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Yesterday saw the very first game of a new GM for the Sunrise Lodge UK. He did GM 'We be Goblins' for the 'junior league' - a group of local school children and friends of my son.
Getting someone new to GM is always an event for celebration. With enough GMs we wouldn't have the discussions about 7 character tables and less burn out of GMs who have GMed one table to many that they didn't enjoy.
The new GM is now playing in the PFS for more than two years and has played more than 40 scenarios.
I stayed around to help in crowd control (4 10-11 year old can be a difficult group), to help with initiative, to be around for rules questions or any other help a new GM needs while trying not to take over.
Yes, I was also there to ensure a good game for all the players and to ensure that the quality of a proper PFS game was maintained.
I shouldn't have worried. The new GM did a fantastic job. There have been moments where he used voice and intonation in a fantastic way to set the scene. It really brought some boxed text to live as I have seldom seen for - yes - boxed text.
Oh yes, he still has a lot to learn. You can only become better with experience. But this was a great start for him and I hope he will carry on as he surely has the potential one day to be a fantastic GM with players wanting to sit at his table.
Why do I write all this?
First - we don't often enough focus here on what went well, say thank-you to a GM or praise him/her and encourage them to come back to the table.
Second - maybe this post encourages someone else who is still unsure to take up the role of GM. Just try it - and if you are unsure about rules knowledge or other aspects - just ask a friendly and experienced GM to be at your table to help out if needed.
Third - the new GM is my son and he is only eleven. For him this was a big job and I'm proud how well he did.
My son just turned 11 and occasionally GMs for some of his friends as well, which makes me proud as well.
Doing it in an official event is at least three notches up so my hearthfelt congrats to you and him.
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My son just turned 11 and occasionally GMs for some of his friends as well, which makes me proud as well.
Doing it in an official event is at least three notches up so my hearthfelt congrats to you and him.
I took care to do it in a controlled environment and was around as fall back. The Sunrise Lodge UK is actually (most of the time) my house.
I probably felt more stressed after the game as if I would have felt GMing myself. I wouldn't recommend this without an experienced GM around as either helper or player.
Having said all of this - actually PFS scenarios seem to me good adventures to learn to become a GM. They are quite structured and give a pretty predefined path through the adventure. They surely are a lot easier to start with as the Keep of the Borderlands which probably started of a lot of us old ones.
And in our case it also had the advantage that he had played the adventure already. A slot zero is pretty useful for a new GM but might be difficult to achieve as the most likely group to start is the familiar home group that likely played he same adventure together.
In his case he has the advantage he can play at conventions and is ahead many games compared to his friends.
I will be watching this with interest. I think it also helps me a lot to learn better how to help other new GMs to step up.