So you've decided to be
a GM, but you're not sure which game to master. What to do? Basically
you have to make a decision between four alternatives.
1. You can choose one
of the many published game settings, such as the World of Darkness
games, i.e. Vampire, Mage, etc, a D&D setting like Forgotten
Realms or Dark Sun, or many many more. There are so many games to
choose from you are almost certain to find something you like.
2. There are also many
published settings taken from intellectual properties outside ”pure”
game worlds. Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, A Song of Ice and
Fire, Firefly, etc. The list is enormous.
3. You can make up your
own world and rules.
4. Finally you can take
the setting from one game and the rules from another. Or make up
either one.
The easiest option is
without a doubt, number one. Everything is premade for your
convenience, all you have to do is learn the rules, familiarize
yourself with the setting and off you go. Keep in mind though that
some players love certain settings so much that they technically fall
into category two.
It should also be
pointed out that some games and their systems can be...eccentric. But
there's a game out there for almost everyone.
Option number two is
similar to number one in many aspects. Indeed you could argue that
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd ed. is the same as Star Wars d20. And they
are similar, but the difference is still huge.
Any game that's based
on an established (and often hugely popular) IP, has an external
authority that you as a GM not only has to be aware of but also has
to answer to. Let's take Star Wars as an example.
With six movies and
countless novels and comic books, fans have an enormous wealth of
canon to look to. Let's say you choose to run your game in the
classic Rebellion era. You have to keep in mind all major happenings
that takes place, because your players surely will. That means that
should they say, encounter Darth Vader, they know he's immune from
dying, as he's destined to die later. Likewise you can't just claim
Alderaan was never blown to pieces.
You can of course go
against the grain, and just keep the setting without the major
events, but you will have to inform you players before hand.
Otherwise you may have some very disgruntled players who were
expecting a very different game.
Gamemastering a well
loved IP can be very rewarding, but it does come with a lot of
baggage. And should you choose to do so, make sure you choose one
that has room for the players to be the heroes. There's little point
following in the foot steps of Indiana Jones or James Bond. Their
tales are told, it's the PC's time to shine.
As I mentioned above,
some official game settings become so popular that they take on the
traits of the IP based games. The older they are, the likelier this
becomes.
A good example of this
is Vampire the Masquerade by White Wolf. The twin ”pitfalls” here
are the gigantic mass of sourcebooks the were published. No GM (or ST
as it were) had the money and time to read them all. This invariably
led to players bringing parts of the canon to the table the GM never
even heard of. The second part was the mass of fan creations and fan
interpretations often viewed as canon. Most Vampire GM's have had to
say ”I don't care what you've read, this is my game”. Or the
player who says ”There's no way Elminster would do that”.
Naturally this is
different from the Star Wars example, but it's worth keeping in mind.
Another point about IP
based games I feel is worth bringing up is the danger of the setting
characters stealing the lime light. Jaime Lannister and Luke
Skywalker are both cool characters, and there's nothing wrong with
having them do a cameo in your game once or twice, after all they are
expected to pop up sometime, but if Luke shows up every other game to
save the day, your players will likely toss you in a pit filled with
d4's. They should occupy the limelight, not Buffy.
So with all this, why
use an IP based game? Because they can be so awesome! Both you and
your players have a common base to stand on. When you look at them
and say ”An Imperial Star Destroyer jumps into the system”, you
can see their instant reaction, and it's great. (Besides it's easy to
get players interested when they already love the world).
I'll discuss building
your own world and designing your own rules in a future post.
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