Kelly Clark from  @DorkTales  [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCynCyi2wO_zRrffrWTiNxXw] joins the Good GMs Podcast to break down why running a great tabletop session starts with the mindset of a party host. Whether you run a private home campaign or stream a live play actual play, this single shift ensures both your players and you have an unforgettable time. Check out the full episode on our channel and subscribe for more GM masterclasses!  #shorts #dorktales #dnd #gmadvice #actualplay

The Simple Mindset That Saves Your Campaign

Tired of players breaking your plots, or feeling like you have to railroad them down a single track? In this episode of Good GMs, Chuck and James break down Justin Alexander’s Node Theory (from The Alexandrian and So You Want to Be a Game Master) and how to prep dynamic situations instead of rigid storylines.

Learn how to structure your campaigns using node maps, how the Three Clue Rule prevents dead ends, and how different structures—funnels, layer cakes, and clue clouds—can turn overwhelming campaigns like Masks of Nyarlathotep or homebrew D&D mysteries into a breeze to run.

In this episode, we cover:

 * Why traditional "Room A to Room B" prep frustrates players and burns out GMs
 * What counts as a node (locations, NPCs, organizations, and timed events)
 * The Three Clue Rule in action: how to connect your scenes seamlessly
 * Advanced node layouts: linear, funnels, layer cakes, and clue clouds
 * How to handle proactive clues when the party gets stuck

Also: the Good GMs Discord is free! Join through Patreon! The book club is reading Mothership. Conclusion of the ep 11-12 Fallout 2D20 actual play comes to Patreon once it's edited!

Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
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#GoodGMs #TTRPG #TabletopRPG #GameMaster #GMTips #NodeTheory #TTRPGCommunity #PodcastForGMs #CallOfCthulhu #Storytelling

Good GMs Episode 27: Node Trip

Karl Keesler joins James and Chuckie to talk maps, minis and terrain. Karl is a co-founder of Dog House Rules, an ENnie winner, a co-host of The Wild Die, and a name you'll find in just about every Pinnacle book. He's also behind Fort Griffin, Trailer Park Shark Attack, Camp Terror and the upcoming Occult City.

What We Get Into:
- When a scene needs a map and when it doesn't. Big fights get one. Quick scuffles and investigation scenes can be talked out
- Printing a stock image of an asylum and setting minis on it for a con game
- Why a map feeds your own prep and gives players things to grab, like a Nintendo controller in a treehouse
- Cheap DIY terrain: pink foam and foil for rocks, Mod Podge and sand, tumbling blocks for dungeon walls, popsicle stick buildings, and a hole punch with old Magic cards for tokens
- 3D printing: Golden Girls with rifles, and an Airstream on chicken legs for a redneck Baba Yaga
- Prop builds: a Necronomicon book box and a Hellraiser Lament Configuration cube
- Mini painting tips, plus Karl's best GM advice: listen to your players

The Good GMs Discord is free to join through Patreon. The book club is about to start reading Mothership.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
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#GoodGMs #TTRPG #SavageWorlds #GameMaster #GMTips #Miniatures #TerrainBuilding #TTRPGCommunity #PodcastForGMs #3DPrinting

26 - Maps of Tiny Perfect Minis - it's Karl Keesler on Good GMs!

James and Chuckie dig into one of the most useful story frameworks ever written for GMs: the Five Room Dungeon. [https://www.roleplayingtips.com/] Originally published in 2006 by Johnn Four of roleplaytips.com and later collected into a free book, the Five Room Dungeon isn't really about dungeons. It's a formula for building any story, any genre, any system.

The five rooms: an entrance and guardian that explains why the place hasn't been picked clean already; a puzzle or social challenge; a trick or complication that raises real doubt about whether the players make it through; a climax or boss battle; and a reward slash revelation that might close the story or crack it wide open for what comes next.

James and Chuckie build a Five Room Dungeon live on mic. Genre from a d100 table: living city exploration. They go Star Trek. A colony, a distress call, technology that shouldn't exist, a leader who says everything is fine. What's in the water? What happens when you get to room five?

