I am a pretty damned lucky GM. My last two articles have been inspired directly from the game of Exalted I am currently running. I am lucky for a lot of reasons, but the luck I am talking about right now is the fabulous group I have.
I just moved to Japan a few months ago after leaving two great groups from the last year (one I put together in Bangladesh and another of friends in D.C.). When I moved to Japan I started to worry if I would have enough material to discuss, especially if I could not put a viable gaming group together. However, with a little diligence and some aggressive e-mails I now have one of the best groups I have ever been part of. I am damned lucky, because without them, I might be hard pressed for topics. Due to gaming with my current Exalted group, I have had more than enough ideas popping around in my befuddled head.
Why am I telling you this, especially when it would be more appropriate to last month's column? Well, dear reader, it’s because I am pretty excited about gaming right now... and that is the topic for this week's column; The best GMs are the ones who are excited about gaming. I was reminded of this fact in my last session (more on that later).
Want to lead a game that your players are going to talk about for some time? My suggestion is to get excited. Get excited about your ideas. Get excited about the PCs. Get excited about conflict. Most of all though, get excited about the game as it progresses. The most outstanding GMs I have had the pleasure to play with have been excitable types.
Games are supposed to be fun. I realize we all know this and often try to remind each other of the fact once in a while. In reality though, GMs approach the craft with a workmanlike sense of duty. While I commend any GM that takes the craft seriously, I can't stress enough how important it is to enjoy the moment. This isn't just a suggestion to have fun for fun's sake, quite the contrary, taking the time to have fun will make you a better GM.
Recently, I had the fortune to sit in on a few games as a player and then to talk to the GM afterward in order to pick their brain and generally see what it is that makes them good at GMing.
After my last game of Exalted I thought back on one GM in particular (whose name I will withhold to protect the guilty) who really infused an excitement to the game. He would stand up most of the sessions and walk around the table, moving around to engage players and look them in the eye in a very proactive way. He has a loud voice and no matter where in the room he stands all the players can clearly hear him. He was obviously friends with most of the players and, I found out later, took his group out to dinner almost every session afterwards to talk about the game but also to kick back and enjoy good company. His energy was contagious, and before long even players unfamiliar with his style were out of their shell and really engaging the other players and the plotline.
It's funny how the simple things are often the most effective. I think back on some of the best games I have been in and almost invariably it is when the GM and players are excited, on the edge of their seat and occasionally talking over each other. In my memories, those were electric games, where everyone engaged each other and worked for the betterment of the story. Also looking back on those games, I can remember vividly that it was the GM that started the session off right with their own excitement. Whether the GM was pumped about the plotline, a character development, or simply having a great piece of pizza, their enthusiasm carried across the table.
Conflict, especially against a tense background, is probably the hardest time to get enthusiastic. Put yourself in the shoes of the player. Imagine that your character is in a really tough spot. In all likelihood, you are going to lose the character--a character you have spent the last six months investing time, effort, and experience points into bettering. It's hard to lose characters like that and often when faced with a situation where the character is going to leave the story, we, as players, fight back. I've seen players get belligerent or morose with the loss of a character. Not surprisingly, anger or resentment due to the loss of a PC is not good for the game.
Similarly, I have been in situations before as a GM where I want to avoid the loss of a character or help the players out of a particularly uncomfortable situation. I empathize with the players and don't want them to feel sad or hurt if something bad happens. That is the exact wrong approach to take. If the players see you avoiding a situation simply because it is uncomfortable, they will feed on your emotions and reluctance. Even if they do not logically pick up on your hesitation about the scene, their intuition will set off subtle warning bells. They too, will want to avoid the event and will probably start thinking of all sorts of creative ways to get out of the bad spot.
Instead, GMs should embrace conflict as story opportunities. Encourage players to play out their character's thoughts and emotions to believable conclusions and get excited about the possibilities that open up. If a player gets themselves into an untenable situation or surprises you with a potentially lethal (or stupid) action, smile, enjoy the moment, and encourage them to keep going with the thought. Seriously, it works. If the GM gets excited about the way the story is unfolding, then the players are usually willing to forge ahead and adopt the same enthusiasm come Hell or high water.
Now, put yourself into the same situation as above but instead of a neutral or reluctant GM, replace the GM with a really excited and enthusiastic person. Instead of allowing you to dwell on the loss of the character, the GM looks at the situation as an opportunity to enrich the game. They encourage you to play your character as you see fit, even if it lands your character into even more hot water.
Rather than dreading your reaction to the loss of a character, the GM encourages the scene along getting excited about the conflict opportunities. You, as the player faced with the same possibility of a loss of a character, are probably a lot more willing to "let it ride" and see where the story goes. Instead of avoiding the situation at all costs, you decide to follow the GM's lead and see the story opportunities ahead--even if it means losing the character. Those are the best stories. Those are the stories we love to retell to anyone who will listen.
Case in point, this last Exalted session the players (who are unExalted) jumped into the middle of a combat that probably would have gotten them all killed. I did not expect their actions in the least and remember being dumbfounded for a bit by the brash actions of the PCs and worried that the players had just potentially killed the campaign.
I took stock of the situation, asked for a second to collect my thoughts and figure out how the scene would play out and after a few moments clapped my hands together with a big smile. Either way, I figured, the players were going to put together one hell of a story and I was going to allow them to ride that plot point until it was resolved.
Instead of dreading the conflict and its possible consequences, I got excited that the players were being bold (and, yes, potentially very stupid) and wanted very much to see how things would play out. Afterwards, when the conflict was over and everyone was taking stock of what happened I could see by the smiles on the players' faces and the way they were all chattering away, that I had done right by them. I embraced the conflict and got excited and the story blossomed.
As with anything, there needs to be caution with this approach. There is a fine line between being excited about conflict and the game in general, and appearing like you are relishing the hazard and death of PCs.
Don't be malicious. Be excited about the story and the way the plot might unfold, but don't be happy about a character's death. Feed on the emotion of the moment, but don't dwell on the negatives. Simply put, make sure you and the players are enjoying the game as a cooperative event rather than you gloating at how "stupid" the players are.
"Stupid" actions, by the way, are often the best roots of conflict. Don't dismiss a player’s actions as stupid, especially if the action makes sense in character--the player may have just handed you the best drama of the night.
Oh? Did I mention I am keyed up about my current game and our next session? I can't wait to share my excitement with my players. They are sooo screwed and I can't wait to see what happens next. I know they are going to surprise me, they always do.
Can't wait!
In Summary:
- Enjoy the game, it will make you a better GM.
- Bring your enthusiasm to the table.
- Embrace conflict and get excited, your players will follow your lead.
- Get excited about the story, not the potential harm that could come to a PC.
- My pet peeve: calling a player’s actions "stupid."
