When I was younger, I spent a lot of time planning D&D campaigns. I wanted to build complete worlds before I started running them, for a lot of reasons:
- I had moments of inspiration that I simply had to flesh out and get down on paper.
- Many people in our group had something we wanted to GM, and I wanted to earn the right to have my shot.
- Once I got in the coveted GM seat, I needed to prove myself. I couldn’t allow myself to fail, or I might lose that spot before the story was complete.
- If I’m honest, I think I dreamed of producing a published adventure or campaign setting ( which I’ve technically done now, I guess! )
That was two decades ago, and things have changed. I don’t think these were very healthy ways of looking at the hobby, and I’d like to talk about some ways I’ve grown in those years. Maybe it’ll be helpful for you young whippersnappers just getting into this hobby.
It’s OK to make mistakes
I vaguely remember being hard on myself as a GM in my 20’s. I was afraid that a bad game would cause the whole campaign to fizzle (especially since we had so many folks workshopping adventure ideas in our group of friends at that time). I was also afraid of players trying to stump me, exploiting my confusion to send the game off-course.
I remember the feeling of shame or fear when players would ask “what’s the NPC’s name?” Forgetting one minor detail (or skipping over it, in cases where you didn’t think you needed a plan) feels like a failure, and one that your players might not let you hand-wave out of.
But GMing can be tough, because it involves responding to players’ actions you couldn’t possibly have expected. You need to give yourself some grace.
You also need to play with people you trust enough to admit when you screwed up or when you’re stumped. If you’re held to perfectionism (as a GM or a player) by the people you’re playing with, you might need to have some difficult conversations. Or you might need to find some other people to play with.
Making an occasional mistake doesn’t make you a bad GM.
Becoming a better GM doesn’t mean making no mistakes, it means developing the confidence and skills to roll with them.