Report from GenCon 2015

Cardhalla, where attendees have built impressive structures from donated cards

             I have been to a lot of conventions and even worked for one, but I have never had a better time than I had this past weekend at GenCon.  GenCon’s motto “The Best Four Days in Gaming” is not hype; it is truth!  I hadn’t attended a convention in several years, and although I had attended Gen Con previously, I really didn’t do everything that I could have to make it the best experience. 

            I would like to start by thanking the entire GenCon staff for running such a great convention.  I know from experience that behind the scenes of any convention is chaos, but the mark of a great convention is that the con-goers never see that chaos.  I can’t say what the GenCon staff did or didn’t do.  All I can say is that I never felt their presence, and everything ran smoothly.  That in itself is an impressive feat for a convention of 60,000 plus attendees. 

A wonderful balloon artist built this over 4 days of the convention

            Next, I would like to personally thank the medical staff in the first aid room in the Indianapolis Convention Center.  My girlfriend had an asthma attack on Saturday afternoon, and they were not only quick to help, but very friendly and experienced.  They treated her quickly and professionally.  I don’t remember your names, but thank you very much for everything you did!

            The city of Indianapolis was amazing, too!  Everyone was friendly and you could really tell how excited the city was to have GenCon.  The hotel staff at the Cambria where I stayed were so nice and outgoing.  They asked about the convention, and although they are further out from the convention than some might prefer, I cannot recommend them more highly!  Everyone restaurant in the city was re-themed for the convention as well.  We ate dinner at the Colts Grille and they had hung banners for various games and given new names to their menu items paying homage to a variety of games, comic book characters, etc.   Not to mention they gave us free, Indiana Colts themed dice. 

            GenCon was not all fun though.  As many of you know, I am a freelance writer, and I spent many hours wandering the Exhibitor’s Hall meeting game developers and handing out as many business cards as I could.  I met other writers as well, including The Gentleman Gamer, with whom I had lunch alongside Neal Price, the developer of Scion.  I attended many panels on freelancing and learned a lot, made some new contacts, and really got a better sense of the path to being a better writer. 

I bought a ton of d8's.  I always need them when I play wizards.

            Of course, I attended the Onyx PathPublishing events!  And in a case of burying the lede, they announced Vampire:  The Masquerade 4^th Edition!  Rather than being an homage to earlier editions of VtM like V20, this new version will update the mechanics and world much like Mage 20 updated that game.  Not much else is known about this edition, yet, but I will be keeping up with new information as it is announced.

            On the subject of Onyx Path Publishing, I would like to say that I have never met a nice group of people.  My girlfriend raved about how friendly and open you were.  She’s even talking about running a Werewolf:  The Apocalypse game in the future.  Your excitement for your game lines and the friendliness of your staff is both infectious and inspiring.  I always felt welcome at your booth, and I stopped by every day to meet someone new or just say hi to Eddy Webb or Neal Price.  (Btw, Neal, I’m really sorry I missed you Scion panel!)

Fantasy Age is a new RPG by Green Ronin and Baby Bestiary is an art book. 

            Other than the Onyx Path seminars, I attended several freelance writing seminars including Paizo’s and two lead by third party publishes like John Ling, Jr. from Frog God Games and Wolfgang Baur from Kobold Press among others.  I learned a lot about what it takes to be a freelance writer and especially how important it was to always have a business card on hand. 

            But GenCon wasn’t all work.  I played in the new D&D Adventurer’sLeague season adventure Harried in Hillsfar.  Our DM was great!  He kept the action rolling as we moved through the corridors of a strange temple.  

            I also played a new board game, Compounded, by Dice Hate Me Games.  It was so good that my girlfriend immediately bought the base game and I bought the expansion.  In Compounded, the players randomly draw elements and try to complete a variety of chemicals.  It’s a great game for anyone who enjoys science.  I think it’d be a great game for high school chemistry classes.  I highly recommend this one!

What is a convention without buying some old AD&D 2E books?

             Shopping took up a great deal of our time at GenCon.  My girlfriend bought a lot of art prints.  All of them are gorgeous.  I bought a ton of RPG books and new dice.  I wanted to get a copy of FFG’s new Star Wars RPG Force & Destiny, but the line was just too long.  I did get the new Green Ronin RPG Fantasy Age, and I can’t wait to read through that. 

