There are so many ways to thank your GM.

GMing requires a ton of time. A player will come and have an awesome session for a few hours. However, a GM spends a lot of time before the session even begins.

Even if you are using a published adventure, there are quite a few things to prepare. You have to read it so you understand what’s going to happen, prepare monsters and NPCs, refresh some uncommon rules that may come up. When you are using a homebrew world, you have even more things to do.

Today’s question asks us how players can thank their GM. There are a lot of things you can do so I’m going to mention some of them.

Be on time

Time is money. Many groups have a very limited amount of time to play. When someone is running late, it possibly puts pressure to the GM because they may be thinking they won’t have enough time for the session. Also, not being on time many times in a row, and with no real excuse, is just rude and shows your lack of respect for  your fellow players and GM. Be on time.

Don’t forget your “homework”

Homework can mean anything from leveling up your character to writing a session report. If you don’t know how to level up your character, you can talk to one of your fellow players or even your GM. This way you’re showing you are interested in the game. You don’t have to wait until the next session because it’s just going to reduce the game time.

Don’t forget to bring your stuff

If the GM can remember to bring, books, notes, maps, miniatures, playmats, extra dice, extra pencils, and whatever else they need to bring, then I’m sure you can bring what you need as well. You can make a list so you don’t forget what you need to bring. A quick list is:

• Character sheet
• Dice
• Pencil/Pen
• A notebook for extra notes(or whatever you use)
• The rulebook (if you have one)
• Your character’s miniature (if you’re using one)

Help in organizing

The GM doesn’t have to be responsible for everything. You can do a lot of small things that can greatly help the GM. You can host the game, if possible, for example. Other things are offering to inform the rest of the players about when and where is the next session. You can also bring snacks. Or even better, you can have each player bring some kind of snack to the table.

Run a game

Some GMs may not play as much as they want. If you are capable of running a game(no matter how simple the session may be), you should let your GM take a break and be a player once in a while. I love GMing and I prefer it over being a player, but sometimes I feel the need to play in a session instead of running one.

Say thank you

This is actually the simplest thing you can do, but most don’t even think about it. Saying that you enjoyed the session means a lot to a GM. It tells them all their effort wasn’t in vain. Even if you didn’t enjoy the session, you could offer feedback and tell the GM what you liked and what you didn’t. That’s equally important because they will be able to adapt to your likings.

Bonus

That’s suggestion, in case you and the rest of the players are willing to spend money in order to thank your GM. The GM is probably the one who spends the most for this hobby. There is a ton of things they may buy, from the books and dice, to miniatures, terrain,  and game mats. You don’t have to do this regularly, but if you bought a book for your GM that could mean the world to them. It doesn’t have to be a book. Just find out what they could use for their sessions and communicate with the rest of the players in order to buy it for them.

And that’s my answer to today’s question. My question for you, however, is what was the last thing you did to thank your GM?

Tomorrow’s question is “Which RPG provides the most useful resources?”.

So until then, have fun!