PbP PFS GM school 2024

Game Master Redelia

Hi, everyone, and welcome to GM school. If you have been notified you are a student or mentor for GM school, please dot and delete from this thread. We will get started in about two days.

Hi, everyone, I'm Redelia. I'm the organizer of GM school, and I'll be running the classroom side of things. If you want to continue the school analogy, I'm the teacher, but I really hope we will all be teaching each other here.

A bit more about me: I'm one of the Venture Lieutentants for Play by Post. I mostly work on the forum side of things. I've been playing Pathfinder 1 and GMing for family for about 9 years, and a PbP society GM for about 7 1/2 years. I'm a stay at home mom, and homeschool my kids.

At this point, mentors, can you please introduce yourselves? After that, I'll ask student to introduce themselves.

They said I was a mentor, so here I am.

Introduction: What to say about me? I don't know. I started playing RPG's back in High School but took a break for my first career and while my kids were young. It was only 29 years. I played D&D 4e for a while and didn't really like it. I wandered into a Pathfinder game in February 2011 and haven't looked back. After about a year I started GMing in person games. I started playing VTT online in 2019 and GMing VTT shortly after that. I have only been playing via PbP for about three years, and GMing PbP for 2 years. I have played a couple of games on Play by Discord, but they just didn't work well for me.

I was announced as earning my 5th Glyph this month. I had just earned my fourth star the month the Pathfinder 2e Playtest was announced, so I went straight into 2e without trying to finish my 5th Star for 1e. I have a few Starfinder credits (43) from filling in gaps.

IRL I'm have been working with computers since before PC's existed. My kids are grown but two of the three are still living at home. My wife is chronically ill, so my schedule gets weird sometimes. PbP works well when my schedule gets wonky.

I'm told I look at things with different perspectives, so I am hoping I can learn from others as well as showing people the way I do things. I am hoping we will all learn from each other.

I hope that meets the requirements for the introduction.

Hi everybody! I'll be the mentor for Starfinder Games.

I've been playing RPGs since high school, where I played Second Edition AD&D with a tight group of friends, hosting our own mini-conventions in an abandoned office building (that we almost burned down, but that's a story for another day). I rolled into Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society slightly more than ten years ago, and have been playing (with a few minor exceptions) almost exclusively in play-by-post format. When Starfinder came out, I gave it a shot, and ever since 'Star Sugar Heart Love', I got hooked.

I have had some great memorable games on the Paizo boards. I'm currently having a great time with Season 6. I'm running a more-or-less fixed group through all scenarios in that season, and it's great to see their characters develop along the way. I've newly been appointed Venture Agent for the Castamir station, which is the central recruitment thread for Starfinder Society games on the Paizo board. Among other things, I try to maintain weekly announcement posts there to make it easier for players and GMs to find a seat.

In real life, I'm a physicist working in finance, with great interest in music from all over the world, (which you might see reflected in my games).

Fun fact: I have played exactly ONE Pathfinder 2e session in my life, and the game master is here, as one of our students! Waves!

I was like “Oh, I’ve got a welcome blurb for my PbP games with an About Me section, I’ll just copy that here, let me pull it and see what I wrote there-“ and then saw that there actually wasn’t much actually written there about me. XD

So hi! I’ll be helping in the PF2 department! I started playing PFS about seven years ago in Utah and then shifted to PbP to keep playing with friends from there when I moved to Finland (where I now help organize Society games). I’ve kept up with PbP though because I enjoy getting little bite-sized pieces of gaming almost every day that fit wherever I need them to in my schedule and because I enjoy getting to immerse myself in and describe my character in more detail than is possible in most real-time games.

Outside of games, I spend a lot of time reading about how to persuade computers to talk to each other and I enjoy cuddling my cats. I’ve recently started knitting and have finished one (1) scarf so far. XD

Hi everybody! I'll be the mentor for Starfinder Games.

