Introduction
Like the Illithid War Articles, this is the first in a series about becoming a Dungeon Master and improving DM skills.
There is also an archive of Dragon articles on Dungeoncraft located at the WOTC site.
Alright. You've read DRAGON® Magazine. You've cruised rec.games.frp.dnd. You've chatted, played, watched, read, surfed, asked, flamed, and finally gotten some answers. But it's not enough. You need more advice.
Here it is.
I'll make no claims to having all the answers. But I have been playing this game (among others) for over a decade, and I've always got more players than I've got open slots in a given game, so I must be doing something right :). Just remember: What works for me may not work for you. These are ideas, techniques, and tricks that have worked extremely well for me. They've been drawn from, and tested on, a great variety of people, most of whom are mentioned in my Sources and Inspiration page, others are on various websites and rgfdnd. I will take this opportunity to point out a great resource for common questions and problems. That resource is the RGFDND FAQ, as mantained by Aardy R. DeVarque. It's posted at the beginning of each month on the newsgroup, with a mini-FAQ posted near the middle of the month. You can also track it down via DejaNews or Google.
Beginners
So you wanna be a DM? Well, the best way to start is to be a player first. This way, you get some familiarity with the rules and exposure to the victi... er, Players' view of the game. It's important to remember what it's like to be a player, and have incomplete information. However, you can't always start as a player.
So. As a DM, you need a Player's Handbook (PH), a Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), a Monstrous Compendium (MC), and a set of dice (4-sider, 6-sider, 8-sider, 10-sider, 12-sider, and 20-sider). Now, read them. The PH gives you a good grounding in character creation, combat and magic systems, and some ideas of what the players will expect. The DMG gives you mechanics for running adventure(s) and a campaign, magical items and treasure to reward the players (and their characters) with, and notes on creating Non-Player Characters (NPCs) - characters in the game, under your control. The MC gives you lists of critters to throw at the hapless Player Characters (PCs) to entice them to bloody combat, negotiate with, or even (gasp!) aid.
Do's and Dont's:
- Do start out small: A village or published adventure is a good place to start. This will give you familiarity with the game system and the art of running an adventure. Also, be careful with the initial number of optional supplements you take in. The biggest problem for starting DMs is information overload. Keep the amount of material you have to familiarize yourself with at a minimum.
- Don't start out with PCs at 30th level. This is okay for experienced DMs who like high-powered games, but it can easily ruin the game simply due to a lack of experience. It's a lot of work keeping track of everything those high-powered characters and critters can do.
- Do talk with the players. Generally, they're a pretty agreeable bunch. Ask them if they're having fun, what they liked most, liked least, etc. This is priceless feedback. It also establishes a friendly sort of conversation between players and the DM that will pay off a thousand fold later on.
- Don't hand out gobs of treasure. If you think a particular hoard is a little too much, halve it. Halve it again if it still doesn't feel right. Golden Rule of Gaming: It's always easier to give more to the PCs than to take it away. If later on you discover that you've been too stingy (it happens), you can always give away more treasure. However, the only real way to get money out of the characters' hands is through in-game taxation, service fees, etc. Believe me, players will come up with some very, very creative ways for their characters to keep the loot.
- Do take a break from gaming every four to five hours. A ten or fifteen minute stretch will do wonders for sore backs, dice-clenching hands, full bladders and empty stomachs.
- Do be selective in who you want as a player. The ideal player, from a DM's standpoint, is cooperative, enjoys having fun - even at her characters' expense, pays attention during the game, doesn't hog all the attention, and keeps all disagreements with other players/characters in the game. There are more ideal player traits, but this is a good start. Also keep in mind that not everyone can be an ideal player all the time.
- Do keep rules-lookups in the middle of play at a minimum. For simple stuff, like spell descriptions, order of attacks, weapon damage, class abilities, etc - hand it off to a player whose character is currently unoccupied. While he's doing that, go on with the game.
- Don't be afraid to make a mistake. It's better to make a judgement call, and be wrong, than to dither about making a mistake. You can always apologize later. The only time you really need to be careful is when a character's life is at stake. Err on the side of leaving the characters alive. After all, if the character is dead, his player can't be tortured, I mean, role-play him any more.
