Phystus

Or, The Tom Sawyer Principle

It takes a lot of work to run an RPG campaign. And all of it falls on the shoulders of the GM. There’s nobody else the GM could even call on for help – or is there? Let’s look at a little concept I call The Tom Sawyer Principle.

Did you ever read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain? Early in the book, Tom skips school. As punishment, his Aunt Polly makes him paint a huge fence on Saturday, which is everyone else’s day off. Tom ...