INTJ: Plan an Awesome Game-night

Itemized lists, flow charts, and fallback systems for the fallback system – INTJs have a bit of reputation when it comes to lists.

INTJ's also have a bit of a reputation for 'evil genius' moments. I'm no Walter White, but one Christmas I bought that computer game my brother had written Santa for, unsealed it and stuffed the box full of new socks, then put the disk in a flat case with the rest of the sock package, then 'fixed' the wrapping on both gifts, put Daniel's name on the tags and waited gleefully for Christmas morning.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that I offered to run a Dungeons and Dragons game for some friends. It plays to my strengths.

As the Game Master, I basically do the job of a video game system and the narrator. I manage everything but the player's characters. That means lists - bad guys, descriptions, even the math that controls how deep a sword cuts.

I've played D&D on and off for some year. However, I'd never GM'd before. It's a huge time commitment. I spent over 15 hours setting up content and another 5 researching what NOT to do. I had brand new players. If they didn't come back, there was no game.

Luckily, there are some excellent GM help guides out there. I skimmed wikis and blogs then hit gold - the DMLair channel. It was binge worthy.

Luke Hart is a hilarious YouTube blogger with matter of fact solutions for derailed plots, slow combat, and problem players. Even better, most of it was Basic Adulting Skills -talk things out, be honest about your expectations, etc. I felt confident this would work

Forearmed with new knowledge, I spent the afternoon before the game double checking my kit. I had my reference sheets, my resource websites, and plenty of extra dice and paper. I also drafted Kid Brother into helping get the house ready. That's when inspiration for my own 'GM Musts' hit.

See, despite all the blogs on how to set up a game, everyone has missed an important topic. How to HOST a game.

I've had some wonderful sessions with wonderful players. However, I've had to leave 3 out of 5 groups because of …environmental factors. Basically the site was a sty, and I already have poor health.

I'm not going to share my horror stories. However, the every item on this list is the result of life experience – not humorous overthinking.

GM Must Haves

Clean Table (D&D is a table-top roleplaying game. You could play on the floor but not everyone is a young preteen anymore.)

Good Chairs (That adjective there is important.)

Clean Floor (Dice bounce... generally off the table. Ergo, keep your floors swept.)

Potable Water (Safe drinking water should be basic 'first-world' hospitality and on that note...)

Clean Toilet with A Wash Station. (This isn't an 'Female Gamer Woo-ing' tip. Part of hospitality is making sure your guests are safe.)

Animal Control, Domestic and Other (Okay, this story I CAN tell you. Once upon a summer's night, I brought a candle jar to the session. The guys start laughing, “Going for immersion are we?” and “What fragrance is that?” In perfect deadpan, I said, “Citronella.”)

Running D&D isn't just a matter of knowing the game and finding victims... erhm players. You have to keep things more fun than frustrating. A relaxing space will help.
When my 'session zero' rolled around, my prep work total had a new entry: 2 hours housekeeping. The public rooms were clean, my pets fed and the thermostats set for company. Kid Brother had even made pizza!

Did I over do it? Go into an INTJ prep'er fugue? Nope.

On our first night, I spent two-thirds of the session playing 'musical chairs' with character sheets because NO ONE had read the source material. Can you imagine how bad things could have gotten? We geeks are like children. Bored is dangerous enough. Add thirsty or hungry and there will be tears.

The game? You wanna know about the game? Well, one of the characters picked a sealed scroll off the streets and brought it to the guild mess hall. They opened it... Didn't research the seal, or check for magic.

Three Words: Magical Glitter Bomb. These rookies will learn >XD