I've been playing RPGs since high school, where I played Second Edition AD&D with a tight group of friends, hosting our own mini-conventions in an abandoned office building (that we almost burned down, but that's a story for another day). I rolled into Pathfinder and Pathfinder Society slightly more than ten years ago, and have been playing (with a few minor exceptions) almost exclusively in play-by-post format. When Starfinder came out, I gave it a shot, and ever since 'Star Sugar Heart Love', I got hooked.

I have had some great memorable games on the Paizo boards. I'm currently having a great time with Season 6. I'm running a more-or-less fixed group through all scenarios in that season, and it's great to see their characters develop along the way. I've newly been appointed Venture Agent for the Castamir station, which is the central recruitment thread for Starfinder Society games on the Paizo board. Among other things, I try to maintain weekly announcement posts there to make it easier for players and GMs to find a seat.

In real life, I'm a physicist working in finance, with great interest in music from all over the world, (which you might see reflected in my games).

Fun fact: I have played exactly ONE Pathfinder 2e session in my life, and the game master is here, as one of our students! Waves!

Eeep!

I'm so exicited I was just wondering about this checked my email and got the link. I hope to learn so good things for running pfs

I'm so exicited I was just wondering about this checked my email and got the link. I hope to learn so good things for running pfs

Welcome! Glad to hear you're excited!

For your online safety, you might want to be aware that the forum is available publicly, so you might want to consider changing your avatar name to something less likely to attract spam. You can do that by going to 'My Account', and then changing your Avatar name. You'll have to do it before you make ten posts, though, afterwards it's permanent.

Hi, thanks for the heads up :)
Excited but glad to be mentored by you.

Sorry, everyone, but I'm sick. Kludde will be keeping things going for a few days. I will check in as I'm able, also.

Hello, all!

My name is Lysle (the "s" is silent) although I often go by GM Valen on these boards (been a B5 fan for quite some time).

I am a Venture Officer for Play by Post on the Paizo boards, longtime RPG player, and occassionally a freelance author.

Outside of gaming, I practice law and I am also a full-time husband and father to three. Due to sporadic schedules, I kept missing society scenarios when they were being run locally (back before VTT was so prevalent), which is why/how I eventually found the Play by Post.

I am a graduate of a prior GM school on these boards and pleased to be returning, this time as a mentor.

These boards are a great place and I am looking forward to growing together (and do take care of yourself, Redelia, and wishing you a rapid recovery)!

Get well soon, Redelia! Thanks fellow mentors for the introductions!

Since Redelia has asked me to keep things moving, let's get to the active part:

First assignment

Can you all please introduce yourselves? This is the first official assignment, but also a roll-call of all of our participants.

Please describe something about yourself, your role-playing games experience, and why you have joined GM school or what you hope to get out of it.

I'm relatively new to PbP - I have been playing for about 2 years now. I started playing TTRPG back in the D&D3.5 days. When 4th edition came out I was in college, so I didn't have much time to play and I didn't like what I saw in 4e anyway. I didn't even notice that Pathfinder existed. One day - several years ago - I went to a FLGS and saw a line of Pathfinder Action Card game boxes. It looked interesting, so I got the Skulls & Shackles one. We still play that to this day. And it also led me to see what other products this 'Paizo' company made that I hadn't heard about. So that is how I found Pathfinder and Starfinder. I didn't play much of any Pathfinder because PF2 had been announced, but wasn't even in the playtest phase yet. I did play a bit of Starfinder though. And then I jumped into the PF2 playtest and haven't looked back since. Though I am really looking forward to the SF2 playtest and product when it comes available.

One thing that has always made playing TTRPG hard is that I am Autistic (and rather open about it now). So a couple of years ago I tried out the PbP forums to see how that would go. I had been fairly active on the PF2 forums for a while, so I was hopeful.

In short, it went fantastically. I now no longer even try to play TTRPG in a live in-person format any more.

