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<blockquote data-quote="Dr. Bull" data-source="post: 9204471" data-attributes="member: 6693776">Dear Mr. Dunwoody:I am grateful that you have posted this and I am also glad to join this conversation.&nbsp; As a long-term DM (with 40 years of experience), I like to read as much as I can about time-saving strategies and alternative perspectives to DM'ing.&nbsp; This was one of the best articles I've read on ENworld for quite a while.I've enjoyed reading your previous posts and I would like to offer my own perspective:During Covid, I had a face-to-face gamer group of 4 people who formed a &quot;social Covid bubble&quot; for almost 2 years.&nbsp; We gamed&nbsp; for 4-6 hours, every other week, for a total of 58 gaming sessions (they are well-documented).&nbsp; The party consisted of 2 rogues and 1 bard; they spent a lot of time on specific goals and quests, but it all boiled-down to the &quot;sandbox&quot;.&nbsp; Essentially, I used the map of the Sword Coast as a guide, but every location was altered to suit the needs of the current issue at hand.In the end, I relied heavily upon advice from the &quot;Lazy DM&quot; to improvise along the way.&nbsp; Thankfully, the players and their characters developed a lengthy list of character traits and motivations.&nbsp; We could have kept the campaign going for many years, but 2 of the players moved away.In short, I re-learned several lessons.&nbsp; The first lesson was to find excellent maps.&nbsp; The second lesson was to ask the players for a laundry list of character backgrounds and motivations.&nbsp; The third lesson was to embrace improvisation within a specific (clearly defined) world.&nbsp; If the group had stayed together, they could have advanced beyond 20th level.&nbsp; We spent over 250 hours together playing this campaign, yet I proved to be &quot;stingy&quot; with their advancement (by the time the campaign ended, they reached 10th level).I highly recommend your advice, in addition to the &quot;Lazy DM,&quot; Kobold Press, Gary Gygax, and others...&nbsp; It is very difficult to be a DM, but in the end, it is worth it!Sincerely,- Dr. Bull</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dr. Bull, post: 9204471, member: 6693776"] Dear Mr. Dunwoody: I am grateful that you have posted this and I am also glad to join this conversation. As a long-term DM (with 40 years of experience), I like to read as much as I can about time-saving strategies and alternative perspectives to DM'ing. This was one of the best articles I've read on ENworld for quite a while. I've enjoyed reading your previous posts and I would like to offer my own perspective: During Covid, I had a face-to-face gamer group of 4 people who formed a "social Covid bubble" for almost 2 years. We gamed for 4-6 hours, every other week, for a total of 58 gaming sessions (they are well-documented). The party consisted of 2 rogues and 1 bard; they spent a lot of time on specific goals and quests, but it all boiled-down to the "sandbox". Essentially, I used the map of the Sword Coast as a guide, but every location was altered to suit the needs of the current issue at hand. In the end, I relied heavily upon advice from the "Lazy DM" to improvise along the way. Thankfully, the players and their characters developed a lengthy list of character traits and motivations. We could have kept the campaign going for many years, but 2 of the players moved away. In short, I re-learned several lessons. The first lesson was to find excellent maps. The second lesson was to ask the players for a laundry list of character backgrounds and motivations. The third lesson was to embrace improvisation within a specific (clearly defined) world. If the group had stayed together, they could have advanced beyond 20th level. We spent over 250 hours together playing this campaign, yet I proved to be "stingy" with their advancement (by the time the campaign ended, they reached 10th level). I highly recommend your advice, in addition to the "Lazy DM," Kobold Press, Gary Gygax, and others... It is very difficult to be a DM, but in the end, it is worth it! Sincerely, - Dr. Bull [/QUOTE]

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