- Invest in or (preferrably) make a DM screen. It should have the combat, saving throw, weapon damage, and AC tables on your side. A good bonus is to add in the various initiative and combat modifiers, terrain effects on long-distance travel, and similar frequently-used info. The advantage to making your own (I love my word processor), is that you can update it when needed.
- Don't let the players read through the DMG or MC during play. Caveat: Long-time veterans have played the game so long they practically have the magic items and critters memorized. So if the 15th level High Wizard cast his Identify, Legend Lore, Contact Other Plane spells and found out all the abilities of his shiny new Staff of Power, it's generally okay to save yourself time and hand him the DMG to copy the item's specs from.
Most important of all: HAVE FUN!!! If you and your players aren't having fun, try doing things a little different. Maybe more combat, role-playing, treasure, magic, or more powerful characters.
Intermediate
You've run your first few adventures. It was confusing at times, pretty cool at others, and everyone had a blast. You made mistakes here and there, but nothing too serious (hopefully). Now you want to improve things. You're thinking about running a campaign - maybe a series of modules by TSR, or a creation of your own. Or maybe you've run a campaign and it flopped (most first attempts do).
At this point, you're working on telling stories (storytelling), developing better NPCs, and developing better plots. More importantly, you're working at trying to pull these off. Well, the storytelling, NPCs and plots are pretty easy - just sometimes time consuming - to get good examples of. Basically, pick out a variety of good science fiction and fantasy books, short story collections, magazines, (avoid the over-commercialized Xena, Hercules, Trek drek books - your brain cells will rot away and dribble out your ear) and read them. Then ask yourself what worked/didn't work for you and why. I can't really give you specifics, since everyone's tastes are different. But if a professional's example worked for you, the chances are extremely high it'll also work for your players - simply because you've all gotten together because you like games with similar elements. I won't repeat lists of recommended works here; Aardy's FAQ and my own humbler Inspiration and Sources page are excellent places to start. A lot of these books are great reads, too.
Here's some advice.
- Keep notes. Lots of notes. Write down names of everything - towns, nations, NPCs - everything. I know it seems like a lot of work. But it saves time, effort, and frustration in the long run.
- Keep a scratch pad and pens/pencils in front of you so you can keep notes.
- Keep a list of unused names for various races handy. This is such a timesaver. Coming up with a decent-sounding name is a lot of work. It's not something you want to do in the middle of play. When a name gets used off this list, write a brief 3-4 word description of this brand new NPC, and presto: 80% of the work is done.
- Plan ahead. In general, you want a rough outline of where you want the game to go. It can be as simple as "The PCs start off in a small village, in the same caravan. They get captured by the evil warlock, tortured, and escape on his desert island. Eventually, they'll find enough equipment and allies to kill the warlock and escape." Or it can be as detailed as you want. Don't go too far. I guarantee that the players will do something unexpected and trash your carefully laid plans, so you don't want to have months of hard work go to waste. However, if the adventure/campaign takes an unexpected right turn, with an Immelman corkscrew, grit your teeth, improvise, and save your now-destroyed plans for use another time. At the very least, you can harvest them for ideas later in the game.
- Do your homework. The night before the game, read over major encounters, NPC descriptions, and your ideas for how you want the session to go. Believe me, for a serious campaign, this is very, very good advice.
- Get a current copy of each player's character sheet(s). Get a copy of everything they have. Then type it into your computer so you'll have the info in a format you're familiar with. Take the original, put it in a notebook or folder, and take it to every game with you. There are several reasons for this. First, if a player forgets his character sheet (college students and us working stiffs do this from time to time), you'll have a relatively current copy of his or her character for use. Second, it'll cut down (probably eliminate) any temptation on the part of the players to "adjust" their characters a little (i.e., no cheating). Third, it gives you ready access to their character stats, where you can put notes on their characters - such as curses they don't know about, hauntings, evil weapons, extra-planar stalking, family vendettas, etc.