Also covered: Justin Alexander's Five Plus Five variation from The Alexandrian. For every story room, add one scenic room. Not plot. Just somewhere good to explore. Let your players breathe.

Get the Five Room Dungeon book free at https://www.roleplayingtips.com/ [https://roleplaytips.com/]

 * Shoutout to Johnny "Dungeon Master" Ahsome and the Beholder's Barbershop in Orillia Ontario. A real barbershop run by a real GM. www.stayahsome.ca [https://www.stayahsome.ca/]
 * Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
 * Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
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25 - Game Trek: The 5 Room Frontier

James and Chuckie welcome Anthony Langley, retired US Air Force Major with 35 years in intelligence and reconnaissance, host of the Nene Valley Roleplaying Association on YouTube and Patreon, and a guy who has been rolling dice and telling stories since the mid-80s. His players include software engineers, a doctor, and one player who ran an ETU session from a camper van in Eastern Europe on Starlink. These are serious people!

Find Anthony and the Nene Valley Roleplaying Association on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@NVRA-RPG] and Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/NeneValleyRoleplayingAssociation]. Check out their ETU campaign if you want to see what a long-haul actual play looks like when it's done right.

What We Get Into:

- Give your GM brushes, not just dice rolls. Don't say "I roll intimidation." Pick up his drink. Slam it down. Look him dead in the eyes. Now roll intimidation.
- Why ETU looks like a compact setting that can't go anywhere, and why that's completely wrong
- Anthony's philosophy shift from story is prime to character is prime, and why he stopped Matt Mercer-ing his players
- Railroad vs sandbox: Anthony's approach to blending structure with player freedom across 55+ sessions
- What Anthony steals from Blades in the Dark: the flashback mechanic and position/effect, and why both belong at any table

Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast



24 - Beyond The Nene Valley Of The Dolls - it's NVRA on Good GMs Podcast!

James and Chuckie tackle one of the most underrated GM skills — pacing. Not going fast. Not going slow. Knowing the difference between a scene that's supposed to breathe and a scene that's just bleeding out.

What We Get Into:
- Slow isn't always wrong. A scene that feels slow might be doing exactly what it's supposed to do. The question is whether it's moving the story forward, not whether it's moving fast.
- The silent timer trick: James puts a kitchen timer on the table without saying what it's for. Players immediately start making decisions. No explanation needed.
- When players are genuinely stuck vs. when they're just spinning their wheels — and how to tell the difference by watching the table
- How to introduce new information without being obvious about it: NPCs, matchbooks, news reports, a name on a character sheet the player forgot they wrote
- Quick encounters and dramatic tasks: taking a whole scene that would eat three sessions and collapsing it into one meaningful roll per player
- Lay out two hooks at the end of every scene. Not one. Two. Give them the library and City Hall. Now they're moving.
- Don't be afraid to throw the villain at them when they're stalled. Nothing unsticks a table like a surprise attack.
- Shane Hensley's combat countdown: if a player isn't ready when their turn comes, smack the table, count down from five, and move on. Chuckie thought it was harsh until he tried it.

🔗 Connect with Us:

 * Twitch: Watch our live campaigns at twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast [https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast]
 * Patreon & Discord: Join the community at patreon.com/goodgmspodcast [https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast]
 * Audio Platforms: Find Good GMs on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3XSYh258bxrIjYuZpmdw2R], Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-gms-podcast/id1851312721], Podcast Addict or elsewhere! [https://linktr.ee/GoodGMs]
 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
 *  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/
 *  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast





23 -  Pacing Gamey

James sits down with Cam Rogers, novelist and fomer rlead writer for Warframe, one of the biggest game universes ever built, and the guy who's going to be running Mothership on the Good GMs Twitch channel. No Chuckie this week. Just James and someone who has been building worlds for a living for over a decade.
What We Get Into:
- Character is plot. Not the farm boy, not the chosen one...the farm boy's conflicting motivations rubbing up against everyone else's conflicting motivations. That's where the story is.
- Don't build Middle Earth first. Start with a simple person in a simple place and let the world expand around them in layers.
- Pressure mechanics: the bomb under the table, the rent that's due, the Death Star approaching Yavin Four. Tension is narrative currency - you bank it and spend it strategically.
- You're not a navigator. You're the cartographer. The world is a blank map and you're dispelling the fog of war as the players move through it.
- Don't have a death grip on your plot. The players are at least the missing third. Let them run off into the hills. Your job is to make the plot work for wherever they end up.
- Cam's closing tip: understand the structure of your story well enough that you can re-skin any narrative piece to fit the context your players have created.

