Introduction to Being a

Gamemaster
The essential difference between roleplaying games and other adventure games is the referee, or game-
master. While other games are designed so that players interact with situations defined by the game rules,
roleplayers interact with situations created by a gamemaster, who uses the rules as a guide for creating excit-
ing stories.
If youʼre just planning on being a player, you donʼt need to read this article. As long as youʼve read the
game basics, combat, and character creation chapters, you know what tasks the different attribute and skills
cover and how to roll the dice and figure out action results. Thatʼs all the players need to know.
But, who sets the difficulty numbers for the players to beat? Who decides what the villainsʼ abilities are,
and how much damage is done when a blow lands or a bullet strikes home? The gamemaster does, and to do
those things, those who want to be gamemasters need to read (or skim) the entire rulebook.
However, a good gamemaster is more than a rules lawyer. Gamemastering requires quick wit, dramatic
flair, a sense of timing, and a level of fairness and impartiality not found in other types of games. Remember,
the gamemaster is not playing against the players — there are no winners as the term is defined in traditional
games. Everyone, players and gamemaster alike, wins if a roleplaying session is fun, exciting, and extends a
sense of accomplishment (or acceptable loss) to all involved. The gamemaster, then, is a combination story-
teller, actor, set designer, and rules arbitrator. The gamemaster sets the pace for the game.
Remember, the gamemaster is also, technically, a player. If you are gamemastering, do not feel your sole
objective is to tell a story and entertain the players. You are supposed to have fun too.
There are plenty of tricks and simple principles that can improve your gamemastering style and experi-
ence, and this article explains a few of them. But the best way to become better, more dramatic, and more
creative as a gamemaster is to gamemaster.

GENERAL ADVICE
Learn the game by playing it, rather than by trying to read all the rules, hints, and source material at once.
Donʼt try to memorize every word and every modifier the first time through. Just get an idea of the basics
— how to pick difficulties, how to handle action within a round — and also get an idea of where the infor-
mation is contained. Later, if someone wants to perform a multi-action or cast a spell, you can go back and
reread that section. Familiarize yourself with the basics, and then give it a try.
Talk the rules over with your players so they can get a basic understanding of the game without reading all
of the material. Having someone explain the rules to you is the easiest way to learn the game.
Extend the rules when necessary. However detailed, no set of roleplaying rules can cover everything. Use
your common sense, make a quick ruling, and get on with the game. Leave yourself room for change on such
quick rulings; “Okay, this is how it works tonight. But I may have a different house rule once Iʼve had some
time to think about it.”
Expect to make an occasional mistake. Admit the mistake to the players and correct it. Do an instant replay
of the scene if necessary. Then get on with the game.
Prepare for the game. Have at least a basic outline of the story, plus game information for a few of the
significant characters and obstacles. If youʼre not sure where to begin, the “Adventure” chapter in this book
offers ideas on how to present characters, situations, and story to the players.
Ham it up. Okay, so maybe you are not the greatest actor or orator in history, but donʼt let that stop you.
Every iota of energy, every ounce of melodrama in you can make the game more entertaining — for you as
well as the players.
Take it slow! You arenʼt going to become an expert gamemaster overnight. While challenging, learning to
be a gamemaster can be a great deal of fun if you donʼt take it too seriously or try to do too much at once. All
 WEST END GAMES • PAGE 2

our rules, comments, and world ideas have been written to provide you with an entertaining way to create
stories with your friends. Use what you like; toss out the rest.

THE ROLE OF THE GAMEMASTER

The gamemasterʼs primary task is to create and present adventure stories for the players to participate in.
The playersʼ characters are the heroes of the stories, blessed with extraordinary abilities and destined (or
cursed) to play a central role in their corner of the world.
The players cannot be heroes without you. You devise the fiendish plots of the villains. You play the roles
of the bad guys, their henchmen and minions, the threatened innocents, and the cast of thousands. Yours are
the huge fortresses filled with evil mist, the mighty war machines of a power-hungry dictator, and the crea-
tures that rule the night. You combine these elements into a story, a story with a goal, obstacles, opposing
characters, interesting encounters, and a satisfying climax.
Gamemastering is more difficult than playing. A player controls his character — one piece of the story. If
he plays his role well, heʼs doing all heʼs supposed to. The player does not even have to know the rules very
well — the gamemaster can be counted on to correct any missteps. The gamemaster is responsible for the
rest of the world.

