A little while back, TT reader and frequent commenter tsuyoshikentsu wrote an article about useful GMing lessons that can be learned from the Dao (or Tao): DMing and the Dao.
He offers up four lessons (my favorite is #4: Trust Your Players), all of which are elegant in their simplicity. It’s a good read.
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I read this the other day when I clicked on Tsuoshikentsu’s link on one of his comments. Being a Taoist, this is good insight that gives me warm fuzzies. I also think these are lessons that are inherently learned once you’ve run (and probably felt utterly horrible and felt you failed in at least one of) your first few games.
Since the Tao is about flexibility, I think it fits intimately well with GMING (the tao fits intimately well with everything, but I’m a little biased). In this case the lesson is be flexible, and adapt your game. That’s always been my style, and it makes games go so much smoother. Often times I begin without ever thinking about the ending, and let the game play out in the ways it needs to.
Oh, and Tao/Dao, spelling doesn’t matter. There are 2 translation styles, and according to Tao “the name that can be named, is not the constant name” so concept, not name is what counts (and then only somewhat).
Wow. Uhm, thanks. 😀
T
I did wonder about the name, as I’ve seen it both ways.
tsuyoshikentau, if you’ve got an appetite for it I think there’s plenty of room to expand your idea — other connections, etc. You come at it from a neat perspective, and it’s quite fitting for GMing.