- Now that you've got a copy of the character info, and your scratch pad in front of you, write the following information down about each character:
Name/race/alignment
Class - Level
AC (armor/dex/magic)
HP: (+familiar +spells +special)
(Active, long duration magical defenses)
Here's an example:
Garrod selDraco/H-Kara(for race [Human]-nationatility [Karanukese])/LE
Warrior - 16
AC: -5 plate+sh/+3/+4
HP: 113 +22 Earth Hlm +13 Lifestn
-14
-22 (fire)
-8 (acid)
-12
-----
47
Stoneskin: 8, Fire Resist, Imm. Lightning,
R. rapid Regen, Non-Detection, Misdirection
There are many reasons for this. First, you've got the vital stats of each PC right in front of you. So when an enemy does a Know Alignment, you don't have to tip the PCs off by asking, "What's your character's alignment?". Second, with spells that affect only certain levels of characters (example: Holy Word), you just go ahead and say, "Roll a saving throw." This is really useful for building tension, because the player doesn't know why she's rolling a save. Then, when the save is made or failed, the player(s) get only the effects - not the specific spell. This keeps you from giving away information about the opponents. Third, you don't slow down combat by having to ask, "What's your AC?" You can go ahead and compute the attacker's To Hit roll (using your handy-dandy DM screen) and see if you hit. Fourth, by keeping track of a PC's hitpoints, you can add a heck of a lot of dramatic flair to the adventure. Compare these examples:
(DM rolls to hit & damage dice)
How many hitpoints do you have left? 17. Okay, you just took 18 more in damage.
Versus:
(DM rolls to hit & damage dice)
The Orc Lord swings his bloody sword in a short, vicious arc. You parry - too little, too late, and feel sharp steel bite into your right arm. You feel your life's blood running from the wound and stagger back. You just took 16 hitpoints in damage. That Orc is going to kill you with his next swing.
Here, the DM rolled 18hp damage. In the first example, the PC falls down and starts dying (if you're using those optional rules). La-de-da. No tension. The second example has the DM describe what has suddenly become a life-or-death fight between a much beloved character and a deadly dangerous opponent. The DM, knowing the character had only 17hp left, decided to fudge the damage a bit. The player is probably clutching his dice in one hand, his character sheet in the other, eyes bugging out of his head, and has turned a little pale - while the other players are making various exclamations of alarm ("Holy $#!^!!"), and are starting to worry that they might be next on the Orc hit list. This is a much more effective, and memorable, battle than, "Oh, I got dropped to -1hp."
- Die rolling. Always roll more dice than you need. Then read the results from left to right, top to bottom. This is easier than taking the time to pick out the dice you want from your collection. Roll most of your dice behind the DM's screen, out of the players' sight.(NOTE: Some style of DMing have all the dice rolled in full view of everyone, so there's no question as to DM fudging, player cheating, etc. If this works for you, by all means, do it.) Update: Also roll the to hit and damage dice together - it saves time!
- Speaking of die rolling: At the start of the session, when everyone's getting set up, have each player roll 5 d20's. Then write the results down above their character vitals on your scratch pad. Use these die rolls whenever a PC needs to make a stat check (if you're using those rules, as for observation in 2nd Ed.) or saving throw that her character wouldn't necessarily be aware of. This keeps you from tipping off the players that they missed something, or something happened - which helps build suspense.
- Beware of problem spells. The rgfdnd newsgroup FAQ (see the beginning of this article) mentions solutions for some of these. In any case, beware of 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D spells such as: Stoneskin, Armor, Contingency, Chain Lightning, and Chromatic Orb. In most cases, these spells can be interpreted several ways, or cause problems with game balance. Pay attention!
- Incorporating new material. Always be cautious about incorporating new rules, options, or other material. In general, it's a good idea to get a second opinion before you start using a new house rule or new character kit/class/ability, etc. Big things to watch out for are: # attacks per round, combat bonuses, minimum/maximum damage inflicted with weapons/spells, bonus abilities with no significant penalties, magical items available for use, anything that multiplies damage, anything that provides resistance/immunity to fire, cold, electricity, or acid.
