A dilemma

[Decamber]

Hi there.

I'm in quite a dilemma. I yearn for DMing - every moment of role-playing, or doing anything related to it, makes my hunger increase thoroughly. I feel I'm coming out of my hollow period of dungeon mastering I've been stuck in, however at a limited level: I would like to DM during the gaming sessions, but not otherwise. I haven't got much time to prepare and do the out-of-game DM stuff, but I want the power of the DM!

Well, putting the irony aside, it isn't the power. Or well, it's partly the power. And partly the status - but mainly the freedom!
I think that if I had to choose on the long-term, I'd go for DMing rather than playing.

So, the problem then is my time limit. Though if we apart from that, there's still a problem. We've been switching campaigns and DMs over sessions a long time now, it feels like. So I don't know if it'd be good if we did that again.

What am I to do?

 

[Emiricol]

DM. Use modules. Even if you modify them to near unrecognizability (as I do if I use a module), it gives you all the framework you need if you are on a timelimit for DM work !

 

[Maerdwyn]

To build on what Emericol said, try a supermodule, like Return to the Temple of ELemental Evil - you get a huge amount of gaming time out of the one purchase, and get to know the ins-and-outs of the module even better as you move along, cutting down even further on the prep time you might need running a series of unrelated modules.

 

[Emiricol]

Great idea, that. The Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil also has a lot of info on NPCs of importance in the region, etc. Heck you could probably do a whole campaign just using the hooks included in the setting, without ever running the real module

 

[RangerWickett]

Ugh, don't use modules, please. For the sake of your players, I implore you. They're slow, totally uncaring to the actual characters the players create (you're a noble duke out to discover the truth of your nation's sinister dark side? Too bad, go fight some gnolls!). They very much under-emphasize roleplaying, and over-emphasize hack and slash.

Maybe a few good ones don't do this, and maybe good DMs can make even boring modules like Temple of Elemental Evil interesting. I'm just not interested in hack'n'slash, and the DM who's running it is, like you, short on time, so he doesn't even bother trying to fix the thing to make it . . . y'know, an adventure.

If the module is really really really low on fighting, it might be cool, or if there's a legitimate reason for people to be fighting monsters, go for it, but don't just play one of those modules that assumes the PCs want to go out killing things. The players will go along, but the adventure will be dull and shallow.

In my humble opinion.

 

[Maerdwyn]

RangerWickett, I rarely use modules, for some of the reasons that you cite. But what, if not modules, would you suggest for Decamber and other time-poor DMs?

If I had serious time issues, I'd much rather start with something that was at least mechanically sound, and build from there, rather than have to start from scratch and not get it done, or get it done halfway.

There are some great modules out there which are less-combat oriented, as well - My group had an absolute blast with Mike Mearls' in the Belly of the Beast, for example. Of course, your advice still applies even to a (IMHO) great module like that - if my players were more hack n slash oriented than they are, they'd have been bored to death.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Hello Decamber!

As much as I can relate to how you are feeling, I would reccomend waiting to DM until you can devote the time and energy needed to do it right. Your players will really appreciate it, and your campaign will last longer. There always seems to be something new taking up your time as a DM, including many mundane details.

Perhaps you can DM a few encounter based get togethers outside of the continuity of your regular campaign just to get your fix? You can suggest to your crew an additional get together and perhaps run a short adventure from Dragon (side-treks ) or run through an encounter or two from a book like the "Book of Challenges" which is great for providing a couple hours worth of entertainment. You may entice players into this by promising monsters or other details that are sufficiently different from your current campaign - a nice change of pace without a bunch of commitment.

Also - perhaps you should re-analyze your reasons for wanting to DM. Power and Status are definitely the WRONG reasons, as they are truly an illusion. Freedom is too. A good DM offers many possibilities and lets the players shape the campaign. I'd have to say a DM actually has less "freedom" than a player in many respects...

 

[drnuncheon]

Ugh, don't use modules, please. For the sake of your players, I implore you. They're slow, totally uncaring to the actual characters the players create (you're a noble duke out to discover the truth of your nation's sinister dark side? Too bad, go fight some gnolls!). They very much under-emphasize roleplaying, and over-emphasize hack and slash.

With a very small time investment and some intelligent choices from the DM, modules (at least the good ones) can be adapted to fit the characters. I humbly offer Book One of my story hour as an example - about 75% of it is from modules published in one place or another (The Freeport trilogy, a Dragon mag adventure, a couple from the web...) and yet it still managed to adapt to the characters.

(WRT the noble duke...I think I would warn the player if I weren't planning on running a game dealing with his nation's dark side - it's only fair, and it's going to be impossible to run a game if you've got 4-6 players each with their own personal plotline that they want to focus on. Then again, maybe the person behind those gnolls is using them to manipulate the king, and he's responsible for the death of player B's father, and...)

J

 

[Emiricol]

Precisely my point with modules. Use 'em as foundations only. Personally, I have little time for dungeon design. Sometimes I do customs, but often I grab dungeon levels from a module and use them so I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Of course, dungeons are only about 10% of my campaigns and tend to serve as plot devices, so the dungeon is far less important than the story I put behind them.

And that's the point I'm trying to make. Pick a setting if you don't have time to make one (there are many excellent ones available, both free and commercial). Come up with a half dozen situations going on behind the scenes, and let the players guide the story itself. Use modules, if you like, so you don't have to design dungeons (time consuming). I recommend not using them "as-is", but rather as just levels.

Or get a megamodule if your group is hack/slash enough, or if you feel comfortable taking it out of its dungeon-crawling roots.

EDIT - and I definitely echo BFG's points on motives. IMHO, if the campaign is going well you'll find that the PCs are being proactive, and you being reactive, based on any number of situations and plot-hooks you scatter about. The players then drive the action, but you don't have to completely ad-lib it the way I usually do I'm a glutton for punishment.

 

[Decamber]

Thanks for the replies!
I will think over it some more and then probably start working on a campaign which I can wait to DM until the other is completed. Nice tip about the RTTOEE module. I bought it some while ago and haven't done anything with it yet, so that could be my next.