- A strong personal presence. Regardless of the presence of the other qualities, if you don't have good people skills you will never be a good GM. If you can't command the room then you really shouldn't be the GM.
- Decent story chops. You don't need to know all the tropes of all the genres or be Dostoevsky. You just need to know about the three act structure (introduction-rising action-climax-falling action) and how to make trouble for characters in a constructive way. You don't need to be an expert, just have a basic sense.
- The ability to absorb rules. Again, you don't need to be an expert, or even the most educated. But if you don't know your way around your rulebook even a little bit it's going to make being in authority that much harder.
It's really quite simple, there's really nothing more to it then that.
Makes sense! I just have one quibble: the "three-act structure" isn't an essential part of GMing. RPG stories don't naturally fall into it, and it's an overrated structure anyhow. (No, really. It's just one of many possible ways you can structure a story. It's a bit of a myth that three-act is the way to go every time.)
ReplyDeleteMore important is that you understand how to keep a plot moving, with up-beats and down-beats, building and releasing tension, and that you know when a good stopping point is. The input of the players will help the rest work right.
That's kind'a what I meant. Basic knowledge, or at least a good intuition for it, in case your terms are rusty, like yours truly.
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