D&D General How to be a Not-Terrible DM: Thoughts on the Upcoming DMG

[KYRON45]

I can't parse this question.

As is well known and cannot be disputed, I am always right. Sometimes, the world is wrong.

When you're right, you're right.
When you aren't you must be mistaken.

 

[Reynard]

Is it weird we have monsters from.the 2024 MM but no 2024 DMG pages?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I have observed in practice the general phenomenon he describes.

Threads full of general advice and theory tend to be challenging to parse for actionable content, not just because of inconsistent use of jargon, but because much of the advice is contextually dependent. Look at Lanefan's posts about GMing, for example!

Threads where someone poses a more specific issue or problem in their game tend to get a lot of really helpful and germane advice from folks who've dealt with the same kind of issue.

That being said, of COURSE there is SOME generally good advice. Hence the good reputation of Jaquays' Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide for nearly three decades now, for example.

And yet I have also seen threads full of

17 different posters: ask your DM
OP: ...I am the DM
17 further posters: well then you're the DM, you figure it out
OP: That's what I was trying to do by asking for advice!

There was a bloody epidemic of threads like this in the first three years of 5e. Not just here. RPG.net, Reddit, GITP. Every forum/site I used had threads like this. Over and over.

Specific advice is no more guaranteed to be useful than general advice. Especially in light of many very useful general tools, like Session 0, the X and O cards, lines and veils, and other tools that are versatile and applicable to nearly any game and style of play.

 

[KYRON45]

My honest to goodness advice to all new DMs:
Dive in head first. Make mistakes. Play with your best friends.
It's just a game. Laugh and embarrass yourself and then laugh some more. Play the game the way you think it should be played.
Don't be afraid of criticism....ask for it. Be goofy. Handwave lots of rules; then look them up.
Don't expect anything.
My most important piece of advice.....don't look to the DMG for advice at all.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You never read the Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide for 2E?

It's definitely possible to give good general advice on player & campaign management.

I didn't, actually. I loved 2e, but I didn't own every book. You really that book is good advice for everyone, and not just folks with its take on being a good DM?

 

[Micah Sweet]

That's self-evident.

It's also simply true that Jaquays' book that I referenced has been widely lauded for decades, and that there have been other books over the years whose DM or GM advice has received a broad consensus of being considered worse or better than average.

MGibster just referenced another older book with good advice that Micah praised as great, which seems contradictory to his previous statement that "Providing generally applicable advice just isn't possible". I think that's false, and given his comment about Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads: The Unexpurgated Cyberpunk Referee's Guide, I suspect that's not what he meant. I'm guessing he meant that UNIVERSALLY applicable advice isn't possible. Which, sure, but we should know better than to make the perfect the enemy of the good.

Its not at odds. The Cyberpunk book fit with my style. That doesn't mean it's advice is generally useful for all or even most DMs. Legend of the Five Rings had a book back in the day called the GM Survival Guide that I thought was and is great. For me and people who think like me. Not necessarily for others.

And it's also important to consider that people change over time. I read both those books many years ago, and might not agree with them as much now.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I want to say too that I am glad I saw this thread. I want to start a local gaming club at the library. And one of the things i want to do is create a GMing course for any who are interested.

This thread helped reinforce the idea that I need to define terminology I want to use in my presentation. And that I do not have to use any prior terminology, or rather, I can redefine prior terminology.

For example, one of the things I want to address is the GMs role in roleplaying games. I know the term "story game" can be controversial, and gatekeeping. So i have thought of other terms I can use.

But for me, as I define it, story games is not a pejorative term. And I have to say, traditional rpg isn't a term I like.

So I thought maybe this:

Roles Playing Game - each player at the table is either a game master or a player. These roles are distinct, the responsibilities of each are separate, and do not overlap.

Story Game - everyone at the table is responsible for most aspects of running the game. No one person exercises complete control over the rules or group.

This is how I define both terms.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is what they do in academia. If you listen to someone give lecture on philosophy they'll define their terms. If someone argues people are searching for personal peace & prosperity they'll define what that means. You know what doesn't happenwhen the lecture is over? Nobody chimes in and says, "That's not how I define personal peace & prosperity.

A little more structure to our discussions would definitely not go amiss.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Is it weird we have monsters from.the 2024 MM but no 2024 DMG pages?

I really think WotC is just not interested in getting DMs excited about 5.5.

 

[MGibster]

This might sounds a bit odd, but it wouldn't be amiss to include a little advice on how to resolve conflicting ideas/behavior that make the game less fun for everyone. Like what do you do when a player character's actions are making the game less enjoyable for others? How do you address this in a manner that's preserves the dignity of the person you're talking to and leads to a mutually satisfactory conclusion?