Grumblings of a Dungeon Master

Every Dungeon Master has pet peeves. Every Dungeon Master I’ve ever met also has strong opinions. They are also filled with creativity and passion about their games. Why then does it seem to me that as the roleplaying hobby evolves, that I find more and more Dungeon Masters, some who claim to have been at it for years, continue to run games the way they did when they first started?

What I’m getting at basically is the fact that DMs are so wrapped up in their worlds that they forget about the importance of actually running the game. Your world may be splendid and your NPCs great, but if you can’t pace the interaction of the characters in combat or even move the story along then all the color in the world won’t make a difference.

What I ask is, evaluate yourself as you read this. Ask yourself this. If one of your reasons for DMing is showing your friends a good time, sit back and think about the last few games where you were a player and ask yourself what you would have done differently to further everyone’s enjoyment. And lastly, tell yourself that an old dog can learn new tricks…“because I’ve always done it this way” is not a valid excuse if you look carefully at the player’s bored faces.

In other words, everyone always asks why I’m the DM. There are two reasons. The first is that the players like it that way. The second reason is that in some games, I usually try to avoid playing when I can. Here’s why:

Who goes first?

For D&D it’s called Initiative. Whatever your game system calls it, it determines an order of conduct in the game. It’s a time of adrenaline rush and great excitement. So what do I see behind the screen? A DM who, after announcing that 11 chaos beasts charge the party, casually looks up to ask such things as “what was your character’s name again?”, “you’re an elf, right?”, or even worse, rolling dice, writing, rolling dice, writing, rolling dice, writing (he’s rolling initiative for every creature in combat).

I take personal offense if in my game the group can’t start rolling to hit no more then 15 seconds after the combat is engaged! Do the work of sorting out who is who and make initiative sheets before you play. You know there’s going to be combat, so be ready for it! In advance on a piece of paper write the first name of each character in the approximate place they’re sitting around the table, and go around and collect numbers. Roll initiative for the opposition in groups, quickly! The moment a person calls their number, scribble it next to their name on your sheet and call out the next name. It sounds hyper, but your players will love you for it. Show excitement. As you talk and collect data fast it builds the tension of what’s to come! Insist, strongly, that players know what they are rolling for and what modifiers to apply. If a player can’t tell you when they are going the moment they are asked, skip them until the next round!

And for the love of sweet baby Buddah find a way to call out initiative without resorting to counting down rounds if at all possible! How great is it to be joined with your mortal foe and getting ready to act only to have your DM start counting rounds or phases one at a time:

“one – two – three – four“…

… while waiting for someone with the number he calls to respond when everyone else at the table heard the highest acting number is 14. What I’m saying is learn how to stay ahead of the game and be alert, people. DMing is a lot of work but there can’t be so much going on that you can’t process initiative so that you have to count down numbers like the teacher from Ferris Beuller’s Day Off: “Beuller… Beuller…”. GMs should keep combats exciting, not waste time with mundane clutter.

Running the action

Is it too much to do a little bit of prep work involving game rules? In nearly every roleplaying game I own, it makes bold mention that “there’s no need to memorize the rules, but it’s nice if you know where to look when a situation comes up”. But that can be taken a step further. My example here are fantasy spells, super hero game’s powers or a sci-fi game’s mind powers, etc. A little homework in advance can be a life saver. Take a look at the player’s opposition before the game. Is there anything listed for that villain or NPC that you sre not familiar with? Look it up in advance! Take the following: You have a demon villain and among his powers are listed “he can fly, at will, like the spell cast by a 12th level sorcerer”…your warning alert should immediately go off! With a quick little look-up before the game, you can do that work and compute the stats and write them down to be ready. It’s almost always worthy to check the main villain’s abilities and powers and ready their effects before the game. Doing so during the game just slows things down.

How seriously do you take your game? How seriously do you want your players to take it? Then before you start pointing at your players for the blame of your campaign turning Monty Python, ask yourself if you’re not the major contributor! I remember one DM who complained we weren’t treating his world with the gritty edge he had built into it, but he named all the unimportant NPCs “Frank”. Frank the barkeep, Frank the undertaker, even Frank the barmaid. If you are trying to set a scene or convey the feeling of the world, the NPCs and supporting cast are your players’ eyes and ears to the world. They deserve more than just the name Frank and more forethought than giving one yet another outrageous French accent. Unless you don’t get out much, there are a hundred immediate templates to draw from to breathe life into your NPCs, like your family, co-workers, and friends outside gaming! The NPCs are the salesmen of your world. Have them ready with a good sales pitch and not only will the players become interested in the world, they will see it better as well. Having them drone on and on or force their issues and, just like a bad salesman, watch the players slam the door or laugh and walk away.

