edited, and managed more than 30 RPG products. Learn from our mistakes. Reap the benefit of our experience and discover some of the secrets of what really goes on in the back halls of the RPG industry.

Random Pick-Up Gaming

I’m otherwise a free agent at the con. @ me on the Twitters if you’re at the con, and we could meet up! I’m happy to drink with folks and play games. I can run a crapton, and will probably have some secret and not-so-secret playtests on me. Look forward to seeing you there!

- Ryan

Mike Montesa, Brian Isikoff, Sean Nittner and I are putting together a really cool event at Endgame on March 19th, 2001: our first GMs Seminar! You could find out more on Mike’s blog post, or see what I’ve cut and pasted here!

If you’ve been to my Bringing Your ‘A’ Game seminars in the past, either at NeonCon or impromptu BarCon ones, you know how great of an opportunity this is. And with Mike, Brian & Sean speaking, it’ll be a hell of a day of GM craftsmanship and geekery.

Side note: I’m also doing this seminar at the upcoming DunDraCon next month! But that’s a separate announcement, and it’s never the same seminar twice, as it’s focused on the needs of the crowd.

The GMs Seminar
Saturday, March 19
At EndGame
10AM – 4:30PM
Fee: $20

Join the EndGame community of GMs for a day of discussion and workshops about running roleplaying games! Brian Isikoff, Ryan Macklin, Mike Montesa and Sean Nittner will be on hand to share their experiences and advice for getting the most out of your game, your players, and yourself!

Spin Up the Jump Drive: Gaining Player Buy-in and Team Building at the Table, with Brian Isikoff

Having trouble getting a campaign started up and firing on all cylinders? Brian shows you how to get everyone involved and invested in the game.

Fall in! Running Military Themed RPGs, with Mike Montesa

Have you ever watched a movie like Saving Private Ryan, The Great Escape, or a TV show like Band of Brothers and wanted to do something like that in a game? And then you thought, naw, it’ll never work? Mike will discuss ways of achieving the drama of a good war story, and touching on things like handling chain-of-command, adventure design and other issues and challenges specific to roleplaying in the context of a military setting.

Practical Props, with Sean Nittner

At the table, in nearly every game, is the opportunity to turn generic components into props that reinforce the themes and flavor of your game. Sean will be talking about converting over all your generic basics like dice, character sheets, and in game currencies into tailored props that help the game come alive and act as constant reinforcement of the setting to the players.

Bringing your ‘A’ Game, a GM Workshop by Ryan Macklin

Ryan Macklin will run a 2-hour, hands-on workshop on GMing techniques, based on the problems you’re dealing with today. He’ll help you find ways to address problems with preparation, dealing with people at the table, and executing a smooth session. Get and keep your players hooked on your game while making your GMing easier with Ryan’s help.

To register for the seminar, send an email to: EndGameGMSeminar@gmail.com
In the subject line put: EndGame GM Seminar Registration
Please include your full name.

After Mike receives your email, he will send you a PayPal request for the registration fee. Once you have paid the fee, you’ll receive confirmation as a seminar attendee.

Doors open at 10am and the seminar begins at 11am. Coffee and pastries available for registered attendees. Seminar materials will be provided but bring your own notebook!

Space is limited to 25 attendees, so don’t wait to sign up! (Note: we’ve had at least seven sign-ups so far, so seriously, don’t delay!)

“But I’m on the wrong coast,” you say

Fly out.

No? Okay. Well, then you should check out what they’re doing in DC on that same day: A Taste of Fiasco, at Labyrinth Games. Jason “The Ferret” Morningstar will be there.

Still can’t make it? I don’t know, go celebrate Purim? Tends to be a hell of a party. Or continue recovering from St. Patrick’s Day. I probably will be.

- Ryan

There’s something I tell people often when they start to get tripped up in a thought — be it playing a game, or trying to articulate a design, whatever:

Say it badly now. Then we’ll work on saying it well.

This comes from my own experiences where trying to state an idea well right away caused me to hesitate, which made me feel like I was a fucking idiot, which in turn killed my confidence in myself and my ideas. I like to tell people that I could have been the person I am today years fucking earlier if I had learned that one lesson sooner.

(Of course, it took those years to learn the lesson concretely/emotionally/to-heart/however you like saying that, rather than just intellectually. So, even that’s bullshit.)

Then I started using this technique a lot as a GM to get players stumbling over an idea to slow down and feel comfortable about saying anything. Works fucking wonders. Only later did I realize the uses outside of the gaming table, and about using it for myself.

We all fear looking like an idiot, especially on the Internet with cockbites around every corner waiting to tear you down, or we’re looking to gain the respect of people we respect, stuff like that. I totally understand the impulse to craft a message well before saying it. Hell, it’s not like I don’t still try myself — we all do. We all should when we can. This rule applies to when we find we can’t.

As social creatures, we are brilliant when we’re feeding off of each other — many minds are better than one and all that jazz. If you have an idea you’re having trouble articulating or making work, get outside of your head. By saying whatever you can to someone else, they can to help you better figure it out. Last night, I was working on trying to explain what I mean by “emotional resonance” to one of my good friends, Justin Smith, and I started with “so, I’m going to talk some dumb shit here, bear with me.” He helped me understand what I was actually talking about, and now I get the concept itself better than I did by thinking about it silently.

Look at my last blog post, Reward Mechanics & Paying Attention. I poorly articulated some shit there that it took others to help me better understand. If I was afraid of looking like a moron on the Internet, I wouldn’t have posted that. I knew I was off on something, but couldn’t entirely figure out what. Now I know (or, at least know better than before).

So if you’re flustered or confused or just can’t quite articulate this thing in your head, stop trying to do it well. Do it poorly. (If you need a safety net, do it poorly with friends, and state up-front that you’re going to do so. Also, if people give you shit for it, I recommend the retort “Fuck off, cockbite.” They’re being the asshole, not you.)

Related: Be unafraid of being wrong, and of admitting that you’re wrong. I have formed and furthered relationships with people that have started by me being wrong in a conversation (not intentionally, of course). No one needs to be right all the damned time. Which is convenient, since no one is.

- Ryan