{"id":10418,"date":"2017-07-21T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=10418"},"modified":"2017-07-21T09:32:51","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T14:32:51","slug":"the-gm-awakens-one-year-back-behind-the-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-gm-awakens-one-year-back-behind-the-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"The GM Awakens: One Year Back Behind the Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"

This series follows the trials, tribulations, successes, and failures of a fairly inexperienced GM who has recently picked up the hobby after a long time away. It aims to assist new GM\u2019s by examining what worked, didn\u2019t work, and what failed miserably as he spins up new campaigns, modules, encounters, and adventures for his friends and family in Fantasy Flight Games\u2019 Edge of the Empire\/Age of Rebellion\/Force and Destiny system.<\/em><\/p>\n

June 2016, just over one year ago, I jumped head-first back into a hobby I left a long time ago once college ended and marriage and children and career filled in the gaps of life. \u00a0I hadn’t sat at a table with funny dice, paper, and a pencil in almost twenty years. \u00a0So this column is a bit of a departure as I look at where I was with the hobby when I was younger, what brought me back, and my trials and tribulations along the way.<\/p>\n

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Image by Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was 12, a good friend at a sleepover pulled out a strange red box with a dragon on it, and I was hooked right after that. \u00a0For the next decade, I usually was at least dabbling in the hobby. \u00a0Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Heroes Unlimited, and Dungeons and Dragons were some of my favorites I played growing up. \u00a0I spun up games off and on, made characters in my free time, friends and I took turns running games, and RPG’s were a fairly consistent part of life. \u00a0Then college hit and my high school sweetheart and I got pretty serious and it faded back. \u00a0Played Magic the Gathering a while in college but the RPGs died out. \u00a0I worked full-time and went to school full time for years and had no real days off.<\/p>\n

Then marriage, kids, career and… all but video games fell by the wayside.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the end of 2015. \u00a0My children, particularly my son, were getting older. \u00a0They’re crazy into Star Wars and games. \u00a0We had invested heavily into X-Wing miniatures and the upcoming Armada game. \u00a0And over the course of time in our friendly local game store, I kept passing by the Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion books on the shelf. \u00a0After a while, the reminders of fun with RPG’s in the past came flooding back, and my kids were getting old enough to play so… I bought the Age of Rebellion core book and started reading. \u00a0I always figured it could be sold to a gamer if I didn’t dig it.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Viper Squad’s Team Emblem<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But then I got to the chapter about the narrative dice system, and everything changed. \u00a0I was hooked and I’d never played a game. \u00a0The narrative dice system did it all and I’ll explain why. \u00a0Whenever I played D & D, or any other game with a d20 or d6 system, I always felt like I was getting into a good roleplaying game. \u00a0I had a concept for the character and his story and what I wanted to bring to the narrative, etc. \u00a0But then, once the game started, I felt that stuff fall away replaced by squares and tactics, basically turning it into a board game with a paper and pencil. \u00a0Now, that was fun, but I always felt the\u00a0roleplaying<\/strong> aspects of the game would fall away once the game started. \u00a0But this narrative dice system forces the story to the forefront, and I’d never seen that before in an RPG. \u00a0What a concept. \u00a0Genius. \u00a0I was sold. \u00a0Just reading about the narrative dice system\u00a0felt<\/em> like Star Wars.<\/p>\n

I started telling friends about it while running my kids through the Beginner box for AoR. \u00a0After a while, these friends started wanting to play and soon, had talked me into giving it a go, GMing a game for the first time in 20 years. \u00a0I spent the next couple months getting characters rolled up, listening to lots of the Order 66 podcast<\/a>, and planned my campaign and started things off. \u00a0June of 2016 marked the first adventure for Viper Squad, a SpecForce group working officially for the Rebellion. \u00a0We played through Dead in the Water, the adventure in the AoR GM Kit to start things off, and we’ve been playing for a couple hours a week almost every week for a calendar year.<\/p>\n

So, how’ve I been doing? \u00a0How would I grade myself getting back into the GM chair? \u00a0I would say… B or B-. \u00a0I’m very hard on myself and despite my players telling me I am doing great, I think of so many things I need to remember and improve.<\/p>\n

I forget so much while I play. \u00a0Usually, these are things a GM uses and should always be part of the game mechanics. \u00a0I can easily list them:<\/p>\n