Check out Cam's podcast I Love This And I'll Tell You Why [https://www.patreon.com/cw/ILoveThisIllTellYouWhy], launching this week - Thursday, October 1st!  

First guest: https://quantumbreak.fandom.com/wiki/Mikael_KasurinenMikko Rautalahti, [https://quantumbreak.fandom.com/wiki/Mikko_Rautalahti]  senior writer on Alan Wake and Quantum Break from Remedy Entertainment, and their newly released video game, Control Resonant. [https://www.remedygames.com/games/control-2] 

https://www.patreon.com/ILoveThisIllTellYouWhy [https://www.patreon.com/cw/ILoveThisIllTellYouWhy]

Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
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22 - Lore of the Worlds - it's Cam Rogers on Good GMs!

James and Chuckie are joined by Kelly Clark, creator and game master of Dork Tales, to dive deep into the world of Actual Play GMing. From the thrill of live audiences to the technical realities of recording, Kelly shares the secrets of turning a home game into an entertaining show. Check out Kelly and the Dork Tales crew at https://www.youtube.com/dorktales  and https://www.twitch.tv/dorktales !

✨Pro-Tips✨

 * The Archive Impulse: why starting an actual play helps preserve tabletop moments that would otherwise fade away like sculptures made of butter.
 * Table Game vs. Actual Play: why you shouldn't run a slow hex crawl on camera, the importance of pacing, and avoiding the "Canadian Standoff" of talking over each other to keep the performance moving.
 * The Rules Attorney: how to handle rule disputes live by making an executive call to keep the tension up while a deputized player looks up the actual rule in the background.
 * Actual Play Etiquette: the social rules of streaming, from hiding your branded drinks to muting your microphone when typing or eating.
 * Directing the Story: why talking to players off-camera about major story beats or character heel turns isn't cheating, but rather co-writing a cinematic first draft.
 * The Hospitality Mindset: Kelly's ultimate GM tip is to treat your game like you're hosting a party where your main job is to ensure everyone, including yourself, has a good time.

Actual Plays Mentioned in this Episode:

 * Savage Sessions RPG: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nTTZOPB6D7wskZxakPeCG
 * The Film Reroll: https://www.filmreroll.com
 * Ain't Slayed Nobody: https://www.aintslayednobody.com
 * Wildcards (Saving Throw): https://www.youtube.com/savingthrowshow
 * Not Another D&D Podcast (NADDPod): https://naddpod.com
 * Miskatonic University Podcast: https://www.mu-podcast.com
 * Dice Legends: https://www.youtube.com/@DiceLegends
 * The Dragon Friends: https://thedragonfriends.com
 * Friends at the Table: https://friendsatthetable.net [https://friendsatthetable.net/]

Plus, the Good GMs are planning the wrap-up from their 2D20 actual play with James Gordon Ross. Join us October 24th & 31st on Twitch for the final Fallout! Check out episodes 17 &18 for the existing story!

 * Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
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21 - Are You Afraid of the Dork? It’s Dork Tales on Good GMs!

James has been watching movies. Specifically he's been thinking about what Kurosawa, Spielberg, Hitchcock, Sergio Leone, and Guy Ritchie figured out about storytelling — and whether any of it works at a TTRPG table. Spoiler: all of it does.

What We Get Into:

- Chekhov's Gun: put the rifle in act one, fire it by act three — and why not doing it is secretly training your players to stop paying attention to your world

- The Ticking Clock: Hitchcock's bomb under the table. Chuckie's live demo of running both sides of the clock simultaneously — the players prepping, the villain also prepping, tension building on both tracks

- The Delayed Reveal: the Jaws technique. The animatronic shark kept breaking so Spielberg shot a fin in the water. Your players' imaginations are scarier than your description.

