The great GM is the one that does what needs to be done so everyone is having fun.

Anything else is just details…

Now, where is my rockband DVD so we can start that campaign.

As I read your responses, I’m slowly starting to suspect that we’re in the classic case of “2 blind men describing the same elephant from different ends” And interestingly enough, both of us are openly and unashamedly biased in our assessment.

We both seem to share similar experiences with soft skills. I find it real easy to walk to the front of a room and make a speech, or do a pickup game with strangers and you are so used to the idea of active listening, Sales techniques and negotiations that they seem second nature to you.

What I realized since I started blogging is that I’ve seen way too many GMs focus on Backend skills, often exclusively. In fact I know that many GMs aren’t even able to grasp the importance of social skills in GMing and have never thought that ‘reading’ players was a rich source of data about the state of a campaign.

For these reasons, I’ve made it one of my trademarks to push social skills development at the table. Heck, my post was mostly me saying “hey you World builders and chart creators! There’s more to GMing than just that!”

And for the exact same reasons you mention, I tend to trivialize back end skills because I’m a writer with levels of creativity above the norm and the mental discipline to craft logical, deep stories with little effort… and I sometime fail to realize that everyone is not like that.

Funny huh?

As for Published adventures, well I don’t brush them off because I’ve had long periods of time where using such adventures were the only way I could DM every two weeks with my friends. To my credit though, I’ve been hacking said adventurers to fit our group’s tastes for quite some time now.

Let me share something that may speak to my need to throw the old spotlight on the ‘Back-of-the-House’.

My original degree is in Psych. I’ve spent years of my life up on a stage, literally and figuratively. I have a…LOT of management, High-end sales and Vendor relationship experience, without getting too deeply into it.
And even more GMing experience.

So maybe I tend to think of that as the easy part, honestly.

On the flip side, and again, I am being honest and self-analytical, as opposed to perfectly polite, but I am going to come right out and admit I look down on exerienced GM’s who use a lot of published materials in their games. I can go on for pages as to why, but that is irrelevant for now.

What is relevant is that while it is not fair of me to think that way, maybe it will make my point of view a little more understandable.

Oh, and as another bit of mental gristle to chew on, let me expand upon something you said…
“then I contend that given the choice between a GM with high skill in only one of the ‘ends’, the Front-ended GM will deliver a better game experience.”

Define ‘Game’, My friend. I agree that the front-end GM will deliver a better SINGLE-GAME performance, but the Back-door man (yes, I went there) will provide the better campaign, stuttering and mumbling the whole way.

But now you have me trying to figure out which sessions have ended with me stopping a game that went into double-overtime with salivating, wide-eyed players so deeply immersed that they were forgetting their own names…and what made those sessions happen.

Another good, thought-provoking post. Thanks again.

.-= LordVreeg´s last blog ..added Basic History and Information of Igbar =-.

However, I will take you up on one thing. If, as you say, GMing has a Front-end (Communication, enthusiasm, empathy, listening) and a back-end (Plot weaving, World Building and Story-crafting), then I contend that given the choice between a GM with high skill in only one of the ‘ends’, the Front-ended GM will deliver a better game experience.

But as I write this, I realize one thing. We’re both guilty of defending a type of GM that caters to our preferences as a player (Well, me more than you since you validated the importance of Front-end GMing). I’m not much of a World-Storyteller player. I far prefer introspective storytelling (called Psychodrama) and I’m also an instigator, making stuff happen… so I expect of GMs that they will listen to me, and rapidly change their stories and game plans to fit me in them… thus, I put more importance of Front-End skills than Back end ones.

It’s also one of the reasons that I don’t like Storytelling GMs with low social skills because I often feel railroaded and balk at their lack of flexibility/self-assurance when confronted with unexpected player antics.

Thanks for the insight LV, with that being said, I agree that Great GMs have above average skill in both aspects of GMing and seek to become better in both.

I love reading your stuff, and I care enough to take the time to write this, but I am going to take you to task somewhat.

You speak and rate GMing as if all you have to do is perform well at the table. I feel like you are reviewing a restaurant saying that the waiter was great so therefor the experience was great, and that the venue, ambiance, menu, theme, wine list, kitchen prep, food quality, and kitchen staff was of minor importance.

I don’t know how much I am dating myself, but I still believe that you rate a GM as much by the adventure, campaign, and setting they create, as this figures as much into the game at the table as anything else could. I’m not saying that a good GM needs to have every thing described ahead of time, nor am I saying that ad-libbing whole games is anything but fun and a great test of the ability to mesh prepared material with performance ability. As I said, the part you wote about, you hit dead-on, and all of that is very important.
But to totally ignore all the ‘back-stage’/'Back-of-the-House’ work that is just as critical to a great game is criminal to all the aspiring GM’s reading this.

