I’ve been game mastering for about 4 years now, and I can emphatically say that I have yet to reach a point where I am satisfied with my skills and abilities as a game master. There is always something that can either be done better or differently. It could be learning how to prepare for sessions in a more efficient manner, developing better storytelling strategies, or a whole multitude of different subjects and avenues. But, what is most important to me is determining where my blind spots are. These are things that I either don’t notice, or don’t think need any immediate work to correct. In reality, they are issues that my players really wish I would correct, or possibly even stop doing altogether. As I already said, these are blind spots, so they can be extremely hard to notice without be specifically told about them. So, how do I go about seeing these blind spots? One word: feedback. And how do I go about getting said feedback?
Pretty simply, actually.
I just ask.
Determining Your Blind Spots
Constantly being on the story teller’s side of the game master’s screen can cause tunnel vision. It tends to become easy to gauge your performance solely on the actions and reactions of your players, which can, in turn, lead to the notion that any discordance lies with them. Obviously, this can cause major issues for you and your players if left unresolved.
This is where feedback comes into the picture.
It is vital. That is NOT an exaggeration. Without it, your skills as a game master will never get better.
Why?
Because feedback is necessary for personal and professional growth
You simply cannot get better without honest, objective feedback. Without it, you’re trudging forward blindly. The game master is, in essence, the leader of the adventure. They are who creates and guides the players. When there is a conflict, they make the final say. Leadership does not simply happen; it requires guidance, critique, and honesty. Feedback provides all three of these items. Leaders cannot get better without feedback; ergo, neither can you as a game master.
Procuring the Goods
As stated above, feedback provides three necessary items: guidance, critique, and honesty. Getting this from your players requires having a group that you trust and feel comfortable around. I’ve outlined some guidelines below for how to request and receive feedback from your players.
Guidelines for Getting
Helpful Player Feedback:
Make it easy for your players to provide the feedback
If it isn’t easy, you won’t get feedback. Plain and simple. Keep in mind that your players have lives outside of D&D, so the easier it is for them to provide you with the feedback you’re needing, the better it is going to be for everyone involved. My personal preference is to accomplish this via this Google Forms survey. I put together (feel free to copy and edit it for your own use). I like to give these out once we’ve finished two to three decently long adventures (three to four sessions per adventure). We usually take a small break between adventures, so this provides my players with enough time to finish the surveys, while also giving me time to examine the results. I also find that it is fun to share the results with my players. I think this is incredibly helpful for my players by allowing them to know that I actually read the information they provide.
Allow your players to be honest
If your players feel comfortable telling you how they feel that you’re doing as a game master, it will ALWAYS improve your skills (assuming you’re willing to listen). I like to keep the results anonymous, but that’s just a personal preference. Regardless, you absolutely have to allow that space to be safe for the players. If they feel that any feedback they provide is simply going to make you rage like a level 3 barbarian, then what incentive is there for them to give you honesty? And it begs the question: why are you even asking for the feedback at that point? Remember: if you’re going to ask the questions, then you better be ready for the answers.
Your goal isn’t to please everyone; it is to learn and improve
Every player is going to have different things that they like and dislike about your style. This process isn’t about making every single person happy. It also isn’t strictly a democratic process, where the majority voices win. If you trust your players, then you need to hear each of them out and weigh each opinion. Once you’ve done that, you can take what you’ve gleaned and distill it down into some easily obtainable and measurable goals for the next session and/or campaign. A few example goals might be:
- Prepping for each session a day ahead of time.
- Creating at least two opportunities for exploration for your players each session (assuming they asked for this).
- Ensuring that your players have a chance to find at least 3 magical items per adventure.
These examples are not meant to tell you how to run your group/campaign/adventure/session. They are merely there to help provide some context for what some good goals might look like.
Don’t take things personally
If you’re absolutely certain that a player is providing answers to simply be mean or hurtful, talk to them about it. Otherwise, trust your players. The information they are giving you is not to hurt you. They want to help you be better, because it is a win-win for everyone. The better game master that you become, the better gaming experience you can provide for your players.
Set expectations with your players
Before ever allowing your players to provide feedback, be honest with them: their opinions are not going to cause you to magically become a better game master instantaneously. Changes don’t happen overnight, and neither will your style or abilities. It’s going to take some time to meaningfully implement the information you gather, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Remember, small steps lead to big changes.
Hold your players accountable
Providing feedback doesn’t benefit just you; it benefits the entire party. Once you’ve determined a good method for gathering the feedback (survey, group interview, one-on-one, etc.), set a deadline. I like to set a deadline of two weeks from when I first share the survey. This gives my players enough time to complete them, while also helping to shutdown any excuses that enough time wasn’t given. Once you’ve determined a deadline, then there’s only one thing to do: GO!
Start gathering that feedback! If you decide to use the survey approach, then pester the hell out of your players. Yes, it will probably annoy them. Actually, it will most definitely annoy them. That’s okay. That’s a good thing. They need to understand that this is important to you. and that the whole group benefits from being involved with this. Prodding them also drops the subtle hint that you’ll stop asking them to finish the surveys once they FINISH THEIR SURVEYS!
Once your deadline rolls around, STOP!
Not all of your players may provide feedback, and that’s fine. Out of my 5–6 players, only about 3–4 complete the surveys. That’s okay. Any feedback is better than no feedback. As I said before, I choose to let the players remain anonymous when they submit their surveys. If you choose not to go that route, then remember to not make a big deal about those that didn’t provide feedback. Some people just aren’t comfortable with it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t try and guilt your players through passive aggression. That never works out for anyone, and will absolutely ensure that you never again receive honest feedback from those players. That being said, if you find yourself with some players that don’t/won’t provide feedback when the opportunity is presented, but are loudly unhappy with how you are running things, make sure to talk to them directly. Remind them that you presented a chance for them to provide feedback for this very reason. I recommend also taking this time to find out why they chose not to provide the feedback as previously requested. If they are resistant to this process, then you may need to ask yourself if they’re a good fit for your group.
Remember, as the game master, it’s your job to understand the dynamics of your group. You may read this and automatically know that it would never work with your group. I choose to request feedback after 2–3 long adventures, so as to not inundate my players with constant surveys. But, maybe you know that your players would respond better to this after every adventure. I’m not one to say. However you decide to do it, just remember that no one has ever gotten better by simply staying on the same path. You only grow and improve your craft by finding out where your weaknesses are, and that can’t occur without asking for honest critique.
Here’s to finding your blind spots, getting feedback, and growing into a better game master!
Originally published at https://www.theadventuringgm.com on May 19, 2021.
