Yet more advice on How to Referee

Ideas Borrowed

If we have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit we have an idea of how an adventure to defeat a dragon and take its treasure may begin, progress and even end. In the novel we are introduced to the concept of an adventuring party or "company" is comprised of individual characters possessing unique skills including warriors, a wizard and a burglar. We have some idea of how to describe a journey across the wilder lands, encounters with monsters and with helpful folk met along the way, and with the big "showdown" at the finale. In effect, we have the pattern for developing our own adventure story through game play.

Many a game of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game has followed this model.

If we have read Fritz Leiber's Ill Met in Lankhmar we have before us the blueprint for an urban adventure. The novella Ill Met in Lankhmar features two companions , a fighting barbarian and thieving ex-wizard apprentice who dabble with romance, crime and intrigue with a thieves' guild, murder and arson, carousing, and other flavorful aspects to be found in a fantasy urban setting. Again, reading about Lankhmar prepares us to think through our own tabletop adventures in an urban fantasy setting.

The best referee advice I have come across to date is to run as many games as one can and play in as many games run by another as possible. 

Next to that, the next best referee advice I can think of is to read lots, and always with the thought in mind - Can I use this in my game?