GMing a game can be intimidating if you’re not used to it. That goes double when it’s a system that most people aren’t familiar with.
When you GM, it can feel like you’re responsible for everything that happens at the table: teaching and adjudicating rules, keeping things organized, writing the story and setting, building interesting encounters, giving the party a direction, and helping with character creation.
And honestly, those are different skillsets. You can tell a fantastic story in a game even if you don’t know every detail of every character option. You might be great at rules and story, but you have a hard time wrangling people who don’t want to focus. I don’t think I’ve known anyone for whom all of those things came naturally, and that’s OK.
Sometimes, a GM needs someone to act as “training wheels,” adjucating rules or managing the flow of encounters while the GM focuses on the story.
For example, I have huge blind spots in my D&D knowledge. I know how to play a handful of classes; for everything else, I just sort of have “vibes” about what’s in their repertoire. I leave that up to the players, and I usually appreciate it when they correct some rule I’m fumbling over.
(Though sometimes it’s awkward when you’ve written that something doesn’t exist in your world but does in fairly low-level spells or class features. Oops.)
Adjudicating the rules
I’ve also pitched a lot of people on Cypher System games like Old Gods of Appalachia as a good first (or returning) GMing experience. It’s very easy to prep–just write your outline and attach difficulty numbers to NPCs and potential obstacles.
The catch is, running it has a learning curve. Whenever a roll is required, there’s a series of questions you need to ask: What skills apply? Do you want to apply Effort? Do you have any abilities that might affect it?
I usually start my pitch by saying I can handle that part. Because the GM doesn’t have to be the one asking those questions. Anyone can do it. The GM just has to make a ruling on what’s applicable, and that’s often subjective based on the fiction.
In D&D, the GM doesn’t have to be the one tracking initiative or working you through making your attack roll. The person acting as “training wheels” doesn’t have to know anything about the story so long as they provide the GM the information they need to make their decisions.
Wrangling the table
Even if the GM has a handle on the rules, sometimes you can use your GM experience to help keep order at the table.
Most TTRPGs work better when there’s a rhythm to complicated flows of gameplay. For example, there are all kinds of tips and tricks for handling combat initiative. It takes experience to determine what those rhythms are, and the difference between a well-wrangled and a poorly wrangled table is vast.
For example, in Land of Eem, you can spend a downtime Travel Turn harvesting materials. That means you have to figure out who’s gathering, who’s supporting, and whether they’re hunting, fishing, mining, or foraging.
That seems straightforward. It is not. It can devolve into everyone deciding they’re doing one thing, then changing their minds, then rolling and shouting their results at random times.
But I’ve run a lot of Ryuutama, with its various sets of Condition and Journey checks, and I had a good idea of how it should go, so I’ve stepped in to manage this.
Of course, there’s a simpler version of this that doesn’t require a lot of game knowledge, and that’s being the “spokesperson” for the party. When players are throwing out lots of different ideas, it helps to step out of character and work toward consensus.
Simply listing the different options or checking in with each player to see what they’re really going to do can help manage the chaos–and it isn’t the GM’s job to make sense out of the players’ chaos in the first place.
Give options, not the “right” answer
There are right and wrong ways to be “training wheels,” obviously.
One factor is there’s not a right or wrong way to GM. There are things that work better, of course, but just because someone doesn’t use them doesn’t mean they’re a bad GM.
I often have a lot of opinions on how I’d do something. It can be helpful to relay that experience or perspective to a rusty or less experienced GM. But those are merely options, and they have benefits and tradeoffs. And that’s how you should present it, because otherwise you’re insisting there’s a “right” answer.
And honestly, I think this mindset will make you a better GM too. As you build your experience and knowledge, you’ve got a toolbox of different techniques and mechanics that are appropriate for different circumstances. Knowing what options you have at your disposal and when they might be useful means you use the right tool for the job you’re trying to do.
Know when to step back
Finally, you have to keep your ego in check when acting as GM “training wheels.”
I think this is especially tough in the realm of TTRPGs–it’s hard to schedule a game, and so you might feel the need to “prove” yourself even when someone else is in the GM’s seat. (This is, incidentally, one of the things you’re trying to avoid when you’re presenting options rather than “right” answers.)
And if you think a lot about TTRPGs, it can be hard to “turn off” that intensity. It has to be good for something, right? So it’s easy to feel like you should find a way to bring up your favorite bits of trivia.
Get to know what that feels like, so that you can recognize when you’re experiencing it and not give in. Get to know when you’re providing an answer because it’s helpful versus when you feel like you should be weighing in.
Let other GMs develop their unique voices and styles, because that’s going to not only help them reach their potential, but it’s going to help diversify the hobby you love.