The Game Master’s Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying: Guidelines and strategies for running PC-driven narratives in 5E adventures (The Game Master Series)

This is a book about what experienced players do all the time. But, it gives structures to make it table/ game wide and have all players, new and expert, participate in player agency. My favorite line in the book is when the authors point out that the reason people love making a new character so much is that you have complete control over that everything that has happened and is happening to the character when the story begins. This method helps players continue that feeling and lessons the work of the Dungeon Master. I do have to say that I was disappointed when it showed up so much smaller than the other books in the series. My picture here shows it next to another book in this 5-book set. All of the other ones are the same size and then this. It doesn't really fit. Now, I will say that its size let me take it on a trip and read it on the plane, so I love it on its own. It's just that I wasn't expecting the difference, and I don't want you to get caught off guard. Also! In the ad they have it is clearly a hardback book, but this order of mine was paperback.

I've been a GM for 20 years, and this book puts together a bunch of philosophies I've had for years and coalesces them into a method that I can apply to my games going forward. The method really makes sense and helps simplify and streamline the process of creating campaigns and goals. I very, very rarely five-star a book, so the fact that I am five-starring this one says a lot. It's a really phenomenal resource, and I suggest that it will help all GMs whether experienced or brand new. You will get a lot out of the content of this and be able to really refine your story crafting methods as well as provide games your players will feel far more deeply connected to!

If I'm 100% honest, the book's introduction is the juiciest part. Read those 12 pages and you've got the most important stuff from this book, in my opinion. That said, the rest of the book is still good and has a lot of cool ideas, advice, and examples. In a welcome twist, not everything in the book is about D&D. The authors have actually played and run other games (*gasp*) and frame much of the advice in such a way that it'll be of use to GMs for most games. I expect that I'll find myself returning to that introduction many times in the future. It's certainly something I'll want a refresh on before trying to start up a new game.

Solid advice on making the players be the ones to take the reins of the game by focusing the game itself on their goals. Good news is this works great for a lot of games that already have this as part of say, character creation. Hero and GURPS have 'disadvantages' that can have the players have bits that put them into the game right away. Other games can have it as part of their session zero. The author does mention some specifics for D&D as well as Blades in the Dark, but because it's aimed at a D&D crowd, I find it a little weaker than it should be not because it's not solid advise, but you'd need multiple chapters into order to determine if this type of campaign can fit your style. For example, if you're player has a goal of rescuing someone from the Temple of Elemental Evil, that's great. They have a reason to go to the town and a reason to look for the dungeon. But... what happens once they get the person out? Well, then they need another short term goal. And another. Which hey, that's how the real world works right? You get one thing done, it's time to move onto the next. But unless you can hook them into the Mega Dungeon in and of itself, as opposed to individual goals, which can be done, but might be a little more tricky to get the whole group hooked, it can be at almost a cross purpose. D&D at certain points works well as 'good vs evil' or 'i'm a murder hobo out for gold' in which case hey, your motivation as to why the players keep going to the Temple, or any other mega dungeon for that matter is solved. I think the book would've benefited more for D&D if they covered handling more in depth examples of taking existing material and running it with the ideas in this book. For those just running fresh off this book? It will go much easier as the ideas and sound and can be put into use right away. Recommended for those looking to put the players at the forefront of the game.

Great tool for any Dungeon Master

A wealth of knowledge - even has stuff that I didn't know I needed to know. Very happy with my purchase. My one and only comment is, I had thought that this was going to be a larger book. Most of the books like this that I've bought have been large - what I consider "yearbook" sized. This book is just the size of a regular book. Not complaining, just something I wasn't expecting.

The next Evolution of the RPG industry has already happened. It wasn’t brought to us by some big-name company. It has been a quiet, Indie developer-led event. This book is not responsible for the shift, but it does summarize what is now upon us. The future of RPGs will steer us further from the tabletop wargaming roots of Dungeons and Dragons. The future is player-centric, quest (or goal) driven narrative-focused gaming. While there is still room for the Warhammer 40k’s and Battle-tech style game, TTRPGs are going to step further into a realm of interactive storytelling. Blades in the Dark, Apocalypse World, Ironsworn, and now The Game Master series have all codified what I accidentally stumbled upon 25 years ago (and wasn’t smart enough to recognize at the time). Player-driven, narrative-focused games are simply more fun than every other D&D game I’ve run or played in during the last 40 years. I, for one, am excited to finish this book and reinvigorate my interest in a game I fell in love with when I was 8 years old.

I love the idea of getting my players to proactively role-play. When I try to implement them, I realized this book lacked information on implementation. Specifically, I ran into serious troubles, pitching this to my players in such a way that they would understand and buy into it. I got a lot of complaints that I was trying to get them to do my job for me. Even the input I did manage to get out of my players I found difficult to implement without feeling random. I found players not super willing to go out of their way to fulfill another players, sub plot seeing it as a side quest. This meant I had to arrange things so player objectives were right next to campaign objectives, which often felt a tad random and forced. I have not entirely given up on this concept, but I do feel like I’m going to have to figure it out on my own.