Hello and welcome to Earthmote! Earthmote is a place where I share what I know about being a game master for tabletop role playing games (ttrpgs). I hope that it helps others on their own game master (GM) journey.
On Earthmote, I primarily focus on organization, preparation and game design. Too many would-be GMs wind up daunted by preparing for their games. They don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed. I’d like to change that. I believe that an organized GM is a confident GM. If you can master your preparation, then you’ll be running great games at the table. Best of all, your organization and preparation doesn’t have to be complicated. Simplicity works and helps reduce the barriers to entry. We add complexity where it adds value. And as we become more comfortable in our ability to prepare and run games.
I prefer to run games that are more open-ended, and sandbox style. So you will see me promote ideas, and other resources that support that style of play. I enjoy a good storyline every now and then, but I have found they are challenging to pull off and as a GM its easy to get a vision of what “should” happen when you are crafting a story with plot points. I believe the story is made at the table. The players choices matter and they should be the ones driving the action. As a GM, its my job to provide them with information about the world so they can make their own informed choices. Then, once you know their choices, you act out the consequences.
I have also begun to dabble in game and adventure design. I currently do not have anything released, but I’m excited to explore it more. As I do so, I will share some of my design process and learnings as a total beginner.
Besides thinking about tabletop games, Earthmote enjoys spending time with his family, reading, hiking and weightlifting. Earthmote lives with his wife and dog.
You can check out my introductory post, or dive into any of the other topics I have written about. If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me here or by email: contact@earthmote.com