So you’re a GM who wants to run a new gaming system. Maybe you’re a little intimidated because it’s more complex than anything you’ve run before. Maybe it’s your first time prepping to run a game you 
haven’t previously played. Maybe it’s just something new.
In any case, you want the process to go smoothly. And you want to make as few mistakes as possible. (Although Step #0 is really accepting that mistakes will happen, and that’s okay. That’s part of the process.)
Step #1: Read the Rulebook. Cover to cover. I’m afraid there’s no cheating around this and no shortcuts. If you’re lucky, the RPG you’ve chosen will have a well-organized rulebook, but the process of mentally “touching” every page of the book will not only prevent you from missing a rule entirely, it will also begin constructing a mental map of the rulebook which will allow you to look up information inside it more quickly.
Step #2: Cheat Sheets. Make a cheat sheet. It’s real easy to fake mastery of a rule system when you have it all laid out six inches in front of your face. The act of creating a cheat sheet also enhances your own learning process: It involves “touching” every part of the system a second time, and also requires you to mentally engage with that system and really understand what makes it tick. (A lot of RPGs are also terrible when it comes to technical writing, and the act of boiling a messy text down into a clear cheat sheet will also result in you pre-resolving difficult cruxes that would otherwise booby trap you during play.) The cheat sheet will also often suss out those weird rules that RPG manuals leave lying about in dank corners.
Step #3: Run a One-Shot. If I’m interested in running a long-term campaign in a given system, I’ll virtually never start by jumping directly into that campaign. I’ll run a one-shot (usually with pregens). It allows both me and the players to work out the kinks, and the players gain a lot of valuable context when it comes time for creating their long-term characters.
Step #4: Co-Opt Player Expertise. Do so in every way you can. That includes, “Bob, can you look up the rule for pugilating people?” It also includes defaulting to, “Anybody know the rules for pugilating people?” (instead of defaulting to looking it up yourself). There’s sneakier stuff, too, like, “I can’t figure out how to beat the PCs when they use ability X. So I’m going to design a bunch of bad guys who use ability X, and I’ll see how the players deal with it.”
Step #5: Rules Highlight Sessions. This is something I originally discussed in Random GM Tips: Running the Combat, but for any game with a lot of specialized sub-systems, I’ll very specifically design sessions which highlight a particular sub-system so that we can, as a group, get a lot of focused repetition using it. Often groups struggle with these sub-systems because they only come up once every four or five sessions, which means every time they come up you’ve forgotten the last time you muddle through them and you end up muddling through them again. Having problems with grappling? A whole scenario based around grasping gorillas and their pet pythons will usually lock those rules in for the group. You’ll have increased expertise across the entire group.
Step #6: Set a Reference Time Limit. If you find yourself getting frequently bogged down in the new rules, set a time limit. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for in 30 seconds (or 60 seconds or whatever feels right to you), make an arbitrary ruling and move on. Be open and clear about what you’re doing with the players, and make a note to review those rules after the session. Then, before the next session, review the correct rules with the group.
Step #7: Identify Your Hierarchy of Reference. This is something I originally discussed in the Art of the Key, but you should try to prep your scenario notes so that everything you personally need is on the page. (This can tie in well with #5.) Where the system cheat sheet gives you the core rules at your fingertips, this technique puts the relevant class abilities, superpowers, creature features, and similar character-specific abilities that are pertinent to the current situation at your fingertips. Over time, recognize when you’ve mastered certain material so that you can refocus your notes on just the stuff that you need now (i.e., “I now know what the Spring Attack feat does, so I can stop copy-pasting that into the NPC stat blocks.”)
Thanks. This comes at a great time for me. I’m busy reading through the Delta Green Agent’s Handbook and Handler’s Guide I got from Bundle of Holding. If I can get enough interest from friends, I’ll try to GM my first game with that system.
My question: When do you start houseruling a system? Do you try to make sure you play with the given rules first for a few sessions? (I currently have no plans to houserule Delta Green; this is just a general question.)
Very solid advice. I have a rule of thumb never to start a new campaign without having read the rulebook at least three times: once to get an overview of the rules and the book’s layout, then a second time to really learn the ins and outs of the system (though I do not usually make cheat sheets) and a third time to better memorize important parts and check if have have understood everything correctly.