My first game was an Age of Ashes game, and all of book 1 was absolutely spectacular. About half way through book 1 I tried joining another game. That bombed horribly. The GM and I had some style differences and didn't play well together. It happens. I have since played and completed Fall of Plaguestone, and I am currently in Agents of Edgewatch, Extinction Curse, a PF1 game of Rise of the Runelords, and have 3 PFS characters. I have also GMed A Fistful of Flowers once and The Second Confirmation 1.5 times.

Recently, our GM in Age of Ashes had to drop out and we got a different GM to take over. The difference in quality of that game has changed dramatically. So I am here trying to understand and analyze what makes a good PbP GM. How is that different than being a good in-person GM? What signs and symptoms of a PbP game are warnings that a game is failing, and is there anything we can do - as a player or as the GM - to change a failing game into a successful one?

Hi, started playing back from COVID (started from Red Box I think in school but didn't play much..), started a little PBTA before being kicked out, and was looking for a place to play. Stumbled into Pathfinder through Rolegate actually and still playing with the GM. Found the Discord servers and the community is amazing, started even starfinder and enjoying the lore. Wanted to try GMming but need guidance and hope to find it here, people look nice, and hope to have a good time with you.

I was introduced to Pathfinder way back in 2019, and my social media post captured the moment:

The whole party, all at low health, trying to shoot this 5 HP Burning Skeleton with fiery aura and explosive death, while running in cirlce trying to get away from this monster.

And after we managed to hit after numerous attempts, we got 4d6=1+1+1+1 damage.
Pathfinder is scary.

Context: we're all level one and only have me as the frontliner, who has zero knowledge about D&D 3.5/PF at that point.

After that, I was kind of on and off with Pathfinder after quickly quitting D&D5e, until me and my friends start our Wraith of the Righteous campaign (that we didn't finish before the video game come out), and in second half of 2022 we start playing Pathfinder Society scenario. 99% of my experience with Pathfinder are all done through VTT, since that's how I was introduced to it, but last October I went to my first convention and it was awesome. I start GMing couple months after starting PFS so that our forever GM friend get the chance to play. Right now I'm 4 games away from being a 4 star GM.

ex-VA GM Doug from Silicon Valley lodge introduced me to Play by Post with my first and only PFS2e game, then I was hooked with this format of playing PFS. I like how it's much less taxing on our daily schedule compare to VTT or in person game, and how you can spend time refining your character's action and words to roleplay.
I only have 1 PbP game under my belt as GM, and I am looking forward to learn more about gamemastering in PbP format so that I can provide good experience to my players.

I'm Mujie. I really like RPGs, but never really have the time. I've done like one tutorial adventure on RPG crossing and a couple of real life D&D games, a couple Pathfinder/Starfinder society games over voice chat/slack chat, and an avatar legends game over voice chat. I do love it though.

I'm here cause I want to learn to be a GM. It looks really fun and I really want to try it.

Hello, all! I started playing at the tail end of AD&D/dawn of 3.0, and played occasionally from high school through college. I played a couple of Pathfinder games when it came out and through the 2010s, but not much. Standard "always LFG" stuff.

Around 2018, I played PFS at a convention. I didn't get to do much for the next few years, but then I found myself between projects and discovered a local shop that had Starfinder Society games. I played a few games of that and Pathfinder, GMed my first in-person PFS game... and the COVID shutdowns began the next day.

The group who had been running through the local store started running the games online, and I kept active there. After a month or two, I asked if I could run some. I got active enough that I have earned one nova every year since. I also ran a group through the PF1 "Second Darkness" AP.

I have only played a couple of PF2 games, and I want to learn more about running the system. But I am also here to see what I can learn about running PBP in particular. I have played quite a few scenarios this way (Hi Kludde!) but I don't know how to run certain programs and I don't know where to go for tutorials. My current PBP games use Roll20 for maps, and I have had a few people request that I use something else.