ISN’T THIS A LOT TO DO?

It seems a lot, but itʼs well worth the effort. Every bit of energy you put into the game will result in a better
session. A session in which the players are enjoying themselves is quite a payoff — when they become ex-
cited by the story, their enthusiasm is infectious. They win, you win, and everybody has a good time. Despite
the appearance of the gamemaster as the one running all the bad guys and doing his best to thwart the heroes,
one of the most enjoyable aspects of roleplaying games is when you and your players really work together
to create an exciting story.
There is another benefit for all the work you do — you are the only one who really knows where the story
is going. Gamemastering can become the most exciting form of authoring a story, with your ideas played out
right in front of you.

GAMEMASTER’S TASKS
The gamemasterʼs job can be broken down into six tasks: refereeing, roleplaying gamemasterʼs characters,
describing the scene, setting the tone, sustaining suspension of disbelief, and working with the players.

REFEREEING
Refereeing means interpreting the rules, making sure that the players abide by them, and resolving disputes
in an impartial and reasonable way. To do this, you of course need to have a good understanding of the rules
(and it is important to know them at least as well as your most knowledgeable player does). When the rules
do not cover a situation, you have to improvise a solution. If a dispute arises, your decision is final.
As the players describe the actions of their characters, you decide whether or not they can do what they
describe, or how difficult the action is. You interpret dice rolls according to the rules and then tell the players
what happens. You also decide what the gamemasterʼs characters are doing, roll the dice for their actions, and
determine the their results as well.
You might find it useful to think of roleplaying games as a language for telling interactive stories. The
roleplaying language has many rules, akin to grammar, which control what sort of things you may and may
not do in the context of the game. If a friend said to you, “Roses quickly very bullfrog alien gazebo,” she has
spoken a sentence that makes no sense. To communicate her idea, she would have to rephrase it according to
the rules of English.
The same holds true for the language of the game. If your friend tries to have a character do something that
makes no sense according to the rules, you have to tell her that the characterʼs action cannot be done. Your
 INTRODUCTION TO BEING A GAMEMASTER • PAGE 3

job is not to guard the “purity” of the rules by adhering to every line of every paragraph but to make sure that
what is being done in the story makes sense in the language of the rules.

A NOTE ABOUT RULES

In the rulebooks, many rules are explained and described. These rules are intended to provide structure
and assistance to gamemasters as they run their individual games. They are not intended as a replacement for
good judgment, intuition, and imagination. If you and your gaming group decide a rule — or a whole section
of rules — do not “work” within your campaign, you are encouraged to play your game without that rule.
Likewise, if your gaming group is in the middle of a fun and exciting adventure when suddenly something
comes up not covered by the rules, it is time for you, the gamemaster, to make a decision — itʼs part of your
job. If the rule in question seems important, you may want to spend a few moments looking up the answer
to your question. If, however, you canʼt find it or you donʼt want to spend the time searching, come up with a
fair solution. Explain to your players what happens and get on with the game — donʼt stop and argue; youʼre
the gamemaster. What you say goes.
Hereʼs an example (in the science fiction genre).

Martin and Darryl are playing mercenaries. They are currently looking for a man named Gunther Treid,
who owes their employer a lot of money.
Martinʼs character, Bestal, and Darrylʼs character, Lt. Jacobsen, have tracked Gunther to an old muni-
tions base. Currently, they are trying to break into the base and capture Gunther before he finds out they are
there.
Jill, the gamemaster, says that the base is surrounded by some sort of force field the two mercs have never
seen before. There seems to be only one way in — through the main gate. There are several trucks and hov-
ercars parked outside, so the two mercs might be able to steal one and get inside.
Bestal, however, has another idea. Since no one is around, he wants to take the fuel cells out of the vehicles
and use his demolitions skill to set them and some explosives off against the force screen. He figures the
shock will overload the force field generators long enough for the two of them to get inside.
At first, Jill doesnʼt like this idea — sheʼd planned for them to sneak in, not blow up the force field. She
doesnʼt know how strong it is (she made it up on the fly), and she isnʼt sure how powerful an exploding fuel
cell would be.
But she tells Bestal to go ahead anyway. She takes a guess at how strong the screen is — giving it a 35
Toughness — and decides that each fuel cell acts as an explosive with a damage value of 5D — thatʼs about
how much a small explosive would do anyway — if Bestal sets it off right.

