I'm a forever GM. I can count the number of times I've been a player of RPGs on one hand. I want to play more and I probably could but everything is just 5E which I just don't enjoy personally. Nor do I feel like forcing myself to enjoy it and thus drag the energy of everyone else down.  So if I want to do anything else I have to GM it myself. No one else seems willing to put in an hour a day to just read a rulebook and get the basic idea of the rules. I can understand being intimidated by the 5E rulebook. But people insist that's "simple" and everything else is "too complicated" even if it's simpler and less bloated than DnD.

At least I have solo RPG stuff to do if I want to play. But I'm still GMing then too. 

I was a GM before I was a player.  I GMed near exclusively (maybe played a handful, none of them ongoing) until college.  Hooked up with some other gamers who were finally willing to run stuff and my GMing dropped to maybe 20% of the time.  After college things swung back toward GMing again, but with a respite now and then.

These days I've got 2 groups.  The main one meets nearly every Saturday and we play for roughly 7-8 hours.  Of the 5 of us, only 2 ever GM.  We swap between campaigns which ends up being maybe every 10 - 14 months.

The other is a group of 4 (one of whom plays via Skype).  We play 1 weeknight a week for about 3-4 hours at a time.  Games typically last from 8 to 12 weeks and three of us rotate the GM spot whenever we switch games. 

I used to love reading GM advice but it's all rehash by now. Instead, I look for things that make GMing simpler.  Charts, tables, premade maps (that I can populate myself), software, etc.

I started as a GM because there was no Italian market for RPGs and, at 16, I was the only one in my group that could read English like a second language (*) (high-school English was enough for running your character sheet but not for reading BECMI manuals).This meant that I had to learn how to be a GM from the ground-up, as I had no references.

I also loved creating stories - something that, one day, would have become my job. I was against railroading since day one (there are many ways to run a saga with fixed story elements without resorting to railroading). Actually, I always found easier creating stories for RPGs than for comic books: both start with a bunch of ideas (what I call "the trailer"); however, in a script I also have to do everything from the start to the logical conclusion, in a RPG I say: "Here is the mess: now surprise me!" Big difference

Over the years I found myself being the GM about 90% of times, as, I see, it happened to others. However, IMHO, you cannot be a good GM if you don't play, and you cannot be a good player if you never was the GM.

The first rule is easy to explain: many a time I played with a GM who was making a lot of mistakes... the same mistakes I was doing, unaware, when I was the GM. I learned more about GMing by playing than from all those "How to be a good GM!" books put together.

The second rule leads to something that, IMHO, not only is much more interesting, but a lot of players seldom consider: "Start by being the GM of your character". This, of course, means "know the rules and don't ask 'where I can find this save roll on my sheet' after five years of playing". However, this also means "Have agency! Have fun!"

A lot of players want to "live" in a certain world/genre with a character they have created. Then, for some reason, they look at the GM waiting for him to have all of this happen. No. Within boundaries, "run" your character, tell what they do, use your fantasy - literally, have fun in creating and expressing your character.

A practical example (you may think: what this has to do with the topic? bear with me). We were invited to play Pathfinder and I could finally play. I created a young cleric whose family had been exterminated by goblins. Nothing original. One day he bought a book from a travelling merchant which turned out to be the "bible" of the cult of Sarenrae, and he found again the way he had lost. He started practicing, the Goddess answered, that was my backstory.

Problem was: the book was incomplete (this came from me); also, there was another church in town, devoted to a different god. This led to:

- Promotion! I had leaflets printed about the "new church in town!" (me) and "the wonders of worshipping Sarenrae!" I then looked at the map and specified where I was leaving the leaflets (the inn, the common house... even outside my house).

- More promotion! I stated that I was going around, talking with people, offering comfort and support (i.e. listen to gossip and learn about the most recent break-ups - or the death of a beloved cow for what matters). "You don't have to go to the church, it's the church that comes to you!" (if you wonder "isn't this a bit creepy?" you got the point).

- My character was a young handsome boy, so the GM decided that the usual pretty serving wench at the tavern started flirting with him. Hey! I SCORED!" True, but my bible was incomplete, remember? My character didn't know if he had to remain chaste, could have sex after a marriage or could have sex when he wanted. If I messed up I could lose what was giving meaning to my life. Meanwhile, hormones were roaring. This led to an ongoing PG-13 sitcom situation.