            Of course, I bought plenty of older stuff, too, including a copy of Blue Rose.  I also found an old VtM module by Atlas Games called Blood Nativity and a copy of New Orleans by Night.  I had to control myself in the Exhibitor’s Hall.  The temptation to buy just everything was too great.  I limited myself to those items I knew that I would use in upcoming campaigns. 

            I also got a chance to meet my favorite podcasters, Kevin, Brady, and Dustin from UnderDiscussion.  They put on a great seminar for people interested in starting a podcast.  My girlfriend and I were able to chat with Brady and Kevin for a while after the panel too.  That was definitely a highlight of the convention for me. 

And of course, my White Wolf swag!

            The biggest surprise of the convention was sharing a bus ride with Richard Lee Byers, author of the Year of the Rogue Dragons Forgotten Realms book series (amongst many, many other fantasy books).  We had a great conversation on the bus ride back to our hotels.  I guess not staying in a downtown hotel closer to the convention really paid off!  I’m sad to say that I haven’t read any of Richard Lee Byer’s books, but I will. 

            That shuttle ride is also how my girlfriend and I made two new friends from California.  You know who you are!  I had a great time playing Compounded with you guys.  I look forward to seeing you at GenCon next year!

GenCon 2000 and GenCon 2015

I’m planning my first trip to GenCon since 2000, and a lot of things have changed in 15 years.  GenCon has grown much larger, more expensive, and even changed cities.  I’ve changed as well.  I have different priorities now, and maybe I’ve matured a little too.  Maybe. 

            My first trip to GenCon was a spur of the moment decision.  I’d just graduated college, and I’d just quit my first post-college job.  I didn’t have much going on, and when some of my friends said that they were going to GenCon, I decided to use some of the money I’d received as a graduation present to go to GenCon.  Those were much different times, and I was obviously an irresponsible twenty-something.  I was playing RPGs, but I was much more interested in TCGs, especially Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) and Decipher’sStar Wars CCG.

All of my friends played L5R, and of course, that meant I played as well.  I was never as invested into the game as my friends.  I’d already spent way too much money on Star Wars CCG, and after I became disillusioned with that game, other TCGs had lost their luster.  My closest friends, however, wanted to go to GenCon to compete in the L5R World Championship tournament.  The mechanics of L5R were different enough from Magic or Star Wars that I was interested too, but I refused to invest heavily into another TCG.  Nevertheless, I was able to build a “competitive” deck thanks to help from my much more competition-oriented friends. Those quotation marks are important as you'll find out soon enough.   

At that time, GenCon was located in Milwaukee, WI, and I remember dreading that long drive from Alabama.  My friends and I really didn’t have any plans for the convention other than playing in the L5R World Championship.  This was GenCon 2000, however, and it was a pretty big year for RPGs.  Wizards of the Coast had just released Dungeons & Dragons 3^rd Edition, and they had recently purchased the rights to L5R TCG and RPG from Alderac Entertainment.  WotC would use that license to create their a new version of Oriental Adventures based on L5R’s Rokugan setting. 

At that time I wasn’t playing D&D, and I really didn’t consider playing RPGs to be my “primary hobby” even though I bought a ton of books.  I was mostly playing L5R's tabletop RPG and of course, Vampire:  The Masquerade.  I was spending far more money on comic books and TCGs.  I just wasn’t interested in playing RPGs at GenCon or doing much that involved roleplaying.  In hindsight, it’s a shame, especially, because I really couldn’t have done much else at GenCon because I was playing in the L5R tournament. 

The L5R World Championship at GenCon 2000 was a two day affair.  L5R was probably at the height of its popularity in 2000, and the number of people who entered that tournament was astounding.  I’d never seen a tournament so large, and it was probably only rivaled in size by Magic the Gathering’s Pro Tour Qualifiers. With that many people competing, the tournament took the entire day just to determine who would make the cut for Sunday.  Most TCG tournaments are not single or double elimination; instead they use the Swiss Format.  A single round usually takes between 45 minutes and 1 hour to complete and with that many competitors playing in the tournament, the tournament lasted nearly 8 hours, if not more, due to the nature of the tournament format. 