I started playing 3.5 in 2007, tried 4e and didn't like it quite as much, and then the year before I started college a friend of mine told me how the company that published WotC's "Dungeon" and "Dragon" magazines was making their own 3.75 game. We tried the playtest together, and have been Paizo/PF fans since. I started as the only person in my family who games, and two years ago had the incredible experience of organizing multiple tables of play, GMed by my siblings, at a family reunion.

I was only a player for a few years, and since college I've almost exclusively GMed. I've participated in a few PBPs, none that lasted more than a few months, have run several short games over VTT, and recently discovered PBD, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Despite how long I've been playing, the actual time I've spent at the table has been pretty patchwork, and I feel like I'm only a so-so GM, so I'm very interested in learning new tools and techniques to run great games across all platforms.

So I am both old and new - I've been playing and GMing since Basic D&D in the 80s, including campaign admin for Living Greyhawk and GMing home games of Pathfinder 1 since it came out. However, I've only been playing Pathfinder 2 (PF2E) since mid last year when I grabbed the Humble Bundle that was going then and joined an intro PBP game with GM Watery Soup. It was a lot of fun and I've been enjoying my daily dose of Pathfinder since then. PBP (and discord) works particularly well for me as I'm in Australia so time zones are often an issue for other online games.

Oddly, despite not playing 5th ed it was still the OGL debacle that brought me to PF2E. It brought a lot of good attention to PF2E and got me to finally take some notice of it. Since then I've convinced my home group to convert and we are having a ball.

Now that I have played a bit, I have started GMing PFS2 here and also on VTT (via Cayden's Keg) - a whole 5 games so far! It has been good fun and good to give back as there is obviously more demand for games than there are GMs. So far, I have mainly been working off the fantastic work that GMs like Watery Soup, Tiger and Frozen Frost have been doing. As a result my aims for this course are to widen my experiences a bit, learn off others, improve how I am doing things and maybe even make a useful contribution or two.

Hello! My name is Beatrice and I'm a software-developer, currently studying Artificial Intelligence in Austria. I'm a Venture-Captain and I have quite some experience in running PF1 games, also in PbP, although I stopped some time ago.

My RPG experience started about 10 years ago when I was looking for a regular group that runs Fantasy RPG games. I stumbled across a group in Germany that played PFS games online (on Roll20) and I joined them. After some games I gave GMing a try and it turned out, that I was not that bad.

I'm looking forward to this GMing School, because I wanted to know what changed in the past years regarding PbP, how things are handled nowadays (maps, pace etc.). I signed up for PF2, because I have no experience in runnging PF2 PbP sessions.

Hi all. I'm Matthew, and in the real world I'm a technical writer for a software company.

I'm relatively new to TTRPGs compared to everyone else so far. I played a bit of 5e face-to-face, GMed some Starfinder face-to-face, played a handful of Starfinder pbd, and one PF2e game pbd.

Quite simply I'd like to run some Starfinder games and for them not to be a disaster. But also to try something new and hopefully learn some broader knowledge and skills. I prefer sci-fi themes. So, although I have an interest in PF2e, it's mainly because I'll need to use that ruleset for SF2e eventually.

Random fact: My first ever post on the Paizo forums was deleted by admins. It was about an imperial to metric browser plugin that I'd created for Starfinder. It's all feet and pounds for me now.

Hi everyone! :-D

I am currently 45 years old, male and live with my long term girlfriend near Vienna, Austria.
I've been playing pen-and-paper RPGs in the 1990s and early 2000s. After a longer pause (around 2018) I wanted to get back into the hobby and found a local gaming club in Vienna, joining a longer running campaign of D&D 3.5e that had a player vacancy. A few months later the local VC GM Baerlie started to offer PFS 1e in the gaming club and I was intrigued by the idea of playing and finishing a short adventure in one evening. I tried it out and liked it very much, so I became a regular player at her table.
I had the direct comparison between the systems D&D 3.5e/5e and PF1 for a few years - and I must say, paizo did a really good job with PF1. :-D