This is how to handle a strange situation. Jill, the gamemaster, took a guess. Later on, when she reads the
rules over again, she may decide it was the wrong choice — maybe the force screen was too strong or the fuel
cell explosive was too weak — but, for the moment, sheʼs come up with an idea that works. The action keeps
going and, hopefully, everyone continues to have fun. Try to be consistent with your impromptu rulings, but
donʼt feel hesitant to change your decision in the face of overwhelming evidence. Just explain things to the
players — it is quite likely they donʼt want to perpetuate a mistake as well. Remember, you had to make a
decision that wasnʼt covered in the rules. Feel free to blame the omission on game system and keep playing.
You can always email the company and find out if thereʼs an official ruling out there for the situation.

ROLEPLAYING GAMEMASTER’S CHARACTERS

The players are the heroes of the stories you create together. But adventure stories also need dozens of
characters besides the heroes, including villains, allies, and bit players. You are expected to bring these game-
masterʼs characters to life when they appear in the story, giving them unique personalities, perhaps with
individual quirks and beliefs.
 WEST END GAMES • PAGE 4

If a particular gamemasterʼs character is going to be prominent in a story, it is worth lavishing some time
and effort to flesh out his personality. What does he look like? Where does he come from? Does he have any
unusual mannerisms or speech patterns? The more detail you put into characterizing important characters,
the better you will be able to present him believably to your players. Furthermore, if the playersʼ characters
are likely to interact with the character through the game system — that is, they are likely to fight, bargain
with, spy on, ensorcel, or be ensorcelled by him — you had better give some thought to his attributes, skills,
spells, equipment, and so forth.
But some characters are just spear carriers, minor functionaries who help the story along and then disap-
pear. Donʼt bother working up much detail on them — doing so is actually counterproductive. If every char-
acter is described in a wealth of detail, they will all blur together after a while. A single detail often suffices
to distinguish a character who plays a supporting role: a policeman may have a very rotund face, a clerk at
the night desk may have a squeaky voice. Only the very important gamemasterʼs characters need complete
backgrounds, turns of phrase, and game values.

DESCRIBING THE SCENE

You are the senses of your playersʼ characters. You describe what they see, hear, touch, taste and smell. De-
scriptions with sensory depth help suspend disbelief, and make players believe their characters really are in
the scene. Props can help, but props cannot integrate a character into a scene as well as a good description.
Most of the time your descriptions to the players will be from their charactersʼ point of view. Thus, you
should limit the information they receive to what their characters can sense, making certain, though, that you
provide all of the obvious clues along with a few extra details to make the players think.

Example: The playersʼ characters visit Dr. Leyden, an acquaintance in New York. The gamemaster knows
that two of their nemesisʼs henchmen are holding the doctor in an upstairs bedroom, having forced Leyden
to write a hurried note excusing his absence when the thugs spotted the heroesʼ car approaching. The game
goes something like this.

Gamemaster: The door to Dr. Leydenʼs townhouse is locked. You knock, and there is no answer. A sec-
ond, louder knock brings no better response.
Barb: Fortunately he gave Sabrina the key (rotates wrist to mimic opening the door). I open the door.
Paul: Hold on here. What if heʼs just in the kitchen making some warm milk, and we sneak in …
Doug: Who said anything about sneaking? (cups his hands) “Doctor Leyden, itʼs us!”
Paul: …Of course, if it is a trap, we just let everybody know weʼre here.
Barb: Fine time to bring that up. What do I see?
Gamemaster: The foyer is a mess, with lots of dust and papers piled on the end tables. The coat closet is
open, the hat rack is piled with weathered pith helmets. Smells as though dinner tonight was roast beef.
Doug: Iʼm checking the kitchen.
Gamemaster: Dishes are piled in the sink. The kitchen is filled with the smell of cooked beef. Vancen
(Dougʼs character) notices heat from the oven and a note on the kitchen table.
Paul: Quin is going upstairs.
Doug: What does the note say?
Gamemaster: It says, “Dear Fellows. I have been called away on a bit of urgent business. Back by Friday.
All my best, Andy Leyden.”
Barb: Andy? I thought he hated that name. Didnʼt he tell us never to call him “Andy”?
Doug: Iʼm checking out the kitchen. Anything unusual?
Gamemaster (while scribbling a note for Paul): The oven was left on, and the roasting pan inside has not
been cleaned.
Barb: But the pan hasnʼt burned?
 INTRODUCTION TO BEING A GAMEMASTER • PAGE 5

Gamemaster: Nope. (Hands note to Paul, which reads): “A henchman motions for silence while pointing
an automatic pistol at you.”
Doug: Uh-oh. “Quin, you found anything up there?”

