November 21, 2024 • 17 mins
Are you the person who is running your very own tabletop RPG? Once you’ve chosen which game you want to run, and found your committed players...how do you go about learning that game well enough to facilitate. In this episode, Clint will cover three different ways to go about this important responsibility.
Resources mentioned during episode:
- Download Your Free Quick-Start Guide - 6 Easy Steps to Begin Your Own Tabletop Group in 30 days or less!
- Find Community - Join the CTG Discord Server- Click Here
- How It's Played - (YouTube Channel) - PF2E Tutorials - Click Here
- SPI 828 - Is this the Best Learning Tool? Exploring NotebookLM - Click Here
- Archive of Nethys - PF2E, PF1E, and Starfinder 1E - Free Online Resource - Click Here
Games mentioned during episode:
- Power Rangers RPG Core Rules (Hardback) - Click Here
- Power Rangers RPG Core Rules (PDF) - Click Here
- Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (6E) - Click Here
*As an amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Some of these links are affiliate links for other programs but once again, if you choose to purchase through these links, it's no extra cost to you. I only promote products or services that I have investigated and feel can deliver value to you.
Please Connect with us!
- Visit our Website at www.claimtogamepodcast.com
- Find Community - Join the CTG Discord Server- Click Here
- Join us on Patreon for exclusive content access - Click Here
- Send feedback, thoughts, or suggestions to clint.scheirer@claimtogamepodcast.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Clint Scheirer (00:00):
You are going to run your very own Tabletop
RPG. Once you find your committed players
and choose which Game you want to run, how do you
go about learning that Game well enough to facilitate
play? In today's episode, we're going to
cover three different ways to go about this very
important responsibility and which strategy
you use will depend on your learning style
(00:23):
and Time commitment. Welcome to Claim to Game.
We help tabletop gamers have a great time with friends
to experience amazing stories. It can be
overwhelming to start and run great Games.
Let's make it easier for you to play any Game you want to
have fun with your friends. I'm Clint Scheirer and I've helped
thousands of students in my career find their way to better
(00:43):
themselves and better their game. With more than 10
years experience coaching, teaching and developing
easy to follow learning plans, I know I can help you
too. It's time for you to make your claim
to Game.
(01:05):
Hm.
(01:25):
Hello and welcome back to episode
27 Season 2 of Claim to Game,
still a predominantly educational fun Podcast
in which I am daring to coin the word
funjicational. It's like dribbling a basketball
down the court in your Air Jordan tennis, taking your
shot and sinking a three point winning shot with
nothing but net. So you've chosen your
(01:47):
tabletop RPG that you want to
play with your friends, your group, your
table of committed players. As the Game
Master, you hold a great power
and a great responsibility. Imagine Uncle
Ben from the Tobey Maguire Spider man films is staring
into your very soul with his dying breath
as you are left with the monumental task of actually
(02:10):
figuring out the rules, the mechanics,
the story. And not just for yourself, but also
for your players, for whichever character Avatar they
adorn to play in your collaborative
storytelling Game. How are you going
to do this for me? I try to
learn by gravitating towards the style in which I
(02:30):
learn the best. American developmental psychologist
Howard Gardner forged a path in modern education
with his Multiple Intelligences for Learning
theory, which he developed from 1983 to about
2006. His work inspired and
instructed educators and school leaders that there
are many different ways to learn beyond traditional
(02:51):
methods that had previously been used in
educational institutions. Now, I'm sure that Gardner's
theories on learning are just one piece of the puzzle
of the human experience. There are other
psychologists and learned people who think there are
more ways to learn or who have completely different
theories altogether. However, I do
believe that it can provide these theories, can
(03:13):
provide a solid starting point to
identify the ways that you best intake information
and retain it, and then Apply it to
whatever task you have before you. For our purpose,
the task is learning a new tabletop
RPG well enough to run it for
others as follows, "A Game Master. If you are
unfamiliar with Gardner's eight types of
(03:35):
learning, here is a quick synopsis of each one.
