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a good thing. As a GM of nearly eighteen years, I know it's nice to step back from the GMs screen and the mechanics of the game for a bit and just play.

Unfortunately there are many groups, who've either not role-played together very long, or who have been together a while and still no one stands up to volunteer to take the reins for a while, that are all too common, and usually break up from boredom and infighting. This happens because the GM is still one person, still has a limit to their imagination and the ideas that spawn from it, and pretty soon it's the same thing this week as it was last week, and players suddenly start having other things to do on the weekends. This has happened with my core group, and with other groups I've participated in.

So, how do you choose a subject, a genre, of game your entire group will be able to enjoy, even if some only would enjoy it marginally?

First off, as a GamesMaster, you will already have a small collection, at least, of books and supplements for one or more games to choose from. Type up an introduction sheet for the games you have, making a paragraph and a few statistics available for your players

1) What genre does it fall into? (fantasy, science fantasy, horror, science fiction, cyberpunk, etc.)

2) On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the easiest, how difficult is the game system? (For example, Role-Master would be a 10 because of the level of complexity of the system in general, but the combat system in particular, while D6 Star Wars would be around a 1 because it's extremely easy to learn and highly enjoyable to play)

3) What is your familiarity with the genre contained in the game? Are you a serious Star Trek fan attempting to run Star Trek for your group, for instance? Do you love the covert operations genre enough, having read novels and game books and supplements, and seen enough movies, to call yourself an aficionado when it comes to running Millennium's End?

4) What is your BASIC plan -don't tell your players more than what is necessary to intrigue them into playing- for an opening adventure or a long campaign? It's best to start off with the premise behind an adventure, even if you have a campaign planned.

The sorts of information listed above, for EACH game type you have available to you, as the GM, might turn out to be essential to making your group happy and interested in playing what you've offered. However, you have to keep in mind your likes and dislikes as well; it is best to list the games in most to least

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