How do your hobbies or job change the way you play D&D?

[BookTenTiger]

One thing I like about forums like these is how everyone has different backgrounds. In the middle of discussions, someone will break out an analogy tied to their job as an accountant, or their hobby as a mountain climber, or their knowledge of Latin...

I think all these other hobbies and occupations we have really impact the way we play D&D! Though a farmer and a software engineer could play at the same table, they will bring different sets of knowledge and proficiency to the game, and it will impact the stories they tell and the ways that they interact with the rules and narrative.

Here's how my job and hobbies change the way I play D&D:

I'm an elementary school teacher, and I notice I plan my adventures like lesson plans. I backwards design from the goal or theme, and find ways to encourage and facilitate Player Character Choices rather than writing a script. My philosophy in teaching is 30% Teacher Talk and 70% Student Talk, and I find that practice bleeding over to my gaming table. I keep looking for ways to give agency over to the Players, and any time I notice I've designed a part of the campaign that requires me to talk too much my internal alarms go off.

I'm also a hobby artist, so I design a lot of custom art for my D&D games. Often when coming up with new ideas, I'll first do some sketches and drawings of what the dungeon looks like, or the faces of NPC's, or the design of a magic weapon. These illustrations often don't even make it into the D&D game, but they give me a creative target to shoot towards.


So how do your hobbies or job change the way you play D&D?

 

[Tallifer]

I teach children, so their humour and whimsy rubs off on me when I run or play. Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Adventure Time, Doctor Who...

 

[BookTenTiger]

I teach children, so their humour and whimsy rubs off on me when I run or play. Wizard of Oz, Narnia, Adventure Time, Doctor Who...

What do you teach?

 

[Tallifer]

English (as well some music,art, history and science) to Korean children.

 

[prabe]

I looked at this when it was first posted, and I didn't really think any of my real-world experiences/interests had any effect. Then I thought about it more.

I worked for more than fifteen years as an audio engineer. Not a lot there. Some sense of what things sound like, but that's really niche. I played a modern-world character who was a musician once; that's about it.

I'm a baseball fan. No real effect.

I'm a theme park/roller coaster nerd. Still no real effect.

Like many gamer types, I suspect, I've tried my hand at writing fiction, so I'm used to describing things. I have a sense for what makes a good story, and I put some effort into enabling good stories to emerge at the gaming table.

I'm a hobby cook and relatedly a beer nerd with some interest in spirits. So, as a DM I have on at least one occasion set a scene at an inn with a big buffet going, and gone so far as to specify what foods and drinks were available. Since it was price fixe, I didn't have to worry about how to price bierbrand or applejack (both of which would probably price about like brandy).

Having thought about it, I'd say that the only thing that has any effect on how I play or GM is having written fiction; other interests and knowledge tend more to have their impact on what scenes or scenarios I come up with as a GM, and occasionally how I react to things that turn up while I'm playing.

 

[pogre]

I was a lawyer for a few years. My games probably have more trials, contracts, etc. than the usual game, but no huge influence there.

Now I am a high school teacher and coach. I do more prep work than most DMs. I do not use the lesson plan formula you sketched out above, but planning is a big part of my game. I think both my jobs as an attorney and a teacher help me formulate questions better to figure out what players want out of a game and keep those folks engaged.

When I was pretty young I was into model railroads and then I started playing miniature wargames. My games have tons of miniatures and terrain. I really enjoy painting and sculpting. Naturally, this hobby dovetails well with those pursuits. Interestingly, it means I rarely use a grid - almost everything at my table uses a measuring tape and templates. I do still build dungeon pieces that mesh with my Dwarven Forge collection, which does have a grid built in.

The visual impact of a scene on the table is an important part of the game for me.

Not sure what being a football (American) and track & field coach has to do with my gaming. The only thing I can think of is I have seen some young men accomplish remarkable athletic feats.

I fish a lot. No impact I can think of.

 

[jasper]

I used be in the SCA and was interested in Medieval History. I would change rules to match my knowledge. Squeezing back in 3E was toss. Now days I just tolerate rules which I have a beef with. My session reports here scratch my writing itch.
Writing in Cobol. Has effected my posting style.

 

[jasper]

English (as well some music,art, history and science) to Korean children.

Is that Sca Armour and a squire's belt in the thumbnail?

 

[Nytmare]

Filmmaker - At least conceptually I describe things as shots and cuts and reveals and dwell on the dimensionality of a location. Outside of my head I try to translate things out of that language. Up until the pandemic, overall production value was always a point of pride in my games. Sound design, aesthetics, visuals, props, immersion.

Assistant Director and Best Boy - Logistics, process management, and reengineering systems to work better for me and my players has always been a big part of my games.

Game Developer and Designer - These, of course, go hand in hand.

Artist - The focus was always different, but definitely always there. Character sheets, game props, game tools, maps, minis.

Actor and Improv Comedian - Role playing in games for me has always depended more on the group (or more importantly the audience), but my core group of gamers have almost always been thespian averse. Improvisational comedy however was a HUGE influence of my GMing style. I've been a huge proponent of "yes and" gaming since the mid 90s.

Martial Artist/Stage Combat Choreographer/Stunt Man/Ren Faire Jouster - Amazingly I don't think I can trace any kind of direct influence from any aspect of this to my gaming other than just a better than average background knowledge of weapons, armor, and horsemanship. Maybe it's added some flair to my combat descriptions. The entire time I was working the Faire circuit, all of the role playing I did was cyberpunk and science fiction.

Hobbyist Programmer - I enjoy making the tools that make running my games easier almost as much as I like running my games. God knows that I've easily spent 10 to 20 times as many hours on those tools as I have playing. In a bizarre twist, this hobby, which supports my gaming hobby, is something that I have then in turn managed to use in my career instead of the other way round.

 

[Jd Smith1]

My players (like myself) are all veterans, former athletes, and history buffs, so settings tend to place a far greater value on historical standards than the writers intended.

I spent over thirty years in law enforcement, so there's always a couple investigations in each campaign, and these will be very detailed and involved, often lasting 2-3 sessions

I am an avoid shooter and combat competitor, and several of us train or are trained in martial arts and/or medieval weaponry, so combatrules specifically exclude a lot of Hollywood nonsense. Realism is not the standard (this is D&D, after all), but there's no using two pistols, flying kung fu attacks, or similar nonsense.

We're all older, and have much less or no exposure/interest in certain tropes such as superheroes or anima. The weekly game is serious fun, like sports.

Teamwork and (the perception of) winning are highly valued by the players; they would accept a TPK rather than surrender (a fact they have proven in the past).