Kobold Guide to Gamemastering

By: Keith Baker, David "Zeb" Cook, Monica Valentinelli, Frank Mentzer, Shanna Germain, Brandon Hodge, James Jacobs, Kevin Kulp, Steve Winter

Narrated by: Ray Greenley

Decades of GMing experience!

Whether it’s advice from grognards who were running games at the dawn of RPGs, or suggestions from the new generation of game designers, these 21 essays by experts are here to help you improve your GMing skills and create fun, amazing, memorable campaigns that’ll be talked about for years.

In this audiobook, master GMs and storytellers give you advice about solo campaigns, shy players, cell phones, and making rulings on the fly. Are you unprepared for the game you’re running half an hour from now? Did you accidentally kill all the PCs? Do you want to run a game for kids? Did the plot take a sudden turn and the PCs have gone into uncharted territory? We’ve got you covered.

Complete with discussions on highlighting player strengths, tips for new and veteran GMs, and character romances, you’ll find useful advice about making your game more welcoming, more engaging, and more fun.

Featuring essays by Wolfgang Baur, David “Zeb” Cook, Shanna Germain, Monica Valentinelli, Steve Winter, and many other game professionals.

©2017 Open Design LLC (P)2021 Open Design LLC

Critic reviews

“Highly recommended for gaming nerds everywhere.” (CityBookReview.com)

“A fantastic resource.” (Skyland Games)

Great for beginner DMs

Very high level and basic information on common situations that arise while playing. The chapter on knowing the rules vs making rulings was the highlight for me, but it does seem like something any DM could figure out after a session or two.

Great for making an inclusive space

I love how there is stress on making sure no one is uncomfortable or excluded.

a little too PC for me

good info to keep in mind good ways to handle a tpk and very good ways to inform the player characters talk to much about not being a bad person that seemed unnecessary but that is good to know for a new dm

Thanks for the Inspiration

this gave me so many ideas without overwhelming me or my players. It helped spur an otherwise lackluster writing period into a flurry of ideas and inspiration to improve my game, writing style, and approach to DMing.

Self promotion and back patting abound in this book.

It’s just a collection of “essays” from a few well respected RPG names. Not useful in its entirety but some parts you might find helpful if you are in a particular situation.