Somebody Has to Go First

Greetings all,

It's New GM November, and all month I'm going to be imploring you to run a game for the first time, or to get one of your players to run their first. So it's only fair that I go first and tell you about the first one I ran.

I was 13 or 14, and it was AD&D. That was my first TTRPG book. My parents bought it for me for Christmas, and I remember sitting on the stairs of our apartment, gleefully reading over the pages.

That book is long gone. I lost most of what I owned the times I went to prison. The copy in the photo up top is one I bought recently, for sentimental reasons. The dice next to it are the real thing, though. Those are the dice I rolled as a kid. Everyone hated that blue d20. It was my magic die, and it rolled 20s all the time. I can still hear the groans around the table when I pulled it out.

At my first table were Jeremy, Joey and Andy, the friends I hung out with most back then.

I don't remember the adventure. I can't tell you what went well or what fell apart. What I remember is why I wanted to run it.

My world

Nobody talked me into the GM chair. I wanted it.

At home, my parents fought a lot. Often enough that I ended up being the adult in the house, playing shrink and marriage counselor for the two people who were supposed to be taking care of me. Running a game was my escape. It was my world. In a house where I couldn't control much of anything, that was something I controlled.

I'm still here for the same reasons I sat down as a kid: the creativity, and a shared experience with my friends. One where we get to be the heroes and fight evil. Maybe that's because at home, I couldn't fight anything. I could only watch and try to keep the peace.

We just played

The other thing I remember is that we were kids, and we didn't care about being great. Nobody was worried about whether the fight was balanced or whether their voice was any good. We just played. We had fun with our friends, and that was the whole goal.

Stranger Things gets this right. The kids play in Mike's basement with no fancy setup, and the game isn't really the point. The point is that they're around that table together.

These days, plenty of people never even sit down. They've watched Critical Role, and they think a GM has to sound like a professional voice actor, so they don't run, and some don't even play. People call it the Mercer Effect, and I'll dig into it next Friday. Matt Mercer is amazing at what he does. He's also a professional voice actor, playing with a table of other professional voice actors. They're masters of their craft.

But nobody at my first table was a voice actor. Nobody at my current table is one either, and neither was anyone at the hundreds of other tables I've run since. We have a blast anyway. Don't be Matt. Be you.

Somebody has to go first

A lot of people who want to run a game never do. They're waiting until they know the rules better or feel ready. I wasn't ready. I was a kid with a book I'd read on the stairs. Nobody at the table cared, because the alternative was not playing at all.

Think of the movie Big. Tom Hanks plays a kid stuck in a grown man's body, working at a toy company. Everyone there makes toys for a living, and they've all lost what it's like to be a kid. In the scene everyone remembers, he's hopping around the giant floor piano at FAO Schwarz, and his boss, the head of the whole company, ends up kicking off his shoes and playing "Heart and Soul" right alongside him. The boss didn't need a lesson in how to have fun. He needed somebody to go first.

Your friends are the same. Many of them would love a game night. They're waiting for somebody to pick a date and put the dice on the table. Be that somebody. Take the leap.

And if you've been behind the screen for years, look around your table. There's probably a player who's wondered whether they could run one. Ask them. Offer to play in their first game. Our friend Robert ran his first game ever this fall, and you can hear how it went in his interview. Spoiler: it went great, and he's already looking to run more.

Build the memory

Lately, a few of the friends I grew up gaming with have found their way back into my life, and I'm hoping the rest follow. I don't remember a single encounter from my first game, but I remember who was sitting at the table. Your players won't remember your mistakes either. They'll remember that you got them together. For a few hours, you all got to be the heroes.

When you dream, it's real while you're in it, but you're in it alone. A game is a dream you share. Everyone at the table sees the same dragon, and everyone wakes up remembering the same story. That's the magic in RPGs. It's why they help so many people deal with trauma, or get through a situation they can't walk away from. And it's why those nights stay with us for decades.

Your turn

Take the leap this month. Pick a night and grab a starter set, or make something up the night before. Then pull in a few friends and run it. If you already have a table, hand the screen to a player who's been wondering if they could. New GM November has our starter tips if you want a place to start.

See you at the table.