An introduction - and a new book coming

[Brijam]

Hi everyone-

My real name is Brian Jamison.  My background -- let's see, in gaming I've been roleplaying for almost 30 years, a GM for most of that time.  My game design experience is pretty light -- lots of tweaks and custom non-commercial systems over the years, helped design some LARP rules in the 80s for an LA-based group, a tiny bit of game testing and input for some indie developers, and was lead designer/producer on a cultish MMORPG called Underlight.  In real life I'm a geek-ecopreneur with a focus on open source, sustainability and local economies.

I've been working on a "how to" book on gamemastering for the last two years.  It looks to weigh in at around 225 pages.  I did a lot of looking for an in-depth "how-to" but there's precious little on the actual art of gamemastering that spoke to me as a gamemaster.  What I found was either good but too shallow or seemed like bad advice.  So I decided to write it myself.

I've known of the Forge for some time but haven't had time to even browse the forums.  Now that my book is done I hope to engage more.  Looks like a great community.  I'm still wrapping my head around the terminology used. 

[light-hearted but obligatory plug]
Among other things my book has a similar but of course vastly better process for pulling off the technique in this thread:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=18072.0
[/plug]

Anyway, hello and I look forward to comments about the book when it is printed.  It's being edited for errors at the moment but I hope to have some review copies printed soon via POD.

Blue skies,

-Brian
Portland, Oregon

[Paul Czege]

Hey Brian,

I did a lot of looking for an in-depth "how-to" but there's precious little on the actual art of gamemastering that spoke to me as a gamemaster.

Welcome to The Forge. And I'm with you on not connecting with most "art of gamemastering" advice. Pretty much the thing I'd like to optimize for myself as a GM these days is that of prep. And what I find is either garbage advice that isn't borne out by the real social and mechanical dynamics of play, or good advice that's too time consuming, with too much creative effort spent for the amount of stuff that actually gets used in play, or in ways that just aren't that fun. And so I burn out as a GM over the issue of prep.

And from the number of no prep required games I'm seeing from designers these days, I'm thinking I'm not alone.

Except when I ran The Pool a few years back, a game which didn't require me to prep stats for NPCs, or actually to have anything more than a name and concept for them, I totally enjoyed the prep. So, it's a system issue, right? Increasingly so, gamers are adults, without the assloads of discretionary time they had as teenagers for NPC and scenario prep that doesn't pay a good dividend in actual play. Yeah, you can railroad your stuff, but that kind social dishonesty is as wearying as discarding it.

So, where's the sweet spot? I have to believe the only solution isn't to design games that eschew prep entirely. What's the formula for fun, creative prep that doesn't waste my time, burn me out, or turn me into a railroader? And system is critical, right? How do you cover prep in your book?

Paul

[Brijam]

Yeah, I totally hear you on prep.  Just a hair under two thirds of the book is devoted to prep.  I didn't think it would turn out that way in the end.

The system I've worked out allows me to spend about 30-45 minutes on prep for a 4-6 hour game and I always end up with left over material.  That's a rocking session that isn't on rails, nor is it totally spontaneous.  It's all about everyone having fun.

I have to run but I'll cover more later.

I don't think I made it clear why I posted in this forum - I've got some review copies that I'll be printing up soon and I'm looking for a couple of gamemasters to look the book over and give me honest and constructive criticism.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Brian,

I have to run but I'll cover more later.

Would love to hear more on your 30-45 minute prep technique.

Paul

[Troy_Costisick]

Heya,

Would love to hear more on your 30-45 minute prep technique.

As would I.  I find many, many games sorely lacking in GMing tools, rewards, and explicit/limited resources.

Peace,

-Troy

[energy]

cool check it out.