Introduction
The Hustler is a GM Archetype recognized by Extraversion, Sense, Thinking, and Perceiving traits. You are full of energy, which channels through the action-oriented approach. Things need to get done, someone has to do it, and you are excited to be the one to make it happen. Few things excite you more than digging through a new opportunity, and you use the table as a space to amplify that energy.
you're a cyclone of energy flowing with entertainment and engagement
You are a cyclone of energy flowing with entertainment and engagement, leaving people enthralled and in anticipation of more. Behind the GM screen, you understand that you are standing on a stage and are reaching out for others to join you at the front of the theater. It is a dopamine rush to engage in conversations that level your energy. But, while you are good at speaking on more significant issues, you know that your listeners need a break from the heavy stuff once in a while.
Game Mastering Styles
There is a nearly endless buffet of creative expressions to explore. Life is full of excitement and surprises, which is the part of the game youconnect to. Games with a rigid structure and an air of predictability become very stale quickly. You are exceptional when you use them, but a game that carries randomness within the activities is where the thrill lives.
games with rigid structure and an air of predictability become stale very quickly
Systems that use multiple dice, cards, tools, resources, or other alternatives are incredibly enticing. However, it’s time to change things if you see a system or routine becoming stale or no longer meeting your needs. Even then, you will look to other options to see how you can use their flexible structure and see how you can fit it into your table.
Your challenge is to let go of the past and adapt to change when your interests or passions shift. Hearing ideas that inspire you means you are likely to craft your adjustments to systems before publishers launch their versions. Some see it as a form of impatience, but you would rather see something done and use it than wait for someone else to complete it one day.
Storytelling Style
Idle hands rarely start the fire. Maintaining momentum is the best way to carry a story. Such an ideal does not mean you pass up moments due to their softer or slower pacing. Instead, you believe that each should be made the most of and make even the basic of actions enticing, turning a shopping adventure into an exciting exploration.
rarely does a facial expression or change in body language go unrecognized
Your energy, combined with your ability to keep it in a positive form, ensures that you are never bored, even if you face some daunting tasks.
The small details matter the most, and rarely does a facial expression or change in body language go unrecognized. You are willing to push the story in a specific direction, and when someone reacts unexpectedly, the story slows down to explore that deviation with care and momentum.
It can be jarring to thrust suddenly into the spotlight, which you carry with you, and shine it upon yourself and whoever is directly involved. So you tell stories that capture the people and their lives, even when their drama is intense. Political elements, world-ending enemies, a singularity approaching—these plot points may be exciting but take a back seat to the character who wants to explore their backstory with an artifact from another world.
Table Management
Rules are made to be broken.
You are unlikely to stick to the rules as written, so you are aware others would do the same. Playfulness and fun are part of your regulation recipe, along with flexibility and understanding. Despite the confidence in your approach, you genuinely enjoy hearing other opinions since they may drive you towards something better.
At this point, there is no need to be strict on rules because you have determined that it is best to give players the freedom to explore their ideas beforehand. You are open to new ideas, encourage customized content, and take variable twists on existing rules.
everyone is a player at the table
You want everyone at the table to have fun, and if someone wants to go against the rules, by all means. However, you will never tolerate exploration that could harm the table’s enjoyment. You don’t allow negative behaviors to bring negative energy to your table.
This level of flexibility works because you don’t see a line between the GM and the players. Your only sense of authority over anyone is what they give you. Otherwise, everyone is a player at the table. Regarding a disagreement, you prefer conversation and accommodate it as needed. It’s a balancing act of generosity to allow such freedom while ensuring that a diversion doesn’t ruin the experience.
Session Resources
It would be best if you had a campaign planner. While you can improvise in most situations, it is always good to have an outline of actions. In addition, you have a collection of information on your player characters, including their hopes and wishes, fears and vices, strengths and weaknesses, and overall disposition. These are necessary to ensure you hit vital points along the experience, tracking your progress as a GM.
The rest of the session materials help you, but they are optional. You understand that people prefer specific tools to enhance and help with the game, from maps to music.
You Draw on Your Creativity When You GM
Deciding which tools to use for a tabletop roleplaying game can be difficult. You might have different ideas about the session or something that could move the story differently. You prefer to avoid forcing people to follow a path, so it feels like you’re doing so anyway when you use specific resources.
You draw on your creativity when you GM. So now’s the time to show everyone what you’re made of. You’ve got the perfect map, plenty of art for reference, and a primed playlist at the ready—now all that’s left is to play.
The Game Master's Toolbox
- World Anvil: A worldbuilding program that helps you create, organize and store your setting with detailed wiki-like organization and interactive maps to store your notes.
- DnD Beyond: An excellent place for digital character creation and creating a campaign group for easy roll shares and sheet management.
- Notion (TTRPG University Notion Templates)
- Evernote
- DnD Beyond’s Encounter Builder: I’ve heard it’s helpful. You can build an encounter and determine its difficulty level based on math.
Role Generator: You can randomly generate everything from cities, to magic items, to herbs, to NPCs. https://www.rolegenerator.com/
- Inkarnate: For fantasy world and city maps. Yearly subscription.
- Wonderdraft: For fantasy world and city maps. One-time purchase.
- Dungeon Scrawl: For creating flat and isometric dungeon maps. Completely free.
- Dungeondraft: Building and Dungeon crawl maps, full color.
- Azgaar Github Fantasy Map Generator
- Dungeon Fog: Free map-making tool
- Dungeon Map Doodler
- Spotify: There are so many D&D playlists to choose from, or, pick your favorite video game tracks to play.
- Syrinscape: With Syrinscape, you can control the master playlist and players can decide their preferred volume from their end.
- YouTube Premium: Put on a 3-hour ambiance video without commercial interruptions.
- Google Forms
- TTRPG University Google Forms to Copy
- DMs Guild: A place to find supplemental guides and campaigns to enhance your official D&D content.
- Drive Thru RPG: The all-TTRPG sister of DMs Guild.
- The Monsters Know: A book series about monster tactics and strategies to help enhance gameplay.
- Point Buy Calculator: Doing a character sheet from scratch? This will help so much with the number crunching. https://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-point-buy.html
- DnD Beyond: The best place to build a digital character sheet. Fully connected to all the official D&D content. Makes leveling up take about 30 seconds.
- Wild Shape Tracker: Super helpful for druids. https://arcaneeye.com/apps/wildshape-tracker/
- Character Backstory Template: https://arcaneeye.com/dm-tools-5e/dnd-character-backstory-template/
- Xanathar’s Guide to Everything: I use this particular book ALL the time to help build my character backstories. There are roll tables in the “This is Your Life” chapter.
- Google Dice Roller: Super simple. Go to Google, type “dice roller,” and you have a dice roller.
- Roll Dice With Friends: You can give your temporary room a custom name, share the link with your friends, and all roll together!
- Owlbear Rodeo (straightforward and intuitive)
- Canva (DIY, simplified VTT)
- Roll20 (complicated learning curve)
- Foundry VTT
- Norse Foundry
- Shard
- Tablespire
- Tabletop Simulator
- Fantasy Grounds
