List Compiling: Useful Books and Articles On GMing And Gaming Theory

[bibliophile20]

Putting together some of the better books and articles on GMing and gaming theory.  How to run a game.  How not to run a game.  Gaming styles.  Etc. 

Collated so far:

• 2nd Ed. AD&D, The Complete Guide To Villains; a good primer on how to construct complex or simple villains, villainous organizations, how villains might react, how villains are motivated, and how to get the PCs involved.
• Gamma World Game Master's Guide, d20 Ed.  One of the best descriptions of different styles of play and GM styles I've yet come across.
• Gamegrene: The Role of the GM: Director, Writer, and Producer; a little blog on what it means to be a GM, and the roles within that designation
• Group Narration: Power, Information, and Play in Role Playing Games; an article on pure gaming theory; good, humorous at times, but somewhat... intense.
• SAVING THROW FOR HALF COOTIES:Gaming and the Femininely Advantaged; an article on how to and how not to include the ladyfolk in RPGs; sadly no longer hosted on the net, but I managed to find a copy on the Wayback Machine, which I've linked to.

And that's what I've got, at least that's worth including.  Does anyone have anything else to share?

[luminos]

Theres a ton of good stuff on the forge, but the problem is that so much of it is opaque, and you need to spend a shit ton of time studying it and sifting through long buried archives to actually understand it.

Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering is a must read.  I don't think its available for free on the internet, but its worth paying for.

Play Unsafe by Graham Walmsley is a book about bringing improv techniques into roleplaying.  Lots of great advice whether you are a GM or a player.

There's probably a dozen blogs with excellent advice, but I'll have to hunt down the vital posts.

[sinker]

• SAVING THROW FOR HALF COOTIES:Gaming and the Femininely Advantaged; an article on how to and how not to include the ladyfolk in RPGs; sadly no longer hosted on the net, but I managed to find a copy on the Wayback Machine, which I've linked to.

This one seemed pretty good, though I find it funny that while railing against female stereotypes they are actively using male stereotypes. It's particularly funny to me because I'm more interested in the story and role-playing and interactions with other characters and players, and my fiancée would rather go stab some goblins in the face. If it's not clear I'm a guy and she is not.

[Mal_Luck]

Most of my gaming groups know that I'm a certifiable TVTropes addict, they have many a trope that may be useful to a prospective player or GM. I'd start with the Tabletop Gaming and Role Playing tropes.

I find TVTropes' laid back, snark filled approach works for me when I'm looking for inspiration or examples of things to do or not to do.

[luminos]

A blog post by Vincent Baker (author of Dogs in the Vineyard and several other games) titled "Creating Theme": http://www.lumpley.com/creatingtheme.html

Very useful if you intend to focus your play on shared story creation.

[Lanodantheon]

My personal Favorite GMing aid is Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads! by Mike Pondsmith and the CP2020 crew at R.Talsorian Games.

Among the topics found in it include how to deal with problem players, planning out campaigns, knowing your genre and generally how to run a good campaign.