What Materials or Resources Should You Have as A Game Master

I think one thing all game masters fear is being unprepared and trying to fly by the seat of their pants. Unfortunately, many of us still find ourselves in this position. Sometimes you don't have the time and then planning takes cramming. That's hard. 

Good thing you can prevent some of this stress by collecting the right materials and resources. We usually have the overall direction of game in our head because we can't stop thinking of our game. It's the details that are difficult to keep up with and fill in. This is why keeping a number of charts and supplements nearby for quick thinking. Here's a list: 

1. An organized list of NPC names or a random generator up on your screen. If you make your own list, separate them by species, race, gender, culture. Make sure you can quickly point to something you need. 

I wrote a separate post about how to quickly create a well-rounded NPC. In that post, I suggest making tables for each category to create an NPC. If you put in this work ahead of time then you'll be able to roll up a quality NPC quickly in a game. You can also make use of websites that randomly generate NPCs. Adding on to preparing NPCs, if you're playing a digital game, I suggest keeping a folder of images of everyday people that can be your NPCs.   

2. Keep a dice roll table of common enemies that fit into your current campaign. For example, I might make a list of ten enemies: Thugs, hounds, guards, soldier, etc. If I want to have a quick encounter, I can pick one or roll a d10 to choose an enemy. Have the basic stats for these enemies prepared on paper or doc. I put down weapon + attack bonus, defense + health, and any special attack. 9 times out of 10 I don't need more info for a quick encounter. 

3. Create a roll table for basic loot after an encounter. For example, you might make a list such as: pocket money, jewelry, trinket, unique item, large currency, above average weapon, etc. Then make a roll table for each of these categories. Clearly, this takes time, but once you do this you'll be able to use this regularly. Also, some ttrpgs provide tables just like this. Make photo copies of the pages. 

4. Shopping lists! Running a fake store for just about everything is actually really hard. How much does a saddle cost? How do put a price on plasma energy? For that matter, how much should boots costs? Am I working in gold, modern cash, future currency? Is there an exchange rate? 

Whoa! Sometimes something simple like letting players purchase supplies can get complicated. I always highly suggest collecting as many price charts from the ttrpg itself and keeping them handy. Browse the web for price guides for your game. Collect every resource you can for pricing and have it ready. You want simple tasks like shopping to flow smoothly. 

5. Everyone should have a rules cheat sheet in their game master folder. This is particularly important if you're a new GM. I highly suggest writing a document of notes on how to do skill checks, basic combat, spells or tech, and damage/death. You may also want notes on what a player can do during their turn or what your enemies can do. These are all things you want to go smoothly and don't want to waste time having confusion.

On top of all this, I suggest marking your core rulebook with colored tabs and highlighting important info for your convenience. Or at least put some sticky notes in the book. I hope this was helpful. I promise if you take the time to gather and create these resources your experience as a game master will become much more comfortable. 

As usual, you can contact me if you have any further questions. If you'd like to see me write a post on a specific topic. I am a GM supplement writer for hire. I will talk to you about what you're trying to create and put your ideas into a design to improve your campaign. 

You can find me on Twitter @flayer85

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