It's relatively new for me to be a GM - in February 2020 I ran my first game at my local gaming club, encouraged by GM Baerlie. Shortly after that, the pandemic hit us all. The local gaming club was closed, moving some gaming sessions online, but only one campaign of mine continued. After ranting how much I missed my regular PFS-fix, GM Baerlie invited me to a PbP game here at Flaxseed - and I was instantly hooked. I am not the most spontaneous guy, so having more time to think about what my character will think, say and do is just amazing! :-D
Also, like Hawthwile said, "I enjoy getting little bite-sized pieces of gaming almost every day that fit wherever I need them to in my schedule and because I enjoy getting to immerse myself in and describe my character in more detail than is possible in most real-time games."

The local gaming club reopened in 2022. Since then I played offline again in addition to PbP - and also ran a few more PFS1 games there, but I have not GMed online yet. So after a few years here as a player I just want to give something back to this awesome community. In order to do so, I need to learn to use the tools and get some experience, so here I am. Thanks for having me! :-D

Outside of games, I spend my workdays with computers (software, partly from home), I also play the drumset and percussion in three bands, and since last Summer my girlfriend and I have a new dog that keeps us busy.

Also, I tend to get carried away and write way more than I intended - I think you can tell by reading this post. ;-)

Hi.
I've been playing TTRPGs for a few years now, starting with some Arthurian RPGs with a family member. I have played a fair amount of Pf1, some Starfinder, and a few oneshots of Pathfinder 2. I have also gone to Origins Game Fair twice.

I have never GMed before now, but I have some really cool ideas for campaigns.

I also love videogames like deep rock galactic, Warhammer 40k Darktide, Armored Core 6 and Monster Hunter.

Hi all, UncleFroggy here. I've been playing PF2e since 2021 when I first joined Paizocon. Been hooked ever since. I started out with some of the older TSR RPGs - D&D, AD&D2e, Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Gamma World. Stopped for awhile until after college but couldn't really find anyone to play with.

While I have GM'ed before (AD&D 2e mostly), it was really for friends and family home games. I've never really been a part of something this large. Most of my GM'ing experience has been "learn as you go", and adapting other GM's practices.

I joined the GM school mainly to formalize what I know and to get some other tips and tricks on how to become a better GM. I do love this community since it's so easy to learn from other GMs.

Hello everyone. I've been playing and GMing RPGs for years, since playing in high school sometime around 1991 or so. My experience includes (and definitely some stuff I'm missing here): AD&D 2E (Dark Sun & Dragonlance), Star Wars (West End), World of Darkness (mostly Mage: The Ascension, but a mix of all), Toon, D&D3/3.5E, Star Wars (d20), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Pathfinder, Serenity, Mutants & Masterminds, D&D 5E, Starfinder, Star Trek Adventures, Pathfinder 2E, and Transformers RPG. As I look at the list I realize that I've not only played these, but have actually GMed *most* of them as well.

I've been a player on pbp for several years, in both PF2 and Starfinder, and am looking forward to learning the logistics of how to GM in pbp format.

Hello all. I'm a full time homemaker with a spouse and four kids. My husband got our family started playing PF1 in a homebrew game in 2016, then finally convinced me to try PbP in 2017. It was fantastic. I tend to draw a blank when I'm put on the spot, but the PbP format allows me to get past that and have time to craft a response/post.

In 2020 I made my first PF2 and Starfinder characters. Most of my games these days are in those two systems, though I am in a PF1 GM rotation group (my turn's next--gulp!) and try to keep my very first PF1 character going as much as possible.

I'd like to give back to the community by GMing some, so here I am. I've run some PF1 games for my husband and kids at home, but don't feel comfortable with it. I keep discovering that I did something wrong because there was a rule for it that I didn't know existed. :p The PF2 rules are easier for me to manage, so that will be my focus for GMing.

Hi everyone, been playing Pen and Paper since High School. Stopped for awhile, and tried a few pop games. Want to learn to GM so I can be a part of the community and help people enjoy the fun I have had. Played various games (D&D, AD&D, Shadowrun, RIFTS). I really love the customizable aspects of PF2e and the crunch.

