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Gamemastering
Gamemastering. No other task is as unpopular in a roleplaying group. Very often, it is the gamemaster who ends up doing all the work so everyone can enjoy the game. But the job of gamemaster is at least as exciting and unpredictable as taking on the role of a player character. When comparing gamemasters, it becomes obvious that some are better at their task than others-which is why rumours that one has to be "born to be a gamemaster" stubbornly persist. This book does away with this preconception and provides both beginning and experienced gamemasters with instructions that are usually neglected in roleplaying game books. How to tailor the game to the group? How to prepare a game in no time? Can one learn to improvise? How to create and structure adventures? These and other questions are answered in a detailed manner including directions, exercises, and examples. Enjoyment always comes first-roleplaying is supposed to be fun and not turn into too much work. Not even for the Gamemaster.
- GenresRole Playing Games
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 5, 2011
After having read this book, while I feel there is some good information to be found here, there was quite a long slog in order to get to it. Having sat on the fence for a while now on how to rate it, I believe I shall give it a two-star rating as that seems to be the median for me and the most appropriate.
This book has a number of flaws that, in my opinion, make it hard to read. I get the impression that this book is a translation from a German version. However, even if it is not a translation, it still suffers from a bit of haphazard editing, flow problems, and meta-discussion and tone problems that really detract from the information itself. Specifically, there are points in the text that read like very hard shifts between ideas, where the author talks about one point and then jump-cuts to the next; I attribute this to editing, as there were points where I felt that the author was building into an explanation of a feature of gamemastering and what more he had to say was dropped.
Flow problems come at both the paragraph and the chapter level, and while some are likely a problem of editing, others seem a problem of overall design. The chapters lay out as a Gamemaster's Tasks, the Role-Playing Group, Mastering a Game Session, Preparation, Adventure Themes, and Further Gaming Techniques (miscellany). As I read through these chapters, the general flow for my reading read as what the GM's role is and the hows and why-fors, understanding players' personalities and motivations, a gamemastering style, guidelines for preparation for running a session, adventure themes, and miscellaneous. While I consider all of these topics germane to gamemastering, they really felt like they were presented out of order. I will be honest: I don't know a better order after only one reading. Your mileage may vary on this.
Probably my largest complaint is the meta-discussion and tone problems. There are "Digging Deeper" sections at the end of some chapters. The author offers the explanation that these sections are sometimes used to tie disparate ideas within the chapter together or to attempt to make clear something confusing. More times than not, these sections read like a disparaging forum post made toward the author that he feels the need to respond to. There seemed like very little actual digging deeper was going on. Moreover, along the lines of the meta-discussion, there are portions of the book that read to me as if the author, who is connected to Internet discussions on gamemastering through various forums and such, is writing about gamemastering leveraging this knowledge but not really telling us what that is. That is, in order to understand what he is saying sometimes, I have to have the ability to read his mind, it seems, and not just what is presented on the page.
All of that said, however, the book is very rewarding with the information it does provide. The chapters may be a bit of a jumble, but the core information is there. The chapter on preparation is well worth reading. The author understands the bulk of gamemastering has to do with this aspect of the work, and he devotes most of the book to just this chapter. Also, the information on character presentation, relationship/conflict maps, adventure themes, and managing flow/pacing/preparation duties make a lot of good points and are illustrated well within the text.
Another hat tip to the author would be his use of examples throughout the text. He does not hesitate to use examples, and all of them are good enough to illustrate whatever he is discussing within the text. This is especially the case when he is talking about relationship/conflict maps; there is only so much one can get from a text description for these.
Another good quality of the book I found to be the author's use of the 36 dramatic situations. Not only are these situations provided in the appendix, but they are provided with an example of each. I realize some GMs would complain that he did not provide examples for every type of genre, but I think that would be impossible. I would say that it would have been a good idea to make reference to the presence of these dramatic situations in the book at points where they were used in the chapter text.
