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How To Game Master Like A Fucking Boss
This is the accumulated wealth of my 30 years playing, designing, and (most importantly) Game Mastering paper & pencil roleplaying games.
I wrote a book that I would want to read, something I could refer back to again and again. Not every suggestion or recommendation is worth its weight in gold, nor will they be to everyone's taste.
However, I believe there's enough personal wisdom shared to change the way you run games forever... if you want to start Game Mastering like a fucking boss, that is.
Readers will get the most use out of this book if they're running or intend to run fantasy RPGs. Nevertheless, almost half this volume is genre-neutral and should be applicable to science fiction, horror, super heroes, etc.
It's full of general advice on running games, specific elements that should be included, lots of tables for cultists, monsters, magic items, etc., and a brutal-sounding, sorcerous language you may borrow from whenever you need something suitably arcane or foreign.
To wrestle with the dragon and win... that is what I shall teach you! This book is a door to a parallel world of Game Mastery, a world where Venger Satanis whispers strange and frightening things into your ear... AND YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LISTEN!!!
If you enjoy this book, you'll probably get a kick out of my others: Liberation of the Demon Slayer, The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, and Revelry in Torth. Eventually, Crimson Dragon Slayer will be added to that illustrious roster. Thanks for taking a chance on this old demon and his eldritch scribblings. ;)
I wrote a book that I would want to read, something I could refer back to again and again. Not every suggestion or recommendation is worth its weight in gold, nor will they be to everyone's taste.
However, I believe there's enough personal wisdom shared to change the way you run games forever... if you want to start Game Mastering like a fucking boss, that is.
Readers will get the most use out of this book if they're running or intend to run fantasy RPGs. Nevertheless, almost half this volume is genre-neutral and should be applicable to science fiction, horror, super heroes, etc.
It's full of general advice on running games, specific elements that should be included, lots of tables for cultists, monsters, magic items, etc., and a brutal-sounding, sorcerous language you may borrow from whenever you need something suitably arcane or foreign.
To wrestle with the dragon and win... that is what I shall teach you! This book is a door to a parallel world of Game Mastery, a world where Venger Satanis whispers strange and frightening things into your ear... AND YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LISTEN!!!
If you enjoy this book, you'll probably get a kick out of my others: Liberation of the Demon Slayer, The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, and Revelry in Torth. Eventually, Crimson Dragon Slayer will be added to that illustrious roster. Thanks for taking a chance on this old demon and his eldritch scribblings. ;)
- GenresRole Playing Games
121 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 7, 2015
This is a difficult book to review.
Summary
Let's start with the good: it's a book worth reading for novice and intermediate RPG game masters. I doubt experienced game masters would gain their money's worth from it, but they would gain something from it, too (more on that later). But then, that's also the target audience the title suggests, so you're getting pretty much what it says on the tin (nobody needs a how-to for something they already are).
Now for a the bad: of the 124 pages, I'm sure round about 25-30 could easily be cut by rewriting the text. Another 46 might better be published in a separate book, though that's questionable.
The upshot is that I think the content is worth having in published form if you're a game master, but perhaps not quite in this form. I'd be very interested in a rewritten second version.
Warning
Personally, I can't get offended by something that I review, but this book isn't written for everyone. Language and illustrations clearly mark it for an adult audience. Both also come across as heteronormative male, too - if you're offended by that, take a deep breath once in a while.
Structure
I would roughly structure the book into three sections:
The first section (ca. 16 pages) is largely exposition about game mastering.
The second section (ca. 56 pages) is a loose collection of things to pay attention to when game mastering.
The third section (ca. 46 pages) is a collection of roll tables that make coming up with random details on the spur of the moment easier.
Exposition
Most of the first section is fairly light in advice, exploring the higher level view of what makes a good game. This would be perfectly fine to read, if the writing style was not a little stream-of-consciousness.
I know people who talk that way. Those are people who start talking with half-formed points to make, and as they speak, they verbally circle around their point in tighter and tighter spirals, sometimes going back to the beginning for a fresh start, until a cohesive picture emerges.
The first section's writing style is much like that.