Hoping to learn a lot.

Thanks for having me.

Hello, everyone.

I apologize for the late mentor introduction, life has been very busy. It is for this reason that I will be a part-time support mentor, popping in when I can and contributing when I can. Mostly, I will likely be lurking in the background.

I am ancient (let's get it out of the way right now). I started with the original 3 pamphlet style books of original D&D back in 1977. I played regularly once I started and my first DM experience was completely off the cuff story telling with a shared set of dice. We all had a bunch of fun. I went on to enjoy a variety of RPGs, though with long life breaks between gaming groups. I still enjoy a variety of RPGs, though focus mostly on the Paizo products. I was introduced to Organized Play at Gen Con 50 and started playing with my then local lodge soon after. Within a year I had added PbP and later became a PbP VA, a role I recently handed over to another. I also play via VTT and still enjoy in-person games when I can.
I found PbP was incredibly valuable to hone both my roleplaying skills and my GMing skills. I look forward to this iteration of GM school.

Welcome everybody.

Well Met!

Hello! I am old enough to have started TTRPGs with the old three book D&D back in 1975. I have played an almost endless number of systems since then but ever since the 2009 release of Pathfinder, it has always when one of the options on my own and my friends' table. If any of you are wargamers, I also have a very long love for Advanced Squad Leader dating back to 1985 and the earlier Squad Leader from 1977.

I DM'd a triple digit number of live tables for Pathfinder 1e, but was slow to move over and take the reins of any 2e tables as another member of the group took on most of those duties.

I did a little PbP back in 1e days, and thought to try it in an effort to get myself back up to speed with 2e and Starfire.

Well Met!

Hello! I am old enough to have started TTRPGs with the old three book D&D back in 1975. I have played an almost endless number of systems since then but ever since the 2009 release of Pathfinder, it has always when one of the options on my own and my friends' table. If any of you are wargamers, I also have a very long love for Advanced Squad Leader dating back to 1985 and the earlier Squad Leader from 1977.

I DM'd a triple digit number of live tables for Pathfinder 1e, but was slow to move over and take the reins of any 2e tables as another member of the group took on most of those duties.

I did a little PbP back in 1e days, and thought to try it in an effort to get myself back up to speed with 2e and Starfire.

Been wanting to learn how to play ASL, actually. But I've seen that it's a massively complex wargame. Getting into Solitaire Wargaming myself with the Vassal platform since space for me is an issue.

Hello, everyone! Frost here. My introduction to TTRPGs began with Pathfinder 2e, thanks to GM Tiger introducing me to it during the pandemic in November 2021. I had only heard about TTRPGs in TV shows before. When I was introduced to Pathfinder 2e, I was intrigued, and it piqued my interest. I started buying and reading more rulebooks and setting books (as PDFs because physical books are too expensive for me, and international courier fees, of course) after receiving one as a gift. I also began immersing myself in the Starfinder setting. Since then, I've delved into both playing and GMing Pathfinder 2e, primarily here on the Paizo Forums and Discord, although my main focus has been on the Forums. I also played a few Starfinder games, but it has been challenging for me to grasp the rules when you have two different mechanics to learn. Hopefully, Starfinder 2e will ease that. I find PbP to be very convenient as I can easily incorporate it into my daily schedule. I've recently earned my second GM glyph for PFS, but regrettably, I've been a bit sluggish in running games lately for some reasons.

Outside of the games, I work in a chemical manufacturing company, supervising the quality control of the company’s products and raw materials. I am a chemist by profession.

I've enrolled in this GM school with the intention of expanding my knowledge of PbP and gaining valuable tips to enhance my GMing skills.

Well, it great to see such a wide range of experiences! Did we miss anyone's introduction? If you need more time, or just don't know what to say, please give me a little sign (or a DM if you're the private type).

Also, thanks for not mentioning THAC0. That term is forbidden around here.

