The Nature GM

​I remember my first session as Game Master. Everyone had made their level 1 characters. I had a short adventure prepared. We were sitting at someone’s dining table, chatting. And finally it was time to play. Everyone turned and looked at me. They were waiting. Because until I started speaking, there was no place and no game. Nothing happened until I spoke it into existence.

I have run multiple campaigns and a many, many sessions since that first game. And I have learned that filling the role of Game Master requires more than the ability to artfully weave a hero’s story and arbitrate rules: it also requires leading the players at the table. It is your job to set up everyone, including yourself, to enjoy this imaginary game.

This post has little to do with using nature to make your TTRPG game better and is primarily GM advice. I suggest a few general principles for game masters:

​We have had a variety of personalities at our table. Some readily jump into the story and buy in to what you have created, and some…well, they make their own decisions. This can be challenging, but it can also be good for both you and the players. Let us look at each principle in detail.

The World Has Continuity

Even an imaginary world should feel plausible and (generally) follow its own rules. Settlements need a source of water, food, and material goods. Monsters need a habitat and prey. Magic should function consistently, and any aberrant behavior should have an explanation.

A world does not need to be fully fleshed out to feel vast. All you need initially is the name of at least one distant city or kingdom and NPCs who have travelled from someplace the characters have not been. It only takes one forest with a ruined shrine to suggest that any forest could conceal secrets.

See other posts in this blog for thoughts on making specific aspects of your world more verisimilar.

The Characters Are Awesome

The players should feel that their characters are heroes, and they are unique. This means giving them some combat encounters that are just within their ability to win, so they are elated and proud when they do win. This means describing a killing blow in a dramatic way, the guts spraying out of the monster’s body and the character standing victorious over them. This means rewarding the characters with magic items that do something that cannot be done with a class ability or spell, even if it is not overly powerful. This may mean following the “rule of cool” and allowing the characters to do something that isn’t expressly stated in the rules. This means letting players describe how their characters are reacting to an NPC or a situation in the world, giving their own flavor to the situation. This means when a character tries to tie in something from their background, and it does not really matter, make it matter so they feel connected to and validated by the world.

This may also mean letting the characters brush against NPCs or encounters that are out of their league, so they know they have something to strive for. NPCs can be awesome too, but remember that the player characters are heroes of the story.

Everyone Contributes Their Strengths

Another way of thinking about this is inviting everyone to take a turn. Perhaps you have one or two players who are always eager to investigate a new place or question the NPCs. Let them do this, and also ask the other players what they are doing while this is going on. Often they will have a creative idea. Sometimes they only describe their character tagging along with another, but this is their choice and still allows them to give their character nuance.

Still another way of thinking about this is not allowing one player to dominate the story. Sometimes a player will say they want to take an action that is risky, and I give the other players a chance to react to what they see their companion preparing to do. Sometimes I remind them that they are all standing next to each other, and they can communicate their intentions to their party with word or gesture. Often these reminders cause them to work more collaboratively. But not always.

I had a player character who went off on their own to accomplish something, and I gave them a skill challenge to do what they set out to do while also narrating them rejoining the party. I think it was an effective compromise where they had a chance to do what they set out to do without taking too long or creating a permanent disruption to the party goals.

Skill challenges in general are a good way for characters to show off their skills that may not come up in normal gameplay. We use the skill challenge rules provided by Matthew Colville: Skill Challenges | Running the Game.

The Players Can Win

​Can you surprise the players? Yes, certainly. Can you trick the players? Well, you probably do not want to. Tricking the players will damage their trust in you. And if the players do not trust you, they do not trust the world you are building for them, and the verisimilitude begins to crumble. And what finally is the point of sitting here rolling dice?

Wanting the players to win means setting up a challenge (e.g. get inside the castle without getting caught) and accepting their idea on how to accomplish it even if it is not what you would have done. If they suggest something outlandish or seem to misunderstand the situation, give them information their characters would know that allows the players to revise the plan. Do not withhold information only to watch them fail.

Nothing Is Set in Stone

​And even stone erodes and weathers over time.

Be flexible when your story or plans are at stake. Be flexible when the players have a creative idea. Be flexible with monster HP and with NPC reactions to very high Persuasion rolls.

Do not be flexible when your values are at stake. Do not be flexible about inappropriate character behavior. Do not be flexible about players putting each other down. Do not be flexible about a rule that you think is crucial to the reality of the game, but discuss it with the players and be open to the idea that it is not all that crucial after all.

Players Having Fun is Fun

​I have worked hard to create a fantasy world which is robust, believable, and big enough that the characters have never bumped into the edge of it. I take pleasure in building out the world, thinking about how NPCs will react to the player actions, and creating maps to illustrate the land to myself and my players. However, what I enjoy most is when the players embrace what I have created. When they fear the monsters in the dark, and when they want to explore distant lands. When they take seriously the machinations of the NPCs around them and decide where to place their loyalty.

As a storyteller, what I want most is an audience. I want to see the delight and outrage that my story elicits from the players. I want to know what is working and what could be improved. And I am gratified when what I have created is seen as good.

Closing Thoughts

​A Game Master is a facilitator and a guide. They paint the landscape, light a lantern, and wait to see how the players react. They encourage a positive rapport and good sportsmanship between players. They are both the keeper and the sharer of secrets. And they must want to be worthy of their players’ respect, which is something earned session by session. Being a Game Master takes courage and vulnerability; being a good Game Master takes making mistakes and learning from them.