Here's a rule of thumb: Playtest it. If a player (or you as DM) really wants to try out something from this new TSR/Internet/houserule, give it a try in a couple of one-shot sessions. Invite the other players to come along for the fun, and run an off-the-wall adventure - like Beyond the Magic Mirror (an old 1st Ed. module based on Through the Looking Glass). This'll give everyone a break from the campaign, and give the new ultra-cool character a trial run or two, without endangering a carefully engineered plot or killing off a beloved character. If the new options pass this test, I'd recommend letting it in. Just be sure to caution the player that you may have to cut back the new abilities some during play - if a problem develops.
- Add some character to typical bad guys. Don't have those three Orcs just outright attack the six PCs (odds of 2-1 against are bad odds). Have them run away. Or better still, have them surrender. The Lawful and Chaotic Good PCs will have to accept their surrender. This means they have to take care of the Orcs, protect them, worry about them escaping, sounding the alarm at the wrong time, etc. Don't always punish the PCs for taking prisoners by having every prisoner be a vicious, conniving, backstabbing SOB. Most prisoners are scared, and grateful to just be alive. Make it profitable - the family will ransom the captive. This means money (and XP) for no fighting. It also creates wonderful role-playing opportunities, and encourages your players (with a little DM prompting) to set up similar ransom arrangements in case their own characters are captured. (This is also a useful method for reducing PC funds, when necessary.)
By the same token, some prisoners will grab every opportunity to shaft the party. Just don't make it such a constant that the PCs refuse to take living, non-Charmed, non-mindcontrolled, non-conscious prisoners.
- In a similar vein, have the bad guys use some basic tactics - posting guards with horns, falling back to defensible positions under cover of archery, using awl pikes (check the damage) in formation (I know players whose Paladins live in fear of the Orc Pike Wall), setting basic traps (tripwire alarms, deadfalls, etc.) and so on. This'll give your players a wider variety of challenges to overcome, instead of the usual "Ho-hum, slay monster, take treasure. Go back to town for role-playing."
- Give every major villain a character flaw. It can be something as simple as she always reacts violently to any perceived failure in her underlings. Watch the PCs begin to pick up on subtle (and not so subtle) clues. Then watch them try to find a way to turn this to their advantage, work out a plan, and execute it. Whether it works or not, it'll be very fun!
Avoid character flaws like: Will kill any underling who fails - including the most competent one around, leaves stronghold without taking basic precautions against detection/assassination, equips all shock troops with the same weapon (which can be disabled by use of heat metal, rock to mud, or other spells), doesn't shut and lock doors (this is what guards are supposed to check on!), doesn't run regular patrols through stronghold, keeps the one weapon that can kill him in a secret, isolated, unguarded cave miles away, and so on. Watch Hollywood movies. They're great examples of how not to run a villain.
Experts
Well, you've run a successful campaign or two and you're looking for more tricks of the trade. You've got campaign notes coming out your ears, you've mastered the mechanics of the system, your adventures run pretty smooth, and your players are mostly happy. What's next?
Subtleties.
- Be fair. One of the things all my players like about my style is that there is nothing the NPCs and critters can do that the PCs can't also - with the appropriate magics. They might have to make deals with extra-planar beings, but it can be done. It's very frustrating for the party to be confronted by the evil high priest lord, who can throw a Power Word Kill twice per day by snapping his fingers, and all the PCs have is the stock Longsword +3 that detects magic in a 10' radius.
Don't just hand out these extras - make the PCs work for it! If they ask, tell them to research the matter (spend money + game time). Roll some dice behind your screen to see if the research turned anything up (encourage them to spend more money if it didn't work this time). If or when it does, send them on a quest, or role-play a bargaining session. ("Thou hast summoned me from the Realms Above, servant of my most Worthy Lord. What dost thou seek? Ah! The power to walk the shadows between planes would be most beneficial to thee. Tis a great boon. What dost thou offer in return? Thy servitude would indeed be most useful, for a Dragon, an ancient enemy of mine own Lord, hast thieved a magical gem of great power...")