I see a lot of people already have a GM alias set up. This is something a lot of people do, and it helps organise some item (I see some of your have the '◆◇↺' action indicators in their strapline, for example). This is a good moment to decide if you want a dedicated alias, and if you do, go set it up!

I have also used a couple of other GM-type aliases. One for running NPCs or botting players that have to step away for a bit...

And another for doing game mechanics stuff, such as making rulings or describing game mechanics.

Also, thanks for not mentioning THAC0. That term is forbidden around here.

OMG! I haven't seen that term in ages. I think THAC0 went the way of the dodo bird (i.e. after AD&D 2e) when a higher AC was better. I remember the Baldur's Gate 2 game -- my main character (Human Fighter-Mage dual class) had a THAC0 of -10 or lower and I was still getting hit...

Yes, yes, I'll go to detention now... :)

Sometimes it helps to differentiate your GM actions from the actions you take for a player that is unavailable.

Hence another alias

Sometimes it helps to differentiate your GM actions from the actions you take for a player that is unavailable.

Hence another alias

DICEBOT LOVES YOU!

For our next assignment, I want you to answer a very simple question:

What, in your opinion, is the job of a GM?

I'll just take the Virtual Whiteboard to make notes.

You can answer here in the thread (I'll take notes), or you can put down ideas yourself on the whiteboard. Myself and the mentors will stay silent for a bit while you discuss.

While you ponder that one, let's review the first assignment.

"Wait, what first assignment? All we've done is introduce ourselves!"

Exactly! I have to be honest here, and admit that I've never done this in a PbP game! I'm spending months on end with the same people in a social game, and yet I don't do an introduction round. Isn't that a bit strange?

Introductions are an important part of any social interaction, and gaming is no different. Introducing yourself, and encouraging the players at your table is a crucial part of startup. More than making sure everyone has dice. More than getting the signup sheet filled in as people sit down. More than just about anything. You want the players to be comfortable with each other and you, as it will set the tone for party cohesion.

This is important at a Face to Face (F2F) table, but maybe even more so for PBP, where you are with this group for weeks, months, or even years (for APs and long modules) on end, but have minimal interactions beyond a post or two each day.

So make sure you get those introductions done early!

How would I describe a GM's job? Hm...

These are my quick thoughts:

- be prepared
- ensure that everyone at the table feels comfortable and has a good time
- know and enforce the rules, and be consistent (and for more obscure rules, know where to look them up)
- answer rules questions, help out with character sheets, pens/pencils and dice
- reward creativity and good role-play
- bring the story, the environment and the NPCs to life
- be patient, help struggling players - e.g. in PbP, if a player has problems editing the map(s), offer an alternative solution (maybe the player can describe the movement with squares in mind and the GM/another player moves the token for them)
- own one's mistakes and be not afraid to retcon
- PFS: report the game and write the chronicle sheets, both correctly ;-)
- be prepared!

I'm sure I forgot a boatload of stuff.
Also, while I know all this in theory, I already failed at some of those points in the past...

I feel that the core role of the GM is actually fairly small.

* Run the plot: set the pacing, introduce the scenes, and set the in-game timeframe boundaries of the current scene.
* Play the NPCs including both villagers and allies, and enemies.
* Make final rulings on rule questions.

There are many other things that someone needs to do that are quite often considered to be the GM's job because they aren't part of running a PC. If the GM is able and willing to do those roles, that is great. But they can also be passed around to other players at the table (or even people not at the table).

For example, creating the plot, creating the NPC's, and designing encounters are all also parts of playing the game that are absolutely essential. They certainly aren't part of playing a PC. They are presented in the game rule book as being part of Gamemastering. But in Organized Play and in a lot of other games, the job of creating those things is delegated to AP and Scenario writers who publish adventure books and modules.

Another example: I have been a player in several games where the GM delegated to me answering simple rules questions and knowing where to find obscure rules. The GM only needed to make rulings on things that are ambiguous or otherwise need adjudication.