That's not to say it's all bad, though. I also noticed that the author uses very descriptive language, that evokes the mood of some of the best game sessions you ever had, and manages to avoid dry, boring prose. For a gaming book, I prefer that.
I just can't help but feel the entire first section could be tightened to a page or two without losing much in the process.
Tips Section
The second section of the book is, as stated above, a loose collection of things to pay attention to. I hesitate to call each subsection a tip as such, as some contain mostly paragraphs that attempt to recall shared pop culture elements, rather than explain how to exploit a certain technique. Other subsections are far more streamlined, providing an explanation and example of a rock solid technique, with little extra fluff.
The tips section also has two larger parts; the first contains general advice on how to game master, and the second contains a list of stylistic elements one can use in order to spice up a game session or a campaign. That second part comes across as a lot more fine-tuned to providing just enough detail to be useful, without going off on a tangent.
What the tips section generally lacks is structure. Content-wise, I think it's very good, but finding said content again at a later stage seems difficult.
- The two parts of the tips section should be more clearly separated from each other.
- Within the first part of the tips section, there is a lot of repetition by way of different examples highlighting only slightly different aspects of largely the same game mastering problem.
With the first part re-structured and tightened up considerably, and the second part forming a separate section of the book, I think going back to the book to find a particular piece of advice would be infinitely easier.
Random Tables
I'm a little torn on whether the second half of the book, which contains only tables for randomly generating content - interspersed with a paragraph of explanation here or there - should be in this book or in a separate publication.
I'm torn, because random tables are useful for good game mastering, and therefore completely belong into a book on the topic. On the other hand, it's the random tables that are likely the only truly interesting part to experienced game masters, who might be inclined to skip the first half of the book.
Really, I'm torn.
However, the tables are great, if only because their breadth of imagination should illustrate just how wild random stuff can get in order to provide spice to a game session.
Conclusion
I've ripped into various aspects of this book, so should end by highlighting once again that the content is actually very good. Where it lacks is structure and writing style, the latter of which is just too much of a brain dump, and too little of easily referenceable chunks.
Mind you, that's what the book's introduction foreshadows: it started out as the author's personal collection of tips & tricks, and got published for other people to use instead. Again it says on the tin (well, on the first few pages) what you can expect. And that expectation is fulfilled.
I'm certain I'd give the book a better rating if it was tightened up somewhat. It'd end up being quite a bit shorter, but with more bang for the paper real estate.
Summary
Let's start with the good: it's a book worth reading for novice and intermediate RPG game masters. I doubt experienced game masters would gain their money's worth from it, but they would gain something from it, too (more on that later). But then, that's also the target audience the title suggests, so you're getting pretty much what it says on the tin (nobody needs a how-to for something they already are).
Now for a the bad: of the 124 pages, I'm sure round about 25-30 could easily be cut by rewriting the text. Another 46 might better be published in a separate book, though that's questionable.
The upshot is that I think the content is worth having in published form if you're a game master, but perhaps not quite in this form. I'd be very interested in a rewritten second version.
Warning
Personally, I can't get offended by something that I review, but this book isn't written for everyone. Language and illustrations clearly mark it for an adult audience. Both also come across as heteronormative male, too - if you're offended by that, take a deep breath once in a while.
Structure
I would roughly structure the book into three sections:
The first section (ca. 16 pages) is largely exposition about game mastering.
The second section (ca. 56 pages) is a loose collection of things to pay attention to when game mastering.
The third section (ca. 46 pages) is a collection of roll tables that make coming up with random details on the spur of the moment easier.
Exposition
Most of the first section is fairly light in advice, exploring the higher level view of what makes a good game. This would be perfectly fine to read, if the writing style was not a little stream-of-consciousness.
I know people who talk that way. Those are people who start talking with half-formed points to make, and as they speak, they verbally circle around their point in tighter and tighter spirals, sometimes going back to the beginning for a fresh start, until a cohesive picture emerges.
The first section's writing style is much like that.
That's not to say it's all bad, though. I also noticed that the author uses very descriptive language, that evokes the mood of some of the best game sessions you ever had, and manages to avoid dry, boring prose. For a gaming book, I prefer that.
I just can't help but feel the entire first section could be tightened to a page or two without losing much in the process.
