The Director's Role

The Director has a number of key jobs in this game, which we'll go over in this chapter:

• Before a campaign starts, the Director pitches the idea of their campaign to the players.
• Before each game, the Director prepares the adventure by building scenes that include encounters, negotiations, and downtime activities.
• During the game, the Director presents the scenes they've prepared to the players.
• During the game, the Director is responsible for how the NPCs and the environment react to the actions of the heroes. This includes changing and skipping prepared scenes and running new scenes on the fly.
• During the game, the Director acts as a referee, adjudicating the rules. If something isn't covered by the rules, the Director decides how to determine what happens next in the game.
• After the game, the Director makes or reviews notes covering what happened during the game, then starts planning for the next game session.

First Time Running a Game

If this is your first time ever running a Draw Steel game, good for you! Directing a game is a super rewarding experience that allows you to lead your friends in group storytelling. It's also a lot of work, but that work is fun for folks who enjoy creative activities. You're running a game for your friends. They want to have fun, but they also want to see you succeed. Remember that this is a collaborative experience—it's not all on you.

This chapter covers the basics of running a Draw Steel game. While you're learning to run the game, or if you're playing with new players, don't be afraid to start small and easy. A low-level adventure pitting the heroes against bandits will not only be exciting and fun, it'll give you the experience you need to eventually play a world-crossing, branching-scenario, multilevel campaign in the future.

Of course, if the other players in your gaming group all like to jump right into the deep end and learn as they go, then have at it! Either way, at the end of each session, take a few minutes for everyone to talk about the highlights of your game, and the things you and they would like to see more of in the next session. It won't take long, and it'll quickly help you to improve your campaigns.