All the above was created and narrated by me, as a player, while the real adventure was ongoing. I never stepped on the GM shoes, I simply fleshed out the world my character was living in.

At the end of the evening the GM actually thanked me because I had given to her many ideas, and she felt that the world had just become richer. The other players (which were MY players) were astounded: "You can do that??" My answer was a polite version of "You are SUPPOSED to do that, you morons!"

Yet, my was of playing came from my multiyear experience as the GM and the feeling that something was missing. The players had characters with interesting personalities and back stories but then they looked at me like if I was the one who was supposed to develop them. True, I was the objective reality (I'm still amazed that my cleric was never chased away by a pack of dogs), but give me something! Being the GM of your own character means that you contribute to the world building - and all of sudden a whole new world of opportunities opens up.

First thing that happened after we finished Pathfinder was one of my players telling me that now she felt ready to be a GM. I had the basic introductory box, the main manual and the monster one - and I lent all of them to her (after one year I ended up gifting the books). She ran the basic box adventure, and I'm ashamed to say that we players weren't "supportive to a fellow beginner" but gave her hell. She survived and, afterwards, she actually wrote her first adventure - which was fine (she was a comic book artist who both wrote and draw her stories, so this helped).

I'm still mostly the GM. When we played "Mythos" during the lockdown ("Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective" only in Arkham) we really liked the experience. So I proposed a series of adventures with CoC 7E called "Mythos: Origins" set before the Mythos storyline but with some of the characters, how other things came to be etc. I even created the soundtrack. Everyone agreed and this is what we are playing now.

This may sound bragging, but I often realise that I seldom met GMs capable of truly using the creative potential in a given RPG the way I do. I play, but at the same time I think "this could be much better..." This CoC campaign opened with a prologue, an adventure set in North Dakota with other characters, one year before the "official" start in 1920... and, if the investigators don't mess up, they will only delay the BIG MENACE... leading to the final showdown in 2015.

I do like the narrative structure: the best outcome for a CoC campaign leads to an unavoidable downer: the menace is only delayed - until I say "You know? What you left was not lost, and someone in 2015 is now ready to finish the job. You got another shot at this.

So, yes, I must admit that if at the end of the day I'm still the GM it is because I think that I can offer really good things. Now, if only the players could realise that, as players, they can do the same...

(*) Thank you, dad, for having been a PITA about learning English since I was 10. Best gift he ever gave me.

Another corollary -

Of all of you that are active GM's, how many of you do it, now, because *you actually love it*? I don't mean "It's okay, but I do it because no one else will".

You GM because you're actually passionate about it? Do you like talking with other GM's about techniques, methods etc. to improve your skillset? Or does it bore you to tears?

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 10:11:21 AM
Another corollary -

Of all of you that are active GM's, how many of you do it, now, because *you actually love it*? I don't mean "It's okay, but I do it because no one else will".

You GM because you're actually passionate about it? Do you like talking with other GM's about techniques, methods etc. to improve your skillset? Or does it bore you to tears?

I enjoy GMing too. But since we're working on creating a writing career (co-writing with my wife), I just don't have time to prep. As part of that, I'll probably end up doing one-shots using our homebrew and settings from our writings. (For the record, I don't try to tell stories with the games. Definitely just setting up conditions and letting the players loose. In one of them, I told the players I never thought they'd choose the approach they took - my wife goes "how could we not pick that?")

Enjoying being a player too. After a year, still working on learning to let go at times. LOL

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 10:11:21 AM
Another corollary -

Of all of you that are active GM's, how many of you do it, now, because *you actually love it*? I don't mean "It's okay, but I do it because no one else will".

You GM because you're actually passionate about it? Do you like talking with other GM's about techniques, methods etc. to improve your skillset? Or does it bore you to tears?

I'd rather GM than play, and quite enjoy it, as long as it's a system without too much "accounting" during the GM prep.  Really enjoy putting together adventures.  Do not enjoy fiddling with tons of stats. 

I'm passionate about doing what works for me as a GM.  That means that talking to other GM's about it is all over the place.  I'm seldom bored, but a lot of the talk is not necessarily applicable to what I'm after.  It's maybe "interesting" but not "relevant"? 