You can use these as follows, "A guidepost as to how you can
best learn your game. Number one Auditory
learners learn best by hearing or speaking
information. They often sort their ideas after
speaking them out loud. Number two can
aesthetic learners process information through body
(03:55):
movement, control and expression? Number
three Visual learners learn best through
images, diagrams, charts, graphs,
presentations. They often doodle and make visual
notes to help them retain information. Number
four Verbal learners process information
through words, often while discussing. Number
5 Logical Learners Process
(04:17):
information best by using rational ordered
methods. They prefer direct instructions,
concrete rules, and categorized tasks and
information. Number six Social
learners enjoy educational activities that involve
group projects or working in teams. They gain deeper
understanding of a topic through peer
participation. Number seven, Solo
(04:38):
learners. As the name would suggest, they prefer to
study alone. They thrive when they're by
themselves. And number eight, natural
or nature learners. They like to be outside
while learning and they're similar to the kinesthetic
learners, but they want to be doing something hands on that
is also connected to the great
outdoors. Before we move on, I have to
(05:00):
say I do not believe anyone is just one
of these learning intelligences. I think that humans,
as humans, we are a hodgepodge of them
all to certain extents. So my hope is that
by identifying how all these learning types fit
into learning a Tabletop RPG, you can
find strategies that begin to work effectively for
(05:20):
you. And that also help you enjoy the process.
Let's begin the first
way. Option number one for learning a
tabletop RPG that you are about to run
is probably the most obvious. You read
the entire book. Now, some people love
reading and it's the primary way that they learn.
(05:41):
To them, reading a 200 page plus tabletop
RPG rulebook is like breathing or eating chocolate
chip cookies. It's their happy place. If
this is you, then you are likely a solo
visual logical learner. Now this doesn't mean
that a GM who learns more towards group or
verbal or auditory learning never reads the
(06:01):
book. It just means reading isn't the final
or first way that they grasp the Game.
Personally, reading has always been a struggle for me
when learning Games because I am not the fastest
reader. A, 200 plus page book takes me
a whole lot of Time to get through. However, far more
often than not, pulling out a tabletop RPG
(06:21):
is, "The easiest way for me to get started learning the Game,
even if I want to fall asleep every five minutes.
Now, for those of you who need to learn
by doing some Games, these are
kinesthetic learners. Some Games come with
solo adventures where you can create your
own character by yourself. You can run through
your choose your own adventure style module, roll
(06:44):
dice, experience the mechanics, all before you invite
others to actually join your table. Now, this option is
great if you are logical, like I said, kinesthetic
and you want to go at your own pace, being able to
stop and then start as you're digesting the
information. and if you're a nature learner, why
don't you just do all this outside and immerse yourself in
(07:04):
the setting? The second way that I found very
helpful when learning tabletop RPG
Games is learning by listening. For those
of you guys who are not visually inclined, how do you get
a Game that is written with rules into a
book? Into the realm of listening and sounds?
Well, the two tools that I have used
(07:25):
are actual play podcasts or YouTube
videos. That's my preferred method. It's
an audio and visual learner's paradise.
Now I've found myself using YouTube videos
when I'm trying to understand specific rules from a
system. Short 5 to 10 minute videos explaining
a mechanic that I don't understand. And it's a huge relief to
me. An example of this was when I first started playing
(07:48):
Pathfinder 2E second Edition. I wanted to better understand
the three action economy. this is a
mechanic that governs how many actions a player
can take when it's their turn during combat. The
YouTube channel Howitz played had a quick
video just over 10 minutes that explained it in a
clear, concise and easy to understand way.
I learned it quicker as an audio visual learner
(08:10):
watching that video than if I had just been reading it out of the
core rules or on a webpage without the sound.
Actual plays, on the other hand, are
another fantastic way that I've learned new
systems or Games. But for for timing, I
don't necessarily watch these actual plays on YouTube.
If I'm watching a video, I have to be fully
(08:31):
watching that video and not doing
anything else when consuming that content of
the Game. Most Games can take one to three hours
to complete per episode, and I don't have Time with
a family and a Job to take in video
content. So instead this is where I
rely on the Podcast medium most
often. Podcasting is a medium you only
(08:53):
consume while you're going about the tasks of your daily
life, whether it's washing dishes running or
driving your car on your commute, you are
listening while living out your life. But
even with podcasts, I only have so much available
podcast listening Time each week. To conserve
Time, I try to find one shot Games
where the podcast hosts and the guests only play the
(09:16):
Game once, either one episode or for a
few episodes. This way I get a taste of the
gameplay, most basic rules, and even
enough to get started playing my own Game without having to
consume 100 plus episodes in countless hours
of a campaign in order to learn the Game and
the rules. Recently I was listening to an episode of
(09:36):
Smart Passive Income hosted by Pat Flynn and
he mentioned an interesting new tool called Notebook
lm. It's an experimental AI tool powered
by Google which allows you to upload
documents and then the tool creates a
short 5 to 10 minute podcasting summary of the
material with a pretend Podcast.
Now, I've been working on a project which involves
(09:58):
learning the Power Ranger RPG
and I got the PDF of the core rules and having started
reading through it, I wanted to get a quick overall
summary and understanding of the Game. So I was able
to load the entire 200 plus page
Core Rule PDF into Notebook
LM and then it summarized
(10:19):
it for me. It took the key points of the Power Rangers
RPG and put it into a 10 minute long
Podcast. Now, it wasn't a real Podcast, there weren't real
hosts on there, but there were two
voices. A male AI voice and a
female AI voice that sounded kind of
real. Actually it was a little bit creepy, but it didn't sound
(10:39):
like a robot. It sounded like two individuals having a
conversation. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on the Power
Ranger RPG after listening to this pretend Podcast,
but I will say I did get the gist
of the Game and it was a good primer for me
to read the parts of the core rulebook that I actually did need
to go and read. Not only was it helpful for me as an audio
(10:59):
learner, but as follows, "A social verbal learner, it felt like
that itch was being scratched for the processing of
information through words and discussion based
on the conversation that these pretend podcast hosts
were having. My recommendation though is to try
to find a, Podcast with actual people talking about
the rules, the mechanics, the, the system that you're trying
(11:20):
to learn. I'm sure it's way better than Notebook
lm. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any about
the Power Ranger RPG, so I went the route of AI
quick pause on the episode.
Are you looking for Games to join or people to
join your Tabletop RPG. Did you know the Claim
to Game Podcast has its very own
Discord server? Would you like to find some
(11:40):
friends, some like minded people just like
you who want to have a great time and tell amazing
stories? You can do this in three easy
steps. One, click on the link in the show notes to
join the Claim to Game Discord community.
Two, navigate to the category
called community. And three.
Click on the channel called look4game. Either
(12:02):
post your own desire to play a game or respond to somebody
else's plea for camaraderie, adventure
and fun. Join the CTG Discord by clicking
on the link in the Show Notes. Thanks.
And now back to the episode. The third way that
I have found most helpful in learning a Tabletop
RPG that I can run for my players
is to learn by doing, learn by doing
(12:25):
with actual social interactions. Now this
final tip is more applying to social
groups or social being with other people.
but I just want to recap for the solo learner.
We mentioned that you can find a pre made solo
adventure that you can run yourself. You create your own character, you
roll some dice and you have at it. Now if you
(12:45):
need another person or people to
learn, ask a trusted friend or fellow gamer to do
a pilot Game to test out the mechanics in the
gameplay flow. Just set the expectation up front that it's
not going to be perfect, that there are going to be more than your average
times when you need to stop and look up the
rules. I had the privilege to participate
in the Starfinder 2e playtest recently with a group
(13:08):
of gamers. It was fun. It was awesome. Shout out
to my group if you're listening right now. Some rules
were unclear and as we went through the adventure
that was okay. Because in a playtest the rules
may still be unbalanced or overpowered or
underpowered and they need scrutiny. But the beauty of
having real people play the Game as they learn is that in
(13:29):
the end you're going to have a far superior game
than if you were creating it or playing it in a
bubble. And I believe the same holds true when
you're learning a Game. Learning the Game with others may be
far more effective than the GM trying to become a Master
of all things by themselves. Two heads are better
than one. I mean, unless you're a
goldfish, then you got a problem. One last thought about
(13:52):
Community. If you are a person who learns better with others in
discussion, remember existing online communities
like Reddit, Discord, Facebook, where
you can go and ask questions for anything that seems
unclear at first. When you're learning. I have drawn
extensively from the wisdom of gamers in all of these
communities and I am eternal, eternally grateful for the help that
(14:12):
they've given me. Here are some final considerations
you don't need to know everything. Example
no Wizard in your D20 & D Game. Then you don't need to pore
over all the rules and spells about the Wizard. You can skip
that. Identify only what you need to know for
your Game. Also, rely on your
players to learn their bits. The weight of responsibility
(14:33):
does not solely need to lean on you.
Ask them to know at least the basics for their character and
what their character can generally do when starting out
and give yourself some grace to stop look things
up. or if it's agreed upon by the
group, make the best guess and look up the rule later
to keep things going. Also, use
(14:53):
cheat sheets. Give players one page sheets with
some core mechanics or rules that they'll need to come back to
Time and Time again for the gm. If you're in
person, get a GM screen. This gives
you the ability to hide your roles whenever necessary.
Also, common mechanics and rules for your Games are
usually printed on the inside of the screen where you can easily
(15:14):
reference them. Most starter kits come with
some beautiful GM screens covered with the most
amazing art from the genre of play. Now, if you're
online, take advantage of the PDF version of your
core rules Control F to find
keywords or whatever search function your device
has. Some websites are entirely
dedicated to being reference guides for your
(15:36):
players. For Pathfinder 2E 1e, Pathfinder 2E
2e and Starfinder 1e Archive of
Nethus is a complete online database
for rules, mechanics and Lore surrounding those gaming
systems. One last tip for online
play choose your virtual tabletop with
the Game you want to play in mind. Some virtual
(15:56):
tabletops or vtts lend
fantastic support to certain Games or systems and
have built in automation to make your life as the
GM way easier. It also helps your players out
too. Final thought. Practice makes
progress. This is something my wife and I tell our children
all the Time. Nobody is perfect.
No Game is perfect. So allow yourself to
(16:18):
grow in your knowledge of the Game over Time. And
over Time you will see yourself more and more familiar
with everything about the Game. It's going to become second
nature. And don't forget to have fun. Games
were meant to have fun, so have fun, damn it.
join us next Time as we find the best ways to have
great times with friends and experience amazing stories through
(16:39):
Tabletop roleplaying.
Have you ever wanted to start your own tabletop RPG
group, but just don't know how. What if you
could follow six simple tasks to get your Game
up. And running in just 30 days or less?
Oh, you can, my friend. Download your
quick Free Start guide either by clicking on the link in the
Show Notes or by visiting
claimtogamepodcast.com Follow the six
(17:02):
simple tasks outlined in the guide and go. Enjoy playing
your best game and may you keep having fun
as we continue to make our claim to Game.
You are going to run your very own Tabletop
RPG. Once you find your committed players
and choose which Game you want to run, how do you
go about learning that Game well enough to facilitate
play? In today's episode, we're going to
cover three different ways to go about this very
important responsibility and which strategy
you use will depend on your learning style
(00:23):
and Time commitment. Welcome to Claim to Game.
We help tabletop gamers have a great time with friends
to experience amazing stories. It can be
overwhelming to start and run great Games.
Let's make it easier for you to play any Game you want to
have fun with your friends. I'm Clint Scheirer and I've helped
thousands of students in my career find their way to better
(00:43):
themselves and better their game. With more than 10
years experience coaching, teaching and developing
easy to follow learning plans, I know I can help you
too. It's time for you to make your claim
to Game.
(01:05):
Hm.