The gamemaster in the example gave out very limited information. The players had to act to get the full
story, and they drew their own conclusions. By handing Paul the note, the gamemaster has restricted the
information even further; nonetheless, without telling Doug and Barb what was happening upstairs, he clued
them in to the fact that something was up.
While limited, most of the description provided was pertinent — the smell of dinner led to the kitchen, for
instance. Not wishing to make it too obvious, the gamemaster also threw in a few other details to muddy the
water; the players could have chosen to ignore the smell of dinner, instead deciding to, say, search the closet
or examine the dusty correspondence in the hallway. But basically, the gamemaster limited his description to
information important to the story.

SETTING THE TONE

The gamemaster sets the tone of each play session by the way he describes the scene, the characters, and
the available information. Each genre (fantasy, modern, science fiction) and subgenre (pulp, frontiers, horror,
etc.) has a different feel to it, and a similar encounter taking place in two different subgenres might have two
very different tones. When playing a gamemasterʼs character, remember that they are living examples of the
subgenre in which they exist.

Pulp Fiction Example

Player (in character): Excuse me, do you know where the offices of Michaels Excavations are?
Gamemaster (as gamemasterʼs character, rustling a newspaper): Say, would you take a gander at this!
Soon theyʼll be sending rocket ships to the moon! All the science wizzes need is a mineral some big ape lord
is trying to keep for himself — the silly sap!
Player: Fascinating. But about Michaels Excavations?
Gamemaster: Itʼs two blocks, over on Fimbria Street, past the new restaurant; canʼt miss it. You know,
pal, going to the moon might be easier than getting in there — itʼs tighter than a gamblerʼs smile. See? This
ragʼs got pictures: muscle, burp-guns, half-tracks. Say. Why do you want to get in there, anyway?

Horror Example
Player (in character): Excuse me, but do you know how to get to the governor generalʼs office?
Gamemaster (as gamemasterʼs character, rustling a newspaper): Who knows anything these days?
Look at the nonsense they print in this … this yellow rag! “Shredded Bodies Found After Climbing Mis-
hap: Fall Blamed.” Ten experienced climbers all fell to their deaths? And how did they get “shredded”
— perhaps the bloody mountain goats did it. Preposterous — absolute rubbish! Canʼt anyone see what is
going on around us?
Player: I can see I may not get to the governor generalʼs office.
Gamemaster: Well excuse me all to bloody pieces for wasting your valuable time, your lordships! The
governor general can be found in the ornate mansion beside the cemetery.

You can do the same thing with descriptions of scenery, or the tone of you voice. Think of books and mov-
ies that have the tone you want, and draw on them for inspiration.

SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF
Roleplaying sessions are works of imagination. Playing the game requires you and your players to sus-
pend your disbelief while playing — otherwise itʼs just like a novel or movie where you cannot believe the
 WEST END GAMES • PAGE 6

character can or would do the things he does. Disbelief destroys a story. Keeping disbelief at bay requires the
cooperation of the players, but you are the key.
Be consistent: Be consistent in your interpretation of the rules. If you decide that a skill can be used in a
way not mentioned in the rules, make sure the skill works that way for all characters from then on. Be con-
sistent in your descriptions. If a dining room has mahogany furniture, it should not have oak furniture, or no
furniture, the next time the characters see it, unless there is a good reason. Keep notes to jog your memory.
Another important way to keep your players believing in your story is to make sure that gamemasterʼs
characters act according to their personality, motivations, and the knowledge that they — not you — have. As
gamemaster, you have knowledge of your playersʼ charactersʼ plans and actions that the villains of the story
would not. Your villains should be as clever, or incompetent, as their skills and personality allow — and they
should only have information they could obtain through actions they have taken, not information gained from
your omniscient viewpoint as gamemaster.
For example, if the characters are plotting an escape from prison in a dark corner of their cell, you can hear
the players discuss their plan … but the guards cannot. So donʼt have them act as if they could.

