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What is an RPG Master
The famous Dungeons & Dragons RPG created the player called the Master. There, the Dungeon Master is responsible for conducting the game, narrating the situations that happen to other players' characters. With new scenarios and game genres emerging, the term "dungeon" started to lose meaning and we started to call them Game Master or just Master.
Although some games call it "narrator", in the end the character is there to perform the same service: lead the other players through the story, presenting their challenges and applying the rules.
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The RPG master types
The problem is that not all of us will handle a story equally. Not only that, not all of us will enforce the rules as we should (there are too many rules!). Some of us even end up "cheating" to help adventurers overcome their challenges, helping them with dice or whatever. Other GMs are more violent and actually want to see their adventurers suffer a lot, which can give a much better feeling of victory when they achieve the tricky goals this GM has given.
Here we come to the quiz: what kind of master would you be? Let's make it clear here that there is no "correct way" to be a master, but there are many types: you can be the one who wants to participate in the story along with the characters; or even one who is too kind; or a complicated master that provides many challenges!
There is no exact science for the types, so I created my own system of how to divide them: hardcore master; builder master, creative master and family master.
We'll leave some situations here and tell us what you, as a master, would do.
Quiz
The adventurers are about to die. Not out of negligence, they are great people, they always put in effort in sessions. The dice are not rolling to help. The monster will kill them this turn. What will you do?
That's part of the game, let them die and let's start a new campaign.
Unfortunately, they die. But we can continue the story with each adventurer's twin brothers, who coincidentally they all have!
In the middle of the battle, the adventurers hear a thunderous strike. The moment the monster's sword would kill the first one, it stops in midair. The adventurers watch as the monster bleeds out, a powerful NPC steps in to save them.
Suddenly, the monster starts to get tired. You lie about the dice you're rolling in secret, causing the heroes to win by a thread.
The adventurers enter the market. They are low on food, equipment and money. The seller takes care of them. They want to roll the dice to try to get a discount.
You can take the test. Oops, a high number? The salesman looks at you and remembers his children. You appeal to that memory and walk away with some free items
The seller argues he has mouths to feed, so don't push your luck!
Before rolling the dice, you see a sign on the counter. The sign says "all items are 50% off"! Today is your lucky day!
Roll the dice, but remember: a poorly rolled dice can lead to worse situations than just not getting the discount. The seller believes you are out to get him, and you are kicked out of the store!
Theis inn in a reamote town is a beautiful place where you imagined several stories and characters. The adventurers enter it, but after a fight, they decide to try to kill the owner and set the inn on fire.
Unfortunately, they lost all quests related to the inn and are now on the most-wanted list!
After seeing the inn destroyed, the adventurers see a secret passage among the wreckage. You have just discovered a dungeon, and you were only able to because of the fire!
A retired level 20 NPC adventurer was on the outskirts of the inn. It was his favorite inn. He sees the situation and helps the beat up the adventurers
The owner and the NPCs of that inn begin to scream in despair and soon after transforms into monsters. The inn is actually cursed, and you are saving the city
The party's Rogue decided to cheat, using two health potions but, after the session is over, you check your notes and see he only had one potion.
For the sake of friendship, I'll leave it as it is and maybe add some challenging task for him
In the next session, you get the group together and give a colossal lecture about someone stealing in the session and how that ruins the fun and the game itself.
It was my job as Game Master to check notes and stop him. It's too late to do anything about it now.
Speaks out loud: "I noticed that the rogue drank 2 potions in the last session, but there was only 1 registered. The second could only have been poison he drank accidentally! In this session, he will start with less health and poisoned"
Players are entering a new tomb. They are usually more attentive, but as they were talking and got excited, they entered without any preparation. The tomb has high-level monsters, too high for your adventurers to defeat.
They should have asked questions about the tomb before entering. I'll put a strong monster right at the beginning, so they give up on this idea.
An NPC far away yells at them, "Don't enter, adventurers! This tomb is too dangerous." A guard appears, preventing them from entering.
I adjust the monsters to their power level. The important thing is to explore and have fun.
Upon entering, they discover that the first floor is a market full of adventurers preparing to delve deeper into this famous tomb. They are hiring people to help them.
One of the players is creating a character aimed at dealing extremely high damage, and the combat is losing its fun.
I love the fact that they're exploiting the rules of the game. That's part of it. We can make the game more role-playing if the battles are too boring.
Combos are part of the game! But not every combo is for all types of situations and monsters, let's explore where this guy's combo is weak.
If something takes the fun out of combat, it shouldn't exist. We will change the rules or ask the player not to go in that direction.
A storm appears, and the group breaks up. The battles continue in different environments, taking place in parallel, until the stories connect again.
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