D&D 5E High 5 to those DMs

[GuyBoy]

Way back, Dragon mag used to run a series of small articles getting players to share the love for their DMs. Praise, even when not sought, is a great motivator and I always thought it was a great motivator. I remember one about Lance Hawvermale and it motivated me to buy a later module he wrote for Necromancer.
So let’s give some thanks, and details, about our hard working, dedicated DMs, the ones who make it happen.

I’ll start off with Rob ( better known on this forum as The Sword). Rob is a truly outstanding DM for so many reasons.
His preparation is awesome; battlemaps are all printed out in colour and laminated to allow for evocative combat.
Descriptions are engaging and full of empathy. Monsters are terrifying. NPCs have depth and motivation.
Rob handles his players well. Each session ensures everyone gets a chance to shine mechanically, and there’s a mix of roleplay, problem solving and combat so all the group get to exercise their preference for playing style.
Highlights? Numerous really, and I’d probably name different ones tomorrow, but a couple spring to mind. The sheer terror of the Ravenloft atmosphere he created ( I was scared, let alone my character, and I’m a former rugby player!). The sensitive handling of the Way of the Wicked campaign, where all the characters had different, and often clashing, motivations. The creepy township at the start of Slumbering Tsar........never go to the loo in the middle of the night in the inn......just don’t! And as if his 5E talents weren’t enough, Rob has also run superb Warhammer FRP and Rogue Trader campaigns over the years.

Any faults? Maybe his strange love of peanut butter with apples. Or perhaps his inexplicable (to me) preference for FR over Greyhawk.

So, thanks for everything Rob. Long may it continue.
High 5 to you.

 

[R_J_K75]

Ive been the DM for most of the last 20 years. Our group just changed over to another player DMing. Last night was his 2nd session and he's doing a great job. The game runs relatively smoothly, he knows the rules well and is able to improvise and handle the curveballs we've thrown at him. Its been really fun playing again. High 5 to him.

 

[Flamestrike]

My last DM was fantastic.

We basically followed his dual katana wielding DMPC around all night while he told us how naughty word we were and completed the mission for us.

No, seriously, I'm aways the DM. I'd give my soul for a good DM again. Havent had one since I was 19.

Im now 46.

 

[R_J_K75]

My last DM was fantastic.

We basically followed his dual katana wielding DMPC around all night while he told us how naughty word we were and completed the mission for us.

No, seriously, I'm aways the DM. I'd give my soul for a good DM again. Havent had one since I was 19.

Im now 46.

So you havent played a PC since you were 19 or just cant find a good DM?

DMing isnt for everyone, some people are naturals, or develop over time while other are downright bad at it. Im all for giving anyone who wants to try a chance but theres nothing worse than suffering through a game with a terrible DM thats going nowhere.

 

[Flamestrike]

So you havent played a PC since you were 19 or just cant find a good DM?

Occasional play. Always the DM.

I jut want a good DM that keeps the game running for years.

The unicorn.

 

[R_J_K75]

Occasional play. Always the DM.

I jut want a good DM that keeps the game running for years.

The unicorn.

A DM that can keep a game going for years would be nice but in my experience never happens. We've had a core group of players that come and go over the years and few new ones every once in awhile. So even when we stopped playing for awhile over the years we always manage to get another game together,

 

[Flamestrike]

A DM that can keep a game going for years would be nice but in my experience never happens.

I played in an open ended 5 year weekly Rolemaster campaign as a kid.

I DM'd a 2 and a half year 5E Campaign recently.

It happens, but you need a rare combo of a great DM and one that keeps running no matter what.

 

[R_J_K75]

It happens, but you need a rare combo of a great DM and one that keeps running no matter what.

In recent years we've taken breaks here and there for a month or so just because as I was the only DM I wanted to avoid total burnout. Keeping a game steady game together during COVID was difficult at first but we started playing face to face May of last year. We lost 2 players recently but I think we have a good group now and have been playing more. With at least 2 DMs I think we have a good chance of keeping this group/game together for quite awhile.

 

[Richards]

It also really helps if you game with family members. I ran a 9-year campaign with members of my family (a grown son) and that of a co-worker (him, his wife, and their two sons), and when that was over we had a follow-up campaign that ran for another 5 years (swapping out one of the co-worker's sons, who moved away for college, with my nephew, who was now old enough to play). This same latter group has also played through a two-year campaign run by my son (where I got to be a player for a change) and are about halfway through our second two-year campaign. Having the players all hail from two families in the same small town really helps keep the group together. Granted, that's not an option for everyone, but it sure helps when it's available.

And, while I'm posting in this thread, I should acknowledge my son Logan's excellence as a DM. His first (short) campaign was set in the Skylanders universe, specifically to capture and hold my nephew's interest in RPGs (as he was a big Skylanders fan at the time - he was 10). After that got him hooked on the concept, my nephew joined my 3.5 campaign. Logan's first "straight D&D" campaign took us from levels 1-20 in two years of 2-3-hour Wednesday night sessions (as two of our players were still in school), where each session was like the next chapter in an ongoing novel (whereas my campaigns are more like a collection of short stories about the same characters). Then, when we finished that campaign and started up a new one, he got tricky on us and not only had us in the same game world but in the same starting time as the prior campaign, so he's weaving story elements from the first campaign into this second campaign - and it's been pretty seamless so far. I appreciate the creativity that's gone into such an undertaking.

Johnathan

 

[GuyBoy]

High 5 to both you and Logan as DMs.