I have been thinking a lot recently about the many and various books and resources I have read over the years that have influenced the way I view DMing but also all the books I keep and use all the time regardless of the game. I thought I would share some of mine, would like to hear about some of all of yours, and maybe create a kind of compendium of resources for those without these things themselves.
Some kind of Ultimate Equipment Right now I have the "mini" version of Pathfinders Ultimate Equipment. It's great to have a single small resource for general equipment and costs. I dig this thing out all the time to look up general guidelines for costs in goods and services. It doesn't matter what fantasy game I play ultimate equipment is always in my backpack.
Paranoia (Latest Edition) - Gamemasters Handbook EVERYONE should find this book. Either buy the Paranoia box set to get it (its a good fun game) or find a pdf of it online. It's one of the most formative books I have had for
GM style. By that I mean its one of the best books to put into words how little and how much a
GM actually needs to prepare and how easy it can and should be to free style and make stuff up as you go. It has a whole 2 (small) page bit about how the
GM doesn't roll dice. The game is focused on the players and the players shouldn't have their story interrupted by the
GM treating
NPCs as though they were the players. Obviously, you should HAVE dice. And you should roll them if for no other reason then to create the illusion that they matter. But the
GM doesn't NEED them and often your better off ignoring what they say and doing whats most interesting and builds the best story. It's
GM advice section includes...
The Paranoia GM's Screen - A Story
Before we get started, here's a story.
When we Famous Game Designers wre designing this game, we were throwing around ideas for the Paranoia GM screen - which you, faithful purchaser, will have no doubt sitting next to you as you read this chapter. GM screens are, by and large, just a place to stick quick-reference material - random encounters, hit locations, weapon damage, combat modifiers, difficulty ratings, you know.
But Paranoia doesn't really have any of those and we had a better idea, anyway - we would print "MAKE SOME gak UP" in foot-high letters on the GM's side of the screen and leave it at that. The concept didn't make it past the concept stage but it survived for a remarkably long time because it's the spirit of true Paranoia GMing in less than twenty characters.
Because this is Paranoia and you're in charge. Your players are playthings; they survive at your whim. Any idea you can invent will be better than anything we write here because YOU came up with it and your players got to see it for the first time; and, unlike less fun inferior game systems, you don't have to worry about Game Balance or any of that dreck. You're in charge of EVERYTHING. There are no wrong answers.
However, "MAKE SOME gak UP" isn't enough to fill out an entire GM section, no matter how many times you copy and paste it, according to our editor. In lieu of that here's some actual advice that will help you craft Alpha Complex and fill it full of terrible people doing ill advised things with the minimum amount of effort on your part whilst making it LOOK like you're actually an excellent GM.
Further advice includes:
-You are not here to be a dick,
-The inherent Masochism of roleplay,
Smile
In fact, just smile all the time! Even if you're not happy! That'll gak 'em right up. They'll have no idea what to think of you, aside from the fact that you know something that they don't. And you do - you know why you're smiling. It's because we told you to.
-The Rules are in your favor
-Say Yes
-Always make things happen
-Don't try to be funny
-Learn what your players like, then give it to them
-Burn your bridges
-People care about other people
-Change is good
-Be open with your players
-Recycle everything
Seriously. Read this book. Even if you never play Paranoia. Re-read bits of it every couple months to keep yourself grounded and your work flow smooth.
A Monster Manual Doesn't actually matter which one. Again, I currently have the first Bestiary in soft cover mini version from Pathfinder simply because it's compact and easy to use.
MMs make for good resources for ideas for monsters and encounters. Use the stats of whatever game it came from and convert them to whatever game your using. It's not important that the stat blocks are always the same every time. People are different, 2 trolls can be different too.
NPC cards from Unisystems Cinematic games They are in Buffy, Angle, and Army of Darkness books. Basically it's a small block of stats that make it easy enough to wing all the basic interactions with players that you need to do. It includes a Brains, Muscle, and Combat score that is a rough estimate of the average total roll for them making any of those types of actions. So you don't need to roll the attacks of every mook, you can let the players roll and just use their combat score. When the players want to intimidate them, you don't need to roll them resisting, you simply use the brains.
I don't always, or often, use those things. But they are good to have. And the whole idea of the
NPC card has laid the foundation for how I have been creating my
NPCs since I first saw them.
DnD? I make note cards for the monsters I intend for the night along with note cards for generic
NPC and player classes so I have stats on hand.