Overall, this book, while I found it hard to read, I also found its information useful. I know the book claims that it provides instructions to gamemasters of all experience levels from beginner on up, but I think that this book is only truly for experienced gamemasters. Experienced gamemasters will not only have an appreciation for the information presented, but they will know and understand how to apply it to their gaming situations. I would recommend beginners stick with the gamemastering advice that comes within the rulebooks of most modern RPGs (as they tend to have chapters or whole books on how to gamemaster their games.. at least the modern RPGs tend to). Once they have taken that advice as far as they can, then they should think about digging in to something like this.
This book has a number of flaws that, in my opinion, make it hard to read. I get the impression that this book is a translation from a German version. However, even if it is not a translation, it still suffers from a bit of haphazard editing, flow problems, and meta-discussion and tone problems that really detract from the information itself. Specifically, there are points in the text that read like very hard shifts between ideas, where the author talks about one point and then jump-cuts to the next; I attribute this to editing, as there were points where I felt that the author was building into an explanation of a feature of gamemastering and what more he had to say was dropped.
Flow problems come at both the paragraph and the chapter level, and while some are likely a problem of editing, others seem a problem of overall design. The chapters lay out as a Gamemaster's Tasks, the Role-Playing Group, Mastering a Game Session, Preparation, Adventure Themes, and Further Gaming Techniques (miscellany). As I read through these chapters, the general flow for my reading read as what the GM's role is and the hows and why-fors, understanding players' personalities and motivations, a gamemastering style, guidelines for preparation for running a session, adventure themes, and miscellaneous. While I consider all of these topics germane to gamemastering, they really felt like they were presented out of order. I will be honest: I don't know a better order after only one reading. Your mileage may vary on this.
Probably my largest complaint is the meta-discussion and tone problems. There are "Digging Deeper" sections at the end of some chapters. The author offers the explanation that these sections are sometimes used to tie disparate ideas within the chapter together or to attempt to make clear something confusing. More times than not, these sections read like a disparaging forum post made toward the author that he feels the need to respond to. There seemed like very little actual digging deeper was going on. Moreover, along the lines of the meta-discussion, there are portions of the book that read to me as if the author, who is connected to Internet discussions on gamemastering through various forums and such, is writing about gamemastering leveraging this knowledge but not really telling us what that is. That is, in order to understand what he is saying sometimes, I have to have the ability to read his mind, it seems, and not just what is presented on the page.
All of that said, however, the book is very rewarding with the information it does provide. The chapters may be a bit of a jumble, but the core information is there. The chapter on preparation is well worth reading. The author understands the bulk of gamemastering has to do with this aspect of the work, and he devotes most of the book to just this chapter. Also, the information on character presentation, relationship/conflict maps, adventure themes, and managing flow/pacing/preparation duties make a lot of good points and are illustrated well within the text.
Another hat tip to the author would be his use of examples throughout the text. He does not hesitate to use examples, and all of them are good enough to illustrate whatever he is discussing within the text. This is especially the case when he is talking about relationship/conflict maps; there is only so much one can get from a text description for these.
Another good quality of the book I found to be the author's use of the 36 dramatic situations. Not only are these situations provided in the appendix, but they are provided with an example of each. I realize some GMs would complain that he did not provide examples for every type of genre, but I think that would be impossible. I would say that it would have been a good idea to make reference to the presence of these dramatic situations in the book at points where they were used in the chapter text.
Overall, this book, while I found it hard to read, I also found its information useful. I know the book claims that it provides instructions to gamemasters of all experience levels from beginner on up, but I think that this book is only truly for experienced gamemasters. Experienced gamemasters will not only have an appreciation for the information presented, but they will know and understand how to apply it to their gaming situations. I would recommend beginners stick with the gamemastering advice that comes within the rulebooks of most modern RPGs (as they tend to have chapters or whole books on how to gamemaster their games.. at least the modern RPGs tend to). Once they have taken that advice as far as they can, then they should think about digging in to something like this.
April 12, 2015
An excellent premier for novice and developing GM's. Even for the advanced GM, there are nuggets of wisdom that can be found by reviewing the fundamentals of the craft.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews