- Always have a Session 0. Determines the state of play and lets the PCs build the world with you. It also keeps everyone on the same page.
- It’s not you vs. them, it’s you and them vs. the world.
- Make their choices matter. It’s their story, and they want to actively participate. Make it bad and good. The world will feel more alive.
- Have a party-cap. I’ve maxed out at 10 people and it was a miserable experience. 4 is the best for balance, engagement, and being able to highlight your players, but I can run up to 6 before going insane.
- Three pillars of a game are combat, exploration, and roleplay.
- Make the combat have a purpose, and a goal. Don’t throw them into a fight just to spice things up (it will make things drag on), and
- Balance the heart-rending despair with moments of joy.
- People don’t love a character for being great, they love a character for trying.
- You can’t plan for everything. There’s nothing more chaotic than a person with an idea. And you’re playing with multiple!
- Reward your players for creative thinking. Even if their solution to a problem wasn’t the one you planned, if it works well enough, reward them.
- Unless there’s a T-sign (for timeout) or explicitly said out of game, count everything they say.
- Roll with the distractions. Players are going to get bored. There’s a lot of waiting.
- Don’t plan rails, plan islands. Let the islands move.
- Give everything a consequence. Hint at those consequences.
- I can not possibly explain how badly players do NOT want to go to jail.
- Parties love a little freak as a pet. If you do not provide them with one, they will adopt one.
- You can’t control everything, but you can control time.