I would like to say that I did exceptionally well in the tournament or at least made a good showing, but that’d be a lie.  My first round match is most likely the fastest tournament loss in the L5R's history.  In Magic the Gathering and some other TCGs, winning on the first time or even the second turn isn’t uncommon.  In L5R, winning on the second turn is nearly impossible due to the mechanics of the game.  For those of you who are familiar with L5R, you’ll be astonished to hear that I lost on my opponent's second turn.  A series of province destroying events and very fortunate draw helped my opponent destroy me before I got to take my second turn.  I’d add more details, but I don’t want to bore my audience with the rules, card descriptions, and interactions that led to my greatest defeat.  Even fifteen years later, that loss still hurts! If you're interested in the details let me know and I'll write a full version of that loss.  

My only souvenir from that GenCon was an L5R t-shirt that Wizards of the Coast gave out at one of their events.  The t-shirt is something of a collector’s item as it has both the revised L5R logo with the coins (after the Olympics claimed trademark on any design that incorporated 5 interlocking rings) and the WotC logo.  For a free t-shirt it’s held up well, and I’ll probably be wearing it at GenCon. WotC would later sell the rights to L5R back to AEG a few  years later.  

It’s 2015, and I’m going to GenCon again.  I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am to be able to go.  So much has changed for me!  I’ve grown up, as strange as that is to admit.  I’ve given up collecting comics and playing TCGs, and my bank account is most thankful for that!  This trip to GenCon is far better planned, and I’ve got so many things to do while I’m there. 

My priorities have changed so much!  RPGs are more than a hobby for me.  I’ve been working on this blog for several years now. Although my updates have been sporadic, I enjoy writing about my gaming experiences and reviewing Classic World of Darkness books.  I’ve also started working as a freelancer for Onyx Path Publishing.  GenCon is more than just a vacation and a chance to game.  Now, it’s an opportunity to further my goals as a writer and network with other freelancers and game developers.  More importantly, GenCon is where I can play new games, meet podcasters, bloggers, and other freelancers.  My girlfriend and I are huge fans of the Underdiscussion Podcast, and we’ve been looking forward to meeting them at GenCon for a while.  My girlfriend even has one of their t-shirts that she won in a contest that she wants them to sign. 

I’m not going to GenCon to just play in one tournament; instead, I’m going to explore the variety of offerings available.  But I haven’t left L5R behind either.  The only RPG game that I’ve signed up for so far is an L5R RPG game.  I’ve never had a chance to play the 4^th Edition version, and GenCon is the perfect opportunity to try out a new system.  I’ll also be looking for pickup games and pretty much any kind of demos for new games.  My girlfriend is coming with me, and she is just as excited as I am.  We’ve been talking about this trip for nearly two years now.  It’s a perfect year for us to visit GenCon too, Tony DiTerlizzi is the Artist Guest of Honor this year and we are both huge fans of his artwork, especially his work on the Planescape campaign setting. I've been a fan of DiTerlizzi's work since I played the Blood Wars TCG way back in 1994 before I'd ever played one session of an RPG.  

Not everything has gone perfectly.  Event registration, which was this past Sunday, was a nightmare.  When my girlfriend submitted my wish list on Sunday, the system didn’t process it correctly, and we had to sit down later that night to work through our events again.  Every time we tried to build a wish list and submit our events, the system lost our order.  It wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened, but the frustration and anxiety caused by the website’s problems made the event registration process a lot more painful than it should have been.  I wasn’t too thrilled that I had to pay to attend some events, especially after paying $80.00 per badge. 

Once my girlfriend and I registered for our events, the excitement returned.  Maybe it was easier back in the day when I could just go to a convention with no more thought than whose floor I was sleeping on.  I’ve changed too much and have too many responsibilities to be able to go to a convention at a moment’s notice.  Yet, the planning and buildup to the convention has added to my excitement.  I’ve picked out the events that I want to try.  I’m going to meet with both my colleagues and many of the people in the RPG industry that I’ve admired.  I’ve changed and my expectations for GenCon have changed as well, and other than the event registration system, I think both GenCon and I have changed for the better.  

Caine, You Need a Hobby

 One of my favorite scenes in the movie Blackhawk Down is near the beginning where the audience is shown what the Rangers and Delta Force operators do during their downtime.  One of the members of Delta Force is drawing illustrations for a children’s book.  His squad mate complains that the image is too scary, and he replies that it’s the climactic fight when the knight meets the villain.  He says that the illustration is supposed to be frightening.  It’s a moment that humanizes these men.  Chris Kyle, former Navy SEAL sniper once said during an interview that he and his team played first person shooters like the Call of Duty series.  These modern day Spartans read, write children’s books, or play video games.  Regardless of how elite these soldiers are, they don’t spend every waking moment in training; instead they have hobbies to distract them in between missions.    

