Skills a Game Master Should Develop

1. Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #1

   Skills a Game Master Should Develop
   
   There are a number of different traits and skills one should develop to be a good game master. The following is an inexaustive list.
   
   Storytelling skills
   Communication skills
   Organization skills
   The ability to "think on your feet"
   Humor
   Patience
   Creativity
   Fairness
   Knowledge of rules and game system, especially rules for skill use, combat, injury, and recovery.
   Carousing / Social skills or "How to have a good time with a group of friends"
   The ability to draw up random tables, including rumor tables, encounter tables, etc.
   The ability to play convincing, realistic villains
   How to use visual aids, pictures et all
   How to use accents to make NPCs more lifelike
   How to use music to enhance the ambiance
   Giving the PCs the chance to use their special skills, regardless of how silly they might be
   Paying attention to everyone, giving everyone a chance to be heroic (also known as: "Gamemastering, the Star Trek IV way")
   Conflict resolution skills
   Letting players kill themselves through their sheer stupidity ("Roleplaying, the Eric Whittaker way")
   
   From : http://codepoet.org/~markw/gurps/gm/gm-skills.html

2. Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #2

   You forgot:
   
   Cruelty
   Arogance
   Caprice
   Spitefulness
   The ability to give your significant other added perks in-game
   The ability to completely screw over the character of the player who ate the last slice of pizza

3. Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #3

   [Addendum to Kinslayer]
   
   "The ability to completely and creatively screw over the character of the player who ate the last slice of pizza."

4. Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #4

   First, you have to be a decent if not consummate storyteller. But corollary to this you cannot be too much in love with either your story or your NPC's because players have a great way of screwing both of those up.
   
   Second, you have to be an entertainer. If someone is not having fun, they are not going to come back again. If they end up feeling special, and had a good time playing their character they will come back, and might even volunteer to buy some of the snacks, or even go in for some better than usual snacks.
   
   Third, you have to be a renaissance man. Why? I don't know isn't an acceptable answer. While you don't have to know how to make a sword from a pile of iron ore, it doesn't hurt to know that it involves a big hammer and some fire. Know a little bit about as much as you can know about.
   
   Forth, know Kung-Fu. This will come up. Deal with it.
   
   Fifth, know The Lord of the Rings, this will come up. Deal with it.
   
   Sixth, you have to be a councilor to keep everyone's ego afloat, from the raging hackmaster who is disgusted by the group's constant talking, asking questions, trying to pay for things when there are monsters to be killed to the wallflower who slinks away and hides from the rest of the weirdos at the table.
   
   Seventh, and finally, you have to be an ambassador. Our hobby has a bad name in the real world. Unfortunately, it isn't entirely undeserved. Visit a gameshop hosting something like a Warhammer 40K tourney and wonder about how many of these people still live in their Mother's garage or basement, and how many have used normal hygiene products in the last week. Speak eloquently of the hobby, and of it's normal members. Things are not as bad as they once were, but they could always be better.

5. Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #5

   You have to also have quite good self-esteem and know your weaknesses and strengths so you can avoid the pits and steer clear from reefs.

6. Re: Skills a Game Master Should Develop

   #6

   Wonderful advice.  I also think most GMs need to remember to start small...you do not have have to have the entire saga scripted or the whole world built to begin.  I took one sheet of paper to a huge notebook crammed full of very organized world building in a 5 year run. 

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