Gamemastering a tabletop roleplaying campaign is a lot like being a TV showrunner, I suspect - or at least, GMing the kind of campaigns that I run. I find myself recognizing plot arcs and twists in shows, and coming up with alternative or better options as I watch.

It comes from years of handling long-term story arcs and overlapping shorter-term stories with continuing characters. After a while finding new plot twists and arcs becomes second nature. I've been doing it so long that I do it in my dreams!

It's a little frustrating, because I have the skill...but I'll never have the option to make use of it outside of a roleplaying campaign.

#TTRPG #GMing #DMing #roleplaying #Gaming

I ran my D&D game last night, and I thought I'd write up how I prepped for it in hopes of starting some discussion about how y'all prep for games.

#Fellport #TTRPG #GMing

http://gamerblog.twwombat.com/2026/02/loose-game-prep.html

The No-Prep Gamemaster. a good book for GMs, an even better book for *non* GMs.
if you're in doubt whether you can run a game — this book is for you.
while the author claims the middle section is the core of the book, i actually think the extended preamble about what being a GM means is the true gem this book offers.
if you're debating GMing but think you aren't ready: read this book. you won't regret it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/524180/the-no-prep-gamemaster-train-your-brain-to-run-tabletop-roleplaying-games

#ttrpg #ttrpgs #GameMaster #GM #GMing #RolePlaying #RPG

Sometime in the very early 90s, when I first tried to learn to GM, I was running a Shadowrun 1e module that said, and I quote, "When the PCs run..."

I doubled what the module threw at them, and they mowed it all down. I did finally get them to move on, in a lull when Lone Star was sending in more equipment, but it was very much Not Running.

I still game with that group. Sometimes, when a GM plan goes south, we say, "When the PCs run..." and laugh our asses off.

#ttrpg #GMing