7 Habits of Highly Efffective Dungeon Masters
Have you ever played at the table of a DM, whether it was in your home group, or at a convention like GenCon, and walked away thinking, “THAT was the best DM I’ve ever played with. I wish I could be like him!”? While the euphoria of the game session will fade in time, the feeling that you may be, in some ways, a lesser DM, not as gifted as that DM, or just less effective at DMing will probably stick with you for a long time. I know, it’s happened to me. In fact, it once put me away from the D&D table for about six months afterwards.
The thing I realized, over time, is that every DM feels that way sometimes. Someone always knows more about the rules, or is better at description, or at fostering role-playing. But there’s no magic to it. Every Dungeon Master also has the potential for excellence. It’s just a matter of being able to tap into their own unused resources, to get beyond their own limits and their own limitations. By doing this, you can stop thinking about being a more effective DM, and start being a more effective DM.
Below are seven habits that every effective DM follows, whether or not they realize it:
Be Dedicated. There’s no secret here. Being a good DM requires you to be devoted to the task. You’ve got to work hard, keep a tight focus, and believe that the task before you is indeed possible. Nothing worth doing in life is worth doing half-assed, and Dungeon Mastering is no exception. Hard work pays off in the end. Dedication is the difference between someone with a great idea, and someone who makes millions on a great idea.
Forget your Limitations. Guess what? You’re human. You fail, sometimes. And the more you fail, the more you feel limited. You’ve got to get out of your own head, and move foward. Push forward. Forget that your last three campaigns ended in a trickle. Forget that last night’s session was an absolute disaster. While you can learn from the past, dwelling on it only forces you to repeat it.
Take Chances. The most effective DMs aren’t the ones who run modules as they’re written. The most effective DMs are willing to push the envelope, to experiment, to try to do something radically different. Think about X-crawl. Those guys took a chance, and it paid off for them, in a big way, and we all loved it. Don’t be afraid to run a game outside, or in the dark, or a game that’s only role-playing, or one that’s only one single encounter. People don’t remember the 99 failed attempts; they remember the final success.
Get Away. You might not believe it, but some of the time the Super-DM that you played under at GenCon runs a relatively mediocre campaign at home. Sometimes, just changing the people that you’re playing with can make all the difference in the world. Does that mean you drop your old standby group? Of course not. But playing with different people can open up a world of possibilities, and give you opportunity to take chances you might not take back home.
Seek out Inspiration.Effective DMs know where to find ideas. They read novels, they watch movies (not just Lord of the Rings) they post to and read message boards and blogs, they read Dungeon Magazine, Dragon Magazine, the Kobold Quarterly, and anything else they can get their hands on. They talk to other DMs, and listen to what’s working for them. They even, believe it or not, talk to their players, and get ideas from them.
Look for Patterns. There is a real sense in which nothing is new under the sun. Every plot idea you’ve got, every character concept your players have, every villian you’ve devised, has a root in a big, eternal archetype. Hamlet isn’t good because Shakespeare wrote it; it’s good because it hits something very deep within us as human beings. The same goes for Star Wars. Recognizing these patterns and using them in your game gives you the opportunity to connect with your players the way that Will did with his readers, or George did with all of us.
Be Curious and Creative. Most effective DMs have a naturally inquisitive nature. They like to devise problems, and to solve them. Get used to seeing things this way. As questions. Be interested. Challenge the norm. Cultivate creativity through techniques like journaling, parnering with another DM, brainstorming, writing and rewriting your ideas. Explore art and music and touch and taste and smell. Incorporate as many of the senses as possible into your game, and your players will always remember it.
That’s it. Do those 7 things and I guarantee it will improve your game. You will have your players wondering what the heck happened to their old DM. Players will walk away from your table thinking, “THAT was the best DM I’ve every played with. I wish I could be like him!”
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