Be careful who you smack talk.  He could be a SEAL, no really.  He could!

            Unfortunately, when players start creating characters they completely forget that beyond the stats on the page and their back story, these characters are human or demi-human or in the case of a vampire, they are struggling to maintain their humanity.  Well-developed characters should have an identity that extends beyond a single narrow interest or professional skill set.  Even the most dedicated Tremere Thaumaturgist would not spend every moment of every night studying magic and learning new rituals.  A rage-aholic Get of Fenris Ahroun probably thinks about more than murder-mauling Wyrm-tainted monsters.  There’s nothing interesting or fun about playing a character that single-minded.  It’s just one note struck again and again.  Even if that note is enjoyable initially, soon it becomes repetitive, boring, and finally irritating. 

            Even the best players can struggle with creating a character who doesn’t suffer from monomania.  It’s an easy trap to fall into because every player wants to contribute to the success of the group.  Every player wants their character to become the very best Toreador Artist or Elven Wizard or Virtual Adept computer hacker.  The desire to be the greatest Toreador Artist who was ever Embraced or the toughest Brujah street fighter can cause a player to specialize his/her character.  Players start to believe that because they have limited resources, like experience points and character levels, those resources need to be spent in the most optimal way possible.  A player can optimize a Toreador Artist the same way that an Elven Wizard is optimized.  Players familiar with Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 will remember that one of the earliest “broken” character archetypes was the “Diplomancer,” a character type that abused the rules for the skill Diplomacy and other non combat skills to circumvent battles with a single dice roll.  The Discipline Presence can be exploited in the same way. 

Of course, in Classic World of Darkness games there are plenty of ways to use the system itself to make your character interesting or well-rounded.  Rather than looking to the system for a solution, players and Storytellers (remember Storytellers have to create all the NPCs too and are just as prone to creating one dimensional characters as any player) could simply give their character a hobby. 

            Everyone has hobbies, and most of you are reading this article because you have a hobby, role playing.  A lot of us even define ourselves by our hobbies.  I certainly wouldn’t say that I’m defined by my job as cashier in a warehouse store, but I gladly label myself an old school, tabletop gamer.  Yet, when we build characters, we don’t even think about what hobbies they would have.  Instead we design action heroes who have no purpose beyond one single-minded concept:  a sword master, a street brawler, a paladin, and so on.  We play those characters and try to make them well-rounded, but we never ask what those characters do when they aren’t crushing skulls or researching a new ritual.  Between adventures when characters have downtime, the players want to use that time as effectively as possible.  It’s a resource, no different from experience points or skill points, and often players feel they should optimize that time as well.  A Tremere specializing in Thaumaturgy, for example, would spend that time learning a new ritual, seeking a mentor for a new Path or studying occult mysteries.  These activities further only the singular goal of Thaumaturgy.  

Instead of trying to optimize that time and further a goal, perhaps the player should consider using that time to explore or develop their character’s hobby.  That hobby doesn’t necessarily have to be completely random or unrelated to a character’s goal nor does it have to involve the expenditure of experience points.  The only purpose of the hobby is to provide greater depth to the character and offer some diversions away from just accomplishing in game goals, whether that’s forwarding the plot or an individual character goal.  The hobby, however, should not preempt or distract from the flow of the game.  It’s shouldn’t be disruptive, but just a way to provide further characterization. 

One example of monomania run rampant is a Brujah martial artist who practices his kung fu daily, he may speak Mandarin, Cantonese, or Japanese because he studied in the Far East, and he only learns physical Disciplines or Disciplines that make him a better fighter.  He may even have a quirk such as watching old Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films, but every detail about this character is focused on one singular concept, the martial artist.  And during a session, when the Storyteller announces that the characters will have some downtime between adventures, the Brujah Martial Artist will be practicing his kung fu or looking for a new mentor to learn more kung fu.  There’s nothing wrong with this character.  The Brujah martial artist has an interesting quirk and is reasonably developed, but everything about the character is focused around specializing in hand to hand fighting.   This is a one dimensional character, a well-developed and interesting, but one dimension character. 

