There’s an adage in film and comics that I think should be applied to GMing advice: “Show, don’t tell.”
Imagine if the next RPG rulebook you bought had not only a section of advice for GMs, but came bundled with a DVD showing an iconic gaming session from the GM’s perspective — wouldn’t that be useful, especially for new GMs?
Here’s what I’m thinking:
- Find a real gaming group that clicks well together, with a great GM.
- Set up a digital video camera behind the GM’s screen, with a view of the whole table, and have them play a short session — an hour, tops.
- Make sure they address the basics (some of which would vary depending on which RPG the DVD comes with, of course) during the course of play. Think of an extended version of the “example of play” section that’s included in many RPGs.
- Have a very loose script — the goal is to combine acting (to include things that aren’t guaranteed to come up in any given session) and actual play, which will be the most useful part.
- It doesn’t need to have high production values, or even multiple camera angles — it just has to avoid being cheesy. Have you ever watched a training video for work? Think of the opposite of that.
That framework could be varied according to the publisher’s needs — a PDF could come with a link to a free, downloadable version of the video, for example — but the end result would be the same: A training video for new GMs.
This isn’t to say that written GMing advice is a bad thing — given where you’re reading this, it’s safe to say that I don’t feel that way about it.
The difference is that a veteran GM can parse written advice in relation to their GMing experience, while a first-time GM won’t be able to do that — for them, seeing it would be a big advantage.
Why hasn’t anyone done this? Is it a lousy idea?
And does anyone want to try it? (If you’ve got a DV camera and a willing group, drop me a line — I’d love to host a video like this here, if it fit the bill.)
That would be pretty cool, even if it were just a 15 minute tutorial video available on the game’s website. Covering a combat, or a simple skill check roundabout would be immensely helpful to a new player. Thinking back to my abortive 2e D&D days, this would have made the whole ordeal a great deal less troubling.
In addition to introducing the basic rule set, if it is trying to teach “GMing” as a skill, setting it up with a “choose your own adventure” sort of structure might be useful.
That way you could show the kind of situation that come up in play and ways to respond to them (“What if they attack the helpful NPC who was going to give them information?” “What if they decide to go for help rather then fighting the orcish raiding party?”). Just to get the new GM used to thinking that things will not always work out as they planned.
I think this is a brilliant idea… but why limit it to a published game? If you already have a the equipment and the willing group why don’t you get started and make some tutorials yourself. Slap a d20 OGL on it or contact indie or other companies and say hey look what I can do for you… will you support me, or at least let me do it. You deffinately have the passion for the hobbie and given your willingness to learn and explore (as exemplified in this blog.)
Perhaps you could sell it for a buck or ten on RPGnow or something. Given this Blog you would be an excellent candidate for putting a project like this together!
I don’t have much experience in this but if you need any assistance in a project like this I would be more then willing to do what I can.
Thanks alex
This could be great, but I think you’d need to be thoughtful about the scenario featured in the video. Something that would include many of the basic skills and techniques required of a GM without being too advanced. Also, think about the actual game you choose, pick something that is general enough to be applied to all genres of games and systems: that is, don’t focus on the mechanics of the game system, but on the craft of GMing.
That is a really great idea. I wish you the best of luck!
I think that rather than having every different RPG try to make its own video, it might be a better idea to make a variety of videos on different topics on a system-neutral site. I think that the whole social aspect of running the game is by far the most intimidatin thing to new GMs, and they’d be able to pick that up from any video and apply their rules of choice for it.
Then on top of that base video, you could have shorter, goal-oriented videos that attack specific areas, maybe even handling specific popular system. A quick run through of D&D combat or World of Darkness for example. As far as more neutral thing goes, you could have one where the GM is setting the mood for the game, which would go through him picking out his music and such.
If I had a camcorder of some sort I would definatly do this. A set of tutorial videos for GMs would be great. They should even include little helpful things for veteran GMs.
Such as include a section where a player talks to an unexpected NPC. You could show a few different sources for coming up with a name (baby naming book, fantasy books, linguistic talent, or a printed page from the internet) and perhaps personality hooks.
This has lots of potential. Someone needs to work on this.
This was one of those, “Hmmm…I really need a post for tomorrow, what about…GM training videos!” kind of posts — I thought it was an intriguing idea, but it was very much off the top of my head. I didn’t expect to get this kind of positive response.
Your ideas are excellent — and I hadn’t considered releasing these on RPGNow, which makes perfect sense.
Now I really wish I had the resources to pull this one together!
Real Video…hissssssss. 😉
Thanks for the link, Paul — and I’m a big fan of Yog Radio. Keep up the good work!