________ ________ ________ 2017-06-22 / \/ \/ / \ / __/ /_ _/ Phoning this one in a little. It was the / _/ / / only post I wrote for another blog we \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_ attempted that never really got off the / \/ \/ / \ ground and it makes more sense to bring it / _/ /_ _/ into this phlog where I'm actually writing. /- / _/ / \________/\________/\___/____/ A while back I asked a question to Twitter; "What makes a good dungeon master?" I was in a mood because a few days earlier I'd been talking about Dungeons & Dragons with a friend and it made me realize how much the hobby had changed. I felt alienated by something I genuinely loved and listening to people talk about it using terms like "tanking" and "DPS" and the descriptions of endless combat just sounded like they were describing a video game. I had a small tantrum about new kids ruining shit and posed my question. The answers I got pretty much cemented how I already felt; "They write good campaigns", "Props and maps", etc, etc. All things less about the dungeon master and more about the game, a DM could download a campaign from the web, complete with printable handouts and run it effectively. Hell, some campaigns are just a hallway of combat encounters and will essentially run themselves. I thought about the question myself a bit too, turning over what I liked about my friends' games, what I got right and what I struggled with in my games and came to the conclusion that it's their agility that makes a great dungeon master. Anyone can put together a great campaign with all the bells and whistles, maps and minis, handouts and props, mood lighting and sound effects, but if your party just wanders past the clue that leads to your meticulously planned fantasy fun house and off into who knows what, you need to be ready. A dungeon master shouldn't be a story teller, they should be a facilitator to the collaborative storytelling of pen & paper role playing games and it's not the dungeon master's place to dictate to the party what they should and shouldn't do; not the races or classes they choose, not their character's sex or name or background (to the extent that it doesn't affect game play) or personality, even if this means the campaign they're running needs to change. It's how well a DM can improvise, how well they can adapt and how seamlessly they can do it when their party inevitably zigs instead of zags but it's also a willingness to compromise, it's a poor dungeon master who frantically boxes their party in with invisible walls or insurmountable obstacles to force them back on track just so they can get back to the script and inversely, it's the strong dungeon master who's willing to humbly put their lovingly crafted dungeons aside to let the collaborative story evolve. In addition to being flexible with their party's whim, a good DM should be able to apply that agility to the game itself and its rules. I once described Dungeons & Dragons to Danielle, saying something to the effect of "Everyone rolls dice, then they all lie about the results to make the story more interesting." I was (half) joking but, as far as being a dungeon master is concerned I really believe this is a good way to approach the game. Cards and maps and miniatures and arguably even dice are all fluff, baubles on what is at its core just a group of friends sitting around telling tales, they shouldn't define the game and certainly don't define what makes a good DM. D&D, or any pen & paper RPG, isn't a board game or a video game and I don't think they should be played like one. Stats and rules and dice rolls do have a place but the "G" should be there only to enhance and give some structure to the "RP", it shouldn't be the main focus. Combat in a pen & paper RPG is rarely very exciting, it's lots of dice rolling and scribbling and a combat-heavy campaign is unlikely to be one that stays with your players once it's over. In that same vein, a good DM shouldn't let the dice rolls drive the game. Sometimes a DM is going to roll a ridiculous string of critical hits but it's their decision whether to blindly rely on the dice and tell the poor player that their beloved character accidentally got beaten to pudding by a kobold thug and they have to roll a new one. Though I will admit, it'd be worth it to see the look on the party's faces. Sometimes a natural 20 needs to be a humble 19. Lastly, I believe that a DM needs to apply that agility to the players themselves. Sometimes running a campaign is like herding cats, as players drift off and discuss other topics, swap Magic cards at the table or get snacks and you cannot force people to play. A good dungeon master needs to know when to change up the campaign to re-ignite the party's interest or when to concede that they're not going to get anything important done and run the party through some casual filler until they're ready to be properly engaged. To conclude, because I feel like I kind of just left it hanging, a great DM needs to be the guide but not know the path, they need to lead and follow the players in equal measure and be prepared, because the players will surprise a DM as much as a DM tries to surprise them. EOF