Good GMs Podcast

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 * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast * Anywhere You Stream: 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

Good GMs Podcast is a arts podcast hosted by James Currie, Chuck Taylor, with 16 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

James Currie, Chuck Taylor hosts Good GMs Podcast, a arts show with 16 episodes published.

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  Episode #16

  16 - Eternal Theatre of the Spotless Mind

  Aug 14, 202625 min

  James and Chuckie go back to basics this week with one of the most useful and most underused tools in any GM's kit — Theater of the Mind. No maps. No minis. Just words, and the picture they paint. James is prepping for his Monster Hunters Club livestream and wants to lean into Theatre of the Mind so audiences aren't watching him count squares. Chuckie points out he's probably already doing it without realizing it. What We Get Into: - Where Theatre of the Mind actually comes from — radio drama, Steve Allen, and the early days of D&D with no maps - The Three Senses Rule: don't describe a bar, describe the smell of tobacco and stale beer and the sound of fists slamming tables - The camera technique: wide shot, medium shot, close up — Chuckie uses it every game and Sounds Like Crowes built a whole methodology around it - Three anchors: pick three things in the room and build the scene from there. Tables, crowd, the frustrated bartender. Done. - Zones instead of inches for combat — melee, close, far, very far — and why "plot appropriate distance" sounds condescending until you think about it for two seconds - Maps aren't cheating. But they're also not required. Also: the Good GMs Discord book club is starting with Mothership , Cam Rogers is joining the show soon, and Rainey's idea for a GM tip booklet might actually happen. Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast #GoodGMs #TTRPG #TabletopRPG #GameMaster #GMTips #TheatreOfTheMind #TTRPGCommunity #TabletopGaming #PodcastForGMs #RoleplayingGames

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  Episode #15

  15 - The Keeper Out Of Space

  Aug 7, 202638 min

  James and Chuckie sit down with Mike Mason , Creative Director for Call of Cthulhu at Chaosium , co-author of the ENnie Award-winning 7th Edition Keeper Rulebook , Pulp Cthulhu , the Starter Set, Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy, and over 40 other titles! If you've ever lost sanity at a table, this is the man who took it from you! What We Get Into: The biggest crime in every roleplaying game What makes a good GM? What sets a Keeper apart from other kinds of GMs? Mike's answer will surprise you. Sandbox vs. linear! Mike doesn't care, as long as nobody's talking to the librarian at five to midnight, when the cultists are already at the hill… Pulling strings: how tension in a horror game works like a slow build, not a jump scare Comedy and horror: why Evil Dead works and why your players' guard needs to come down before the scary thing hits Genres! Sci-fi, Westerns, Deadlands, and a Savage Worlds crossover you might not know about... Love the first half of our chat with Mike Mason? The descent into madness continues! Catch the full, uncut second half of this episode - including Mike’s secret GMing techniques ! Exclusively for all member tiers on Patreon: https://bit.ly/4xmp9YF Patreon and Discord and Bonus Episodes: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast #GoodGMs #TTRPG #TabletopRPG #GameMaster #CallOfCthulhu #Chaosium #GMTips #TTRPGCommunity #PodcastForGMs #Horror