It also helps to generate one or two characters beforehand, to be better able to lead the players through the whole generation process, and maybe to run a “simulated” combat between some pregens and npcs.
It’s quite some work, but I always find it makes games run much more smoothly, giving a better first impression.
When you read through the entire rulebook(s), which books? For example: If I was just learning D&D 3.5, would you recommend I read through:
1. The DMG, but no need to read through the large magic items appendix
2. The whole Dungeon Master’s Guide but only that
3. The DMG and also the Monster Manual
4. All three books cover to cover
5A. One of 1-3 but also the whole Player’s Handbook
5B. One of 1-3 and the PHB, but skip over the spell lists and detailed mundane item descriptions
5C. One of 1-3 and the PHB, but skip over the spell lists, items, and classes
My instinct is to pick 5B+1, if you can trust that the rules are divided up well enough that you won’t be missing core parts of the rules by not reading every character option chunk (*coughwhitewolfcough*).
I’m thinking about this because I’m in the process of learning the Pathfinder 2 playtest rules, and there are *a ton* of character option chunks.
Good question!
So with D&D 3.5, I read the PHB and DMG cover-to-cover, but did simply skim the spell section and magic item section. This worked out OK because I had previous experience with D&D and those sections of the book were not heavily altered.
But with games I don’t have that kind of prior experience with, I do try to read through the equivalent of the magic item and spell sections: That’s the extensive gear chapters of Eclipse Phase. Or all the playbooks in Blades in the Dark. Or all the skill talents in Infinity.
It’s time-consuming and, in some systems, can feel like a slog. But I think the GM needs to have at least a little familiarity with every aspect of the system, and that includes these little chunks of character creation/optimization/specialization.
The other thing to keep in mind, though, is that this shouldn’t be a chore: If the system is a good one, then reading through these sections should be spurring a lot of creativity. Keep a notebook handy and jot down the ideas that are being provoked: Did reading that monster description give you a cool idea for an adventure? Did you think up a cool way you could use that spell in combat? Write ’em down. That’s raw fodder for the campaign you’re going to be running.
I’m not planning to run a PF2 campaign at the moment, so it’s still going to be a chore, but I’ll keep it in mind.
This is a great way to approach a new game and something I’m trying get closer to these days, but I think sometimes this advice appears more daunting than necessary to newer keepers/players. The advice here presents how to maintain a high standard of play, which is why I enjoy it so much and subscribe.
However, as a slow reader with family/work constraints it takes me forever to read a rulebook. e.g. it took me (embarrassingly) 2.5 months of steady progress whenever I could to read the Numenera rulebook cover to cover, and it’s very readable. If I’d asked my players to wait for me they would have lost interest. Instead I ran a couple one shots so that we could try it out and see if we like it with the understanding that I was just figuring it out. Everyone had a good time and built enthusiasm to understand it better and we’re still playing it.
If clear expectations are set and you have enthusiastic players it’s ok to prioritize getting the game to the table and optimizing later. e.g. A local stranger just started a pickup Call of Cthulhu game and prefaced it with “I’m very busy and have no idea what I’m doing yet but I still want to try it”. I’ve wanted to play for a while and so joined up. Although it’s clear he doesn’t know the rules yet, we all have been taking it upon ourselves to figure out the system between sessions so we do it right next time and everyone seems to be enjoying it while we work out the kinks. Basically we focus on steps 3-6 and do 1 when we can. System matters but mastery shouldn’t prevent play if people are ready to go.
A lot of modern RPGs, like Numenera, cram a bunch of setting material between the covers of the core rulebook. For those kinds of games, your can de-prioritize the gazetteer.
Infinity, for example, is:
– 52 pages of mechanics
– 60 pages of character creation / character options
– 72 pages of Gear and gear-related rules
– 82 pages of Adversaries and adversary-related rules
– 262 pages of setting material
Fully half the book, in other words, is the setting. (For Infinity, mechanically speaking, I’d emphasize the 52 pages of core mechanics and the 72 pages of Gear.)
And, yeah, achieving mastery of a system is a process. It’s a process that requires getting to the game to the table; but the process doesn’t end there.