GM Considerations
GameMastery Guide, page 45
One of the game’s delights—and frustrations—is that it changes over time. Every session runs a little bit differently, and whether it’s new abilities, new characters, or changes to the gaming group itself, a good GM needs to know how to roll with the punches.
In this section
- Game Changers When you play a campaign long enough, the rules change. The characters that once limped into the village to beg for healing now use magic to cross continents, consult with extradimensional powers, and rescue their…
- Emergency Game Prep Sometimes day-to-day life conquers even the most committed Game Master. You meant to get that dungeon ready, but then the boss/spouse/kids/friends/lottery office called, and now everyone’s gathering at the table.
- TPKs It’s a constant threat, but every so often it happens for real: every single PC is dead, petrified, or possessed by demon lords.
- Overpowered PCs Characters naturally accumulate power over time. And in a game that relies on random resolutions of complex interactions, that power accumulation isn’t always smooth.
- Personalizing Published Adventures It’s not easy to be a Game Master; of all the roles in the game, the GM has to put in the most work, and sometimes you’ll want to relax and use a published adventure instead of creating your own.
- Converting Content from 3.5 or Other Systems Roleplaying games have been around for over 30 years, and there’s a huge library of materials out there for other games which you can use in your campaign.