As I've mentioned in the last couple articles, I recently started my first campaign in about 2 years. The last time I ran a game was back in early June at North Texas RPG Convention. My NTX efforts weren't my best, but everyone had fun and I thought it was overall a good experience. However, thinking back on my most recent session, it's clear that I've lost a step. Something's off and I'm not the GM that I used to be. Part of it is that I'm using a new ruleset. Part of it is that I've changed my outlook on what exactly a GM is supposed to do. A majority of it though is plain and simple rust.
Like all skills, being a Game Master requires constant practice to maintain and I am extremely out of practice. It’s obvious when you think about it, but what isn't so obvious is what skills you need to keep sharp to be a good GM. Specifically, you need to keep your people management skills honed.
Make no mistake, when you're a Game Master, you're managing people. The failure to understand this fact is the reason why so many GMs are bad GMs. It takes legitimate people skills to run a successful game. As a GM, you need to describe the scenario and arbitrate the rules, but you also have to keep the pace of the table, deal with conflicts that arise over various actions, and communicate with the people at the table. It's those skills that atrophy the most when they aren't used.
I’m fortunate that my group gets along well and seems genuinely interested in adventuring in Nighthaven. That being said, I could still notice that I was not as capable as I once was. That being said, the know-how is still there. It's just a matter of getting back into the groove. I say all of this to warn those of you who haven't run a game consistently in a long time. You'll feel a step behind and you may get discouraged. Keep pushing through it though and shake the rust off.