- Focus on one or two PCs in a session. When the number of players starts climbing up around 5, it's hard to give everyone an opportunity to be the star. The solution: Focus on one or two PCs each session, and rotate every session. This means that the player gets an in-depth, focused session all for him- or herself with oodles and oodles of character development. Everyone likes being the center of attention. As DM, you get to develop deeper plots, play with PC/NPC interactions ("I don't want to bring Dread Lord Hazuer into this alliance! He's evil and needs to be destroyed! What do you mean he's standing right behind me?"), and enjoy a little one-on-one with an audience. Just remember to rotate. The most anyone should get is 2-3 personalized sessions in a row.
- Design clever, irritating opponents. One of the meanest, and most fun, things I ever did was design a rival group of adventurers for the PCs. They looted troves before the PCs got there, then returned to civilization and were hailed as heroes. The players were aggravated, jealous, and vengeful. They swore to get even. It was even more frustrating for them - and fun for me as DM - that they had no reason to attack and kill their rivals. In fact, the situation eventually evolved into a friendly rivalry, as both groups tried to outdo, or trump the other. They even rescued each other a few times.
In a similar vein, try sending in the negotiators. Instead of having the monsters line up to be slaughtered, have the kobolds try to bribe the PCs not to bother them ("Yes sir, we'll go away. We wouldn't dream of staying here and bothering those serfs"). Or better still, send in negotiators for a more peaceful, mutually beneficial solution. Any knights in the party will have to negotiate, or at least hear the terms (as would any highly honorable character). If they kill the negotiators, well, word will get around. They can start getting snubbed by the wealthy and the nobility. Knightly orders will start giving them a hard time. Play this up!
- Set up non-combat adventures: Mystery-solving where the PCs have to capture the crook alive, kidnapping an important official from a neighboring country - without killing anyone, escorting the ambassador to the Elven forest and then having to rescue him alive from kidnappers, and so on.
- What this boils down to is: Vary the style of adventures. If you've got hack-n-slashers, throw in a role-playing situation. If you've got puzzle-solvers, throw in a hack-n-slash adventure. If you've got role-players, set them a puzzle to solve - with a time limit - in the middle of a combat. Variety is the spice of life.
- Wing it. One of the premier traits of good veteran DMs is the ability to wing it when the PCs do something unexpected. This is where you bring together all the skills you've developed at storytelling, rules-familiarity, adventure creation, NPC development, plot development and character development. Of these, storytelling is the most important. If you can spin a good yarn, draw your players in, and execute the mechanics "behind the scenes", then you've pretty well mastered winging it.
- The work. If you try to create a complete dungeon, adventure, or campaign on the fly, it always shows. You have to make stuff up, keep it all straight in your head, retain consistency, and handle PC interaction with it. As an occasional departure from standard "formula," this is great! Some truly innovative, incredible adventures can result from making it up as you go along. As a regular way of DMing, it sucks. Use it very sparingly. You and your players will get as much out of the game as you put into it. This means doing some scutwork - bookkeeping. Personally, I hate drawing out floorplans for castles and dungeons. But it's gotta be done for the simple sake of consistency. Most experienced DMs can get away with a sketched floorplan (on graph paper) and a few quick notes about what is where. The really good ones put in a bit of description that they can build on when they wing it. The great DMs put in some description, have a master list of creature vital stats handy, and have a few notes on defensive/offensive tactics for the critters. The best level of detail varies from person to person, but these traits have always acted as benchmarks with DMs I've known - including myself.
- Be selective in who you play with. We've all heard horror stories about this DM or that Player. Learn to recognize what makes a good player for your DMing style. Be more discerning in matching the players up to the type of game you're going to run. Hack-n-slashers get bored to death in pure role-playing games. Role-players get angry and frustrated if all their characters ever do is fight nameless, faceless Orc hordes with "Cannon Fodder" tattooed on their foreheads. Puzzle-solvers hate both of the above. Match the game to the players, and vice-versa.
That covers some of the generalities of DMing. The next sections are for some of the more delicate issues. Again, I'm not the final authority on any of these matters. These are some guidelines based on my own experiences. Use them, or not, as you see fit.