“If you use random tables, you’re a bad Game Master.”
“If you don’t use random tables, your players are missing out. Bad GM.”

We all know I’m a bad GM, so I’ll be sure to file this under “advice.” Now everyone will know what not to do next time.  We can all learn from my pro epic level goof-ups, right?

I’m that GM who has my own custom d12 tables for all kinds of silly things. Some of them even show up here on my blog if you watch closely enough. I love random tables. My players totally cringe when I say, “Roll a d12 for me.”

Mission number one accomplished. I put the fear of the gods into my Player Characters. It’s a bit metagame, but it works. At the very least they know something unexpected is about to happen, usually to the member of the party who was made “grim servant of Death” or “weirdness magnet” in my notes. My players always know that one character is going to step in an old trap, find the secret door by leaning on it, or disappear into a portal only to reappear ten minutes later with all their clothes on backwards. (*ooh. I gotta write that table now.)

Huge GM secret coming up. Are you ready?

You can’t screw this up. That’s the whole secret to being a GM. Please write it down. It’s that simple.

If you never once roll on a random chart for your game, you’re doing it right. If you roll random for every other thing that happens, especially in a sandbox game- you’re doing it right, too. Are the players having fun with your game as a GM? If so, then you’re doing it right. Keep up the good work.

You don’t have to be Matt Mercer or Gary Gygax to run a good game. You can run entire sessions of a fantasy TTRPG and never pick the dice up once and it can still be a blast. You can roll for every single facet of some encounters and still have fun, bizarre, but cool events happen to the PCs. You’re still doing it right.

It’s one of my favorite clichés.

Do what works best for you and your players. Every GM has their own style. No one is right or wrong when it comes to roleplaying games. It’s true that some things do work better than others in some cases.

I get to use a lot of Law of Attraction quotes when I talk about Game Mastering. “You can’t get it wrong,” works for manifesting and GMing. “Put it out there and let it go” works for both. One of my favorite phrases of all time (Thanks Jake Ducey) is, “What’s the best that can happen?”

Every GM has a style unique and wonderful to them. What works for me, and my group might not work for someone else’s. It’s okay. There’s no right or wrong. Anyone who tries to tell you, “You’re doing it all wrong,” deserves a nod and a chuckle. Do what works best for you and your group. Maybe that other person’s experience is different? It’s okay.

Thanks for being here. Have a great time running and playing your favorite TTRPG. I appreciate you.