“Anyway, suffice it to say that whatever you may have heard or thought about GMing, developing social skills are far more important than knowing the rules or building the perfect game world.”
I don’t agree with this at all. I Think you are right about the importance of the social skills being absolutely critical, but I ask you, how many GM’s need the crutch of using canned adventures to make up for their lack of skill in adventure and setting creation? I agree that a good ‘Game’ GM (which is what we used to call them) can make a good game out of a mediocre adventure, but I think a tremedously well-written and GROUP-TAILORED adventure and campaign makes a mediocre GM appear good, and is the only way you will EVER see a great game. The best chef in the world still thinks ingredients and a recipe are critical, and the very best GM in the world will never run anything more than a decent game without a well-written adventure.

So as for this?
“it’s a helper, not a requirement for being a great GM. Great GM will make story emerge through players with a room with a pie and an Orc in it.”
I contend that you are right that the great GM will make story from the room with the orc and the pie (and just for that, I’m going to put an orcash Pastry chef into my next session), but that a Great GM knows that Front-of-the-house-GMing and Back-of-the-house-GMing need to work in perfect tandem, and to claim the title of great GM, a GM must be able to do both.

@Tiorn, BTW, I am not disagreeing with you. One of the ‘Back-of-the-house’ skills is marrying the ingredients your prepped ahead of time with the direction the players go in while the game is in play, not to mention taking those session notes and player responses and writing them into the future adventures, which are skills it looked like your GM had.
.-= LordVreeg´s last blog ..edited Personalities =-.

@Wicked: I’ve been working at my Improv a lot lately and I can assure you that it gets easier with practice.

@Olan: See my argument about Story… it’s a helper, not a requirement for being a great GM. Great GM will make story emerge through players with a room with a pie and an Orc in it.

At least, so I’d like to believe,

As for knowing one of these GMs? By good friend, Roger (Alacrity) Briant at the Red Dragon Inn meets all of these criteria. I have never met anyone else who spends as much time planning and working to bring the world alive… which he does, with a great sense of timing and humor.
.-= Olan Suddeth´s last blog ..Paladins of Other Alignments =-.

What I’m not excellent at is improvisations, and I’m only decent at reading my players. I tend to get caught up in the world and pay a bit less attention to the players. I’ve played with DM’s who are amazing at this, though, so I know how much it brings to a game.

Ultimately, you need a certain attitude and commitment to be a great dm. And then you need to practice. It reminds me of a writer friend who told me that if you want to be a professional writer, you need to read. A lot.
.-= wickedmurph´s last blog ..4e Sandboxing =-.

PS… I’d like to put 25 years of Dm’ing to the test, and am now inviting myself to sit in on a drunken D&D session at next year’s Gencon…. or at least watch it in action…
.-= newbiedm´s last blog ..Something Old, Something New: Great DM’s =-.

http://newbiedm.com/2009/09/18/something-old-something-new-great-dms/

Yan, I recommend showing a little leg this game! It may work! Or your character may end up in the Overmind’s Vats mysteriously;)
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Dragon’s Age: Origins looks promising. =-.

When we used to play Gurps, it was a more common occurrence.

But Yan knows that mere words on a website don’t buy my clemency, I only take payment in 2 currencies Booze and Strippers.

Really…

Why is everybody staring at me?

‘Damn I’ve bin found out…

I think I am a good DM, that can craft a good story and I can read my players needs, wants, and ambitions for their character. I do open conversation and try to work with the players.

I recognize the importance of saying Yes for fun, but am not afraid to say no to save the campaign, story, or session. Saying yes is important to a player, but sometimes saying no is important to the group.

Like you point out Chatty, a Great DM has to WANT to grow, and not become complacent or comfortable. They don’t just dream of delivering the best game ever, they go after it and learn new ways to do it!

A Great DM also isn’t afraid to admit that they made a mistake/did something wrong. One that that has repeatedly impressed me about your game logs Chatty is that you always point out what you did wrong! You don’t shy away from showing the warts of your gaming sessions, and that is awesome, and provides the readers with food for thought, so keep it up, you Great DM, you!

Great post Chatty, as always!
.-= wrathofzombie´s last blog ..Dragon’s Age: Origins looks promising. =-.

And I totally agreed that it’s an ongoing quest, perfection is a unattainable goal after all.

You’ll put yourself out of your comfort zone only to improve yourself. You’ll stifle your little internal voice and say yes to the players cool but scary new idea. You’ll take action when you see that energy or fun level of your player is low.

Enough said…

I really think that ‘Great GM” is a somewhat utopic goal toward which we should all strive for. No one should stop and say ‘I made it, I’m the best at what I do’” Every time I did, I found that my experiences at the game table plateaued.

There’s always something new, some way of making a game more enjoyable.

A Great GM’s (or one to be) quest should always try to see what’s behind the next hill.

A great GM is not perfect but strive to be and you my friend are the best GM I’ve seen by a long shot and in my book you are a Great GM.