As we enter the new year, I’ve got some updates on what’s going on with So You Want To Be a Game Master.

To quickly bring everyone bring everyone up to speed:

• The book arrived at the publisher’s warehouse in mid-October and was immediately shipped out.
• The street date was November 21st, but stores stocked them in mid-November as they arrived.
• For many overseas countries, the books were still in shipment on the North America release date: Either in container ships, hung up in customs, or processing through local distributors.
• The book almost immediately began selling out. Domestically, this meant rapid fluctuations in estimated delivery dates until, shortly before or just after Christmas, most online retailers reported the book to be completely out of stock.
• Overseas, the pattern was more complicated: Initial release date was usually conservatively listed as January (since they didn’t want to over-promise on the vagaries of international shipping), but in many cases the books arrived in December. But they would then almost immediately sell out — so people would see delivery estimates go from January (cautious promise), to December (it’s here!), and then to June (we’ve waiting on international shipping again!).

Obviously, everybody involved — me, Page Street, Macmillan, the bookstores — want to be able to sell you the book. So what’s happening?

First, some people have told me that the publisher “obviously” shorted the initial print run. This is not the case. The initial print order was quite large for a first time book, and reflected both their confidence in the book and the amazing success the book had in preorders.

(Tangentially: Thank you to everyone who preordered the book. It has an exponential effect on a book’s success in the modern book market, and it’s also the reason we have an audio book!)

The book was just INSANELY successful. Literally no one expected it to become a USA Today Bestseller, but it did!

This is what followed, and where we are now:

• Within three days of the book’s release, a second printing had been ordered.
• This second printing was then MORE THAN DOUBLED in size.
• It was not enough, and a THIRD PRINTING of the same (more than doubled) size has been ordered.

The second printing has come off the presses and is now in the bindery. Within days, these new copies will be shipped to the publisher’s warehouse. From there they’ll be shipped into distribution.

The third printing is slightly behind the second printing, but should arrive in the publisher’s warehouse by the end of January.

In North America, this makes it likely (but not certain!) that new copies will start reaching readers by the beginning of February. I am sorry to say, however, that international retailers are going to face the same wait with international shipping that they did with the first printing. (We are very hopeful, however, that the new supply should be sufficient that the book will not immediately vanish from shelves again.)

BUT I WANT THE BOOK!

Of course you do!

If I was forced to pick one problem for the book to have, “unexpected runaway bestseller” would certainly be the one I would pick. But it still sucks, and I feel awful that so many people haven’t been able to get the books they ordered.

So here’s the deal:

1. Barnes & Noble currently has 700 copies. We don’t know how many copies are in their distribution center for online sales vs. how many are on shelves in B&N stores, but if you’re looking for a copy of the book RIGHT NOW, check your local B&N and/or their website.
2. Call around to other local stores, including game stores. There could very easily be a copy sitting on a store shelf near you.
3. If you have a preorder with a retailer you trust to honor the preorder, keep that preorder (at least until you have another copy of the book in hand). It should give you priority when the second printing resupplies the distribution channels, and will likely be the quickest way for you to get a physical copy in many cases.
4. Otherwise, place a preorder ASAP. Again, this will give you priority in getting a copy ASAP when the second printing arrives.
5. There is both an e-book and, in North America, an audio book edition, available from all the places you’d expect to find e-books and audio books available for sale. If you just can’t wait (and I don’t blame you!), there’s no faster way to get it.

I know this is immensely frustrating, but I’d like to thank all of you once again for your support. And I hope you all find the book worth the wait!

So You Want To Be a Game Master includes a sample hexcrawl map centered on the border town of Maernath with cartography by Fernando Salvaterra.

In addition to the map itself, found on p. 392, there are a few other details about the region scattered around the book. For example, we know that the ancient crypt of the found of the Verdigris Order is somewhere in the area (p. 374), and there are other locations like the Tomb of the Elder Eye, Entlands, Violet Halls, Doomcaves, Kahalak Kobolds, the Burnt Ent, and Mt. Dramadand (p. 421). I also use the region for the sample Rumor Table on p. 477.

But the truth is that even I don’t know much about this region yet. It was designed for the book, and I wanted to give it just enough enigma that you might be tempted into keying its unknown depths. (I’m very excited to see what you and your players discover here!)

Four versions of the map of the map can be found below:

• GM’s Map contains the full map.
• GM’s Map – No Labels includes all the location symbols, but none of the labels.
• Player’s Map includes the region labels, but doesn’t include most of the location symbols (except for Maernath, the Old Keep, and the unknown ruins to the northeast).
• Player’s Map – No Labels includes no labels.

Two (very!) large versions of the map are also included, with and without labels.

The dimensions on the maps are kept consistent, so you should be easily able to line them up in any layer-based graphics program and quickly combine the maps to create different configurations. (For example, maybe you’d like a Player’s Map which has Maernath labeled, but nothing else.)

MAERNATH MAPS
GM’s Map
GM’s Map – No Labels
Player’s Map
Player’s Map – No Labels

Large Map
Large Map – No Labels

Mephits & Magmin is the introductory scenario included in So You Want To Be a Game Master.

Basically, by page 45 of the book, if you’re a first-time GM, you’ll have learned everything you need to know for your first session. Then I recommend that you actually do that: Put my book down, get some friends together, and run your adventure adventure. Mephits & Magmin provides the scenario you need to get the ball rolling.

The cartography for the scenario, as you can see above, was done by Fernando Salvaterra.

Four versions of the map can be found below:

• Standard provides a print-able copy of the map for easy use.
• Large is the same map, but at the maximum resolution possible.
• Player is a text-free and secret-free version of the map.
• Player Secrets is the same map, but with the secret Area 06 depicted on the map.

MEPHITS & MAGMIN – MAPS
Standard
Large
Player
Player – Secrets

Like the dungeon running sheet we showcased a couple weeks ago, the hexcrawl running sheet is another tool presented in So You Want To Be a Game Master. I’ve been using some variation of this sheet for the past decade or so while running hexcrawls, and it greatly streamlines your essential bookkeeping for a hexcrawl campaign.

If you’re not familiar with using hexcrawls for running wilderness exploration scenarios, I have a series of articles here on the Alexandrian that provide a modular system for building a customized hexcrawl system for 5th Edition D&D. If you’d rather have something that’s ready to pick-up-and-play, So You Want To Be a Game Master presents a streamlined version of the hexcrawl structure. It’s also quite easy to adapt the hexcrawl campaign structure to other game systems like Eclipse Phase or Numenera.

For more details on how to use the hexcrawl running sheet to best effect, see p. 396 of So You Want to Be a Game Master.

This version of the sheet has been expanded to enhance its utility and for easy printing. It’s also form-fillable so you can also easily use it on a tablet or computer.

DOWNLOAD NOW

OTHER VERSIONS

This version was created by Erichs, who very kindly granted me permission to share it here. You can find cheat sheets, DM screens, and other resources they’ve created here.

Erichs’ Hexcrawl Running Sheet

It’s audio book day!

So You Want To Be a Game Master has been adapted into an audio book by Tantor Media. The audio book is unabridged, read by the amazing Shawn Compton, and comes out today!

LISTEN NOW!