1. Be consistent. If your players cannot figure out what to expect, they cannot plan.
2. Never say no. Being told "You can't do that." is death to creativity. Rather, tell them it will be very difficult (and why), and assign a very high difficulty rating. If the players find an ingenious way to overcome it, let them, even if it breaks your plot.
3. Use your players' creativity. Given guidance, the pllayers can add not only their own character history, but that of families, towns, countries or entire races. Doing this interactively will let you fit it into your worls and your plans and will give you extra material to draw upon.
4. Play on the side of your players. It is not the job of the gamemaster to kill the players, anyone can do that. Your job is to ...
5. Be prepared to improvise. If the players go off on a tangent, let them. If your plot is not enough to hold them on track, you need a sturdier plot. Never force them into the plot without adequate motivation.
6. Avoid blatantly illogical situations. How can this giant dragon live in an enclosed dungeon room? What does it eat? Applying a little thought to how things could work helps avoid uncomfortable questions and lets the players apply their creativity.
7. Know the rules. This should be obvious. Having to look up rules breaks the game flow, and making up rules instead of looking them up causes inconsistencies. So know the basics well enough that you only have to look up rues in particularly complex cases.
8. Break the rules. You can't do this without knowing the rules, but always remember that the rules are guidelines -- this is what makes role-playing different from computer games: The gamemaster can break the rules when needed. No ruleset can cover all situations well (see Gödel!), and a good gamemaster will overrule rules that don't make sense. However, remember that a change in general rules must be done consistently.
9. Avoid Deus Ex Machina. The players don't want to be the audience to the gamemaster showing off, they want to be important. Low-level players can't defeat powerful enemies, so don't set them up to a situation where they have to be bailed out by high-level NPCs. Rather, let them do an easier but important part like scouting or messaging.
10. Make sturdy plots. Players can disrupt a plot in many ways, typically by coming up with a sneaky shortcut or by missing important clues. Think of some obvious alternative approaches the players could take and what should happen.
11. Have fun. Probably the most important commandment. This is, after all, what it's all about. It is up to you and your players whether fun is slap-stick comedy, mysterious investigation, intricate political plots, theatrical role-playing or monster-bashing. As a game master, you gave the toughest job, but the rewards of seeing your players blanching in terror, solving a puzzle, or breaking down laughing are worth it.

-- LarsClausen - 19 Dec 2004
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