Tips Section
The second section of the book is, as stated above, a loose collection of things to pay attention to. I hesitate to call each subsection a tip as such, as some contain mostly paragraphs that attempt to recall shared pop culture elements, rather than explain how to exploit a certain technique. Other subsections are far more streamlined, providing an explanation and example of a rock solid technique, with little extra fluff.
The tips section also has two larger parts; the first contains general advice on how to game master, and the second contains a list of stylistic elements one can use in order to spice up a game session or a campaign. That second part comes across as a lot more fine-tuned to providing just enough detail to be useful, without going off on a tangent.
What the tips section generally lacks is structure. Content-wise, I think it's very good, but finding said content again at a later stage seems difficult.
- The two parts of the tips section should be more clearly separated from each other.
- Within the first part of the tips section, there is a lot of repetition by way of different examples highlighting only slightly different aspects of largely the same game mastering problem.
With the first part re-structured and tightened up considerably, and the second part forming a separate section of the book, I think going back to the book to find a particular piece of advice would be infinitely easier.
Random Tables
I'm a little torn on whether the second half of the book, which contains only tables for randomly generating content - interspersed with a paragraph of explanation here or there - should be in this book or in a separate publication.
I'm torn, because random tables are useful for good game mastering, and therefore completely belong into a book on the topic. On the other hand, it's the random tables that are likely the only truly interesting part to experienced game masters, who might be inclined to skip the first half of the book.
Really, I'm torn.
However, the tables are great, if only because their breadth of imagination should illustrate just how wild random stuff can get in order to provide spice to a game session.
Conclusion
I've ripped into various aspects of this book, so should end by highlighting once again that the content is actually very good. Where it lacks is structure and writing style, the latter of which is just too much of a brain dump, and too little of easily referenceable chunks.
Mind you, that's what the book's introduction foreshadows: it started out as the author's personal collection of tips & tricks, and got published for other people to use instead. Again it says on the tin (well, on the first few pages) what you can expect. And that expectation is fulfilled.
I'm certain I'd give the book a better rating if it was tightened up somewhat. It'd end up being quite a bit shorter, but with more bang for the paper real estate.
September 11, 2015
I chipped in on a Kickstarter for this thing on a whim, and while I don't regret it, it deserves nothing more than a resounding "meh." There are bits of useful ideas scattered throughout, but mostly it's just rambling, poorly organized, pretentious, and ... I don't want to say "needlessly vulgar" because whatever, I've got no beef with vulgarity, but it'll transition from zero to "GENITALS GENITALS GENITALS" and back again in a single paragraph. It's jarring. Also, more than a little of the art is just half-naked women in contrived situations; haven't we moved past that yet?
January 25, 2025
This book is a trainwreck and I enjoyed watching it crash --- even though I would've been better off stepping away from it and averting my eyes. But I couldn't help myself.
This book is a list of tips and tricks about Game Mastering --- it's packed with references you probably won't understand, misogynist art and sentences that will send you straight into an existential crisis in which you spiral into despair asking yourself why someone would ever put these words on a page.
The book begins with the author stating that, initially, this guide was meant for his eyes only. I think it should have stayed that way. This book is similar to something like the F.A.T.A.L. RPG in that it's an artifact produced by an older cishet white male tabletop roleplaying community which seems to have a very particular idea of what tabletop roleplaying is and should be --- by writing extensively about their thoughts on the subject, they reveal the extent of their morally bankrupt ideology for everyone to see.
Here's a quote from the section titled "Pretty Woman" --- keep in mind, this is just the tip of the iceberg:
My god.
This book is a list of tips and tricks about Game Mastering --- it's packed with references you probably won't understand, misogynist art and sentences that will send you straight into an existential crisis in which you spiral into despair asking yourself why someone would ever put these words on a page.
The book begins with the author stating that, initially, this guide was meant for his eyes only. I think it should have stayed that way. This book is similar to something like the F.A.T.A.L. RPG in that it's an artifact produced by an older cishet white male tabletop roleplaying community which seems to have a very particular idea of what tabletop roleplaying is and should be --- by writing extensively about their thoughts on the subject, they reveal the extent of their morally bankrupt ideology for everyone to see.
