Like most tabletop roleplaying aficionados, my formative experiences in the hobby were with Dungeons & Dragons. You build a character, fight things, and gain treasure and experience. Unlike most players, those weren’t my only, or then my most important, moments. Soon after D&D, my friends and I discovered Traveller, the classic science fiction game. You create a character, and then, well, some of my friends were confused. There was no creature book, per se. What were we meant to fight? The D&D mentality informed their impression of what roleplaying could be a bit too strongly. We ended up having fun, but it took us a while to sort out that we were playing ordinary people in a science fiction setting, having adventures more like novels or movies and less like wargames. Not long afterward, we discovered Victory Games’ James Bond 007. It was amazing. We started off playing secret agents but soon started branching out. Because it was a version of the “real world,” characters from our favorite movies and TV shows started showing up. Characters got to meet celebrities. On at least one occasion, we got to save our favorite band from a terrorist attack. Over time we shifted away from action and used the system for mysteries, soap operas, police procedurals, and medical dramas. Neither Traveller nor Bond had a gamemaster guide. The latter had a “Gamesmaster Pack” with a screen, character sheets, and cardboard minis, but nothing with advice on how to run a game. My friends and I struggled with how to structure adventures. We had no idea how to manage a group or make important system decisions. Yes, we were using the systems for off-label purposes, but the skills we lacked weren’t specific to one game. If I’d had a book to show me what to do, I wouldn’t have spent so much time figuring things out on my own. I could have been sharpening other skills rather than sorting out the fundamentals. That’s why I wrote this DoubleZero Gamemaster Guide. I wanted to create the how-to manual I wish I’d had over 40 years ago. Experienced gamemasters might find this basic to which I say: exactly. You’ll still find helpful tips, bits of wisdom, or reminders of why you do things a particular way. New gamemasters, welcome. I wrote this for you. I’m hoping to spare you some of the awkwardness and discomfort I’ve suffered over the decades. The information here should help you with the fundamentals of running the system. - from the publisher's blurb