Vague Jayhawk
First Post
Thanks for the help. Those all sound like things that I can do without stepping on the DMs toes.
Assistant DM
- Thread starter Vague Jayhawk
- Start date
Thunderfoot
Hero
As a current G.O.D. (Game Operations Designer) so we don't have the term assistant or co-DM, I have found that the best use is to fill in any gaps left by your counter-part. Once you have asked how your partner best thinks he/she can utilize you, take the next step and offer to do things that aren't being done during the preparations phase to increase the available material when you do play or cut down on prep time by splitting the load.
Ex. - Currently I am in charge of mapping and digital photo manipulation as well as archival of game records for our campaign. My fellow DM is creating NPCs, setting limits on the factions of in the campaign world and taking care of the "magic". We get together once a week 'offline' and discuss the direction of the game and any little devious things we may have come up with independantly, which of course morph into some pretty interesting situations once the other half of the brain, so to speak, works things over. By the end it usually ends up about 50/50 on contribution.
If you have any talents that can help not only streamline the game but also streamline preparation, by all means offer to do so. If the original DM has a campaign plan, bring in ideas that can be cut and pasted in without having specific 'triggers' to give him/her more of an idea pool to work with. Act as a personal assistant when he/she is in the chair to cut down on unneeded downtime. Of course it may take some getting used to, even after three years my fellow DM and I have to stop action and confer to make sure we are both clear on a certain direction, but it has gotten much smoother over the many months.
And NPC interactions have taken on a life of their own since we started doing this. Occasionaly it becomes amature night at the Improv.
Ex. - Currently I am in charge of mapping and digital photo manipulation as well as archival of game records for our campaign. My fellow DM is creating NPCs, setting limits on the factions of in the campaign world and taking care of the "magic". We get together once a week 'offline' and discuss the direction of the game and any little devious things we may have come up with independantly, which of course morph into some pretty interesting situations once the other half of the brain, so to speak, works things over. By the end it usually ends up about 50/50 on contribution.
If you have any talents that can help not only streamline the game but also streamline preparation, by all means offer to do so. If the original DM has a campaign plan, bring in ideas that can be cut and pasted in without having specific 'triggers' to give him/her more of an idea pool to work with. Act as a personal assistant when he/she is in the chair to cut down on unneeded downtime. Of course it may take some getting used to, even after three years my fellow DM and I have to stop action and confer to make sure we are both clear on a certain direction, but it has gotten much smoother over the many months.
And NPC interactions have taken on a life of their own since we started doing this. Occasionaly it becomes amature night at the Improv.
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