Game Master Job Description

Pick the System

• The game master decides what type of game will be played and what rules systems it requires. The game master may choose to use a gaming system as it is provided, or he may choose to tweak the rules in order to create the sort of game she or he feels will be the most enjoyable for the players as well as the game master.

Plan the Campaign

• The game master creates or determines the world in which the overall campaign, or sets of individual sessions, will take place. Considerations include what sort of technology or magic is available to the players, what sort of environment they begin in, and what sort of creatures they may encounter in their adventures. Often a campaign tries to lead up to a climactic moment in which players achieve a major shared goal.

Anticipate Problems

• Try to anticipate where the players might go astray in the game and figure out how you can steer them away from such moments. Figure out what extra clues might be dropped if the players are having difficulty solving a problem or set of directions. Players will always do unexpected things, but often you can predict them if you know the player's style of play.

Individual Sessions

• An individual game session takes a few hours. Figure out a goal for the session as well as determining how the session can advance the plot towards the final moment of the campaign. Provide players with new puzzles to explore and give them problems they can conquer in order to feel that their characters have made progress during an individual session.

Work With Players

• Players have specific goals and hopes for their characters. Talk to the players outside the game in order to find out what they hope to achieve with the character. In planning the next session, think of how those goals affect it. Provide plot threads that allow players to work towards their goals, but do not make things so easy for them that it destroys the sense of achievement.

Description

• Make the world come alive for the players as they move through it. Don't just tell them how it looks, but how it smells and sounds. If you are having trouble describing what something looks like, try to find a picture in order to give players a visual cue. Give your NPCs (the non-player characters that players interact with) distinct voices and behaviors so they don't all seem like the same person.