Trying to GM is almost as easy as arm-wrestling with an octopus. It is a crude mixture of acting, organisation, logistics and talking, while at the same time avoiding the loss of friends. It often requires a lot of nerves and most GMs have experienced failure more than once. Not everyone is suited to GM, but everyone can try to improve his personal style.
This "How to" guide cannot teach you to become a good GM. And this is not my intention. All I wanted to do is to give you some hints and advice of how you can improve your personal style.

A. General topics

I. The System

Before you start to GM an adventure or campaign you have to think about the appropriate system. There is no rule of thumb of what system is better for which persons. One thing you have to bear in mind however is, that you should look for a system. It is another question whether you also want to use the world and setting connected with the system or not. Although some producers advertise their system as high or low fantasy, cyberpunk, space opera or whatever, this does really mean that the system can only be used in these environments. In fact I know of only very few systems, that are so deeply rooted in their setting, that it is almost impossible to use them in another.

Therefore when you choose a system try to concentrate on the system. There are really great system, that most people do not play because of the bad setting and there are also a number of awful system that are just played because of their setting. Thus choose a system you like, no matter if you think that the setting is good or not.

Instead of choosing a system after the setting, you should concentrate on the system itself, i.e. on the game mechanics. There are almost all flavours of mechanics from very simple to very complex, from realistic to unrealistic. The ideal system should be easy to use, it should give you enough freedom to come up with new ideas without fearing to contradict with half the rulebook. This however does not mean that the system has to be simple or rudimentary. It should be easy to use by YOU. Some people can run a Rolemaster campaign smoothly, while others find Warhammer FRP too complex. The only thing that any system should have is fairness. The rules should be able to reflect any game balance and the various tests should be reasonable. This does not mean that there should be no room for superheroes or powerful items, but that the procedure for a test should be understandable for anyone. If you have to read rules more than twice they are either not thought out or written in a language you cannot comprehend. In either case you should look for another system.

A good system is able to reflect any possible situation in game play. Unfortunately you cannot say in what way the game will develop. Therefore you cannot really say if it is able to reflect any possible situation. With a good deal of common sense you should nevertheless be able to give a good judgement. It is also important that a system leaves room for further development. It should not put you into a corset. A great deal of different skills is okay, but a general guideline for all those cases without an appropriate skill is more important.

Okay, no you have spend too much money on a system. Read the rules, read them again. You do not have to memorise every single page of the rulebook. I have heard of, but never seen, people who knew every single chart and table of Rolemaster (for those not familiar with Rolemaster: it mostly consists of tables and charts). This may be nice to impress other people, alas it does rarely impress people from the opposite gender, but you do not need it. The only situation I can think of where such a knowledge may be relevant is when you strand on an isolated island with your whole group and do have the rules at hand. But this is very unlikely and even if it happens, you have other things to worry about. Nevertheless you should be familiar with the rules, that means that you should have an idea of the basic game mechanics. If you do know them you are able to improvise rules when you cannot find them or if there are none.

A good way to familiarise with the rules and something which I always do right after buying a system is to create two characters. These two should reflect different aspects of the system, like a warrior and a wizard. Test them in combat and make a few non-combat test with them. Assume as if they have gained experience and raise their skill points, attributes or whatever. This should help you to familiarise with the rules, speed up the process to create PCs for your players and you will probably find things to pay attention to.

When you GM for the first time, most people will forgive you if you have to search through the rules for a few minutes. If you have done it more often it is better to able to find it fast or come up with a more or less reasonable alternative. Therefore you should refer to the rulebook often. This helps you a lot in getting a feel for the system and you will eventually memorise the most important rules. Copy the most important tables and keep them in a special file. After some time of playing this file may be the only thing you need during ordinary gameplay. Do not worry too much about copyright infringement. I know of no copyright law that does not allow the buyer of a product to copy a text once or twice for his own personal use. (Selling it however is a different thing).

Before you begin playing make sure that you have all the relevant dices, paper and pencils at hand. Even if most of the players bring their own equipment along, there is often the danger that someone will forget some parts. I once GMed an adventure. Just before we could start it turned out that we did not have enough dices. We had to drive through the town and find a shop to buy D10. It was a small town and took us about an hour to get the dices. There is nothing as sobering as racing around to find items that are worth a few pennies.