Replace the clocks with RPG books and DVDs and you have my room!

A more interesting quirk would be that the character wants to be a movie star, like his idol Bruce Lee.  Instead of watching movies, he goes to acting classes, but he is a terrible actor.  It makes for a great counterpoint to the character’s sublime skill as a martial artist that he is so bad of an actor that he couldn’t get a role in Sharknado.  He is so awkward in front of the camera that he can’t even get work as a stuntman.  The player doesn’t have to invest any experience points to improve abilities related to acting such as Expression, but the player now has an interesting hobby and a way to use down time.  Also, the Storyteller has a way to introduce some new story elements that may provide a diversion from the normal storylines. 

The hobby doesn’t have to be useless necessarily; conversely, a player could select a hobby or profession that offers advantages beyond just adding characterization.  An example of this was Skeeve, a character from a Star Wars Role Playing game where I was also a player.  Skeeve was the ship’s pilot and not too bad with a blaster; however, Skeeve was also a smuggler and trader.  Whenever we left a planet, Skeeve would do a bit of research on our destination and then buy whatever trade goods that he could resell those goods for a profit when we arrived.  Although trading and smuggling are professions and not hobbies, per se, Skeeve’s smuggling functions in the same way as a hobby.  It’s a side interest that keeps Skeeve busy during down time.  Also, since the group where supposed to be traveling covertly across the galaxy, Skeeve’s smuggling gave us all a cover story for our movements. 

While keeping track of all of this trading and profiting may sound like it took up a lot of game time, in fact everything was accomplished with a few dice rolls and consulting one chart in the core rule book.  Skeeve received a small advantage in terms of extra credits to buy equipment, but the benefit was small and didn’t unbalance the game.  The player who was running Skeeve only had to invest a few points in Diplomacy to earn a profit smuggling or trading which in the D20 Star Wars System wasn’t a very big investment.  Eventually, Skeeve decided to make a big score by smuggling slaves, and when the rest of the party found out, including the Jedi, Skeeve had to choose between his loyalty to the party and his desire to make money.  It made for a great role playing and character development moment. 

Players should keep several things in mind when selecting a hobby for their character.  First, the hobby should be active.  Although many of enjoy watching TV or movies, these activities are passive and require little effort.  Active hobbies require the hobbyist to venture out, locate supplies, meet people, find a teacher, or explore new places.  Second, the hobby shouldn’t disrupt the game or require a large time investment at the table.  One die roll or two and a quick aside are all that should be necessary for a PCs hobby.  Third, players should consider whether they want their hobby to compliment their characters’ primary interests as in the case with Skeeve the Smuggler or contrast their character as with the Brujah Martial Artist who wants to be an actor. 

This topic was inspired by one of my favorite gaming podcasts, Fear the Boot,Episode 310. I highly recommend this podcast.  Even though it's not about Vampire the Masquerade or the other Classic World of Darkness games, they offer lots of great advice in quick, content filled episodes. 

Improving Game Mastery: Reflective Storytelling

Choo!  Choo!

            The only type of Game Master or Storyteller that I really think is bad is the one who has no interest in improving his GM skills.  From the very first time that I ever ran a game until now, I have always looked for ways to improve, and I think that is true of every good game master.  I suppose that’s why I never look down on a new game master who does a bad job.  He or she is trying their best and things didn’t work out, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  My first attempts to run a game were awful.  Learning from your mistakes and failures is the key in the growth of any skill, especially a skill such as cooperative storytelling.  As long as that GM has learned something and applies it to the next he or she runs a game, then I think it was a good session.  However, learning to improve your GM skills is a skill all its own. 

            I am never satisfied with any game that I have run because I know that it wasn’t perfect, but no game that I run will ever be perfect, and that’s not a bad thing.  What it means is that I can always get better by honing my craft and studying my mistakes.  I can also look to a lot of sources for improving my skills.  The internet is glutted with sources of information for game masters:  blogs, podcasts, chat rooms, forums, v-casts, free books and PDFs, etc.  With a quick Google search, you can find just about anything you need. 

