Darrell Hayhurst

I legit forgot that I set this up until someone else linked to it. Whoops.

Be careful about having things not work. After one or two tries, players will get the message and never try that again.

It's not about your clever solution, it's about theirs. Be open to letting something you didn't plan for work!

Real choice equals player agency. Player agency equals player engagement.

Great advice I read: don't mistake the game you want to play in for the game you want to run.

Gamists aren't trying to win. They are trying to enjoy interacting with the system. Always winning is a detriment, not a bonus.

Never, ever, ever ever ever play a character when you're a GM. The extra 'help' will just piss people off.

Don't ask for rolls unless they mean something, and go with the results. You'll get more dramatic tension from rolls i the long run.

It turns out players will be happier doing the same quest on their own than they would be if some idiot offers them a paltry reward for it.

If you present an adventure to your players they will balk. If you let them uncover and adventure they will follow it anywhere.

Interesting how fast an investigation can start flailing when you have too many clues and start going in circles.

If the character doesn't want to adventure, its time for a new character who does. Let the player decide why the new character does want to.

When your group is teetering on the edge of going off the rails...don't try to stop them. Embrace it. Awesome or awful, it is memorable.

It turns out fire is pretty much always hilarious. Use it.

Really, it's about the core game. Story, special effects, etc are just cool diversions that enhance a good game, but leave a bad game bad.

If you really want to surprise your players, let their plan work perfectly. The look on their faces when nothing goes wrong is so worth it.

If there aren't game mechanics for it, it doesn't exist for 95% of your players. If the GM doesn't say something it doesn't exist for 100%.

If culture, social expectations aren't build into the system they are just window dressing. And players will treat them as such!

Never make a player 'unknow' something.

Fallout 3 and Darklands are the two best models for exploring I've ever seen. Its not about getting stuff, it's about seeing something new.