The Student of the Game Master Screen

 Passion for the Hobby

As a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) player and game master (GM), I have a lot of things I love about the hobby, but one particular facet has held my attention over the last 5-6 years: The idea of mastering the GM role. My passion for the hobby has begun to focus on this particular role and set of skills. Yes, I too enjoy rolling dice and acting the part as a player, but there is a different level of satisfaction that comes from being a GM.

Being a GM for years with very little time as a player has given me several different habits and thought patterns. I have grown to value many things about the games as a holistic hobby. I have learned a great deal about many things from history, to craftmanship, to the narrative arts. These all together has led me to understand something I am calling "the Student of the GM Screen."

The Process

Throughout my time I am developing a process to become better as a GM. This involves a lot of aspects and for some people, these will be different in priority based on your own table and personal style. With that in mind, below are the main processes I will be diving into.

1. Play Games - The most important aspect of becoming a better GM is actually running the game! You will make as many mistakes as you will make great memories and often those go hand in hand. Focus on having fun and you will learn a lot along the way!
2. Consume Book/Videos/podcasts - By reading, watching, and listening to media you will both gain a massive number of tools and inspiration to use in your games
   
3. Explore the different side hobbies involved with GMing - Map making, miniature painting, and other side hobbies can be incorporated into the GM role. I want to explore many of these I am unfamiliar with and find what I enjoy doing and develop those skills!
   

What's Next?

I have the following items I am doing to pursue my goal:

1. I have a game with my family I am running using Mouse Guard. It will be my first true campaign with my oldest two and my Wife's first time playing any kind of TTRPG. This is going to help me explore teaching the game and making shorter sessions to accommodate their attention spans. 
2. I will be running a monthly Genesys game within my own homebrew setting. This is where a lot of my hobby time will be put as a month between sessions will allow for a lot of artistic exploration in preparation. This campaign goes along with the next activity.
3. I will update my World Anvil. I have many years' worth of details and notes about my homebrew setting and I have used World anvil to keep them all. I am working to update it and bring everything into sync with the current evolution of the setting.
4. I will begin my Deep Dive series on the Adventure Syndicate discord again. I love to dive into new games and share them with other. I will be starting with Mouse Guard and work to explore these games including revisiting old ones. I want to record and put them on YouTube for reference. This is more for my own sake but maybe others will find value in it as well.

This will be a fantastic journey, and I will be sharing all the fun along the way! If you have any suggestions or ideas to include in this process, feel free to leave a comment! Let's roll some dice!