Vicar In A Tutu
Explorer
Lately, after having switched to the Savage Worlds system, I returned to D&D (but please, this thread isn't about which system is better). I started making some NPC's for my future campaign, and since I wanted the campaign to start with an average party level of 7th or 9th level, the NPC I was making was a 12th level wizard destined to be a BBG. I have never before been the DM of a high-level campaign, the highest I've gone before is 6th-level (for some reason my campaigns have always disintegrated when approaching 7th-level, though this has little to do with mechanics, but rather my lack of "staying-power" with specific campaigns).
Holy cow, statting out that 12th-level wizard took me about an hour. Now, I may not be the quickest or most experienced NPC-maker in the world, but I'm not bad either. When I played Savage Worlds, it took me at most five minutes to make important NPC's. I suddenly realized that, while I truly enjoy D&D as a player, I find being a DM is more like accounting or doing boring chores (but not while playing however, but still I spend as much time preparing for sessions as I do DM'ing them).
I remembered reading somewhere that D&D is having trouble recruiting new players, and specifically new DMs. One reason could be the reaction most newbies have when they see the pile of three core books (PHB, DMG, MM), a pile amounting to almost a thousand pages (and the endless numbermaking of towns, cities - so and so many clerics of 7th level in a city with a pop. of 50,000, etc).
What do you think, can potential DMs be so intimidated by the amount of reading and system-detail that they choose not to DM (or at least seek out another game)?
Edit: English is not my native language, corrected some spelling-mistakes
Holy cow, statting out that 12th-level wizard took me about an hour. Now, I may not be the quickest or most experienced NPC-maker in the world, but I'm not bad either. When I played Savage Worlds, it took me at most five minutes to make important NPC's. I suddenly realized that, while I truly enjoy D&D as a player, I find being a DM is more like accounting or doing boring chores (but not while playing however, but still I spend as much time preparing for sessions as I do DM'ing them).
I remembered reading somewhere that D&D is having trouble recruiting new players, and specifically new DMs. One reason could be the reaction most newbies have when they see the pile of three core books (PHB, DMG, MM), a pile amounting to almost a thousand pages (and the endless numbermaking of towns, cities - so and so many clerics of 7th level in a city with a pop. of 50,000, etc).
What do you think, can potential DMs be so intimidated by the amount of reading and system-detail that they choose not to DM (or at least seek out another game)?
Edit: English is not my native language, corrected some spelling-mistakes