GM job? I can think of 2 main parts:
1) Be happy when your player succeeds as much and more as you succeed.
2) Make the trip challenging with fair obstacles on the way we make them suffer or the character suffers to have fun?

If I made a mistake would like to know but I think it is fair, we are with them when they succeed and will present to them fair challenges..

What you were saying about aliases? Didn't understand..

I suppose similar to GM Lantern, I think the GM's main job is play the role of the world that the PCs inhabit. That includes the personalities and motives of the NPCs as well as the laws of physics, magic, or whatever else the rules define.

Although I think that Organized Play has its own characteristics. There'll be a very specific story to tell, with little room for deviation. So I'd guess the GM needs to come up with plausible reasons why the PC's creative idea isn't possible, or has some interesting effect that doesn't actually affect plot progression.

What you were saying about aliases? Didn't understand..

Oh, me, me, me! Can I answer that one?!

You see, you get aliases for every Society character that you register, but you can also set up Aliases that are not Society characters, in case you want to have a different name and picture when posting as a GM, or if you want to run an NPC.

I made a short guide here (link)

Uri_12 wrote:

What you were saying about aliases? Didn't understand..

Oh, me, me, me! Can I answer that one?!

You see, you get aliases for every Society character that you register, but you can also set up Aliases that are not Society characters, in case you want to have a different name and picture when posting as a GM, or if you want to run an NPC.

I made a short guide here (link)

Thanks, I asked about GM alias and this "◆◇↺"

and this "◆◇↺"

Those are unicode characters that are similar enough to equate to the official Pathfinder2e action icons.

Since we can't embed images on these posts in these forums, we have to find workarounds.

So, single actions like
◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Stand
◆ Draw weapon

multiple action activities such as
◆◆ Sudden Charge
◆◆ Cast Ignition

free actions like
◇ drop item

or reactions like
↺ Reactive Strike
↺ Opportune Riposte
↺ Stand Still

The job of a GM...

To make sure everyone has fun.

I think everything else fits under that. Rules adjudication and consistent application? It's more fun when everyone gets the same predictable advantages/limitations. Chronicle sheets/reporting? Folks enjoy seeing their characters' progression and getting credit for it. Running the plot? Discovering a story is engaging. RPing the NPCs and describing the world? Immersion increases enjoyment. Preventing and/or managing personal conflict? We all have more fun when there are no hard feelings. Etc.

Uri_12 wrote:

and this "◆◇↺"

Those are unicode characters that are similar enough to equate to the official Pathfinder2e action icons.

Since we can't embed images on these posts in these forums, we have to find workarounds.

So, single actions like
◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Stand
◆ Draw weapon

multiple action activities such as
◆◆ Sudden Charge
◆◆ Cast Ignition

free actions like
◇ drop item

or reactions like
↺ Reactive Strike
↺ Opportune Riposte
↺ Stand Still

Since I don’t usually have access to the Unicode characters, I’ll use something like this to indicate the same things:

[A] Stride
[A] Strike
[AA] Sudden Charge
[AA] Cast ignition
[F] Drop weapon
[R] Reactive Strike
[R] Stand Still

Bonus: this also lets me easily mark if any actions came from something like Quickened (or any other non-standard sources of actions):

[Q] Strike (quickened)
[C] Bear Hug (companion)

Either option is fine as long as you’re consistent within the game and clear in your communications.

GMing in general:
-Get the materials(tokens, maps, handouts, VTT, etc) ready
-Keep the game fair and smooth
-Tell the story in a immersive manner
-Guide the player through the adventure
-Try to make sure everyone had a good time

Since I don’t usually have access to the Unicode characters, I’ll use something like this to indicate the same things:

Either option is fine as long as you’re consistent within the game and clear in your communications.

Yeah, using the unicode is certainly optional.

But that is also why GMs often put those symbols in their profile header. Unicode characters can be copy/pasted just like any other letter character.