With the shift of classic #tbtRPG posts to Thursdays, we’ll be dedicating Fridays to advice for Game Masters/Dungeon Masters/Storytellers.
By far the most importance advice you’ll likely ever receive in this space as a GM is “tailor your story to the players at your table.” It cannot be overstated how critical it is that you as the storyteller invest in learning about your players as people so you can shape the story their characters live in accordingly.
You do not have to compromise your creative vision in order to do so; in fact, taking this advice to heart often enhances your own storytelling abilities and certainly makes better the final product.
Tailoring, however, does not mean pandering. You are not a ticket-taker for every want & whim of all your players. Instead, recognizing what makes each player tick in their own individual ways, your role in this area is to strike a balance between these nuances and how they fit like enzymes with the story you’re in tending to tell.
We’ve all heard the expression “You are the company you keep.” And in RPGs, the story’s lifeblood is you and the players at the table.