WORKING WITH THE PLAYERS

It is important that the gamemaster work with the players — in this case, choosing the type of game as
well as creating a story. As a gamemaster, you will want to surprise and thrill your players, so you will hide
things from them many times. However, itʼs also a sound idea to respond to your players wishes and discuss
with them certain aspects and changes to the game.

RESPOND TO YOUR PLAYERS’ WISHES

Get feedback about the sort of stories they want to see. Do they like mysteries and puzzles? Lots of fast
action? Confrontations with many repercussions across the realms? Personal gain? When playing, do they
want more or less descriptions? Fewer fights, more character interaction? If players have questions, try to
answer them (as long as you donʼt divulge any critical plot twists). If they are confused by your stories, try to
discover where the confusion lies and clear it up. By responding to the wishes of the players, you can better
cooperate to build an exciting story.
Respond to the playersʼ wishes during the game, as well. Improvise when the playersʼ characters do some-
thing slightly unexpected; “wing it” as best you can. A strictly linear, rigid plotline — where the characters
must go where you tell them, must do exactly what you have planned for them to do — severely inhibits the
playersʼ imagination. But when you wing it, wing it with the rest of the story in mind. You can still offer your
players a lot of freedom while still gently nudging them back to the main story.

Example: The heroes are looking for a lost diamond mine, recently found by the Tankhanic Corporation.
You expect them to find an old map hidden in the false bottom of a chest they have inherited, hire guides,
and march off into the jungle to look for the mine. To that end, you have created a number of jungle-type
encounters and a climactic battle in the mineshaft itself.
However, the players donʼt even look for the map; instead, they decide to infiltrate Tankhanic Corporation
posing as rich entrepreneurs looking to invest their money in its countryʼs growing mining industry.
Thinking quickly, you let them set up a meeting with an unctuous underling and attempt to con him. If suc-
cessful, they earn an appointment with the villain herself, who puts them through a pretty rigorous grilling,
threatening to unravel their cover altogether. If they can con the villain, they can bid for rights to the mine
and thus obtain its secret location. Once theyʼve got it, they hire guides and set off into the jungle — and the
adventureʼs back on track.
All of the improvisations have led the players back into your original plotline. You could have had them
get caught in a stockholders struggle for control of the corporation, but you didnʼt: that would not advance
the plot that you already had in hand.
 INTRODUCTION TO BEING A GAMEMASTER • PAGE 7

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER TYPES

The best way to make roleplaying enjoyable for your group is to discuss with your players what charac-
ters they would like to play and what character types you think will be most useful in the game you intend
to run. Be open-minded here, allowing the players to experiment with different types of characters, but also
be realistic. For example, if you are planning on creating fantasy adventures “out on the frontier,” involving
encounters with deadly monsters, dangerous wilderness civilizations, and crazed wizards, you might want to
let the player who wants to play an aristocrat know that his character probably wonʼt fit in that well. On the
other hand, the heavily armed gladiator wonʼt work out too well on the High Court. Save yourself and your
players some time and frustration by giving them a few clues as to what sort of situations they can expect to
encounter — at least in the beginning.

RULES DECISIONS
As you read the rulebooks, and as your players read the rulebooks, you will all come up with different
interpretations or “readings” of certain rules. Sometimes, you may agree. Many times, you wonʼt. The more
of these interpretations you can resolve before play starts, the better.
Youʼll also want to discuss any “house rules” or “rules slants” you, as the gamemaster, think are pertinent
to your game.

HOUSE RULES
House rules are those you make up to “fill in the gaps” in any roleplaying system. The D6 System was
designed to be improvisation friendly; chances are, if there isnʼt a rule to cover a situation, there are rules
guidelines that can point you in the right direction.
But that doesnʼt mean that these rules donʼt need to be discussed before they come up during a game ses-
sion. If you, or the players, decide to modify the existing rules or create new rules for unusual situations,
youʼd better discuss this beforehand, so nobody is surprised when it comes up during play.

