January 15, 2011
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The Basics Of Being A DM
Name your Poison
There’s a lot of games out there- Amber, Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer: Inquisition GURPS, Deadlands, Vampire, Mage, Shadowrun…the list goes on and on. Each of them uses its own ruleset- some of th
em even use an entirely different system; and each one works best in a particular mold.
Consider what best suits your needs. Are you looking to run a steampunk game? D&D’s D20 system might fit you, but you may want to give GURPS a chance- after all, it’s primarily made for steampunk. D&D, on the other hand, is primarily heroic fantasy. If you want a more modern setting, go for Vampire/Mage/Werewolf/Changeling (Those three can all be played as one) or Shadowrun. Granted, you can sometimes fit systems into settings where they don’t necessarily belong, but you might be bound for disaster if you do that – the old cliché about a square peg, a round hole, and a hammer comes to mind.
Oh, and do note that there are often different editions of each game. You’ll need to figure out which edition you want most to play. Little overwhelming, yeah? Usually it’s best to choose one which you’ve a little experience in. Which brings me to my next step…
Know the rules
Know the rules. I’ll repeat it again. Know. The. Rules. This is likely one of the most important points on this list. If you ignore everything else I tell you here, everything else, you might still be all right if you follow this step. Why do you need to know them so well?
Well, I’ll use an analogy here. Let’s say you’re playing an electronic RPG. You order one of your characters to attack. Then the game freezes. The system’s ‘forgotten’ what’s involved in calculating an attack – a bug in the code causes the whole thing to crash and you’re left with a mess of a game that’s just not very fun.
Fact is, it’s one thing being a player, you can lean on other people for guidance there. If you’re the one running the game, well…Let’s just say it looks really bad when the overlord has to turn to an underling for help.
There’s a second reason, of course. See, at some point in your tabletop career, you’re going to run into a lovely little breed of player called a munchkin. They come in all shapes and sizes, but are often rules lawyers- where the rules fit their needs, of course. If you’re going to deal with this difficult breed of player, and you don’t just want to kick them out of your game, you’ll need to know the rules, because I can guarantee that they usually don’t, no matter how adamantly they insist otherwise. And trust me, it’s not fun when the game has to go on pause because the DM is trying to settle an argument with a pissy player.
Acquire Supplies
Pencils. Miniatures. A battle mat. Source books. However you acquire the items, many of them are a must. Go to any gaming hobby store and you’ll find what you need. Depending on if you’re running an electronic or real world campaign (There’s a lot of programs to do the latter, but we’ve not the time to get into them here), you may not even need any of these supplies. One thing I like to do is find music for my games. I think it adds a nice touch and sets the mood quite well.
Plan the game
Whether you want to use a pre-published module (and god damn, there’s a lot of those floating about) or design your own world, you’re going to need something for your players to do. Somewhere for their characters to be. It’s not a whole lot of fun just kind of sitting around scratching your ass in an empty void, after all. I myself prefer to design my own world, it’s a lot more fun, though that route is not for everyone. If you want to do as I do, I’ll give you one warning. Designing your world…well,
It is a lot of fucking work.
Seriously. I’m not even going to get into everything that goes into world design, that could be a whole other article in itself, but you’re going to need to bust your ass for at least a month (probably longer) before your game starts to make sure everything fits, especially if you’re using a custom cosmology. And, of course, you’re going to need to make pretty little pamphlets to hand out to each of your players.
Personally, though? It’s worth the effort.
Gather your party
Last, but not least, you’ll need people to play your game – unless you just want to sit around playing with yourself. Hey, who am I to judge? Some people are into that sort of thing. Har har har.
Anyway, finding players shouldn’t prove all that daunting a task. Ask around your circle of friends. Failing that, check out local hobby shops. See if there’s any gaming clubs around the city. Look around on the internet.
Eventually, you’re going to have a full group of people to play. But be careful who you recruit. Consider the personalities of the people you’re bringing into the game, and whether or not they’re suited for such a brand of interaction.
Begin your quest
And finally we come to the final step. You’ve got your players lined up, you’ve got an epic quest planned. First things first: If you’re the DM, get used to this one tenet, referred to as Rule Zero:
The DM’s rule is law. Don’t fuck with the DM.
Does that seem a mite draconian? It really isn’t. Honestly, if you’re running a game, you’re eventually going to need to play arbiter and adjudicator as well as entertainer.
If you don’t make it very, very clear to your players that you expect them to follow the rules, your rules, there will be people who will take advantage of you. I’ve experienced this myself. Don’t pander to players, and don’t play favorites. Both of those will end up causing more problems than they solve, in the long run.
That said, don’t be an asshole. Be unyielding, but be fair. Yeah, you kind of need to have people skills to run a good tabletop game.
Above all, have fun. If both the DM and the players aren’t enjoying the experience, then there’s something wrong.
Pretty sure that about covers it. Enjoy your game.
To contact the author of this post: nicholas.greene@wildgunmen.com
As a side note, if you are playing an RPG especially with a DM like this guy, make sure to ask for a “bag of stuff” in the equipment selection phase of your character creation. Do this while the DM is busy with something else; they will invariably just shrug you off and say “sure”.
Why ask for a Bag of Stuff? Because when you’re facing down the seven-headed marsh monster referred to as Riverfear, whose only weakness is fairy-dust-encrusted arrows, why, you happen to have fairy dust, arrows, and a wicked awesome bow in that Bag of Stuff!
Seriously, it’s awesome to watch the DM mentally kick themselves over this shit.
A DM like “this guy”? I am not entirely certain what you mean by that. Do elaborate.
Superb post. Thanks.
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