GMing manifesto

what you need to know before playing in a game with me

i'm kinda always gming nowadays (not complaining, i love it, but if anyone is looking for a player (NOT D&D 3.5 OR 5E) im here!) so i figured it'd be helpful for myself and my players if i had a central place where i explain my gming philosophy and my player expectations. ive been gming pretty regularly for 10 years (as of 2025) in various systems, including one of my own design, and my philosophy and expectations are informed by these experiences. these are generalities based on the kinds of games i typically run: my expectations will necessarily be different between systems, and these will be clearly communicated.

philosophy

generally speaking, i run rather open-ended games where players work with me to create a narrative, with some restrictions on player agency depending on the agreed upon goals and tone of the game and the amount of preparation involved. i don't really create "plots" because i think that's antithetical to the medium; i create situations and problems and the plot emerges from the player's reactions to these things. the structure at its simplest:

• i present the players a problem;
• the players attempt to solve it;
• the problem is either solved or adapts;
• repeat as appropriate

because players require accurate information to make good choices, i'm pretty liberal with handing out relevant info and communicating stakes and threat in plain language. because my players are informed about the risks of what they're up to, i let them (and the resolution mechanics) make their own success: i don't pull punches; if you take a gamble and it doesn't pan out, there will be an appropriate consequence (clearly communicated beforehand!). whenever there's chance involved, failure is always a possibility, but it will never mean the game grinds to a halt; if the players fail, they take their licks, recover, and adapt. sometimes they might end up unable to complete their goal, in which case they take the loss and move on to something else. such is the way of the world. bear in mind i don't run games where failure isn't interesting.

i am generally averse to serious homebrew. i would much rather find a system that better suits what we want to do than spend time doing unpaid game design (i do enough of that with my own ttrpgs!) or balancing homebrew classes and whatnot. that being said, i am extremely amenable to including supplementary material or introducing small mechanics to bring the game closer to what the table wants it to be. i love stealing pdfs and will provide any material required to play. in cases where we need to purchase something (a mat for minis or specialty dice, e.g.) i'll ask the players to pitch in some money to help pay for it.

player expectations

i put a good deal of work into running games, and on top of that i'm usually hosting too. the following expectations—pretty modest and only really necessary to be stated because the play culture around D&D sucks so bad—are to ensure everybody at the table has fun and that i'm not wasting my time. i'm not a fascist about it but i expect players to follow these rules; if you can't, you can't be at my table (sorry!). on the flip side, if you find you're not connecting with the game, i won't blame you at all if you bow out. we're here to have fun, but sometimes differing ideas of fun make that impossible, and that's alright!

• Read the rules of the game. After a few sessions, you should be familiar with the rules that are relevant to you. I don't expect you to read the book cover-to-cover so I'll provide a reading guide so that you don't waste time reading things that aren't relevant to you (I'll never expect you to read about GM-facing mechanics, for example, or every player option). I won't play chess with somebody who refuses to learn the rules and I won't play a tabletop game with somebody who does the same.
• Make time for sessions. I set a regular time for my games—usually every Sunday or every second Sunday—and typically won't reschedule to accommodate people's schedules because that actually makes it harder to meet and play. It's not a big deal if you miss a session here or there (for some systems I'll care more or less), but you have to take reasonable steps to make sure you can attend regularly. I communicate in advance when a session isn't happening because of my availability and expect you to do the same whenever possible. You should also make time to prepare for sessions when necessary, such as levelling up your character.
• Meet the game where it's at. We'll either discuss the system we want to play and the tone we're aiming for or I'll decide based on what I feel like running. Either way, I expect you to match the system's expectations and our table's tone. If we're playing a gritty tactical game about space mercenaries trying to make a fortune in a war-torn sector, you can't play Smiley the Pacifistic Happy Elvish Clown and tune out during fights; if we're playing a game of medieval palace intrigue, you can't play Zeton of Alpha Gilgari III, Destroyer of Children, Last of their Kind.
• Communicate clearly. I organize our games over group chat (usually Discord) and expect players to be responsive in there, such as by letting me know when they can or can't make it to a session or responding to prompts (I might, for example, ask everybody to post a short description of their characters or vote for the next mission). At the end of most sessions I'll solicit player feedback, which I really value, but it's only useful if I receive positive and negative feedback (otherwise I'll assume you're just being polite). Trust me, I won't bite or punish you if you tell me you didn't like something in the game.

i'll also typically create a rotation for snack duty (exempting myself because i'm already gming and hosting). if you're trying to save some money, you don't have to be on the rotation.

if you like the way this sounds, feel free to leave a comment asking if i have a free spot!