Unframed: The Art of Improvisation For Game Masters

by Martin Ralya (Editor), John Arcadian (Contributor), D. Vincent Baker (Contributor)

Improvisation is key to running any roleplaying game. It s an essential skill for every game master and player, and can mean the difference between a good gaming session and a great one. Until now, there hasn t been a system-neutral book that covers improvisation for game masters from every angle. The Art of Improvisation for Game Masters is that book. An anthology of 23 essays by a diverse group of award-winning authors, designers, and experienced game masters, Unframed gives you the tools and inspiration to improvise better, wing it without hesitation, and get killer results. Inside this book you ll find advice on improvising dialogue scenes by Robin D. Laws (Hillfolk, Ashen Stars), a look at Just In Time improvisation from Jennell Jaquays (Caverns of Thracia, Dark Tower), advice on listening to your players by Jason Morningstar (Fiasco, Durance), tricks for handling curveballs from Jess Hartley ( The Lost, The Sin-Eaters), tips on improv in horror games from Kenneth Hite (Trail of Cthulhu, GURPS Horror), insightful essays by the authors of the ENnie Award-winning game mastering blog Gnome Stew, and many more.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Games, Gaming, Nonfiction, Dungeons and Dragons

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Howdy! I've tried to capture every book and graphic novel I've ever read here (including, for comics, completed webcomics and arcs of single issues I can match to TPBs), but I'm sure I've missed more than a few. I didn't start tracking by year until 2018.

All of my work as an author has been in the RPG industry; my first published work was in an issue of "The Scroll," a small RPG zine, at age 13. (I track gaming books on RPGGeek, not on Goodreads.)

My "considering" shelves are my wishlist. My "following" shelves are for series that I'm reading. I tend to shelve by primary genre, even if more than one genre applies; I ignore genre for comics.

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers advice for GMs on how to incorporate more improvisation in their campaigns. The advice here is useful for new GMs (experienced GMs are probably using most of the techniques mentioned here). Each chapter is a few pages, so it's easy to pick up when you only have a short time to read. The chapters are written by different people in the RPG industry. Since the authors are different, there are some cases of repetitive content though.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of short essays on using improv techniques when running RPGs. No bad essays in the lot, and a few really good ones. Only downside was that a few basically restated the same points, often by discussing improv in a general sense rather than focusing on some specific aspect. (B+)

[Alfredo Amatriain · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays on this book are focused on techniques for improvising while GMing role-playing games. Every author has a different idea of what improvising means in this context, but that's good because the perspectives offered have a lot of variety.

Some of the essays were thought provoking. Others didn't offer anything new. A couple offered insights that I've found immediately applicable and useful in our games. All of them were well written and ranged from mildly interesting to fascinating. Not a single one was really bad.

My biggest complain is that a lot of pages were dedicated to discussing techniques from improv theatre; despite the superficial similarities, I think RPGs and improv theatre are two very different beasts, and at least my RPG group social contract (we've been role playing for decades) has no use for those techniques.

Still, an interesting read. I recommend it if you're interested in comparing your style with those of the authors, and hopefully improving your skills in the process.

[Lissibith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a GM or just love the art and craft of collaborative storytelling, check this book out,

This collection of essays looks at all manned of topics regarding freestyling your interactions with your players and how to get the most out of your improv. Depending on what your strengths and weaknesses may be in that department, different essays will be more or less useful, but almost all of them were brief, to the point, and helpful to an extent.

Definitely keeping this one on my shelf.

[Jason Bergman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice little book about incorporating techniques from improv theater into running tabletop RPGs. As a GM who has a tendency to over-prep, I definitely need this kind of advice, and found a lot of very useful tips in here. That said, this isn't a textbook or a how-to guide. Rather it's a collection of essays, each from a different author, each covering the same topic. Every individual author has their own take on the subject, but there's a lot of overlap and redundancy.

Still, I found this to be quite useful and inspirational. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject.

[Naughty Sparkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was a collection of essays, all revolving around gm improvisation. Couple of essays interesting, nothing earth-shattering. I've been improvising my game mastering for a while now, some of these were helpful but few of these were not so but entertaining nonetheless. All in all, I think this was a good read, I enjoyed myself.

[Moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very solid read. Great information for all GMs and many players.

I reviewed it fully here:
http://w-g-r.blogspot.ca/2014/06/i-go...

