Little Known Secret

     To make a more solid reality.  To have the players really 'feel' the ground under their character's feet.  To even let the GM have more fun 'being' in the world he has created.  He only need examine each character sheet at the start of the game.  Make a note of one minor item and it's weight, and keep trak of the item in his mind for the course of the session.

     The worst thing a GM can do is slide in and out of weeks, days, and hours in too fluid a way.  So that players still think they are getting on their horses.  But the GM has them outside of town already setting off down the road.  Like time has slipped away beyond the players control.  At least, this is how it feels to players.

     Say the GM chooses an item they didn't know was even on the characer sheet before they examined it.  A bag of salt.  Now he notices this because it isn't on any of the equipment tables, the is no published cost for such an item, and the player hasn't even written an encumberance down for the bag.  So the GM chooses that odd item.  And asks the player "how heavy is the bag of salt."  Total encubmerance adjustements are then done.

     A bag of salt may elicit fear or desire out of the player's own follower.  Depending on if that follwer is an Octopi or not.  The salt can atract theives.  It can be ruined.  Say by being disolved if the character enters water.  But primarily just by the simple act of focusing on that one item the GM can keep track of his world in a more solid way.  

     To make the Fantasy world really consistent the GM also has to be represented within that world.  He can't just sit there and say "what do you do now, what do you do now."  Players don't like this.  To avoid it many GM's create a 'Pet NPC'.  One who always speaks to the GM's own opinion on things.  But in this sence the GM's presence doesn't have to be a full blown talking character.  Instead the bag of salt can be given a promotion in importance to the story.  Say it is a common ingredient for a potion.

      a common ingredient itself can become a character in the game.  The GM doesn't have to ask anything.  He just keeps track of the component.  The GM can remind the character that "The Alchemist is expecting that salt".  By ratcheting up the urgency this component can be inflated to a point where it is on the top of everyone's mind.  And this is what makes magic items, 'feel' magical.  Not that they do a lot of damage, but that everyone is aware that the player has it.  Particularly the GM.  And in the case of Magic Items it is even better when the item has a will all it's own.

     A GM must give the players unlimited free will.  This is part of the thrill of role playing.  The power to re-enact any scene the way you think it should have gone.  But with an enchanted item a GM may put his embelishments on any moments of the game.  Be it a weapon, or a simple ring of detection; the GM can give the magic item more life by holding the awareness of it in his mind.

     Any magic item was possibly made with potions.  The potions may have required components.  The components may have spent time being brought in as the parts for one enchantment.  Then as the GM pays attention to the components, there is a collection and concentration of awareness gathering around the magic item itself.  Even before it is created.  This makes for a memorable moment of creation.  When the leadd wizard comes up on the last week.  When it comes down to the last roll.  Will this item be launched into the story this week, or the next?  And if next week, will another round of potions be needed?

     In this way even the components for a potion can be played.  A human brain, a bag of giant hair, a snakes backbone, all of these can represent the GM's influence in the game.  Of course the GM could just as well concentrate on the wizard's own Staff, and every move made with it.  Or on another players boots, just the boots, and the experience they have.  It can be anything, but it works best if it is one item a session.

     A GM does not have to have any NPC's present to have a strong interaction with the player.  They can do this through a magic item.  They can do it through a potion.  They can even do it through a character's clothing.  In the case of clothing it could be about the poorest dressed person this session, or maybe the best.  As long as it is a transferable item that has encumberance.

     One responsibility of a GM is to be present in the game.  The difference between a Sci-fi game and a Fantasy campaign is how the GM represents themselves in the game.  In a Sci-fi game the GM plays NPC's and physics, but in a Fantasy game they play NPC's and the Magic Items.

     David Michael Grouchy II