#gmadvice

If you have ever played a TTRPG, or partook in a campaign, you likely have a few stories on times you really got into it. Those moments are vital and important to the TTRPG experience,

🎶 THE RPG BAND COMPOSITION TOOL

Your RPG Group Is a Band — Here’s How to Make It Work

Most RPG advice focuses on rules or GM technique. But the real reason campaigns thrive or collapse is simpler:

Your RPG group is a band. Every player is a musician. They being a way to play as an expression of self. The game you choose is the venue.

If the band and the venue don’t match, the campaign falls apart.

Here’s my full taxonomy.

🎤 THE MUSICIAN ARCHETYPES

David Bowie — Universalist

Björk — Experimentalist

Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) — Ideologue

James Hetfield — (Metallica) Crunch Technician

Jack White — OSR Improviser

Taylor Swift — Narrative Pop Star

Kate Bush — Mythic Dreamer

Brian Eno — Ambient Worldbuilder

Dee Dee Ramone — Gamist Loop Player

Prince — Multi‑Instrumentalist

🎭 THE VENUE TYPES (with example games)

Crunch Venue

Pathfinder 2e • Shadowrun 5e • GURPS • D&D 5e: Structured, tactical, build‑driven. Best for: Hetfield

OSR Venue

Old‑School Essentials • Dungeon Crawl Classics • Shadowdark: Dangerous, improvisational, rulings‑not‑rules. Best for: Jack White

Narrative Venue (PBTA / FitD)

Apocalypse World • Blades in the Dark • Band of Blades: Fiction‑first, dramatic, thematic. Best for: Taylor, Björk, Zack

Mythic / Atmospheric Venue

Mörk Borg • Heart • Wanderhome: Symbolic, poetic, surreal. Best for: Kate Bush, Eno

Gamist Venue

Knave • The Black Hack • Maze Rats: Fast loops, simple rules. Best for: Dee Dee

Cozy Venue

Wanderhome • Ryuutama • Tea Dragon Society RPG: Gentle, low‑pressure. Best for: Bowie, Taylor

Exploration Venue

Cairn • Into the Odd • Electric Bastionland: Discovery‑driven, procedural. Best for: Jack White, Eno

Simulationist Venue

GURPS • HarnMaster • RuneQuest: Realism, internal consistency. Best for: Hetfield, Prince

⚠️ THE COLLAPSE THRESHOLD

1 mismatch → friction

2 mismatches → unstable

3+ mismatches → collapse

GM can only fix ONE mismatch (remember the GM is a player too)

🎼 THE TAKEAWAY

Sometimes all it takes to run a good fantasy game is a d20 and a little bit of improvisation. Come with me on a brief dive into minimalist d20 fantasy roleplaying.

Leave the books in your bag if you can. Preface: This advice is mostly intended for veteran, long term GMs. I wouldn’t recommend some of this starting out, but please take what is useful to you. There’s no right or wrong way here. It’s also important to note this technique has been around for decades. I first read about it in XDM by Tracy Hickman. I believe Robin D. Laws may have mentioned it in…

Talking a bit about what a GM can do if/when holiday break comes around. Sometimes we even get lucky and the players come back. Sometimes a year or two later.

GM Tips for keeping a game going for years. The holidays are upon us and some TTRPG campaigns go on hiatus for the season. Some, sadly, do not return from the break. There are ways to get the band back together even after a long break of even a year or more. Family and friends are an important part of the holiday season regardless of what cultural traditions one embraces. Some of us don’t have…

In the second of this series, I talk about the practical things to include in a pitch and session zero

So, in part 1, I covered the logistics of the “when” and “how many” of your game. As a first-time GM you’re going to need to “set out your stall” and say what it’s about. 2. The Pitch and “Session Zero” A “pitch” is the sales technique where you explain the basic proposition of your game. The style of your pitch and the things you choose to include in it will evoke responses in your players…