World

Many DM’s I know spend long hours creating their detailed world. They then make the same mistake that old special effects companies in the movies used to do…they create something they think is so brilliant they focus on it long after the audience is tired of it. If you are going to create a detailed, historically rich world, don’t hand your players a 300 page treatise and expect them to immediately get into it. My initial world handout is 15 pages, maximum. From that point the world is introduced a little each week with a little monologue about the immediate area. Let the NPCs convey what it’s like. When the players start asking what’s beyond the mountain or where’s a city that they can find a high priest of the sun god at, then you tell them. Instead of force-feeding them a bunch of facts they may or may not care about, you now have their undivided attention because it benefits them. They asked!

Know what game you are playing. When you have players who are trying things in the game, providing it’s not their first time with a game system…enforce that unless they know how to do something in the game by the rules that they can’t try it! Why? Because one of my biggest pet peeves of all is sitting around a table at a roleplaying game staring into space while a DM tries to nit-pick the details for something that a player does all the time but can’t be bothered to know the common modifiers for or how the ability actually works. Or even better, a DM who sits there arguing with himself!

“And this orc will shoot at… hmm… you. No, you. Wait. Did you hit him last round or the other one? Which of you has leather armor cause he’d hit the one less armored. Well, you’re an elf right? Orcs hate elves, right? What? Your not an elf? Let me see your character sheet.”

That’s the end! That’s when I roll my eyes and go for a stroll. But that same exchange has happened at conventions more than I can remember. When GMs use detailed, large roleplaying systems, they have to be sure they are up to the task of actually using that system or falling victim to “there’s a rule for everything, and I must use every one” syndrome.

Here’s another example of wasted time that most don’t even consider, but when you are a player it is a black hole of game time. Every roleplaying game has an equivalent skill or ability to notice something, whether it’s Observance, Spot, Notice, Perception, or whatever, every game has one. How many of you just last week had to sit around while the DM took 10 minutes to collect spot checks for no reason?

“Everyone roll spot checks. OK. Karin. 5? OK. Um. Sara. 8? OK, Jim, uh er James. 12. 12? How do you get 12? Oh, yeah, the racial bonus. Frede? 2. 2!? Why- oh, the magic item curse, right. Saandra, 14. OK. Well, suddenly to the left you all see…”

What!? Wait a minute, you just spent 10 minutes collecting data from us to tell us we all see something!? Why!? Or even worse, he then says to the player that made it “you hear something”, and then let everyone act on it anyway! It’s skills like this and their kin (surprise checks, search rolls, etc.) that either should be used correctly or tossed out. One of my favorite tricks is simply writing the numbers down for all the characters of commonly used skills and rolling once for all of them applying the skill to the same die roll, best roll gets it. Or I quickly scribble up a note saying “growling to the left!” and then I say “Everyone-listen check. Who’s highest?” Within a split second I hear “12. 8. 17. 10. 4. 6.” And then everyone points at the person with the 17 and I toss them the note. Why go through that? Well for one thing it makes the player who has a good skill feel justified in taking it or advancing it. Secondly it simply, in whatever way, promotes roleplaying. Frequently, the person will just say “guys, there’s something growling at us from the left, get ready!” or even better, they ask me if they can tell if it’s hungry or not, which heightens everyone else’s experience as they lean forward with “well, what is it!?”. It takes common, humdrum rolls and uses them to create excitement or interest.

You are the DM because you like springing surprises on your friends. You like to DM because you have a great world. But really, isn’t it better when the whole group parts and thanks you for showing them a good time? Good players deserve that. Remember how the last game you played could have been better and fix it in your game. And just because no one has complained recently that you took half an hour to collect initiative rolls or spent 20 minutes helping the rogue calculate her ‘jump’ skill for the 18th time that night doesn’t mean they won’t thank you when you learn to tighten the ropes a little and show them a smoother ride.

Is it work? Sure it is. Isn’t your game worth it?