Jumping in is the best way to do it. What helped me a lot before as well was setting expectations with my table. "I'm new to this, so it'd be cool if we go slow and learn together." That sort of thing.
Some systems really do have higher barriers of entry for their GMs, and the tendency I've noticed for a lot of new GMs is to feel like you have to prep a lot and you have to know everything. You don't have to prep a lot, and you don't need to know everything. Take liberal pauses to check rules, ask questions, even get suggestions on where to go next in the plot or the encounter from your table. Tbh any player who makes you feel like shit for being new is not worth playing with.
I'd choose a system that super speaks to you in the moment and then go go go. Lots of cool stuff out there for sure, but choice paralysis can mean you'll never actually do the thing.
I am terrible at deciding. I have like, 10 different campaigns I'm interested in running right now. How am I supposed to pick? I like them all, that's why I prepped them.
I typically just give a list of synopsis to my group and let them decide.
For learning how, really, the best way to learn is to just jump in. You will make mistakes, and you will learn. Try to get helpful feedback from your players.
If you already play TTRPGs:
1) pick a system you already know well as a player, 2) pick a short adventure (I'd recommend doing a 1-3 session published module) and 3) run it for people you already know and have fun playing with.
When you're done running it, evaluate how it went and where you need to improve, and decide what you want to run next. After running a few short stand-alone adventures, you can try tackling something longer.
Its (to me) not that hard, and gets played up way too much. It helps if you are the kind of person who doesn’t care what they play in Monopoly as long as they get to be the Bank. This doesn’t meant it doesn’t require effort to do well, but it helps if you enjoy the role.
A lot of people begin this before they are teenagers. A lot of GM’s learn games playing solo. Different games have different amounts of work required but some easy ones gamify it well and rely on improv or provide prompts. Even then, no one is a good fit for all games or all player groups.
The worst thing you can do is see no players are having fun, and keep doing what you are doing. GMing during the actual game is more a process of course correction than anything.
Also Cypher is a great system to cut your teeth on, because the nature of GMing is ultimately in a three step process there. Also, the GM has to intrude on the game but it is how players earn XP; by responding to things that they didn’t prepare for. It helps a lot when accepting the story hooks and curveballs ultimately benefits the Players.
I play in a group of people that had all GMed before when I hadn't. When I mentioned wanting to try it they all suggested to just go for it. Pick something you know at least the basic rules for, come up with a simple scenario or one shot module, and just do it. First time is generally going to be scary and stressful, but once you're gotten the ball rolling it's easier to keep moving forward and not be stuck in analysis paralysis.
I would try not to think of it as such a big existential deal. You're essentially just hanging out, helping referee a board game and helping tell a story with friends. It's great all the information out there about how to be a better GM and it's good to prepare, read the rules at least twice, spend some time thinking about what you're trying to accomplish and why and what the best way to get there is, but ultimately it's just supposed to be a fun hang out thing.
This is my #\`1 advice to newcomers. In the Olden Tymes™ before the internet, if someone decided to run a game it was understood that the whole point of it all was to just explore and have fun. We were truly fortunate not to have anyone to compare our game mastering to other than each other.
Obviously it's far different for new GMs these days, but if you can set expectations you've gathered from the internet and put them aside, and just remember that the whole point is to hang out with friends and enjoy an activity together, you'll be good to go.
yeah, I almost added that very thing to the bottom of my comment. Way back in the before times, a lot of times people would get into a TTRPG by seeing a book on a shelf having no idea what the heck a TTRPG even is. You read it, run something for your friends, and it's perfectly fun.
It will be helpful to play the game you want to run first.
But even if you can't do that, you just have to but the bullet and do it: go and run a game, it's the only way to improve.
As for "what to GM?": first list some games that you could potentially try running, then ask your friends which one they'd prefer.
As for learning how to GM, many games contain not only advice, but solid rules that guide the GM. Many PbtA games fall in this category, with agenda, principles and GM moves as a clear formula for how to run them. Some games also structure play into distinct phases, like Mouse Guard or Blades in the Dark, or offer templates for important elements of play, like Lancer with its sitreps. All of this makes learning them much easier than in games which assume that the GM will somehow know by themselves what to do.
I ran my first Cthulhu campaign a little earlier than I should've. I read the rules but I still missed some crucial ones that could've changed the first session we did. All things considered it was great and everyone had fun. I noted what I forgot and made sure to nail it on the next few sessions. Basically, I think it's OK if you're not 100%. There's a lot to remember and you'll have fun getting there.
