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within, certain parameters to which you are stuck. However, consider this, there are many different races in the overall Human race, tribes, enclaves, and clans, and each of these thousands have their own ways of doing things, their own rituals, their own idiosyncrasies. Therefore, when you go to play a character of a different, consider that yours is from a tribe, clan, or enclave that does not act or think like others of their same race. This leaves it in your hands, again, as the player, to determine how your character acts and thinks within the game world.

THE ROLE OF THE GAME MASTER (GM)
If you, as a player, have been playing in a game for several years -somewhere between a half-dozen and a decade- and you have, inevitably, picked up copies of the main rule book, a player's compendium, monster manual, and/or a few adventures, and you have read them with great interest, you may be prepared to move into the realm of being a GM (Game Master). However, before you get into running the game instead of playing it, you may want to read the rest of this.

During your time as a player, you've only had to imagine for one character, your own, perhaps two, and you've been able to focus solely on your character's class and race, and only on the party of friends you've been playing with all this time. Well, having a great imagination is wonderful, and it will certainly help you on your way to being a Game Master; however, there is much more to it than simply having an imagination. A good head for numbers and "book-keeping" is one thing, and a knowledge of the game world and the nuances of the world and the rules, the "laws" if you will. However, you also have to consider all of the races, classes, spells, psionic abilities and super powers, and the type of technology and technological march of the world, etc., ad nauseum. Finally, you have to be willing to sacrifice personal time away from the game, away from your family and other friends, away from some of the other things you like to do in your off-time, in order to have materials prepared for the gaming night.

Please, don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that you shouldn't try to be a GM; on the contrary, it can be one of the most rewarding things you can do in your leisure time.

When I speak about "book-keeping" and number crunching, I am talking about keeping track of the numbers, skills, and abilities on your friend's character sheets without making them feel like they're doing something wrong. You are friends, after

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