- The Calm Before The Storm: James performs it live — dust settling on a battlefield, a beam of light through the clouds, one breath. Then hit them.

- The Rule Of Three: introduce, reinforce, pay off. Why the third beat is where the magic lives.

- False Victory: the Irish goodbye of horror — just when they think they've made it, one more hit. Use it once. Never twice.

- The Unreliable Narrator: one player is drinking sludge from a rusty can, completely convinced it's a glass of water. The other player just failed their sanity check.

FIND US!

Check out Chuckie’s Actual Plays at Savage Sessions on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5nTTZOPB6D7wskZxakPeCG] and Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@RadioSaladStudios]

 * Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
 * Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
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20 - Once Upon A Game In Hollywood

What happens when a longtime player steps behind the GM screen for the first time? In Episode 19 of Good GMs, our producer Rainey Robertson sits down with James and Chuck to break down her first time ever GM'ing: a four-session Vampire: The Masquerade (5th Edition) murder mystery set in a blue-collar Michigan town that she wrote herself. Think "Roseanne" meets "What We Do In The Shadows". 

Rainey shares real-world GMing tips on organizing player skills, handling accidental plot twists, and avoiding classic first-timer mistakes (as a first-timer herself, she made a LOT of mistakes, and we think she recovered from them in some cool ways.)

✨ Pro-Tips 💫

 * Centralize Player Skills: Collect player skills in a single reference doc before starting to check stats silently.
 * Never Lock Essential Clues Behind Rolls: Deliver critical plot clues automatically; use skill checks for extra context or bonuses.
 * Write Immediate Post-Session Notes: Jot down major events, deceased NPCs, and current locations as soon as a session ends.
 * Roll With Mistakes & Pivot: If you mess up narrative continuity, lean into logical player theories to guide the resolution.
 * Leverage Session Transcripts: Use recording platforms with summary tools to streamline prep and editing.
 * Start With Friends & Passion: Run your debut for a supportive group in a system you love so prep feels rewarding.

FIND US! 

Check out the Savage Sessions team that played Rainey’s game (including Chuckie and Rainey!): Chuckie’s Actual Plays at Savage Sessions on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/5nTTZOPB6D7wskZxakPeCG] and Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/@RadioSaladStudios].

 * Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast
 * Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast
 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344
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19 - Interview With The GM

James and Chuckie are back with a theory episode on something every GM eventually has to deal with — problem players. The ones you can actually help. The ones who maybe don't even know they're doing it.

What We Get Into:

 * The Spotlight Hog: probably the most common, and as two enthusiastic GMs James and Chuckie admit they can both fall into this one. How to recognize it, how to redirect it off camera, and how to weaponize their enthusiasm to bring other players in instead
 * GMs as players: why it's important to sit on the other side of the table, what you learn from a good GM, and why a GM as a player can either be the best or worst person at the table — there's almost no middle ground
 * The Distracted Player: James tells the story of the player on her phone who needed the coloring game to pay attention. The fix isn't punishment — it's giving them a job. DJ, note-taker, sketch artist, in-game currency for recap contributions
 * The Reluctant Adventurer: the loner, the lone wolf, the guy who just wanted to be a farmer. Chuckie's rule: it's the player's job to figure out why their character keeps showing up. The Lone Wolf and Cub solution — give them an NPC to be responsible for
 * When to have the aside, how to frame it with empathy, and when to accept that the subplot is just going to stay lost
 * The nuclear option: be honest, be direct, think of it as a breakup

Every Friday we're streaming Monster Hunters Club on Twitch from 7-930 PM EST! Join us, won't you? 

 * Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
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18 - How To Train Your Players

Host (@redjuicestudio) · Zencastr

Host (@redjuicestudio)

We’re James and Chuck, lifelong Game Masters who can’t stop thinking about role-playing games. We’ve spent years running sessions, building worlds, and discovering stories we never planned. Sometimes things work perfectly, and sometimes we screw up spectacularly, but we always learn, laugh, and lean on each other’s experience to make the next game even better. We don’t always agree, and that’s part of the fun. There's no right or wrong way to GM, just choices, surprises, and the joy of collaborative storytelling.

 * Support Good GMs on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast
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