(01:25):
Hello and welcome back to episode
27 Season 2 of Claim to Game,
still a predominantly educational fun Podcast
in which I am daring to coin the word
funjicational. It's like dribbling a basketball
down the court in your Air Jordan tennis, taking your
shot and sinking a three point winning shot with
nothing but net. So you've chosen your
(01:47):
tabletop RPG that you want to
play with your friends, your group, your
table of committed players. As the Game
Master, you hold a great power
and a great responsibility. Imagine Uncle
Ben from the Tobey Maguire Spider man films is staring
into your very soul with his dying breath
as you are left with the monumental task of actually
(02:10):
figuring out the rules, the mechanics,
the story. And not just for yourself, but also
for your players, for whichever character Avatar they
adorn to play in your collaborative
storytelling Game. How are you going
to do this for me? I try to
learn by gravitating towards the style in which I
(02:30):
learn the best. American developmental psychologist
Howard Gardner forged a path in modern education
with his Multiple Intelligences for Learning
theory, which he developed from 1983 to about
2006. His work inspired and
instructed educators and school leaders that there
are many different ways to learn beyond traditional
(02:51):
methods that had previously been used in
educational institutions. Now, I'm sure that Gardner's
theories on learning are just one piece of the puzzle
of the human experience. There are other
psychologists and learned people who think there are
more ways to learn or who have completely different
theories altogether. However, I do
believe that it can provide these theories, can
(03:13):
provide a solid starting point to
identify the ways that you best intake information
and retain it, and then Apply it to
whatever task you have before you. For our purpose,
the task is learning a new tabletop
RPG well enough to run it for
others as follows, "A Game Master. If you are
unfamiliar with Gardner's eight types of
(03:35):
learning, here is a quick synopsis of each one.
You can use these as follows, "A guidepost as to how you can
best learn your game. Number one Auditory
learners learn best by hearing or speaking
information. They often sort their ideas after
speaking them out loud. Number two can
aesthetic learners process information through body
(03:55):
movement, control and expression? Number
three Visual learners learn best through
images, diagrams, charts, graphs,
presentations. They often doodle and make visual
notes to help them retain information. Number
four Verbal learners process information
through words, often while discussing. Number
5 Logical Learners Process
(04:17):
information best by using rational ordered
methods. They prefer direct instructions,
concrete rules, and categorized tasks and
information. Number six Social
learners enjoy educational activities that involve
group projects or working in teams. They gain deeper
understanding of a topic through peer
participation. Number seven, Solo
(04:38):
learners. As the name would suggest, they prefer to
study alone. They thrive when they're by
themselves. And number eight, natural
or nature learners. They like to be outside
while learning and they're similar to the kinesthetic
learners, but they want to be doing something hands on that
is also connected to the great
outdoors. Before we move on, I have to
(05:00):
say I do not believe anyone is just one
of these learning intelligences. I think that humans,
as humans, we are a hodgepodge of them
all to certain extents. So my hope is that
by identifying how all these learning types fit
into learning a Tabletop RPG, you can
find strategies that begin to work effectively for
(05:20):
you. And that also help you enjoy the process.
Let's begin the first
way. Option number one for learning a
tabletop RPG that you are about to run
is probably the most obvious. You read
the entire book. Now, some people love
reading and it's the primary way that they learn.
(05:41):
To them, reading a 200 page plus tabletop
RPG rulebook is like breathing or eating chocolate
chip cookies. It's their happy place. If
this is you, then you are likely a solo
visual logical learner. Now this doesn't mean
that a GM who learns more towards group or
verbal or auditory learning never reads the
(06:01):
book. It just means reading isn't the final
or first way that they grasp the Game.
Personally, reading has always been a struggle for me
when learning Games because I am not the fastest
reader. A, 200 plus page book takes me
a whole lot of Time to get through. However, far more
often than not, pulling out a tabletop RPG
(06:21):
is, "The easiest way for me to get started learning the Game,
even if I want to fall asleep every five minutes.
Now, for those of you who need to learn
by doing some Games, these are
kinesthetic learners. Some Games come with
solo adventures where you can create your
own character by yourself. You can run through
your choose your own adventure style module, roll
(06:44):
dice, experience the mechanics, all before you invite
others to actually join your table. Now, this option is
great if you are logical, like I said, kinesthetic
and you want to go at your own pace, being able to
stop and then start as you're digesting the
information. and if you're a nature learner, why
don't you just do all this outside and immerse yourself in
(07:04):
the setting? The second way that I found very
helpful when learning tabletop RPG
Games is learning by listening. For those
of you guys who are not visually inclined, how do you get
a Game that is written with rules into a
book? Into the realm of listening and sounds?
