D&D 5E DM Theory?

[Helldritch]

I am 50. Started playing at 10. Began DMing at 13. I have been mainly a DM since then.

My first group is 6 players strong. All are 49 or 50. My second group has 1 player that is 50, 2 that are 38, 2 are 37 and the "baby" is 34.

I host a third group about once a month at our hobby store composed of various players with short one shot adventures (about 3 hours max to complete) that I write especially for these events.

Sometimes I don't even DM that evening but I coach a young DM into DMing. It is very fun to do.

 

[77IM]

It always struck me as bizarre that more people weren't into DMing. As the DM, you have the whole table's attention, pretty much all the time. In a sense it's always your "turn." That should be a pretty strong emotional draw for most humans.

 

[FXR]

DMing takes time. I know there are plenty of websites, aids and whatnots to speed up play but it still takes more time to DM than to be a player.

Of course, some people do not mind the burden, and really like preparing a campaign or an adventure. Some are pretty efficient and manage to prepare stuff for a 3-hours session in only 30 minutes, but in my case, it takes about 6 hours to do so, more if I have to prepare maps for Roll20.

Many people do not wish to spend their freetime this way.

 

[Zardnaar]

DMing takes time. I know there are plenty of websites, aids and whatnots to speed up play but it still takes more time to DM than to be a player.

Of course, some people do not mind the burden, and really like preparing a campaign or an adventure. Some are pretty efficient and manage to prepare stuff for a 3-hours session in only 30 minutes, but in my case, it takes about 6 hours to do so, more if I have to prepare maps for Roll20.

Many people do not wish to spend their freetime this way.

I don't put as much effort in now.

I kinda design my own but mine heavily recycling maps,sections of adventures etc.

 

[uzirath]

Six of the seven people in my main group are also DMs. Ages range from 26 to 49. One of the younger players is just learning how to play for the first time.

 

[77IM]

If you run published modules, game prep takes hardly any time. Anyone who spends 6 hours preparing for a 3-hour session is doing that because they want to, not because it's required. So saying that prep time is the problem is like saying "I don't want to be a player because I don't want to have to paint my own miniature." Sure, you can do that, and lots of people love it, but there are plenty of fun alternatives.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Another grognardish curmudgeon here. Started Playing & DM'ing in '81 (?), never stopped. Closest "player mostly" was about half a year in the mid 90's, and about a year and a half in early 2000's (after returning from living/schooling in Vancouver for 2 years). Other than than...97% DM/GM.

Why are there 'so many' of us old fart DM's? I have a theory...

Back in "Ye olden day's of yore", playing D&D wasn't "a game you played on the weekends" so much as it was a "hobby you partook in every weekend with others...but 'worked on' just about every day".

The difference is pretty strong; it's like someone heading to a friends place to play a video game ever Friday night. That person is "playing a game", and might have their own personal controller. But then there are people who head to a friends place to play a video game every Friday night...and they have a dozen custom controllers, every console created since 1985, and a PC gaming set up worth $10k. They have a Steam, GOG and Epic game library consisting of hundreds of games. They do this every night, for fun. They read about games, read about game design, read gaming magazines and are subscribed to several gaming eMags/Sites. They enjoy "all of it", not just playing the game.

The first guy? "Casual gamer". They want to just do something and have fun. They don't want to 'work at it', because that's not fun to them. The second guy? "True Gamer". Video games are his/her hobby, and they enjoy doing all that 'other stuff' and spending the money, because to them, that's fun.

For us RPG'ers, same thing. The older crowd like me think of RPG's as a "hobby" and not as a "game". A person with a hobby will spend endless hours in pursuit of that hobby, and spend hundreds, thousands or TENS of thousands on that hobby. The person who sees RPG's as "just a game" isn't invested because they don't really enjoy all aspects of RPG's...they just want to hang with friends, roll dice, and eat munchies. When not doing that, they are doing other things (like constantly checking their social media because... reasons... or something... ).

Anyway, that's my 2¢ on it. The Old Guard are STILL playing, spending time, creating, and DM'ing because that was the draw of the game back then; it was MUCH more "hobby focused" than it is today. Newer games and Players/DM's don't have that same drive (for the most part, at least IN MY EXPERIENCE). I'm guessing it's mostly because there are soooo many other, easier, bite-sized-chunks of entertainment (re: youtube, forums like this, mobile games, social media, etc) that, well, they do that instead. It's easy. It takes little to no effort and can be picked up and put down at a moments notice. What does that say about society? Well, that's a WHOLE other kettle of Khargra!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Rikka66]

It always struck me as bizarre that more people weren't into DMing. As the DM, you have the whole table's attention, pretty much all the time. In a sense it's always your "turn." That should be a pretty strong emotional draw for most humans.

Public speaking is the number one phobia in the United States. In-class presentations are frequently cited as the most dreaded aspects of a course by students.

 

[the Jester]

49 years old. I've been gaming, and DMing, since 1981. I have spent well over 95% of my overall D&D time DMing. I've run every edition from Basic to 5e, and currently run something like five different groups of pcs, with a fair number of overlapping players between groups.

 

[beast013]

Started playing D&D in 1975. Started DMing in 1976. I've DM'ed all versions and am stilling running a 4e campaign that's been going since 2008. I've had lots of players over the years, some have DM'ed as well. Looking at Fantasy Grounds/Roll20 stats, there are tons of 5e games being played, so DMs abound. I think a poll as mentioned by Jasper would be great. I hope there is a new generation of DMs running today with 5e. Got to keep the flame going.