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Any DMs here ever have an assistant DM?
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<blockquote data-quote="Sejs" data-source="post: 3272802" data-attributes="member: 4910"><p>There are times when I've had an actual honest-to-god assistant DM; usually when the game is large and there are multiple events taking place at the same time or seperate articles that need to be addressed. It really helps to avoid those situations where one half of the group is sitting on their thumbs for 45 minutes while the scouts go and ninja around, the decker hacks into the database, the two teams approach from different sides of the castle, or one group is at the masquerade ball while the other is chatting up the soldiers in the barracks.</p><p></p><p>But when it comes to other, minor things like you've mentioned, I'll just hand that off to other players. Bob's performing an action that needs a rule looked up, I'll tell Bob to look up the rule himself and get back to me. When initiative's being rolled and I'm going around the table counting totals, I'll have another player be the recorder - just write 'em down on the margin of the hexmap. For keeping track of charged items, I'll just say 'mark off a charge' and trust the player to take care of it.</p><p></p><p>As a DM there are some things you need to keep close to your vest. Helps to maintain the mystery of the unknown that fuels the discovery and adventure that is what makes gaming fun. For the other, public stuff - delegate. Part of being a DM is managing resources, and your players are one of those resources. And 99% of the time they're more than happy to help, because it frees up you to focus more on being a good DM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sejs, post: 3272802, member: 4910"] There are times when I've had an actual honest-to-god assistant DM; usually when the game is large and there are multiple events taking place at the same time or seperate articles that need to be addressed. It really helps to avoid those situations where one half of the group is sitting on their thumbs for 45 minutes while the scouts go and ninja around, the decker hacks into the database, the two teams approach from different sides of the castle, or one group is at the masquerade ball while the other is chatting up the soldiers in the barracks. But when it comes to other, minor things like you've mentioned, I'll just hand that off to other players. Bob's performing an action that needs a rule looked up, I'll tell Bob to look up the rule himself and get back to me. When initiative's being rolled and I'm going around the table counting totals, I'll have another player be the recorder - just write 'em down on the margin of the hexmap. For keeping track of charged items, I'll just say 'mark off a charge' and trust the player to take care of it. As a DM there are some things you need to keep close to your vest. Helps to maintain the mystery of the unknown that fuels the discovery and adventure that is what makes gaming fun. For the other, public stuff - delegate. Part of being a DM is managing resources, and your players are one of those resources. And 99% of the time they're more than happy to help, because it frees up you to focus more on being a good DM. [/QUOTE]
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