Example: When using the Body Points system, no character gets a damage resistance roll unless some
Special Ability, equipment, or point expenditure allows her otherwise. Letʼs say thatʼs not the way you want
to do it. Instead, you intend to allow allow characters to make damage resistance rolls using their Physique or
Strength. This isnʼt according to the D6 System rules, but big deal — itʼs your game, right?
Before you make this a hard and fast “house rule,” discuss it with the players. Maybe they like the way the
system works. Maybe they have other suggestions. But figure it out before everybody goes through character
generation.

RULES SLANTS
Rules slants are different from house rules only because they take existing rules and modify them slightly.
For example, if a character takes a shot at another characterʼs head (as a hit location called shot), he has to
add 3 to the difficulty number. Maybe, in your campaign, you think this is too high or too low a modifier.
Whichever, you need to discuss with your players what the rules slant will be.
Rules slants will probably become popular in character generation. A lot of background generation relies
on interpretation, judgment, and cooperation. The character options guidelines are meant to be interpreted
differently from situation to situation. When creating characters, you and your players will also be creating
slants that will structure the rules as they come.

CHANGING THE RULES

One of the important lessons a roleplayer must learn as part of being a gamemaster or a player is consis-
tency. Even more than being right, being consistent makes a game fun. People know what to expect as far as
rules questions go, and they can get on with roleplaying.
 WEST END GAMES • PAGE 8
What this usually means is, when you make a ruling, stick with it. If you say, for example, that hand lasers
donʼt work underwater, then they donʼt. Just because you suddenly realize that your major gamemaster char-
acter is only armed with a hand laser — and is fighting underwater — shouldnʼt change the ruling.
For players, this means that they need to roleplay their characters consistently. If Character A has devel-
oped a personality trait — either through background generation or roleplaying development — and that trait
suddenly becomes “inconvenient,” then Player A shouldnʼt be allowed to simply ignore it. The player needs
to figure out a way around the trait and, if she really doesnʼt like it, how to get rid of it.
But what about when you make a mistake?
Hey, it happens. Take the underwater laser situation. Suddenly, you take another look at the equipment sec-
tion or guidebook with your hand laser in it and it says the weapon does work underwater. Ooops, you missed
it. So the gamemaster character can use his, right?
Wrong.
If the players got gypped due to a bad call, you should try to make it up to them — in a way that makes
sense. Maybe their lasers didnʼt work underwater because of a design flaw — farfetched, but possible — and,
now, there is some other circumstance that keeps the gamemaster character from using his. Or, maybe it
works fine, but the player characters have some hidden advantage they didnʼt know about before (i.e., be-
cause you just made it up). Yes, it is stretching sometimes, but it wonʼt get you lynched.
If you make a mistake as gamemaster, own up to it and try to work out a compromise. Donʼt stick to a rul-
ing that doesnʼt make sense. Explain the situation and throw the matter open for discussion.
As far as player consistency goes, youʼre stuck in the unenviable position of “continuity cop.” If a playerʼs
character starts acting out of character or misusing his abilities, you have to stop and discuss it with the
player. If at all possible, wait until after the gaming session or the next break. But, if it is important, donʼt be
afraid to tactfully bring it up.
Bill (a player): “Ah, ha! Iʼve figured it out! The creature weʼre fighting is just like that one in the movie
we saw last year — I bet itʼll dissolve if we hit it with oil, too!”
Ted (gamemaster): “Well, Bill, your character didnʼt see that movie, and he only has a Knowledge and a
Perception of 1D anyway. How did he figure that out?”
You can reason with most players in these circumstances. If not, try to bend a little as well. You donʼt want
his player inconsistency to wreck the gaming session, but an argument could do it just as well.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO …

What is all comes down to is judgment. Use common sense and discussion to resolve problems — not
endless leafing through the rulebook. Reading the rulebook is great before and after the game session; during
a game session, you want to keep your nose out of the books as much as possible. Donʼt be afraid to call “time
out” to look up a rule or discuss one — but donʼt make it your first resort. As a gamemaster, you have to get
used to using your judgment, not the book.

Permission is hereby granted to print or photocopy one copy of this document for personal use only. Neither this document nor any
portion of this document may be redistributed or included on any other site or media without express written permission. D6 System,
West End Games, and WEG are trademarks of Purgatory Publishing, Inc.
Copyright 2004 Purgatory Publishing Inc., www.westendgames.com.