How to be a good GM?

To properly worldbuild your setting you need to answer "Why?" Up to 3 times in a row about most things. Example:
The republic of aldia dislikes halflings
>>Why?
Because bitter blood fewds between human and halflings nobles have caused trouble
>>Why?
Because halflings tax non-halflings races unfairly, which has caused discrimination between the two races to increase.
>>Why?
Because halflings have hands in many manufactured goods companies, making prices arbitrarily higher for the working man.

>>51692060
Read, read, read.

http://thealexandrian.net/gamemastery-101

>>51692115
That's actually great advice.

>>51692115
>"Why?" Up to 3 times
>Not 5 Whys
Do you even RCA?

>>51692115
This is really great advice thank you! I never thought of world building that way.
>>51692135
I'll give that a read right now! If there was a /tg/ approved guide on how to GM sorry I didn't read that first.

>>51692174
The Alexandrian is good, it seems to strike a balance between mechanics and roleplaying, and explores how they aren't mutually exclusive. But just be aware that some of the advice is for advanced GMs.

http://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/35180/roleplaying-games/the-art-of-the-key

That is a really good article for consolidating information

Judging by your post and my experiences, a good campaign involves a DM who doesn't get bored. That's the main thing you have to focus on, a game that'll appeal to you and your players long enough, and a campaign that's short enough to not drag on.

After DMing for a bit, I regret not running a premade adventure sooner. Pick one of the shorter, higher rated ones, read ahead, and try to customize it a bit to make it your own. It'll give you a good idea of how this stuff works.

Run a session 0 beforehand to explain the setting/campaign to your players, and get them to make a cohesive party.

If you can, get each player involved in the world in some way. You don't have to push it if they have really basic, boring backstories and RP capabilities. Just get at least half the party involved beforehand, and then focus on involving the other players during the session.

Most importantly, don't burn yourself out. That's another thing a premade is good for. You can sprinkle in things your players will like without worrying where the main story is going or how to balance encounters. You can spend your time giving them things to do in between sessions. Even just a couple text messages between sessions will make the game feel more alive and keep them thinking about it throughout the week.

>>51692060
Even though I'm not a huge fan of the Dungeon World ruleset, I do think their GM advice is rather solid. as is their concept of campaign fronts.

http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/gamemastering/first-session/

http://www.dungeonworldsrd.com/gamemastering/fronts/

>>51692336
Thanks for the advice! I guess I should preface that I've ran a session once before, Hangmans noose I think it was called. I agree that premade's for sure help! do you have any premades you'd suggest?
>>51692385
Thanks for the resource! Does tg do any gm generals?

>>51692413
Not really. I'd honestly recommend reddit over /tg/ for that sort of thing.