I've recently become intrigued by the idea of playing Dungeons and Dragons. I still haven't had a chance to sit down and play, though I certainly want to, but I have been reading up on it and watching some other games that people stream online.
For any D&D game to work, you need a DM or Dungeon Master. He or she is the one who acts as narrator and referee of sorts. They come up with the various adventures and oversee the campaign as it unfolds. It's tough because a lot of people don't want to DM when the time comes to start playing. Personally, I'm not averse to it, but as a newb, I don't think I'd be that effective.
I have, however, picked up a few tricks here and there and I thought I could share these tips with any other potential newcomers.
What do I need?
In order to act as dungeon master, you will need a few supplies. The primary thing is the books themselves. 4th edition has, thus far, released two dungeon master's guides as well as three monster manuals. There are also two "Essentials" box sets that provide more options. To start off, you could get away with only purchasing one of each, though as time goes on, you may want to pick up the other volumes if only to add some more flavor to your campaign.
If you're playing around a table, you will also need a DM screen. The aforementioned "Essentials" kit includes one, but you can purchase others if you're not interested in that set. This allows you to consult notes, books, and roll dice without the players seeing what you're up to.
You'll also want a pencil and paper handy for notes and tracking stats. Pencil is preferable over pen for the simple fact that writing in pencil can be erased. It will make everything much tidier compared to crossing everything out when a status or HP value changes.
How much should I prepare?
This is a tricky question and it's most likely the reason why no one wants to DM. Coming up with a campaign and story can be somewhat tricky. One and done adventures are fine, but a lot of times, players build an ongoing saga.
Oddly enough, you don't want to prepare too much. Your first instinct would be to come up with an elaborate story, and to some extent, you should. However, by doing this, you risk railroading the players, thus robbing them of the ability to role play and control what happens to them.
You also run the risk of having players' actions derail your campaign. They could go somewhere you never intended and start a chain reaction that leaves your intended plot points useless.
On the other side of the preparation coin, if you try to make up everything on the fly, the story will suffer and it will detract from the experience.
What you need to do is prepare for things while still allowing your players freedom. I've been mulling it over, and I really think the best way to do this is through the map itself. If you have ideas for locations planned ahead of time, whether it's traps, NPC's, or battle encounters, for each of the major places on your world's map, you can let the players roam free as they wish while still having an idea of what will happen as a result of their actions.
Finding Balance
The key to good DM'ing ultimately lies in finding balance. This applies not only to planning, but also to things like implementing the rules, having some laughs, and even telling your story.
The "Essentials" DM guide makes a point of saying that you shouldn't over narrate. You run the risk of either making the players think that something is important when it isn't, giving away details, or just hogging the limelight. You want to tell a good, gripping story, but you also want to let the players play.
In terms of the rules, DM's are often encouraged to "house rule" certain things. This means straying away from the books and coming up with various tweaks to the system that make things much smoother for everybody. You don't want to stray too far off and ignore the rules completely, but sticking solely to what the books tell you can limit gameplay significantly, even if the publishers do offer a lot in terms of material.
This is also a factor in terms of something as simple as tone. As a game, it's supposed to be fun. One of the major selling points is the fact that you get a group of friends together and muck about for a few hours. There will be times where you or one of the players will say or do something that will result in unanimous guffaws. It's important to enjoy those moments, but you also have to know how to steer the game back on course and get serious again.
Fair Play
If you were to sum up the key to being a good DM in one phrase, I would say it's fair play. As DM, your goal is not to wipe out the party as quickly as possible. You don't want to go easy on them either, as that's no fun. You want to challenge them, but give them a way out of any situation. Occasionally, you will make a mistake and as long as you cop to it and offer something as recompense, the players won't get frustrated by it.
Running a D&D campaign, or any tabletop RPG campaign is quite a bit of work. It can be intimidating, I am well aware of that feeling. Still, I think as long as you ease yourself into it, you can become a skilled DM without too much trouble. While this may be no substitute for the books themselves, hopefully this helped potential newcomers get their feet wet and learn some tricks to expedite their ability to improve as Dungeon Master.
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