II. Character creation

The character creation should be done together. This prevents that anyone cheats, makes the players familiar with the rules and they get to know each other if they don't already. Plan enough time for the creation. Even in simple system it can take hours to get finished. Players ask questions and want to learn something about the background. You should also begin playing right afterwards. By doing this the players are more tied into the game and it is less likely that they will not show up the next time. Always, and I mean always, keep the character sheets or a copy of it. Too many players forget and you have to drive through town again. It also prevents any kind of cheating. When a player ascends into the next level (or whatever it may be called in your system) keep a close eye. Most, even me, have the tendency to interpret some things more widely when they raise the skills or characteristics.

Prepare a sheet with the most relevant information on the environment you are playing in and hand it to all players. They should have a basic idea of the world. Just as much as anyone in the world will have. If the environment are the Middle Ages, this should only contain very rough ideas of the world, since few people ever left their village in this time. In a space opera, the peasants will have a far greater knowledge of the politics and economy of the world. Then prepare a second sheet witch takes into account the background of the individual character. A wizards will have knowledge of the most important colleges of magic, the most famous wizards and something about the history, while a warrior will have more detailed knowledge of any campaign currently going on and probably something about monsters. You do not have to give a detailed account. Some general information, that give the players something of the atmosphere is enough.

Even if your system of choice has rules to determine the class or career of the character I think it is often better to let the players choose - however within reasonable boundaries. Most players will not accept a PC that is a rat catcher. A very experienced and mature player may have great fun with such a character, but do not expect that anyone is so mature. Another danger of such a system is that your group will turn out to consists of bureaucrats, lay healers and beggars. Certainly not a band to save the world. When a player on the other hand wants to play a very special kind of character, like a Noldo in MERP (Noldor are high elves, pretty powerful and immune to almost anything), he should come up with a very good reason to do so. All in all your party should be balanced. It should not necessarily be homogenous. If however you do not find a someone to play a magic user or a psi adept, do not insist, the players have to deal with their characters and you should listen to what they want.

You should encourage that all players write down some sort of character history. I always award a great story or a story at all with experience points, special items or connections. Do not award it if someone tells you that his PC was the personal student of Elminster and had access to all his secrets. The background should flesh out the character, but not to give the players an advantage. When you play in a fantasy environment the players should be encourage to place the background in a small village, otherwise you run the risk that a player will insist on extra knowledge when the PC enters a mayor city. The same is true for environments in the present or the future, but since the cities are much bigger in these times and the social network much weaker, such a danger is less imminent.

III. Place & Food

Important for any gaming session is the place. Not the place in the game, but the place where you play. It should be convenient to reach for all players and you. It should have a lavatory and access to running water. A school or university is a good place to play, even if it may create some unpleasant memories. A school or university also has the advantage that they have a chalk board. This allows the GM to make big map and is a great visual aid. It is had an overhead projector, even better. One warning: ask before you begin playing in such a building. It may ruin your party (literally) if the evening ends with a chase by the local swat team and crossfire.

The costs and work for any food should be shared. This should be made clear beforehand. Humans beings can reach surprising speed when you want to ask them for any money and they are more likely to run when the session is at end. Clearly differentiate between in-time and out-time. You can discuss all non-game things during this time. Prevent that players start to discuss the movie they saw last Sunday during gaming, you will never get them back on track once this has started. Drinking and eating potato chips is okay during playing. Eating salmon with green pasta in cheese sauce is not. When you want to eat, interrupt the game. Take care that there is enough food and drinks for the session. I remember a long Saturday afternoon during which a group of four had nothing to eat but a single pizza (for all four) and a single bottle of coke. After a few hours people were worrying more about their stomach than their PCs. A sure way to ruin any game.

Try to find a permanent place for gaming. You should not switch too often, since this interrupts the flow. If you are playing in a players or your own house, make sure that no one interrupts you while playing. Sisters and brothers can get annoying and parents, no matter how good their motives may be, can also interrupt gaming.

Try to play regularly. I was for years in a group that played probably not more than every two months. This separates the adventure too much and you need too much time to brief the players of what has happened last time. Playing regularly also has the advantage that everyone will get used to it and it is less likely that someone will not show up. However do not stick to a fixed date, when it is inappropriate. If one of your players is sick, do not continue without him. The risk is too big, that this fellow will loose the interest once he has lost touch and it is difficult for him to get back into an adventure later on.