Being a dungeon master: The Best and Worst Things

“Where are they?” You ask as you shepherded into this enormous cavern.

“Wait. Soon, you will see.” Gavrat responds. You’ve never liked dealing with the ratlike shifter. Even though most of his features are human, the ratlike features on his face are unsettling. Particularly the teeth that stick out under his rat-like nose. He guides you through the rocky outcroppings until you all see tremendous mushrooms start to fill the back end of the cavern.

“We don’t have time for this Gavrat. Where is the patron and what kind of job is this?” You ask impatiently.

“Don’t worry. Just ahead.

You continue walking with Gavrat and walk deep into this grove of giant mushrooms. 

Suddenly, Gavrat stops. “We are here.” he says with a smile.

You only hear silence.

“Gavrat, if you’ve led us here on a wild goose chase, I will skin you alive.”

“Do not trouble the rat man. I am here.” a strange voice says. “I am the one you seek.” You look around but you see no speaker. Suddenly you see the large mushroom in front of you start to turn and move towards you. You notice arms, a mouth and eyes. 

The myconid emanates a cloud of spores that hits you and suddenly you hear, “I am Hymotobor. I have a job for you.”

What would you like to do?

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host Justin Lewis, and together you and I will learn how to tell better stories as we DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.

As you may have noticed, lots of things are changing on the podcast. I hope you like the changes but if not please let me know. Go to our new Instagram @howtobeabetterdm and let us know!

Now being a DM isn’t all fun and games… we’ll technically it is, cuz this is just a game.

Sometimes being a DM can be downright difficult, fortunately, othertimes, being a DM is the greatest thing in the world! So let’s get down to real talk. What are the best and worst things about being a DM?

The best thing about being a DM

1. Not having to rely on someone else to initiate D&D

In my experience, finding a DM that can keep up the campaign every single week can be difficult. Sometimes people just lose steam. The sucky part is that you still want to play D&D. Being a DM means that you can always at least control having something prepared to play. The hard part is finding people to play with you.

1. Seeing the wonder in your player’s eyes

There’s something magical about creating a story and shepherding people through it. I can remember a few moments specifically. When my players in my current campaign were going through a haunted mansion and some undead guards were about to fight my group. One of my players recognized the sigil of the guards and the nation where they came from. He started reciting the national oath of that country. Because it was such a cool moment, I had the undead guards join in, and instead of fighting the group, the guards passed by them. My players all looked like those anime characters with their big shiny eyes when something amazing happens. It was awesome. Being able to help create that is something special.

1. Walking through my ideas

As a DM, when you come up with a cool idea, you can actually play through it. I remember as a Player I would think of all sorts of cool things that I would love to see. As a DM, I can actually put that stuff in. More often than not, that means my stories are too chock full of stuff and perhaps a little too bloated, but that’s something I’m working on. At least, I don’t have to have a little black book of all my cool ideas that I will never ever use.

1. Knowing the Story

One of the best (and worst) parts of being a DM is knowing how the story ends. I get to know what’s coming up and what my characters will face. Sometimes, I have a terrible poker face and this is just really hard, but other times, I get to hide behind an impassive face as something really cool, or really terrible is about to happen. One of my characters was just bitten by a werewolf and I got to watch as my players slowly came to understand that the curse of lycanthropy was transferred to this player. 

1. Lots of Talking

As a player, I often worry that I might be talking to much or hogging all of the playing spotlights. Surprising, I know right. As a DM, I don’t have to worry about this. The game doesn’t function unless I say stuff. It also doesn’t function unless the players say stuff. So it helps to create a natural balance of talking a lot and then shutting up and letting the players talk.

Worst things about being a DM.

Not everything is milk and cookie though. Sometimes, being a DM is downright hard.

1. Knowing everything

I think the absolute worst thing about being a DM is that you do have to know everything. Or at least you have to know where to find it in the fastest way possible. If you don’t, it’s not a big deal, but you have to think on your feet and give an answer that satisfies the group. If you don’t then the group probably won’t play with you for very long.

1. Dealing with that one player

I also hate having to deal with that one player. That one player can take many forms. Sometimes, it’s a couple players who are just too talkative and not serious. Sometimes it’s dealing with that beligerent player who wants everything their way. Sometimes it’s dealing with your wife who wants you to let her apply sneak attack even though she didn’t hide on her previous turn… Not naming names Mikayla, but if you’re listening to this, I’m talking about you. I’m just kidding, I love my wife. But seriously, you have to know how to deal with an uncooperative group. That is hard

1. Being the energizer bunny

Often times, we play D&D at night. As the DM you are the metronome for the group. If you are low energy, then the group will likely be low energy. That gets tiring and at the end of a long day can be really hard. If your group isn’t helping with the energy then it can feel like an uphill battle. 

1. Doing the Homework

Though it can be fun, you do have to do the homework and prepare the story. That can get difficult when you’ve got an otherwise full schedule. 

Despite the worst things, being a DM is still worth it. I challenge you to try and see what you think.

Thank you so much for listening to today’s show. Stay tuned after to hear some announcements but we’ll be back next week for another episode.

Until then, let’s roll initiative.

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