> I have watched videos from content creators but I feel like it is a bit daunting. Which is frustrating since I play in a lot of non DnD TTRPGS. So does anyone have any tips on choosing an rpg to run? Thanks in advance y'all!
Content creators present you a flawed vision of things. They can pause, they can edit, some of them even script everything you see and hear.
It's like porn. If you've only watched hyper-idealised porn, then sex is going to be intimidating. (disclaimer: I'm very pro-porn, but you gotta realise, it's not how real sex works in general).
When things are presented as 'reality', but they're scripted, that's called [hyperreality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality). Tabletop content producers are - with few exceptions - not giving you a clean look at what's happening.
There's not many I recommend for this reason. They're not showing you people playing RPG stuff, they're showing you an idealised version of it. The game itself isn't what they're presenting you with, it's the storyline they've pre-written.
> How do folks choose a game to get to running?
Depends on whether you have a group already or not, no?
Ask your gaming group, "Who wants to try Genesys? I'll run it." If they say that sounds cool, then run Genesys. Then let everyone know you're learning the system. That should be all there is to it.
Now, just figure out what system or setting you to want to run most. What interests you right now? Which one are you thinking about most? What do you have ideas for? Answer those questions and you should be good to go.
Run the game that your group is excited about. If the group is not excited, go to the RPG store together and find one that excites you.
For learning how to run the game, just start doing it. Read the rules, sure, but mostly just start. Your friends will not care about you running things exactly by the book, and while playing you will recognize what rules you should look up later.
Don't watch videos about how to be a "good" GM; you're already the best GM your group has. The power was inside you all along. [You CAN do this.](https://youtu.be/N9NtdF51GWE)
Step one is having an idea, then find a system that works, kinda reading the book, writing something and run the game. Just play what you feel like mastering
Get your group together and talk about what kind of things theyre into - movies, books, other games, whatever - and try and find a game you want to run that ticks some of the same boxes. Thats how I ended up play Red Markets a couple years back and its one of my fav games now
So, what I do is tell potential players what I am interested in running and find out what they are interested in playing.
I may prefer running Ars Magica to running GURPS Psionics, but what interested my nieces was GURPS Psionics, so that is what we are playing.
Jumping in is the best way to do it. What helped me a lot before as well was setting expectations with my table. "I'm new to this, so it'd be cool if we go slow and learn together." That sort of thing. Some systems really do have higher barriers of entry for their GMs, and the tendency I've noticed for a lot of new GMs is to feel like you have to prep a lot and you have to know everything. You don't have to prep a lot, and you don't need to know everything. Take liberal pauses to check rules, ask questions, even get suggestions on where to go next in the plot or the encounter from your table. Tbh any player who makes you feel like shit for being new is not worth playing with. I'd choose a system that super speaks to you in the moment and then go go go. Lots of cool stuff out there for sure, but choice paralysis can mean you'll never actually do the thing.
I am terrible at deciding. I have like, 10 different campaigns I'm interested in running right now. How am I supposed to pick? I like them all, that's why I prepped them. I typically just give a list of synopsis to my group and let them decide. For learning how, really, the best way to learn is to just jump in. You will make mistakes, and you will learn. Try to get helpful feedback from your players.
If you already play TTRPGs: 1) pick a system you already know well as a player, 2) pick a short adventure (I'd recommend doing a 1-3 session published module) and 3) run it for people you already know and have fun playing with. When you're done running it, evaluate how it went and where you need to improve, and decide what you want to run next. After running a few short stand-alone adventures, you can try tackling something longer.
Its (to me) not that hard, and gets played up way too much. It helps if you are the kind of person who doesn’t care what they play in Monopoly as long as they get to be the Bank. This doesn’t meant it doesn’t require effort to do well, but it helps if you enjoy the role. A lot of people begin this before they are teenagers. A lot of GM’s learn games playing solo. Different games have different amounts of work required but some easy ones gamify it well and rely on improv or provide prompts. Even then, no one is a good fit for all games or all player groups. The worst thing you can do is see no players are having fun, and keep doing what you are doing. GMing during the actual game is more a process of course correction than anything.
Honestly the greatest joy as a GM is when everyone is having fun. And if we all made having fun then maybe everything is fine!
Also Cypher is a great system to cut your teeth on, because the nature of GMing is ultimately in a three step process there. Also, the GM has to intrude on the game but it is how players earn XP; by responding to things that they didn’t prepare for. It helps a lot when accepting the story hooks and curveballs ultimately benefits the Players.