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  Episode #14

  14 - Session Zero Dark Thirty

  Jul 31, 202631 min

  Stop your next TTRPG campaign from dying on scheduling or mismatched expectations by mastering the ultimate Session Zero. Learn how to use safety tools like the X-Card and set a social contract that keeps your players coming back every week. Subscribe for more expert GM advice and let us know your must-have Session Zero rules in the comments! What We Get Into:  One simple rule for session cancellations will save your campaign.  Session negative one: the pitch that happens before session zero. The email, Discord message, phone call where you get initial buy-in before anyone shows up  The three pillars: combat! exploration! roleplay! Why asking your players to rank them tells you more about the game you need to run than any rulebook will  Tone and expectations: are you running The Boys or Mystery Men? Don't make them guess.  Lines and veils: the hard stops and the fade-to-black moments. Why they go on the table before character creation, not after  The X card, and why it isn't a question  Chuckie once ran The Haunting without asking about rats. Find out why he'll never do it again!  Accessibility at the table! Light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, mobility, etc. and why it's the same as moving a chair out of a doorway Phones: fidget spinners and colouring apps are fine; mobile game sound effects are not; remember GMs, you are God at this table! Next week: Mike Mason, creative director for Call of Cthulhu at Chaosium. We are so excited.  We've also launched our Twitch channel for August's Monster Hunters Club Actual Play! Join us: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast Patreon (and DIscord access): https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast  YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast  Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344  Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/  BlueSky : https://bsky.app/profile/goodgms.bsky.social TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast  Twitch : https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast

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  Good GMs Podcast

  13 - Wake Up GM: A Knife Theory Mystery

  Jul 24, 202633 min

  James and Chuckie are back to basics this week - no guests, just the two of them digging into one of the most useful GM tools you've probably never heard by name: Knife Theory. Originally posted to Reddit in 2017 by a guy named Jim Baby, Knife Theory is a way to get players to write backstories that you can actually use. The idea is simple: when players include certain elements in their character history, they're handing their GM a knife. A weapon you can pick up and use to pull that character deeper into the story. What's in the knife block: named NPCs, phobias, traumas, mysteries, enemies, obligations, crimes, heirlooms, secrets - and what makes each one useful at the table The difference between a sharp knife, a dull knife, and something that was never a knife to begin with Why 12 knives is too many and what happens when a player's backstory starts stabbing the rest of the party The double-bladed knife: what happens when you tie two backstory hooks together into one scene Chuckie walks through his character Finn Mueller's knives live - ex-thief, ex-soldier, one abusive uncle, a phobia of angry dogs, and a pocket watch he won't put down The debate: should you share your secrets with the whole party or keep them for the GM only? James and Chuckie don't agree. Send the knife list out before Session Zero - and what that looks like in practice Stay tuned to the end to hear about some upcoming guests ...we're so proud of what we've got coming to close out August (it's not a knife!)  We've also launched our Twitch channel for August's Monster Hunters Club Actual Play and our member-only quarterly AP  - this time featuring our friend James Gordon Ross to close out Petey & Westmoreland's first ever time out of Vault 104! https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast Discord access & Actual Plays on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodgms.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/goodgmspodcast

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  Episode #12

  12 - Deathclaw Becomes Her

  Jul 17, 20261h 13m

  The Fallout 2D20 actual play continues. James Gordon Ross is back as Overseer James, James is running Westmoreland the Mr. Handy, Chuckie Tee is Petey Redwing fresh out of Vault 101, and this time they've got backup — E.E. Morris of Radio Salad Studios joins as Shiloh, caravan guard, nine strength, spiked baseball bat, newly un-broken arm. Last time: bombs through windows, a stolen canteen, a ghoul bartender who was not impressed. This time: the Moriarty gang shows up to collect, led by Bobby Scratches — a 1,200-pound talking #Deathclaw in a tailored silk jacket and fedora who used to work for the Enclave and now runs loans. What Happens: Initiative in 2D20 — why Overseers need to think carefully or players feel robbed before they act Shiloh's Molotov catches a goon on fire, who shoots his own friend in the head while trying to stop drop and roll Kitchen Kit fires an Iron Man hand laser powered by his own battery — loses three hit points, vaporizes a goon's arm into red dust Westmoreland throws moonshine Molotovs with Demolition Expert and Pyromaniac perks, four successes, kills two goons and ruins Bobby Scratches' silk jacket How physical weapon AP spending works — Shiloh unloads nine strength, Heavy Handed, and three AP of bonus vicious damage on Bobby's burnt arm Bobby Scratches! This show is also available in video form! See our Patreon or check YouTube or Spotify!  Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/GoodGMsPodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GoodGMsPodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584454320344 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgmspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@good.gms.podcast

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