Listening as a GM

A couple of weeks ago, I had an interesting opportunity as a Game Master, and it didn’t even require me showing up to the table. I had to miss our weekly Monday night Netherwar stream, but rather than cancel the game that night, my players did something amazing. They got together, without me, and did a recap of the first eighteen sessions of our campaign. This was roughly the first four story arcs of the series. I thought this was going to be like a thirty-sixty minute conversation, but they blew me away and chatted for three hours. During the course of this talkback they covered all kinds of things: favorite moments, villains they hated, speculation on future plot points, comparing notes, describing their thought process behind different decisions they had made. Not only was it entertaining, it was a gold mine of information that I can use as I sculpt the story going forward.

This got me thinking about something that I think is largely unspoken in the GM community, just how important it is for us to listen. As Game Masters we talk a LOT. We bring all of the essential NPCs to life. We describe at length about what the characters see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. We narrate combat scenes and we answer rules questions. GMing is a vocal activity, but the quiet moments are crucial to having success in our field.

Imagine this. The heroes have just triumphed in a climatic battle and now they’re taking a break in the dungeon. As everyone is healing up and taking stock of their lost equipment, the players begin discussing what just happened. You have two choices here, you can hurry through the break and move on to the next encounter you have planned, or you can sit back while they roleplay for a bit. If you let them talk to each other, in their characters’ POVs, you can glean so much information. They could commiserate about how difficult that fight was. They can theorize about why there were Bugbears in the Mind Flayers den and what it means. Perhaps they’re curious why their employer sent them down here without a proper warning. Listen and take notes. Hearing these questions and their theories around them increases player engagement with each other and the story, and it also shows you what they’re thinking.

Some of my greatest “plot twists” have been the result of me hearing a good idea from a player and just quietly taking credit for it when the players found out it was “true the whole time.” If you let your players talk; they will do some of the work in this group storytelling activity for you. It’s amazing. I’ve had whole sessions of games that were just 3-4 hours of the players roleplaying and discussing what has been going on, and those have been some of my tables’ favorite games ever.

Episode 25 episode of our Netherwar stream is entirely roleplaying, and it is the favorite episode of all of the players’ so far. I didn’t have to do anything, but show up and turn them loose. It was great! So with that in mind, as a GM, you should always be on the lookout for opportunities to listen to your players. If they’re roleplaying with each other, and everyone is engaged, let that play out. Some GMs end a roleplaying scene prematurely. Granted you shouldn’t let it ramble on forever if it’s not productive conversation. Adjudicating this can be complicated, but as in all things I would err on the side of player choice.

You might also consider letting the players handle the beginning of session recap. I typically choose this route with my home games. Asking the players to refresh everyone’s memory about the last session, gives you the chance to see what made an impression. It also shows you what the players consider to be important from session to session. Take notes and consider fleshing those plot points out, and be willing to drop plot lines that don’t leave an impact.

It’s also important to do temperature checks with your players at the end of sessions, or particularly heavy scenes. This is doubly true if your game contains mature or upsetting elements. Check in with your players, ask them if they’re still comfortable with what’s going on. If they say they are great, keep on keeping on, but if they’re not, be prepared to tame some of those elements, or yadda yadda them. Everyone is playing this game to have fun, and the level of things people can tolerate in this space can change from session to session or even moment to moment. Listen and look for signs of discomfort and adjust things as needed.

Finally, tying back to the beginning of this blog, if you can schedule a time in the middle of a campaign or once every 3-4 months to just chat with your players about how the game is going and what some of their highlights are, go for it. Even if it’s just a half session, or a group dinner before game night you’ll get so much value from the conversation. After listening to the Netherwar recap, I have so many ideas for subplots, villains I want to introduce (or bring back), and tweaks that I can make to drive home the idea that this is our game together. This is a group activity. I know the GM is often held up as the leader of the group, but the best leaders know how to listen and adapt based on their team. Happy listening!