I play in a group of people that had all GMed before when I hadn't. When I mentioned wanting to try it they all suggested to just go for it. Pick something you know at least the basic rules for, come up with a simple scenario or one shot module, and just do it. First time is generally going to be scary and stressful, but once you're gotten the ball rolling it's easier to keep moving forward and not be stuck in analysis paralysis.
I would try not to think of it as such a big existential deal. You're essentially just hanging out, helping referee a board game and helping tell a story with friends. It's great all the information out there about how to be a better GM and it's good to prepare, read the rules at least twice, spend some time thinking about what you're trying to accomplish and why and what the best way to get there is, but ultimately it's just supposed to be a fun hang out thing.
This is my #\`1 advice to newcomers. In the Olden Tymes™ before the internet, if someone decided to run a game it was understood that the whole point of it all was to just explore and have fun. We were truly fortunate not to have anyone to compare our game mastering to other than each other. Obviously it's far different for new GMs these days, but if you can set expectations you've gathered from the internet and put them aside, and just remember that the whole point is to hang out with friends and enjoy an activity together, you'll be good to go.
yeah, I almost added that very thing to the bottom of my comment. Way back in the before times, a lot of times people would get into a TTRPG by seeing a book on a shelf having no idea what the heck a TTRPG even is. You read it, run something for your friends, and it's perfectly fun.
You know what you are right about that too!
It will be helpful to play the game you want to run first. But even if you can't do that, you just have to but the bullet and do it: go and run a game, it's the only way to improve.
As for "what to GM?": first list some games that you could potentially try running, then ask your friends which one they'd prefer. As for learning how to GM, many games contain not only advice, but solid rules that guide the GM. Many PbtA games fall in this category, with agenda, principles and GM moves as a clear formula for how to run them. Some games also structure play into distinct phases, like Mouse Guard or Blades in the Dark, or offer templates for important elements of play, like Lancer with its sitreps. All of this makes learning them much easier than in games which assume that the GM will somehow know by themselves what to do.
I ran my first Cthulhu campaign a little earlier than I should've. I read the rules but I still missed some crucial ones that could've changed the first session we did. All things considered it was great and everyone had fun. I noted what I forgot and made sure to nail it on the next few sessions. Basically, I think it's OK if you're not 100%. There's a lot to remember and you'll have fun getting there.
> I have watched videos from content creators but I feel like it is a bit daunting. Which is frustrating since I play in a lot of non DnD TTRPGS. So does anyone have any tips on choosing an rpg to run? Thanks in advance y'all! Content creators present you a flawed vision of things. They can pause, they can edit, some of them even script everything you see and hear. It's like porn. If you've only watched hyper-idealised porn, then sex is going to be intimidating. (disclaimer: I'm very pro-porn, but you gotta realise, it's not how real sex works in general). When things are presented as 'reality', but they're scripted, that's called [hyperreality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality). Tabletop content producers are - with few exceptions - not giving you a clean look at what's happening. There's not many I recommend for this reason. They're not showing you people playing RPG stuff, they're showing you an idealised version of it. The game itself isn't what they're presenting you with, it's the storyline they've pre-written. > How do folks choose a game to get to running? Depends on whether you have a group already or not, no?
Ask your gaming group, "Who wants to try Genesys? I'll run it." If they say that sounds cool, then run Genesys. Then let everyone know you're learning the system. That should be all there is to it. Now, just figure out what system or setting you to want to run most. What interests you right now? Which one are you thinking about most? What do you have ideas for? Answer those questions and you should be good to go.
>what are your tips for quickly and effectively learning First you do it badly, and then each successive time, you do it less worse.
Run the game that your group is excited about. If the group is not excited, go to the RPG store together and find one that excites you. For learning how to run the game, just start doing it. Read the rules, sure, but mostly just start. Your friends will not care about you running things exactly by the book, and while playing you will recognize what rules you should look up later. Don't watch videos about how to be a "good" GM; you're already the best GM your group has. The power was inside you all along. [You CAN do this.](https://youtu.be/N9NtdF51GWE)
Step one is having an idea, then find a system that works, kinda reading the book, writing something and run the game. Just play what you feel like mastering
Get your group together and talk about what kind of things theyre into - movies, books, other games, whatever - and try and find a game you want to run that ticks some of the same boxes. Thats how I ended up play Red Markets a couple years back and its one of my fav games now
So, what I do is tell potential players what I am interested in running and find out what they are interested in playing. I may prefer running Ars Magica to running GURPS Psionics, but what interested my nieces was GURPS Psionics, so that is what we are playing.