“I wish I had Justin’s book when I was 15. It would have made me a better DM, like it will make you a better DM.”
– Matthew Colville
Have you ever wanted to step into your favorite movie or book or television series? Do you want to take your friends on impossible adventures? Do you want to play a cunning elf, a daring spy, a brilliant detective, or a dastardly villain? Do you want to create new worlds?
Do you want to be a Game Master?
Millions of people have discovered the amazing opportunities for creativity, problem-solving, and — most importantly! — fun offered by tabletop roleplaying games. Do you have what it takes to join them? Whether you’re thinking about playing Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Vampire: The Masquerade, Cyberpunk RED, Star Wars, The Witcher, or any one of the countless other roleplaying games that let you go on adventures with your friends while playing characters of your own creation, this book is the key to unlocking the limitless vistas of your imagination.
ENnie Award-winning game designer Justin Alexander offers you the only true step-by-step guide to becoming a Game Master. In less than an hour, you’ll have all the tools you need to run your first adventure (including the adventure itself!). From there, Alexander guides you one step at a time, showing you how to create your own adventures along with the practical, actionable tips and tricks you’ll need to share them with confidence. With your friends you’ll explore dungeons, solve mysteries, steal priceless artifacts, unravel strange conspiracies, and venture forth on epic journeys!
And even if you’ve been playing for decades, So You Want to Be a Game Master? will level your game up with never-before-revealed secret techniques and a huge selection of extra credit lessons that will blow your players away.
FROM MACMILLAN & PAGE STREET PUBLISHING
AVAILABLE AT BOOKSTORES AND GAME STORES WORLDWIDE!
EVERYTHING A GAME MASTER COULD WANT…
“This book doesn’t mess around… It’s a tome destined to be a GM’s lifelong friend.”
– Monte Cook, co-creator of D&D 3rd Edition
Long-time fans of the Alexandrian who have been asking to have the site’s incredible trove of GMing lore collected into a book: This is what you’ve been waiting for. It’s your complete guide to:
- Dungeons
- Megadungeons
- Mysteries
- Node-based adventures
- Raids
- Heists
- Factions
- Urbancrawls
- Social events
- Routes
- Hexcrawls
- Pointcrawls
Plus a huge selection of extra credit, including:
- Creating Your Campaign
- Campaign Status Documents
- Learning a New RPG
- The Open Table
- Quick-and-Dirty Worldbuilding
- Rumor Tables
- Running Combat
- Scenario Hooks
- Supporting Cast
- Splitting the Party
But these aren’t just your familiar favorites. The book is chock full of brand new material, too! And everything has been freshly updated into a comprehensive and cohesive volume — the most authoritative book ever written about being a Game Master.
AUDIO BOOK
Also available as an audio book from Tantor Media! Read by Shawn Compton!
REVIEWS & MEDIA
PODCASTS – LISTEN NOW:
Dungeon Master of None
The Smart Party
Roleplay Rescue
RPGBot.Podcast
OTHER REVIEWS:
“[It] is a pleasure to read: clear, fluent, lively. This is not a textbook. In fact, it is far more readable than the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and you will probably get more from it. It is overflowing with tips and advice… It feels like the sort of book where you can flick it open more or less at random and find something interesting to read.”
“[T]his is one of the most exciting books on GM prep I’ve seen, and I’ve read a lot of them. I’m already using plenty of the ideas in play… The later chapters also provide some really interesting marrying-up of ideas. Ways of structuring an exciting fantasy city (split into districts, have different tasks at each one, embed flavour encounters in travelling) are presented coherently and clearly, and the “now do this” tone of the exercises makes you, well, want to do it.”
“One of the many reasons I really, really like this book: It gets into quick-and-dirty worldbuilding… It’s very, very helpful! … It’s a beast of a book.”
#1 Best RPG Gift of the Year.
“What a wonderful Dungeon Master’s Guide looks like… A wonderful resource for all Dungeon Masters, compiled into an amazing book.”
“If your Dungeon Master is anything like me, they’re going to love it! … Justin Alexander makes me take my game mastering to the next level… It’s packed full of really useful information!”
“When Justin Alexander announces he’s coming out with a comprehensive guide to GMing, I sit the hell up and take notice… This [is] a hell of a book.”
“This book replaces every book you might need as a dungeon master.”
“I think this is one of the best books on roleplaying games ever written. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced game master or a new game master just starting out, this book is a must have… It took me decades to figure these things out for myself and reading this book is a lot more fun… An incredible cornerstone for any GM’s library.”
RESOURCES
Dungeon Running Sheet
Hexcrawl Running Sheet
Mephits & Magmin – Maps
Mephits & Magmin – VTT Maps
Maernath Hexmap
FAN RESOURCES
Wilderness Travel Calculator
Route Running Sheet
READ IT NOW!
Also available in France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and worldwide! Search your regional sites online or check with your favorite local bookstore or game store!
