If you’re like most game masters, you get stuck. Designing the next encounter, adventure, or campaign often feels easy. We’re in the zone, and the creativity is flowing. But sometimes it feels impossible. We’re either struggling for ideas or bored with where things are at. Life gets busy. Our excitement for the campaign wanes. So what do we do? Two questions will reframe everything.
Our hobby is all about creating. We create encounters, adventures, campaigns, locations, NPCs, and much more. Traditionally, GMs build and prep forward. Where are the characters? What do they want? What stands in their way? What do I need to build next? This works well when we’re inspired and excited by the game in front of us. But I’ve become bored with a story or campaign before its conclusion. I’m sure you have too. Even preparing a single session can be a struggle because the story may be in a slump or the characters are in an uninteresting place. This “dead prep” is the worst because it creates friction between us and a fun game for our table.
But atomic game mastery works differently. If you strip away everything else, you’re left with this: what are you excited about? How do you connect it to the game at hand? When we start with inspiration, we avoid this problem altogether.
What am I excited about right now?
The excitement is the engine. This is where we start, no matter the task. Whether prepping for the next session or campaign, we start with the excitement and inspiration. Why? Because this hobby starts and ends with game masters. We bring the energy, and the players feed off of it. We set the tone. If we’re not excited to run the game, what’s the point?
The last two words of the question are important: right now. Inspiration ebbs and flows. What excited us at the start of a campaign isn’t necessarily what excites us anymore. Always reflect on what’s exciting you now. That’s your starting point.
With excitement as the engine, we need fuel. Where does that come from? In short, everywhere. What inspires you? For most of us, excitement and inspiration can be found in books, television, movies, video games, and more. It might come from nature, music, or conversations with friends. All of these feed our imagination and fuel the engine of creativity. So get out and experience the things that inspire you as often as you can.
Here are a few questions that can kickstart the engine:
- What’s the last [tv show, book, movie, video game] that I really enjoyed? What was the coolest part?
- What [tv show, book, movie, video game] from my creative origins am I most excited to revisit?
- What’s sitting on my shelf, screen, or playlist right now that keeps attracting my attention?
- What’s the last piece of game content (game system, a map, an adventure) that made me want to run it?
Sometimes, an awesome idea strikes like lightning. You see or read something and know exactly how you’d want to use it in a TTRPG. Use it now, don’t save it for some hypothetical “perfect” future moment. Other times, you see a fantastic name or seeds of an idea that you want to bank for the future. Throw it into a giant, unorganized “brainstorm document” that you can pull inspiration from when you need it. Make sure it’s easy to access at all times (I use the Notes app on my phone).
How can I connect it to the game at hand?
The connection is the craft. This is the work and the art. It’s where we take our excitement and inspiration and connect them meaningfully to our world, story, or session at hand. Why? Without it, we’re just bouncing around between ideas the GM is excited about. With this step, we bring meaning to player choice and consistency to the setting. There’s no doubt this question is doing some heavy lifting. Our excitement may not be easy to connect to the game at hand. But it’s worth the effort.
The “game at hand” might be your next encounter, session, or campaign. Whatever the game, take the excitement and make it sensible for the situation. Consider the game system, the setting, the players, or the particular moment of the story. How can you weave your inspiration into it?
What this looks like in practice is unique to every game master and each situation. Connecting your inspiration to the world will look different than connecting to an NPC. And it will look different from how I do it. That’s the art.
This is atomic game mastery. Lean on the engine of excitement to maintain your inspiration. Connect it to the game at hand. Bring the energy to your games.
Game on.