When to be a GM?

[chongjasmine]

I am still new to the world of role-play, and just applied for my first game.
But I hope to be a GM one day.
The question is, how do I know when I am ready?
Roughly, what is the your recommended minimum amount of games I participated as players before you recommend I take on the role as a GM?

[Vladim]

Play by Post is relatively forgiving, in that you have lots of time between posts to think or to look up rules. Still, it may be better to try out a couple of games (or at least read along) to get a sense of the style, culture, etiquette and so on. I don't think this needs to take too long, and you can often compensate for inexperience with enthusiasm, especially in a group of forgiving and like-minded people.

[chongjasmine]

Thanks.

[cailano]

I agree with Vladim.

There are three parts of being a GM. The first is that you have to learn at least the basics of the system you want to run.

The second is that you need to gain experience with the back and forth of describing the scene and action and taking in your player's actions. There's a bit of an art to it.

The last part is managing the game. Keeping it moving, dealing with player issues, knowing when to take action to keep the game healthy. A light hand is better but sometimes you have to do things like asking a player to leave or to change something they're doing.

Pathfinder makes a great Beginner Box that can get you started as both a player and a GM. It's an affordable product and if you can swing it, I recommend it.

If you have real life friends who want to play, it includes everything you need to run a few sessions.

If you plan to play online only, they also have a digital edition.

[Papa Bear]

When are you ready? That's not something anyone can answer for you. But take into consideration things that cailano and Vladim above have said (and probably several things others will say following). Play a few games and get the feel for how it works. I hope you are able to get into some successful games by different GMs so you can see how they handle it. If you get into failing games, take note of things that probably made the game fail so you can hopefully avoid them.

There is a certain amount of 'creative endurance' that you have to have to GM a successful game. When you as a GM lose interest in the game, a batch of players lose out who might have really enjoyed the game. If they are playing, they are probably enjoying it. Most players will drop out (sometimes ghosting) when they lose interest so its important to me, at least, to not do that to them. In that, I don't jump willy nilly into GMing an adventure. I kick it around in my mind over and over (usually a few at a time) to try to decide if I really want to run it... and by 'really want to run it', I mean, for me, can I still be excited about the story five or six years from now. Of course I've had games die on me as a GM, rarely less than six months into it. I've only ever just abandoned one game and that was because there was a lot of conflicts between several different players. I told them I was closing the game. Conversely, I've GMed one game for 12 years on PbP and another for 8 (my two most successful ones) and a couple more for 5 years. I'm not a great GM, but I love telling a story and most players are pretty forgiving and, as long as you keep going and trying and owning up to your failings, they'll usually support you. The point of me bragging about mentioning my longer running games is to show what I mean by 'really wanting to run it' (mentioned earlier). Its hard to keep that kind of enthusiasm, but if you do, and you have good players, they'll have it too, and it becomes a lot of fun.

That's not to say that every adventure you might GM needs to be a decade long experience. If you want to do a short game, say so. Just let everyone know its intended to be short and sweet (bloody? exciting? whatever). People can get behind that too. In fact, some people might be looking for a "one off" so they don't have to commit to some epic yarn.

I think as a New GM and someone new to RPG, be sure to also tell that bit of info. That helps players be 'more forgiving' because they have better knowledge of what they are getting into. Someone who doesn't want to help you learn, simply won't apply for your game. No harm, no foul.

Edited January 22 by Papa Bear (see edit history)

[chongjasmine]

Thanks.

[shawnhcorey]

12 hours ago, chongjasmine said:

The question is, how do I know when I am ready?

Nobody is ever ready. The best thing you can do is simply Do It.

[Yamazaki]

13 hours ago, chongjasmine said:

The question is, how do I know when I am ready?
Roughly, what is the your recommended minimum amount of games I participated as players before you recommend I take on the role as a GM?

Some folks will know when they're ready (or as ready as they can be). Most just get that creative storytelling urge and just jump into the fray. There's no wrong answer here.

That said, if you don't feel ready right now, you're not ready yet. This goes double for Play-by-Post, but getting a little bit of experience and/or just lurking for a while can go a long way. Most don't need much experience, just gumption and drive. But it also helps to have a willingness to learn, especially from mistakes. And you will make mistakes - we all did when we started. Hell, most of us still make mistakes (thankfully, most people don't notice them lol).

FYI, with PbP, don't sweat about completing games. Those are rare in this medium of play. Just do your best, try to get a grasp of how things work around here, and you'll do fine.