           

The best place to begin your quest to become a better GM is to simply talk to your players.  Ask them what they thought of the game, but don’t ask them “Did you like the game?”  You should avoid questions that can be answered yes or no.  Instead, ask open ended questions such as “What did you like about this session?” or “What part of the session didn’t you like?”  Asking open ended questions will allow your players to give you better feedback.  When they tell you something, write it down so that you can refer back to it when you are preparing the next session.  Also, no matter what your players might say, don’t become defensive; instead you should accept their criticism because it’s what they really think.  Don’t take the criticism personally, the players want the same thing that you do – to make the game better.   

            The next thing to do after a session is to think about what you think you did well and what you did poorly.  Reflect on your mistakes.  What rule did you not know and had to spend time figuring out?  Maybe you could write it down on a note card to have it nearby.  Did you have a hard time coming up with names for random NPCs that the players stumbled across?  Maybe you should write down a list of names for NPCs for future use.  Reflect on your successes.  The players really enjoyed that chase scene, but can I make it better?  The players really liked that NPC’s personality, could I make him/her more important to the story. 

            After that I would start to look elsewhere for advice.  One thing about GMing an RPG is that the skills you need to run a Vampire the Masquerade game and the skills you need to D&D or GURPS are pretty much the same.  Whatever the system, you need to be able to create an adventure, populate it with NPCs and encounters, and run it effectively.  So, you can read other RPG books and look at how they suggest that you GM.  The advice for running a dungeon in D&D is a great framework for running an adventure set in the Nosferatu warrens beneath your city.  The advice for running the court of Emperor Hantei XXXIV in Otosan Uchi in Legend of the Five Rings is going to be equally as useful for running the prince’s court in your Vampire City.  All of these ideas transfer relatively easily.  More importantly, running new systems will help you get new ideas for your game and may help you break out of a rut.  If you switch from something combat oriented like Dungeons & Dragons to something more political or social oriented like Vampire, you might find that new ways of approaching adventure construction and ways to challenge players who have seen all your tricks already.  Playing a whole new system can offer you a new perspective and approach for your own game. 

            Probably one of the best books on improving your GMing skills is Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering.  While this book was published by Steve Jackson Games, it is not specifically for GURPS.  Instead it has suggestions that are appropriate for any game system.  Laws divides players into several groups based on what they want out of a type of game from the Power Gamer to the Method Actor to the Casual Player, and he explains how best to involve each of those archetypes in your game.  If you can find a copy of the book, I highly recommend that you get it.  It can be found on Amazon.com. 

            Obviously, I would remiss if I didn’t also suggest a few podcasts and vid-casts.  Probably the most entertaining v-cast is Spoony’s Counter Monkey series on The Spoony Experiment.  Spoony is infinitely entertaining as he tells stories about his many adventures as both a player and a GM in various games.  He also offers some great advice on running games; his best piece of advice is “All Jedi or NoJedi” as a rule for running the Star Wars RPG.  

My favorite podcasts are Underdiscussion and Happy Jacks RPGPodcast.  I love Underdiscussion because it reminds me of my friends sitting around a table after a game talking about games and having a good time.  Underdiscussion is laid back and fun but still offers plenty of good advice; although they do have a tendency to go way off topic.  Happy Jacks is a great podcast that offers a lot of laughs and plenty of advice.  They answer questions from listeners and typically tackle one new topic each week.  For people interested in a World of Darkness focused Podcast, you should try Darker Days.  All of these podcasts are available on iTunes as well.  Darker Days covers both classic and new World of Darkness games as well as some of the other White Wolf properties such as Trinity. Darker Days is a one stop podcast for everything White Wolf related.  

            If you've found my blog, I'm sure you'll find others.  However I do read a couple of blogs such as Aggregate Cognizance.  I loved his article on Wandering Murder Hobos, and I am going to post a reply to that article very soon.  I frequent the RPG.Net Forum frequently, and usually I'm the one asking for advice rather than giving it.  It's a great place to ask for some help when you're stuck on a problem or you need to locate some obscure piece of trivia that will help you with an encounter or adventure.  There are lots of other websites out there if you need advice or help with GMing, and these are just the ones that I use.  I'm sure there are better ones that I haven't found yet. 

            The one thing that I hope that all of my readers take away from this article is that GMing is a skill that requires constant maintenance.  Every session is learning experience and a chance to improve.  Whether you are an experience GM who has been playing since D&D first edition or a brand new GM who just opened up his first RPG book, you can always find a way to get just a little bit better.  And I'll end this article with a question:  What pod casts or blogs do you go to for advice and help when you're GMing?  Leave a comment below!