On the Spot: Nervousness and GMing

I don’t know so much that I get nervous, but there is definitely that moment before a game where you’re wondering how to get that hook into your players, if they’re going to enjoy what you’ve got set up, and the teensy moment of doubt when you wonder why you are putting all that effort and work into entertaining other people, when you could just sit down and play a video game, watch a movie, or play in someone else’s game and get that level of entertainment without as much work or investment. For me it’s the fact of seeing something that I created spring forth, and watching the reactions of my players when really cool stuff happens, or they’re getting into it big time.

I always get nervous before a game session as the GM. I used to do a lot of acting, and I always got nerovus before that too. Now GMing I might be speaking in front of 6 people tops, and when I was acting I did plays in front of 500 people. In both cases I get the same feeling of butterflies in my stomach (although the feeling was more intense before a show).

Luckily all of that energy is put to use during the game or on stage. I don’t know if it is really nerves or just excitement and anticipation. You want the game to be great. You want the show to be great. You psych yourself up before hand so much that until you can start the game or the curtain goes up on stage that your energy has nowhere to go!

I get the same feeling before meetings where I am the presenter, or when I do public speaking engagements for groups, but only if I actually care about the event. At a staff meeting I don’t get nervous at all. If I’m told that I have to be the spokesperson for a product or cause that I don’t care about I’ll do the job, but I won’t get nervous. I still do a good job, but I know it isn’t as great a job as when I really care about the material.

So I guess as long as I get nervous before GMing a game I’m doing something right! If I didn’t care as much about the quality of the game I wouldn’t feel nervous at all. It might be time to quit GMing if that ever happens.

I still get a lot of stagefright just before running a con game. I think it’s the fact that people paid money to be at my table combined with the one shot nature of it all. If I have a lame night with my regular group I can always do better the next run, if I blow the con game I feel like I’ve wasted people’s time and money.

There’s always something to worry about. Most of my tension is about “have I prepped enough”– not quite stage fright, more will they notice the Emperor has no clothes? It’s kind of like the responsibility of being a good host, writ large.

It sounds like my nervousness matches your good kind of nervousness almost exactly.

I definitely get nervous, if only because I’ve been on the receiving end of so many boring sessions, I want to make sure that my players are having a great game. I tend to over-prep becasue I just don’t want to be “that guy.” I.e., one players talk about over dinner: “Man, the GM for my event today was so weak.” 🙂

It’s really more that than fear of public speaking. I’ve done acting and music, as well as management roles in my work, so working in front of an audience isn’t as much of an issue.

If I’m nervous prior to a game, I know it’s because I haven’t prepared well enough to GM it. I’ve long since gotten over any hang-ups I might have had about adjudicating rules, running combats, play-acting on the fly (one player recently decided to cast Speak with Plants and made me roleplay a shrubbery), or many of the other varied skills associated with GMing. Thus, the only thing that gives me any sort of anxiety nowadays is when I feel underprepared.

I don’t know if I would call it nervousness, but there is definitely a moment of Am I up to this tonight. Gming takes a lot of investment of time, emotion, talent, skill, effort,etc. all of which could be used to play a video game, watch a movie, or play in someone elses game and have fun with. I think of it kind of like cliff jumping, or parachuting. You take that first step, and just ride the wind down to a gracefull landing or a crash.

I’ve found, as I used to do a fair amount of acting in school, that if you’re not the least bit nervous before you go on stage, you won’t perform as well as if you have just a touch of nervousness. So I like to be a little nervous just before a game starts, because it sets me going in the right direction.

For my group, whom I have been running games for for over 10 years, I do not get nervous. But I do get a bit anxious before a session starts. I am always concerned that I have everything ready, that my notes are in order, I have practiced the key NPC dialog.

It is a fun kind of anxious, an excitement, like on the opening night of a stage show. But I would not say nervous, because I have known these guys, and have gamed with them for a long time, and am quite comfortable sitting at the table with them.

On the rare occasion that we game with other people, then I tend to be a bit nervous. Mostly because I do not know what they are expecting. With my group, we all know each other so well, that you know what to expect in a session, but with strangers you always want to impress.

Nervousness for me is strictly based on my comfort level with the material–whatever the venue or number of people. Well, I’ve never spoken in front of thousands before. So I can’t say I wouldn’t get nervous. But generally, if I know the material–and have reason to believe that the audience has decent expectations vis-a-vis my speaking ability, knowledge of the subject, etc.–then I can speak to 200+ as easily as I can speak to 1 or 2.

If I ever had to GM a game that I wasn’t comfortable with to a group of strangers, who were told that I’d do a great job–I’d probably be a bit nervous. If the players knew the circumstances, I’d be relaxed. I don’t tend to get into such situations, so I’ve never been nervous while GMing.

I don’t know if I would call it nervousness, but there is definitely a moment of Am I up to this tonight. Gming takes a lot of investment of time, emotion, talent, skill, effort,etc. all of which could be used to play a video game, watch a movie, or play in someone elses game and have fun with. I think of it kind of like cliff jumping, or parachuting. You take that first step, and just ride the wind down to a gracefull landing or a crash.

John, that was brilliant. 🙂

The comparison to stage fright seems very apt, but different in one particular: as close as “GMing nervousness” seems to be to stage fright (IE, both are “good” kinds of nervousness, at least based on the comments so far), the biggest difference is that as a GM, you’re most often performing for your friends.

For me, even with players I’ve been friends with for years, there’s always at least a little bit of nervousness when I GM for them.