For example, I'm going to use wandering monsters. Moreover, I'm going to use them in a certain way.  If a GM has techniques for not using wandering monsters or an opinion about why a GM shouldn't use them, I'll read it--looking for ideas on how I can improve how I use wandering monsters.  I'm not buying the premise that they shouldn't be used, as that's now a decided thing for me.  Then there's techniques and ideas that are different than mine, also interesting, and more likely to be adaptable, but not something I can straight lift.  For example, I nearly always use custom wandering monster tables for a given area.  So straight tables with everything in an ecological niche are a source of ideas, but not something I'm going to use in play.  Then there's how to arrange custom tables, what goes in them, etc.  I'm much happier now with the way I do it than I was 5 or 10 years ago, but it's entirely possible that another GM has a different slant that I'd like even better. 

Sometimes I'm very enthusiastic about GMing, sometimes it feels like a grind. I'm no longer interested in 'tips,' but I do like components that save me time.

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 10:11:21 AM
Another corollary -

Of all of you that are active GM's, how many of you do it, now, because *you actually love it*? I don't mean "It's okay, but I do it because no one else will".

You GM because you're actually passionate about it? Do you like talking with other GM's about techniques, methods etc. to improve your skillset? Or does it bore you to tears?

I love GMing i like learning more techniques and methods and i do like talking about GMing when i can too. Unfortunately, most GM advice ive found on youtube is awful outside a select few.

I really love GMing, and I'm good at it, but recently I've had difficulty prepping, so I've been more of a player this last year.

I think there are really merits to this idea of tiers of GM, and I would be very interested in a "for GMs book" that would expound that.

My rpg time has probably been 95% in the DM seat.  D&D was my primary hobby for about 12 years, and in that time I played pretty much every weekend and only got to be a player about twice when someone else wanted to try it.  Since then I haven't had that kind of time to put into it, so I've been playing in other folks' games.  None of these were long term, with the longest campaign going prolly 8 months.  Atm I'm writing a game and will soon need to start testing it, which means back into the DM role.

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 10:11:21 AM
Another corollary -

Of all of you that are active GM's, how many of you do it, now, because *you actually love it*? I don't mean "It's okay, but I do it because no one else will".

You GM because you're actually passionate about it? Do you like talking with other GM's about techniques, methods etc. to improve your skillset? Or does it bore you to tears?

I do love it.  Worldbuilding, roleplaying the NPCs, writing adventures, running the game, and seeing the players enjoy the experience I provide are all deeply satisfying for me.  I just wish it required less time

GMing concerns to be mastered? Are these interesting discussion points?

Time saving
Prep techniques
Staging - how to set the structure of your sandbox
Unlearning Linear GMing basics - Deconditioning railroading impulses, and giving maximal agency to players and their PC's.
Scaling and Pacing - letting your games go from zero to hero and not losing control of things.
System mastery - using the right system for the right setting.
Conflict creation - how to leverage all conflict as content in-game.
Immersion techniques

Thoughts?

I'm not the audience for that sort of thing, but I know there are interested folks out there. If you're thinking of publishing a book I think there's a market for it.

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 03:19:58 PM
GMing concerns to be mastered? Are these interesting discussion points?

Time saving
Prep techniques
Staging - how to set the structure of your sandbox
Unlearning Linear GMing basics - Deconditioning railroading impulses, and giving maximal agency to players and their PC's.
Scaling and Pacing - letting your games go from zero to hero and not losing control of things.
System mastery - using the right system for the right setting.
Conflict creation - how to leverage all conflict as content in-game.
Immersion techniques

Thoughts?

#1 should be some variant of: setting/determining player expectations. Seems to be the biggest problem in general.

Quote from: tenbones on August 11, 2023, 03:19:58 PM
GMing concerns to be mastered? Are these interesting discussion points?

Time saving
Prep techniques
Staging - how to set the structure of your sandbox
Unlearning Linear GMing basics - Deconditioning railroading impulses, and giving maximal agency to players and their PC's.
Scaling and Pacing - letting your games go from zero to hero and not losing control of things.
System mastery - using the right system for the right setting.
Conflict creation - how to leverage all conflict as content in-game.
Immersion techniques

Thoughts?

I once played in a game where the GM was super-boring. No funny voices, no "chrome," no flowerly descriptions, no colorful NPCs with elaborate motives. He saw his role as a neutral arbiter of the rules, and only stepped in when things bogged down. It was like he was hardly even there, until he needed to be.

Years later, I think he was the best GM I've met.