Vol. 2 - The Novice DM

The Novice DM is a follow up to Introducing Gameplay, which attempts to provide persons with no experience whatsoever in dungeon mastering with the basic skills needed to assume this role. Much of this volume assumes the reader is familiar with Volume 1, in spirit at least, as it begins with the assumption that the reader understands the player character sufficiently enough that rules applying thereto need not be repeated in this volume. This work is meant to take advantage of the stil-existing Online Game License.

This volume is dedicated to those who have been volun-told to be dungeon masters, who find themselves without the least idea what to do, but are nevertheless game to dig in and try, come hell or high water. It is hoped that by keeping the role as simple as possible at the outset, such people can get a taste for DMing and thus take the next step toward a deeper, richer campaign.

Foreword

Assuming the role of dungeon master is beyond a doubt the weakest, least supported aspect of D&D, the truth of which is denied by none. While purported to be a position with all this grandiose power and prestige, it is far more associated with an individual wallowing in a morass of "what the fuck do I do now" than it is with a position of privilege. Most persons who try to take the game's helm soon find themselves unable to obtain any really useful advice, while being met with outlandish expectations from players who would never think of taking their turn. This is not to say that being a DM is thankless — it isn't to be honest, if one survives. Even a bad DM can count on receiving much appreciation from the players. But because the responsibilty is simply too high for those who have trouble with the role, a small bit of praise is rarely enough to keep going. The battlefields of the game, it is sad to say, are not filled with the enemies of virtue, but with strivers that failed.

The goal here, as it has always been, is to take someone with no experience in running the game and provide context for them fulfilling the role in simple, straightforward language, without assuming they already know something that has not yet been explained. For example, while D&D may seem like an imaginative or a mental activity, being a DM is a physical strain as well, as the mind of the DM is forced to engage with others and with the game's material at a high, unrelenting pace. All those neurons firing and all the stress of managing a group of people saps energy in just the same way as going on a run or performing hard labour. As a user of energy, the human brain is a hog... and dungeon mastering D&D will push that organ to its extreme, especially for those who are unused to the practice.

If the reader is like most novices, then the chances are you have never been the centre of attention for a group of people for more than ten or twenty minutes at a time. Stepping into the role of DM demands that you be the centre of attention for two, maybe three hours, to begin with. Preparing yourself mentally and physically for this is no different than deciding you're going to train to run the marathon, or take up racket-ball or kayaking. It's never said, but your diet, your beverage, and especially the comfort of the space you play in all must be designed and set up with the mindset of someone who is readying themselves for a wedding, or to give a speech in front of one's colleagues at an amphitheatre. This may, in some degree, overshoot what's asked of you, but that excess zeal only increases the chance that you'll have a comfortable, easy night of DMing, rather than one where you're clumsily staggering around, praying that it ends soon.

There are no books for novices that want to dungeon master that takes this stance. My own book on the subject was expressly written for those who already knew how to DM, who only wanted to do it better. It's a different world writing for a first-timer, and from the position that no phrase or encouragement can be used that employs an undefined abstraction that only someone who is already a DM might understand. Novices don't know how to "set the tone" or "build tension" or even "run a fun game with less prep." We can't begin by saying that the reader needs to "manage the scene" or "tell the players what they can see," because these depend on skill sets the novice doesn't have yet. We might as well be telling them to fly. And this is why instruction books about DMing always fail. Because, in reality, the famous DMs themselves cannot explain how they do what they do.