Well, the two tools that I have used
(07:25):
are actual play podcasts or YouTube
videos. That's my preferred method. It's
an audio and visual learner's paradise.
Now I've found myself using YouTube videos
when I'm trying to understand specific rules from a
system. Short 5 to 10 minute videos explaining
a mechanic that I don't understand. And it's a huge relief to
me. An example of this was when I first started playing
(07:48):
Pathfinder 2E second Edition. I wanted to better understand
the three action economy. this is a
mechanic that governs how many actions a player
can take when it's their turn during combat. The
YouTube channel Howitz played had a quick
video just over 10 minutes that explained it in a
clear, concise and easy to understand way.
I learned it quicker as an audio visual learner
(08:10):
watching that video than if I had just been reading it out of the
core rules or on a webpage without the sound.
Actual plays, on the other hand, are
another fantastic way that I've learned new
systems or Games. But for for timing, I
don't necessarily watch these actual plays on YouTube.
If I'm watching a video, I have to be fully
(08:31):
watching that video and not doing
anything else when consuming that content of
the Game. Most Games can take one to three hours
to complete per episode, and I don't have Time with
a family and a Job to take in video
content. So instead this is where I
rely on the Podcast medium most
often. Podcasting is a medium you only
(08:53):
consume while you're going about the tasks of your daily
life, whether it's washing dishes running or
driving your car on your commute, you are
listening while living out your life. But
even with podcasts, I only have so much available
podcast listening Time each week. To conserve
Time, I try to find one shot Games
where the podcast hosts and the guests only play the
(09:16):
Game once, either one episode or for a
few episodes. This way I get a taste of the
gameplay, most basic rules, and even
enough to get started playing my own Game without having to
consume 100 plus episodes in countless hours
of a campaign in order to learn the Game and
the rules. Recently I was listening to an episode of
(09:36):
Smart Passive Income hosted by Pat Flynn and
he mentioned an interesting new tool called Notebook
lm. It's an experimental AI tool powered
by Google which allows you to upload
documents and then the tool creates a
short 5 to 10 minute podcasting summary of the
material with a pretend Podcast.
Now, I've been working on a project which involves
(09:58):
learning the Power Ranger RPG
and I got the PDF of the core rules and having started
reading through it, I wanted to get a quick overall
summary and understanding of the Game. So I was able
to load the entire 200 plus page
Core Rule PDF into Notebook
LM and then it summarized
(10:19):
it for me. It took the key points of the Power Rangers
RPG and put it into a 10 minute long
Podcast. Now, it wasn't a real Podcast, there weren't real
hosts on there, but there were two
voices. A male AI voice and a
female AI voice that sounded kind of
real. Actually it was a little bit creepy, but it didn't sound
(10:39):
like a robot. It sounded like two individuals having a
conversation. I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on the Power
Ranger RPG after listening to this pretend Podcast,
but I will say I did get the gist
of the Game and it was a good primer for me
to read the parts of the core rulebook that I actually did need
to go and read. Not only was it helpful for me as an audio
(10:59):
learner, but as follows, "A social verbal learner, it felt like
that itch was being scratched for the processing of
information through words and discussion based
on the conversation that these pretend podcast hosts
were having. My recommendation though is to try
to find a, Podcast with actual people talking about
the rules, the mechanics, the, the system that you're trying
(11:20):
to learn. I'm sure it's way better than Notebook
lm. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any about
the Power Ranger RPG, so I went the route of AI
quick pause on the episode.
Are you looking for Games to join or people to
join your Tabletop RPG. Did you know the Claim
to Game Podcast has its very own
Discord server? Would you like to find some
(11:40):
friends, some like minded people just like
you who want to have a great time and tell amazing
stories? You can do this in three easy
steps. One, click on the link in the show notes to
join the Claim to Game Discord community.
Two, navigate to the category
called community. And three.
Click on the channel called look4game. Either
(12:02):
post your own desire to play a game or respond to somebody
else's plea for camaraderie, adventure
and fun. Join the CTG Discord by clicking
on the link in the Show Notes. Thanks.
