Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The DM Shortage
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 8851818" data-attributes="member: 19270"><p><strong>Same old problem as when I started, different decade.</strong></p><p></p><p>Circa 1989. Many wanted to play D&D. No one knew the rules so no one wanted to DM. So, yours truly fearlessly asked for the "Red Box" for his birthday. Yours truly read it and it had a 1-person dungeon crawl. Yours truly had already read many AD&D "choose your own adventure" style game books that came with a d10 for randomization. These gave yours truly a lot of ideas and inspiration. Eventually, without watching any podcasts or YouTube videos because they hadn't been invented yet, I invited a few folks for a game. I don't recall much of it. I'm sure it was terrible and non-memorable. Then because no one else knew the rules, I was volunteered to try again, and again. And eventually, I got the hang of it. <em>And I'd freak out then and now if someone proposed live-streaming our games. Hell no.</em></p><p></p><p>Personally, I moved states and found a new group of novice players. Their desire to play D&D largely sprang from podcasts. They were seeing professional actors "doing it better" than normal folk could and it looked fun. Since gaming with others in person, they watch a whole lot less of it. I like to think it's because they're realizing our game is pretty damn fun and they don't have to experience D&D vicariously. It's my belief that watching others play D&D is a really BAD way to inspire someone to become a DM because they'll feel pressured to "perform" in a way the professional actor and their professional crew who are wanting to be recorded and displayed to the world do.</p><p></p><p>Personally, I think new DMs would be a whole lot better off if they learned from doing, and trial and error, and without pressure to perform a certain way. It doesn't mean the DM shouldn't look for inspiration, but they can do it without living up to a standard. I know for a fact had I watched the "pros" and then were asked to DM, I would've declined because at the time I was the type of person who'd feel pretty intimidated.</p><p></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>aspiring DMs should take advice from "old school" DMs...just go for it. If you're with friends, they'll love the fact you're trying hard, and you'll get more confident and better as you go. Don't look for your inspiration by mimicking other groups.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 8851818, member: 19270"] [B]Same old problem as when I started, different decade.[/B] Circa 1989. Many wanted to play D&D. No one knew the rules so no one wanted to DM. So, yours truly fearlessly asked for the "Red Box" for his birthday. Yours truly read it and it had a 1-person dungeon crawl. Yours truly had already read many AD&D "choose your own adventure" style game books that came with a d10 for randomization. These gave yours truly a lot of ideas and inspiration. Eventually, without watching any podcasts or YouTube videos because they hadn't been invented yet, I invited a few folks for a game. I don't recall much of it. I'm sure it was terrible and non-memorable. Then because no one else knew the rules, I was volunteered to try again, and again. And eventually, I got the hang of it. [I]And I'd freak out then and now if someone proposed live-streaming our games. Hell no.[/I] Personally, I moved states and found a new group of novice players. Their desire to play D&D largely sprang from podcasts. They were seeing professional actors "doing it better" than normal folk could and it looked fun. Since gaming with others in person, they watch a whole lot less of it. I like to think it's because they're realizing our game is pretty damn fun and they don't have to experience D&D vicariously. It's my belief that watching others play D&D is a really BAD way to inspire someone to become a DM because they'll feel pressured to "perform" in a way the professional actor and their professional crew who are wanting to be recorded and displayed to the world do. Personally, I think new DMs would be a whole lot better off if they learned from doing, and trial and error, and without pressure to perform a certain way. It doesn't mean the DM shouldn't look for inspiration, but they can do it without living up to a standard. I know for a fact had I watched the "pros" and then were asked to DM, I would've declined because at the time I was the type of person who'd feel pretty intimidated. [B]Conclusion: [/B]aspiring DMs should take advice from "old school" DMs...just go for it. If you're with friends, they'll love the fact you're trying hard, and you'll get more confident and better as you go. Don't look for your inspiration by mimicking other groups. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The DM Shortage
Top