D&D General The DM Shortage

[Oofta]

The DMG's rules, advice, and tables leaned heavily of straight dungeon crawls and the majority of the starting adventures and character options were traditional.

I don't think there is a shortage of new players converting to old school style games.

Back in the dark ages of the 20th century it was much the same. Yet we quickly crawled out of the dungeon anyway.

I don't see the DMG particularly pushing dungeons. While it's been a while I don't remember LMoP being particularly dungeon oriented. There were places you were in town, spots that were more location based. I guess you could call something with a dozen rooms a dungeon crawl because it's set in ruins or a cave system but I wouldn't.

There's enough of a player base that we can have a variety of modules and I don't see an issue with that. It's not like any grouping of individuals, especially by age, is ever going to be monolithic.

I think it would be a mistake to make modules that were old school like some of the OSR folks were pushing in another thread. Fortunately they aren't doing that.

 

[Baron Opal II]

How do you teach someone to create a gripping narrative?

Actually, you could do a lot worse than Avatar the Last Airbender. For what is ostensibly a kid's show it has a lot of mature storytelling and character development. The showrunners put some excellent details that enrich the story on a subsequent viewing.

If you can tolerate an animated show, and not everyone can, it is well worth your time.

As to other concerns, switching genres, sub or otherwise, is something easily done once you have experience. Starting out with a village, trek, and dungeon may not be the ideal playstyle, but it lets you learn the rules. As the old saw says "you have to learn the rules before you break the rules." Once you become adroit the the rules as is, it becomes far easier to adapt them to what you want more.

If you're willing to have a DMG with the AD&D density of information, I suppose you could have a multiplicity of playstyles in the book. Being more flexible may be a goal of Mr. Perkin's with the DMG update.

 

[Faolyn]

When do you hold a child's hand? When there is danger, such as a busy road. Thus hand holding becomes associated with a fear response. And, as the Bene Gesserit teach, fear is the mind killer.

Of course, when you leave the child alone, you still keep a surreptitious eye on them. But it's important they believe you have confidence in them in order for them to have confidence in themselves.

Fear is a learned response. Children only become afraid of having nothing to fall back on when they are used to always having someone helping them, whether they need the help or not.

That's... not actually how it works, and you may want to read actual books on child psychology instead of an SF novel.

Also, D&D is a game with rules, and gamers are not, for the most part, developing children. If the rules aren't there for some things (general DM support), but are there for other things (e.g., combat), then the rules are incomplete.

 

[Morrus]

That's... not actually how it works, and you may want to read actual books on child psychology instead of an SF novel.

Are we not saying it right?

Folks, third and last warning. Next person to bring up their thoughts on childraising will earn an exit from the thread.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Another thing, it seems like the adventures carried the alternative style rules of play.

An Odyssey style island hopping adventure? Clear rules for ships, naval engagement, and weather.
A Fawcet-tish / Shackleton-style expedition to a lost city in the jungle / ice fields? Appropriate exposure and survival rules are there, along with new and exotic monsters and treasure.

It feels like the plan is to have all of these "official" rules in the adventures made for them. You have to wait for the right adventure, agree with them, and then utilize them. And, feel that the rest of the book is worth the purchase to justify getting the bit you want. D&D can be nearly all things for all people, but I don't know how reasonable it is to have pre-made rules in the core three books to the detail everyone wants. I don't think it can be done with the current art direction and layout.

 

[Vaalingrade]

How do you teach someone to create a gripping narrative? Rule zero for creativity is learn all the rules. Them break them good and hard.

Although my try trick is to read widely. Then plagiarise.

That, plus key DVD commentaries.

Anything where Jon Rogers or Jackie Chan are talking will teach you to be a better DM; Rogers for character work and telling stories that satisfy, Chan for learning how combat is not just mindless action, but tells as tory on its own.

 

[MichaelSomething]

So the biggest factor (or the one we like to discuss the most) in getting more people to DM is how WOTC writes rulebooks and adventures? Are there other things that could be done to address the issue? Is third party material unable to close the gap? Do we need a DM apprentice program? DM camp? Community college classes?

 

[Reynard]

So the biggest factor (or the one we like to discuss the most) in getting more people to DM is how WOTC writes rulebooks and adventures? Are there other things that could be done to address the issue? Is third party material unable to close the gap? Do we need a DM apprentice program? DM camp? Community college classes?

3rd party material is unlikely to help because most newcomers to D&D won't even know there are 3rd parties, let alone be able to navigate the sea of available products.

The primary beneficiary of plentiful, reasonably capable GMs is WotC. D&D -- as currently designed -- does not happen without them. So it seems obvious that it is WotC that should be working harder to make GMing easier to get into.

 

[Clint_L]

They should start with a DM's Guide that is at least half dedicated to helping folks learn to DM (you know, like an actual guide), and includes plentiful scenarios showcasing different styles of play. It would be super cool if a kid could buy a DM's Guide and walk home and immediately run the first simple scenario.

To WotC's credit, they do quite a good job both with designing the Starter Sets and keeping them very, very affordable. When a student asks me where they should start, I always suggest one of the Starter Sets.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Actually, you could do a lot worse than Avatar the Last Airbender. For what is ostensibly a kid's show it has a lot of mature storytelling and character development. The showrunners put some excellent details that enrich the story on a subsequent viewing.

If you can tolerate an animated show, and not everyone can, it is well worth your time.

As to other concerns, switching genres, sub or otherwise, is something easily done once you have experience. Starting out with a village, trek, and dungeon may not be the ideal playstyle, but it lets you learn the rules. As the old saw says "you have to learn the rules before you break the rules." Once you become adroit the the rules as is, it becomes far easier to adapt them to what you want more.

If you're willing to have a DMG with the AD&D density of information, I suppose you could have a multiplicity of playstyles in the book. Being more flexible may be a goal of Mr. Perkin's with the DMG update.

They can't exactly write that in an official D&D book though, can they? The closest they could do is say "model your adventures on good storytelling examples: here are some". Which brings us back to Appendix N, which has been part of D&D since 1979.

However, magazine type articles can look in depth at specific storytelling examples, and how they can be used in D&D. That's why I think articles (online these days) are more useful than books for teaching DM skills. Articles can be specific, wheras official books have to be general; articles can include authorial opinion, whereas official books have to aim for opinion-neutrality; articles can reflect what is currently popular, official books have to stand for the lifetime of an edition; articles are cheep, books are expensive.