Introduction

Welcome to the Villian's Guide to Evil... er, I mean, the Academy's Gamemaster (GM) course. This course is brought you by the letter 'E' for Evil by the STF's Department of Evil and Mischief (muhahaha)... I mean, STF's Gamemaster Department (GMD). This course will help you understand what it takes to be a Gamemaster and guide your story idea into a sim. It will provide insight to the world of Gamemastering, as well as new beginner's tips that will help you succeed during your Gamemaster Training. If you already a Gamemaster, this course may provide new tips, insight or simply a refresher to what you already know.

In order for one to become part of the Dark Side, er, Gamemaster in STF, one must be an STF member for a minimum of six (6) months, hold a minimum rank of Full Lieutenant (somewhere in the club), pass this exam, and go through the Gamemaster Trainee (GMT) program. This is specified by the Omnibus GMD Revisions Edict (ORGE), which establishes the GMD and guidelines for GMs. It can be found here: http://www.star-fleet.com/library/bookshelf/charters/charter-gmd.html Don't worry, we'll include a summary and overview for ORGE if you don't want to read through the fine details of red tape. Every GM must go through the GMT program, before being certified as GM. Sorry, we might be the department of evil, but bribery skip your GMT training is against our departmental bylaws. Plus, it ensures that players like you, have excellent Gamemasters to play on our fine ships.

Passing this exam is the first step of becoming a GM. Good luck on surviving this exam... muahahahaha.

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I'm having difficulty deciding the breakdown of the remaining sections. I'll post more later. But I'm keeping in mind what I said before:

: : : So after reviewing this document, I've been thinking...
: : : 1) What is a GM
: : : 2) Rules that GMs need to follow (summary and direct links to the extensive material policies)
: : : 3) Common problems that GMs face
: : : 4) How to plan your sim
: : : 5) Ideas for your sim
: : : 6) Examples from GMs / experiences from GMs

As well as comments here:
http://www.star-fleet.com/webb/node/231456

And Russ' important comments here:
http://www.star-fleet.com/webb/node/229452

- Jason Y. Lee