And now back to the episode. The third way that
I have found most helpful in learning a Tabletop
RPG that I can run for my players
is to learn by doing, learn by doing
(12:25):
with actual social interactions. Now this
final tip is more applying to social
groups or social being with other people.
but I just want to recap for the solo learner.
We mentioned that you can find a pre made solo
adventure that you can run yourself. You create your own character, you
roll some dice and you have at it. Now if you
(12:45):
need another person or people to
learn, ask a trusted friend or fellow gamer to do
a pilot Game to test out the mechanics in the
gameplay flow. Just set the expectation up front that it's
not going to be perfect, that there are going to be more than your average
times when you need to stop and look up the
rules. I had the privilege to participate
in the Starfinder 2e playtest recently with a group
(13:08):
of gamers. It was fun. It was awesome. Shout out
to my group if you're listening right now. Some rules
were unclear and as we went through the adventure
that was okay. Because in a playtest the rules
may still be unbalanced or overpowered or
underpowered and they need scrutiny. But the beauty of
having real people play the Game as they learn is that in
(13:29):
the end you're going to have a far superior game
than if you were creating it or playing it in a
bubble. And I believe the same holds true when
you're learning a Game. Learning the Game with others may be
far more effective than the GM trying to become a Master
of all things by themselves. Two heads are better
than one. I mean, unless you're a
goldfish, then you got a problem. One last thought about
(13:52):
Community. If you are a person who learns better with others in
discussion, remember existing online communities
like Reddit, Discord, Facebook, where
you can go and ask questions for anything that seems
unclear at first. When you're learning. I have drawn
extensively from the wisdom of gamers in all of these
communities and I am eternal, eternally grateful for the help that
(14:12):
they've given me. Here are some final considerations
you don't need to know everything. Example
no Wizard in your D20 & D Game. Then you don't need to pore
over all the rules and spells about the Wizard. You can skip
that. Identify only what you need to know for
your Game. Also, rely on your
players to learn their bits. The weight of responsibility
(14:33):
does not solely need to lean on you.
Ask them to know at least the basics for their character and
what their character can generally do when starting out
and give yourself some grace to stop look things
up. or if it's agreed upon by the
group, make the best guess and look up the rule later
to keep things going. Also, use
(14:53):
cheat sheets. Give players one page sheets with
some core mechanics or rules that they'll need to come back to
Time and Time again for the gm. If you're in
person, get a GM screen. This gives
you the ability to hide your roles whenever necessary.
Also, common mechanics and rules for your Games are
usually printed on the inside of the screen where you can easily
(15:14):
reference them. Most starter kits come with
some beautiful GM screens covered with the most
amazing art from the genre of play. Now, if you're
online, take advantage of the PDF version of your
core rules Control F to find
keywords or whatever search function your device
has. Some websites are entirely
dedicated to being reference guides for your
(15:36):
players. For Pathfinder 2E 1e, Pathfinder 2E
2e and Starfinder 1e Archive of
Nethus is a complete online database
for rules, mechanics and Lore surrounding those gaming
systems. One last tip for online
play choose your virtual tabletop with
the Game you want to play in mind. Some virtual
(15:56):
tabletops or vtts lend
fantastic support to certain Games or systems and
have built in automation to make your life as the
GM way easier. It also helps your players out
too. Final thought. Practice makes
progress. This is something my wife and I tell our children
all the Time. Nobody is perfect.
No Game is perfect. So allow yourself to
(16:18):
grow in your knowledge of the Game over Time. And
over Time you will see yourself more and more familiar
with everything about the Game. It's going to become second
nature. And don't forget to have fun. Games
were meant to have fun, so have fun, damn it.
join us next Time as we find the best ways to have
great times with friends and experience amazing stories through
(16:39):
Tabletop roleplaying.
Have you ever wanted to start your own tabletop RPG
group, but just don't know how. What if you
could follow six simple tasks to get your Game
up. And running in just 30 days or less?
Oh, you can, my friend. Download your
quick Free Start guide either by clicking on the link in the
Show Notes or by visiting
claimtogamepodcast.com Follow the six
(17:02):
simple tasks outlined in the guide and go. Enjoy playing
your best game and may you keep having fun
as we continue to make our claim to Game.
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