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Famous (and Not So Famous) GMs and How You Can Be Like Them
All creators of any type, be they artists, or songwriters, or storytellers like us GMs, take inspiration from others. "There is nothing new under the sun," says the bible, and I suppose on some level that's true, to a point. Just because I take an idea from a book I read once, or a song I heard, or an RPG stream I saw on Twitch, I always do something new with it. Many GMs, especially some new to GMing, have watched other GMs at conventions or on streaming sites, some quite famous, and try to emulate them exactly. Not only shouldn't this be done, it's really impossible.
There is a lot of angst among the newer GMs I meet on occasion that they can't seem to make their games go the way they've seen other games go. The players keep doing random stuff and won't cooperate with the story the GM is trying to craft and they can't seem to make their campaign go like Matt Mercer's campaigns!
The simple answer is: because that is impossible.
An RPG session is a collaborative story, with emphasis on collaborative, between the GM and the players. That bears repeating, so go back and reread it, I'm too lazy to write it again. The point is, if you want the campaign to go exactly as you want it to go, don't introduce the external element of players, just lay down and daydream, or write a story. Each player has their own goals and objectives and vision of how they want the game to go. Bringing in players to your world, your story, your campaign is to introduce those goals and motives which may not (most likely won't) meet your own. The collaborative story that emerges from the push-and-pull of GM and players - and frankly between the players as well - is what builds the epic tale. Those of us who love RPGs and consistently have fun playing them get a total kick out of seeing what evolves from that interplay. It may not turn out to be epic, it may not be Tolkien- or Rowling- or Martin-worthy, but it'll be original, and unique, and something no one has ever seen before.
Personally, I cant wait to see what that turns out to be.
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