I think choosing to constantly improve your RPG skills is simply a function of RPGs being something that I REALLY enjoy. Why wouldn’t I want to improve my game? I want to have the best gaming experience possible, both for my own enjoyment and that of my players. If they’re having fun, that only enhances my own fun.

What skills to work and what areas to prioritize? Fortunately, I can pick up game mechanics quickly and remember how to apply them. That can be done from reading the rules, and usually from reading forums or G+ conversations, as well as from YouTube videos.

What I need to practice and develop is description and presentation of the fiction, and weaving that into the mechanics so that they flow smoothly into and out of each other, without jarring stops. Time management, pacing, distributing the spotlight. Improvising on the spot, quickly and smoothly, without messing up pacing. Reading the players, making sure everyone is having fun.

Those are my priorities, I think. Weaving fiction and mechanics, while maintaining a good pace and distributing the spotlight to maximize everyone’s fun.

I TRY to reflect on my games and figure out what worked and what didn’t, but I find outside feedback really important, which is why I try to elicit feedback from my players, and which leads me to write AP reports, describing my methods and my thinking, hoping for feedback, criticism, pointers, suggestions and such.