Here's a quote from the section titled "Pretty Woman" --- keep in mind, this is just the tip of the iceberg:
Indeed, sexy women make the world go round. Without going overboard, pepper your campaign with exquisite curves, creamy thighs, and delicate ruby-red mouths. Seduce the players with her physical attractiveness. Compare her to a famous celebrity like Megan Fox or Kristen Bell. Better yet, come prepared with a picture of some unknown woman from the internet or evocative piece of RPG art.
My god.
July 20, 2019
Not worth your time. While some of the content is decent, the terrible structure and overusage of profanity is just jarring.
Structure and writing aren't great either and you can probably learn anything written in this book by watching popular How to GM videos. On YouTube
Structure and writing aren't great either and you can probably learn anything written in this book by watching popular How to GM videos. On YouTube
Read
January 13, 2026I find the other reviews here very funny and I do agree with them. This isn't a starred review because where would I even begin.
As I was reading this, I thought "surely this must have been written in 1985" but when I checked the date it was 2015. It is filled with a lot of outdated and sexist advice that is very jarring when held against other useful pieces. In addition to what others have highlighted here in other reviews, this is what stood out to me:
It's easy to forget how hard women (and BIPOC and LGBTQ* folks) have had to fight to be included in this hobby - why would women want the game to include mascara and seduction? Why would you not include this with a man's game if there were only men? I find this more insulting than detailed descriptions of "sexy women". The idea that women can only sustain their interest in something if it involves makeup and men is so degrading, it makes me shiver.
This is so outdated I thought it must be from a previous generation (hence me looking at the publication date). The writer definitely has a "contrary Gen X" style to his writing that is grating at best. I love erotica more than most people, but all of the "Heavy Metal" style nude women are very odd in this book!! Its like a child's version of what is cool and edgy - "I know what will make this seem more adult - swearing and tits!" Sir, just put the fries in the bag.
It's too bad because this particular book is a pretty decent primer on how to GM. I often wish there were more books that were like GM 101, GM 201, and this is a lot like that. It provides a long list of things to think about.
I wouldn't recommend this book because of the problems, but I don't think it's bereft of any quality either.
As I was reading this, I thought "surely this must have been written in 1985" but when I checked the date it was 2015. It is filled with a lot of outdated and sexist advice that is very jarring when held against other useful pieces. In addition to what others have highlighted here in other reviews, this is what stood out to me:
Girly Stuff
Rainbows, unicorns, pegasi (winged horses), mermaids, and princesses in flowing pink ball gowns, etc. Are there any women in your gaming group? If the answer is yes, then including something girly is a good idea. If not, then it could go either way.
“Girly”, of course, is a subjective and sexist term. Oh well. Even if things like unicorns and rainbows are more associated with tween trapper-keepers than fantasy roleplaying, they still have their place in the genre. Why not an encounter that includes crystal shoes, a diamond ring, enchanted nail polish, or mascara that gives advantage to seduction rolls? Throw in some pixies, fairies, and sprites. Let your pastel flag fly!
It's easy to forget how hard women (and BIPOC and LGBTQ* folks) have had to fight to be included in this hobby - why would women want the game to include mascara and seduction? Why would you not include this with a man's game if there were only men? I find this more insulting than detailed descriptions of "sexy women". The idea that women can only sustain their interest in something if it involves makeup and men is so degrading, it makes me shiver.
This is so outdated I thought it must be from a previous generation (hence me looking at the publication date). The writer definitely has a "contrary Gen X" style to his writing that is grating at best. I love erotica more than most people, but all of the "Heavy Metal" style nude women are very odd in this book!! Its like a child's version of what is cool and edgy - "I know what will make this seem more adult - swearing and tits!" Sir, just put the fries in the bag.
It's too bad because this particular book is a pretty decent primer on how to GM. I often wish there were more books that were like GM 101, GM 201, and this is a lot like that. It provides a long list of things to think about.
I wouldn't recommend this book because of the problems, but I don't think it's bereft of any quality either.
April 11, 2017
Salvo por media docena de ideas curiosas, tirar a la basura. Es una pila inconexa de posts de blog y se nota. No vale la pena.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews