RPG

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master has already been mentioned a ton. It's amazing to give you a framework for session prep to build upon.

So let me add The Monsters Know what they are Doing. It's about giving enemies more tactics which are tailored to their stats and abilities. The book contains dnd 5e monsters but once you read it, you can apply the idea to any enemy on any game. I noticed I look at stat blocks differently after reading this book.

Lastly Blades in the Dark. Imo every GM should at some point run a short, several session adventure of this system. It's improv heavy and gives a lot of narrative control to the players. It changed my view on how to run several types of scenarios. And my ideas of what and how to prep. It's amazing how much I can leave to my players now in other systems too. Plus it's super fun.

The Conan books by Robert E. Howard; I know they're not RPG books but hear me out.

Robert Howard can fit a huge Conan adventure into the smallest space possible. Opening one story is like looking in the Tardis - Conan will seduce a queen, she'll get kidnapped, he'll ride vast distances, fight barbarians, then fight wizards, save her, then fight more barbarians and it's all in under 300 pages. The man was a genius when it comes to pacing which is a hefty problem for me and a lot if DMs I know.

Also Dungeoncraft on youtube.

The two I would recommend are both centered around GM prep:

• The Lazy Dungeon Master by Mike Shea (@[email protected] , @[email protected] )
• Never Unprepared by Phil Vecchione (@[email protected])

I don't think either of these are perfect, but they both offer really good, actionable advice. The philosophies/systems described in these two don't naturally mesh, and I think that's a plus. Every GM needs to figure out for themselves how to prepare to run a game, because the things each GM needs are unique. I think having two books outline pretty drastically different approaches can help you triangulate your own needs and methods

The GM section at the end of Electric Bastionland is, for my money, the single best collection of GMing advice you can get a hold of.

Most of it (maybe all?) is also free on Chris McDowell's blog but having it curated and in print is great.

Not a book but the Alexandrian website is the stuff that inspired the Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master book (compared to the original Lazy Dungeon Master book) and it is for free online.

Play Unsafe is one of the best books on rpg advice for both GMs and players in my opinion. A short read but it's a great guide.

Anthropology books taught me that humanity is more fantastic than all the fantasy races.

• The Mbuti sang and danced as they walked, to scare away snakes. They had no words for 'good', and 'bad', so Christian missionaries couldn't translate their teachings.
• The Azande believed in a predictable universe, and ascribed all misfortune (including death), to magical bad intentions (translated as 'witchcraft', but I'm not sure that's a great translation)
• The Piraha language needed you to say how you learnt something inside the verb, so rumours are grammatically impossible. Their language had four modes, including 'whistling'.

I'm putting everything in the past tense as my info is about 50 years out of date.

@Apex I must say I'm pretty impressed with #MothershipRPG's Warden's Operation Manual. Much of it isn't specific to Mothership and it contains solid and specific advice for most things I'd consider important for a #GM. #ttrpg

The Lazy DM series is a game changer, Return of The Lazy Dungeon Master in particular will revolutionise your dming.