It’s New Gamemaster Month! All month, every Tuesday and Thursday, visit newgamemastermonth.com to read specially tailored articles to take you from “wannabe” to “am” as a Tales of the Valiant game master! (There are several other great RPGs there too! Try more than one!)
As a bonus and encouragement, we’re interviewing some new game masters in our Kobold Creates program. In this program, Kobold Press provides sponsorship funds for digital creators who create and stream their own content using the Tales of the Valiant RPG as a base, expanding in creative ways!
Today’s GM interview is with ZachTheBold. Here’s his Linktree to find his stuff!
ZachTheBold, tell us who you are at the 10,000 foot level.
Hello! I am ZachTheBold, a Dungeons & Dragons (and sometimes Magic: The Gathering) short-form content creator. I make D&D shorts that use dramatic film elements to show the highs and sometimes the lows of tabletop roleplaying games. I also have a 10-episode podcast where I vent and rant about my opinions on TTRPGs, my own table, and the future of D&D.
What got you interested in GMing?
I was a huge fan of the web series, Jake and Amir, which inevitably led me to find Not Another D&D Podcast. I fell in love instantly. I had lived in a house with a few college varsity lacrosse players and asked them if they would like to try, and the rest is history.
Do you make your own setting or use a published one? What’s your favorite thing you’ve created or added to a world?
I find a lot of enjoyment in GMing to be making the world. My home game is in a world called York’s Wallow, a high fantasy steampunk alternate-history America set during the Revolution. My favorite thing I’ve ever added to a world has to be a sapped energy system that forces encounters to be free of anything related to the arcane. You would be surprised how resourceful your players can be when they turn back to a nonmagical humanoid.
What’s your favorite compliment you’ve ever gotten from a player?
One of my players told me I was a good writer. I was confused at first because D&D is a game about improv. But they explained to me that I had to write the world, its interactions, and its people, all of which I did. As a person who hopes to be a published author in the future and a professional GM, it was really nice hearing that.
Did you ever feel burned out? What did you do around that feeling?
Oh, absolutely. There are times when I’m really stuck bridging two major plot points, which can lead to frustration that makes me turn away from working on any campaign. What I do instead is take some time to reread character backstories to refresh myself on what elements I could add to surprise my players. There is nothing more enlivening than surprising a player with something from their backstory they don’t even remember.
What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about GMing?
Just start! Don’t get too caught up in the rules; what will motivate you is telling the story that you want to tell.
What’s a story from your first (or early) GMing experience?
One of my first GM stories (and one of my biggest blunders) is that I presented my first ever D&D party be with two different routes for the story. One, they could take a deal with Tiamat, and continue to live in the current timeline bearing her curse. Or they could refuse her deal and be transported to the future, without any way to intercept her plans eventually leading to a post-apocalyptic world they would have to save.
Well, two of the three players did NOT take her deal, so what did I do with the dissenting one? I FORCED him to take the deal without considering his character’s wants. It was super disappointing for this player as they felt they had lost their agency within the story. From that moment forward, even if the party was split, I made sure that all characters had consequences for their own actions, despite the actions of the party as a whole.
What resources or other creators would you recommend to fellow GMs?
Resources to become a better GM don’t just come from game mechanics and top 10 lists, but rather from a better understanding of how story works. I recommend the YouTube channels Raising the Stakes and Film Courage to help identify what makes a story interesting. Even watching interviews with your favorite authors and directors will help you better understand what motivates them and how they put a story together.
Is there anything you’ve done that you’d like other people to see?
Yes! If you are looking for some unhinged advice where I yell at my camera while in my 90-degree room in Los Angeles, you can check out my D&D Advice podcast, Bold Takes and Bad Tempers! I am currently on a hiatus as I work on more long-form content, but it will be back! And who knows, maybe I’ll have air conditioning this time!
Now on Kickstarter! Monster Vault 2!
