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loonyboi's review against another edition
4.0
This is a nice little book about incorporating techniques from improv theater into running tabletop RPGs. As a GM who has a tendency to over-prep, I definitely need this kind of advice, and found a lot of very useful tips in here. That said, this isn't a textbook or a how-to guide. Rather it's a collection of essays, each from a different author, each covering the same topic. Every individual author has their own take on the subject, but there's a lot of overlap and redundancy.
Still, I found this to be quite useful and inspirational. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject.
Still, I found this to be quite useful and inspirational. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject.
loonyboi's review
4.0
This is a nice little book about incorporating techniques from improv theater into running tabletop RPGs. As a GM who has a tendency to over-prep, I definitely need this kind of advice, and found a lot of very useful tips in here. That said, this isn't a textbook or a how-to guide. Rather it's a collection of essays, each from a different author, each covering the same topic. Every individual author has their own take on the subject, but there's a lot of overlap and redundancy.
Still, I found this to be quite useful and inspirational. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject.
Still, I found this to be quite useful and inspirational. Your mileage may vary, but I recommend this to anyone interested in the subject.
nostalgick's review
3.0
A decent read for people new to tabletop roleplaying, but probably not the most useful book for established GM's. The essays are of varying quality and many of them repeat the same advice for improvisation (say "yes, and...", prepare random tables, have lists of names ready, study acting, do something weird, etc.) that already appears in many other books aimed at Game Masters. I appreciate the breadth of different authors here though, as each author has a different perspective on improv and conveys their ideas in a slightly different way. They're all established veterans too with a wealth of knowledge and experience that mostly comes through in these short works (4-5 pages). I expect every GM will come away from this book with a different impression of it, and they'll ultimately have to decide how best to use the information herein, depending on the kind of game they're trying to run.
mburnamfink's review
4.0
Most of the major players in the storygames movement have contributed to this volume. When it's on, it's very on: Vincent Baker, Robin Laws, Ken Hite, and Jason Morningstar have some great essays on conversations, shared imaginations, and making it work. The other contributors also have lots of advice on listening, saying "Yes, and...", and getting weird in a game. The weakness in this collection is a lot of repetition-too many intros defining improvisation and its use in RPGS, which could have been worked through by a stronger editorial vision (but yeah, then some people might not have contributed...), and some odd gaps in practice. Saying that you should listen is easy, actually listening is hard. And one of the most promising ideas, asking questions of your players to draw out their hooks and story elements, isn't explored in depth. Overall, an inspiring collection but one that might be hard to use.
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