Team GMing

So our gaming group has had a few end-of-session conversations about doing some sort of team or collaborative GMing. I remembering trying a variation on the theme back in high school, with a common set of characters flitting from GM setting to GM setting. Each session featured a different GM, using the GM's own setting, but the characters had the (unexplained) ability to move from world to world. I also played in a session in college where the GM tasks rotated from moment to moment during a single session--it was one of the better gaming sessions I have played in, but it was also the only one for me that involved a significant amount of alcohol.

It turns out that Wikipedia, the final arbiter of knowledge in our current age, has an article on this, calling it the Troupe System. Wikipedia summarizes the Troupe System this way: A Troupe system is a way of playing role-playing games which spreads the game master's responsibilities among each of the players. The term was coined in Ars Magica. It is also known as collaborative role-playing, a term used by other games with a similar mechanism.

Thanks to +Chris C. (The Clash of Spear on Shield) for sharing the Wikipedia link with me, as well as a few other links. Here are some other links:

Troupe System (Wikipedia)

Troupe Style GMing and the Gaming Charter (Gnome Stew)

Troupe Style (Project Redcap)

Starting To Collaborate (Collaborative Roleplay)

And my own blog post from yesterday was a lead-in to this post: Microscope and the Books of Bardo

The GM/DM Gig: Preparation and Improvisation

Miles

Playing the role of GM/DM feels very much like playing live music. I have to put in the time practicing--whether it is bass, guitar, or mandolin. Scales, runs, chords, melodies and grooves. Plus working on actual songs. Sometimes fun. Sometimes toil and grunt work. That is the prep work.

The payoff is the live performance with other musicians. Being able to play off my bandmates--improvising-- while performing a song for the audience. Pure gold. But improvising, the making-it-up-as-we-go, only works when I have put in the hours of prep.

That is how it is for me when I am running a gaming session. How does it all work for you when you are in the GM/DM seat?