The 10 Commandments Of Storytelling
a guest OOC article by
Philerius
Greetings
and hello, my faithful readers – this is your webmistress speaking. My GamerChickPlanet forum has
been around for almost two years now, and every so often one of the dozens of regular
posters will say something so intelligent and incisive that I just have to draw
a little more attention to it. This is
one such case. The author of this post
is Philerius, who hasn't been on GCP for as long as some of the other forumites,
but who has managed to make quite a reputation for himself, both as an
intelligent poster and a valued participant in some of GCP's many online games,
in the time that he has been there.
Now, I'll step aside and let this commentary on the art of being a good
GM speak for itself.
1.
REMEMBER:
IT'S YOUR GAME.
You have absolute power. YOU, not the dice, control everything that happens in
the game.
2.
NEVER
POWER-TRIP.
With absolute power comes absolute responsibility. Always remember that the
game exists for the sake of the players.
3.
NEVER
FAVOR ONE PLAYER OVER ANOTHER.
This speaks for itself, IMHO.
4.
DON'T
RAILROAD.
Manipulating your players is fine, as long as they don't realize they're being
manipulated.
5.
PSYCHOANALYZE
YOUR PLAYERS.
This is how you avoid breaking rule 4. If you know what a PC will do in a given
situation, you can bring about that situation. Now you've controlled the result
without impinging on the player's free will.
6.
BE
PREPARED.
Before each session, work out all the places the PCs might conceivably go, and
all the things they might conceivably do. Know what will happen in each case.
(Aside: the most successful campaign I ever ran was the summer I had a boring
8-hour-a-day job. This is not a coincidence.)
7.
BE
PREPARED TO BE SURPRISED.
Even if you follow rules 5 and 6, it's a virtual certainty that your players
will surprise you at least once per session. Learn to think on your feet.
8.
KEEP
YOUR NPCS DISTINCT.
Nothing is more boring than a whole string of NPCs who are virtual clones of
each other. If your NPCs are believable people, it makes it much easier for the
players to get involved in the story.
9.
ALL
GOOD GMS ARE EVIL; NOT ALL EVIL GMS ARE GOOD.
If each PC doesn't have at least one "NOOOO!" moment during the
campaign, you aren't doing your job. But the PLAYERS should never be
traumatized, only the characters.
10. DON'T REVEAL TOO MUCH TOO
SOON.
Six brains are more powerful than one. If your players know everything you
know, they WILL outthink you and hijack the plot. Now you have a situation
resembling the second act of _Into the Woods_. Not fun.
Hey, guys.
Beth here, again. Since it
appears I can't keep my grubby little fingers out of anything, I'd like to add
a Rule 11 to this list - this is the
one rule I follow above all else when planning a story:
11. WHEN A PC SETS OUT TO DO SOMETHING, (S)HE SHOULD ALWAYS EITHER SUCCEED OR
FAIL INTERESTINGLY.
There's a pretty well-known Semisonic song that goes, "Every new beginning
comes from some other beginning's end," and I try to live by that idea as
a GM. Ideally accomplishing goals should take a long time, but if the
characters don't ever get there you should let another door open to something
that, in the long run, will be even better. "You lose! You die!
Mwahahaha!" is *not* interesting. So throw as many obstacles as you like
in their way, but keep in mind that the PCs should always have a happy (or at
least bittersweet) ending. Otherwise your games get futile, depressing, and
(even worse) boring really fast.