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful book for aspiring GM's. Certainly highlights some of the mistakes I've made as a GM in the past.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Multiple short essays with tips and tricks about improvisation in p&p RPGs. Would be five stars if the essays wouldn't repeat the tip "Yes and" again and again.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read for people new to tabletop roleplaying, but probably not the most useful book for established GM's. The essays are of varying quality and many of them repeat the same advice for improvisation (say "yes, and...", prepare random tables, have lists of names ready, study acting, do something weird, etc.) that already appears in many other books aimed at Game Masters. I appreciate the breadth of different authors here though, as each author has a different perspective on improv and conveys their ideas in a slightly different way. They're all established veterans too with a wealth of knowledge and experience that mostly comes through in these short works (4-5 pages). I expect every GM will come away from this book with a different impression of it, and they'll ultimately have to decide how best to use the information herein, depending on the kind of game they're trying to run.

[Selçuk Gökhan Kalkanoğlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fena bir kitap olduğunu söyleyemem. İçerisinde birhayli enteresan fikirler ve tespitler vardı. Bazılarını not bile aldım. Ama, barındırdığı makalelerin hatırı sayılır bir kısmının birbirinin tekrarı ya da boş beleş gevelemeler olduğu düşünülürse "ortalama bir kitap işte" puanı veriyorum.

Boş zamanınız varsa ve doğaçlama üzerine bazı tespitler arıyorsanız atlaya atlaya okuyabilirsiniz.

[Jeffrey Henning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short, uneven quality, and repetitive, yet I'm glad I read it, as I will refer back to some of the essays.

[Thiago Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this is a very good book. If you are more of a prep GM or an improvisational GM, it doesn't matter. If you're a new GM or if you've been DMing for 20 years (like me) it doesn't matter. You're going to get something out of this book. The essays are all very thoughtful and you can tell the authors put their heart into it, for the most part.

There are two things that kept me from giving this book 5 stars. First one was the editing. The writers were clearly working very independently here and that each writer manages to bring new material to the table is extraordinary; it really speaks to the individuality of GMing and how much these people understand gaming. However, there is one piece of advice that keeps being repeated over and over and over in every essay - the "yes and..." technique. The editor should have just removed it from the later essays, really. Maybe I'm being unfair, but it makes the editor look lazy. The other problem with the book is St Andre's essay. It's not really advice, it's just him rambling about this game he had, which was kind of cool because reasons. If I wanted to know that, I'd check on Mr St Andre's blog or somesuch. I was expecting essays on improvisation, not anedcotes.

Still, despite these two small flaws, it's a superb book. I recommend it to everyone who is into GMing.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the major players in the storygames movement have contributed to this volume. When it's on, it's very on: Vincent Baker, Robin Laws, Ken Hite, and Jason Morningstar have some great essays on conversations, shared imaginations, and making it work. The other contributors also have lots of advice on listening, saying "Yes, and...", and getting weird in a game. The weakness in this collection is a lot of repetition-too many intros defining improvisation and its use in RPGS, which could have been worked through by a stronger editorial vision (but yeah, then some people might not have contributed...), and some odd gaps in practice. Saying that you should listen is easy, actually listening is hard. And one of the most promising ideas, asking questions of your players to draw out their hooks and story elements, isn't explored in depth. Overall, an inspiring collection but one that might be hard to use.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays is well worth the read if you are early in your GMing arc or if you are looking to branch out into more and more improvisational play. As you would expect with any collection, some essays are brilliant, some are good, and some have less to offer. Nothing in here is downright bad, and I only found one of the 23 essays to not be worth the reading.

It was a great idea to create a GM guide made from many voices rather than from a single perspective. Even with overlap and retreaded ground, the different voices act to create a conversation rather than a lecture, which I found very enjoyable.

The standout essay, for me, was D. Vincent Baker's "Coherence and Contradictions." I have already returned to it twice and expect I'll be consulting it as I continue to grow at the art.

Well worth the time and money for those looking to read about the art and learn from those who have been doing this for a long time.

[Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts with an example taken from Firefly and social encounters, at which point I'm already hooked. It then continues with collaborative gaming and tips on the art of storytelling on the fly, all very useful. Some of the essays are pretty basic, some seem to drift away from the general concept of the book, but there are some jewels, like Morningstar’s (the maker of Fiasco) that throw a shower of insight and for those alone the book is worth it. It could be better edited, however, I found a few typos. All in all, this little book is one of the best things I’ve read about running roleplaying games.

[Felix Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good book for those wishing to improve upon their improvisational gamemastering skills. Alot of the early part of the book draws from improv acting, so those well versed in it may want to skip the beginning. People like myself with no prior experience with improv outside of role-playing might find out more useful. the latter half of the book I found more useful in terms of game/session prep and worldbuilding. Overall a good book for GMs wishing to improve upon their craft.

[Solomon Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a GM, I cannot recommend this book enough. I would have said I was a good improv GM going into this book, but it gave me words for things I've always done instinctively and gave me many new ideas as well.

[Todd Landrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the other improv book. Some decent ideas I'll try and take away. Some of the essays definitely more useful than others.

Side note: Majority of these game authors are listed as "freelance". A little sad that the people that provide the hobby I love don't have solid jobs.