D&D General I DM because...

[Azzy]

I want to (and occasionally enjoy being the) DM, and all that goes with it (creating a narrative, world building, creating interesting NPCs, facilitating the fun of others, etc.). Also, the other DM in my group likes to take a break from DMing occasionally so we take turns so that neither of us are a "Forever DM".

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

When I started gaming in the early 80ies I found GM:ing way more fun that being a player. It still is.

 

[Baldurs_Underdark]

I proposed to play a campaign. People said yes. I proposed to be the DM. People said yes. Done.

I enjoy DMing and the rest are all newbies who did not know the difference between a class and a race at the start of the campaign, so everybody wins.

Also, Session Zero promo team says: Don't forget to have a session zero.

 

[Bitbrain]

I DM because I like running games more than I do playing in them.

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

I wanted to play after moving from one city to another and had to slowly recruit fellow weirdos from work, 90% of whom had never played before. It’s been 6.5 years, with very small breaks. I definitely enjoy playing the game as a DM more than a character.

 

[Greg Benage]

Voted "I wanted to/group wanted me to" because we took turns (Greg's world, Mike's world, Luke's world...). Our "worlds" were a collection of whatever modules and homebrewed dungeons we were running.

I'm still running 42 years later because it's kinda like writing a novel with all the difficult and tedious bits stripped out, i.e. the actual writing. I get to do world-building, sketch out characters with backstories, goals and motivations, and then...let someone else figure out what happens.

That, and then the other part, which is like hosting a party. Tough job.

 

[Voadam]

we took turns (Greg's world, Mike's world, Luke's world...). Our "worlds" were a collection of whatever modules and homebrewed dungeons we were running.

We sort of did this too in the 80s and 90s but also left some things to each other's domains.

Voadam runs Greyhawk (later Ravenloft) everybody else leave getting the modules in those worlds (Temple of Elemental Evil, Slavers, Falcon, etc.) for him so as not to spoil them when he runs the game. B runs Forgotten Realms and Dungeon Magazine adventures so leave Dungeon stuff for him. J runs homebrew settings and adventures based off of fantasy novels nobody else in the group has read. N runs Warhammer and GURPS homebrew. I runs Palladium and Shadowrun so leave the Shadowrun modules to him. J2 runs Vampire.

 

[Greg Benage]

We sort of did this too in the 80s and 90s but also left some things to each other's domains.

My recollection is that TSR modules came out infrequently enough (given how much we played), that we didn't really have that option. It was more of a "next up" situation. All our "worlds" were some kind of frankenstein Mysthawk as a result.

 

[Voadam]

My recollection is that TSR modules came out infrequently enough (given how much we played), that we didn't really have that option. It was more of a "next up" situation. All our "worlds" were some kind of frankenstein Mysthawk as a result.

We usually spent a lot of time in any one module unless it was a short thing out of Dragon. Given that half of us did all homebrew or different systems it was easy to leave Greyhawk then Ravenloft stuff for me, and Dungeon for B out of the couple of us who were buying adventures. Monthly Dungeon in particular once it got going was more than enough for one person to run stuff in. 2e era also had a bunch of adventures. I never felt short on modules to run.

 

[Greg Benage]

Monthly Dungeon in particular once it got going was more than enough for one person to run stuff in.

Yeah, we were pre-Dungeon. Man, that would have been nice to have. Hell, it would be nice to have now. DMs Guild is great, but so are pro editors.

 

[Charlaquin]

I started DMing because I wanted to play D&D but would have felt selfish asking someone else to take on the workload of DMing to entertain me. Would that count as “the group needed someone to DM and I accepted” since I did it more out of necessity than desire, or as “I wanted to and the group needed someone to DM” because it was a self-motivated decision?

 

[Voadam]

Yeah, we were pre-Dungeon. Man, that would have been nice to have. Hell, it would be nice to have now. DMs Guild is great, but so are pro editors.

He only started DMing around the Dungeon era, so it was easy to at that point say we would leave that magazine for him. We were happy to support him trying his hand at DMing with something exclusive for him to use after years of his just playing. My group had all started off around 81 so one shot B/X modules was the norm to start and then I started an actual ongoing specifically Greyhawk campaign (using the boxed set setting) with B1 leading to Temple of Elemental Evil which they abandoned part way through to head off for the Slavers and then other Greyhawk stuff.

 

[Guest 7034872]

I wanted to give something fun and memorable to my friends.

 

[Celebrim]

I enjoy GMing, and so I want to do it.

Most groups I have GMed have wanted me to DM and specifically asked me to do it.

Less nobly, most groups I have been involved with, the GMing ultimately frustrates me as being inferior to what I know I can offer and what I would be happy with as a player. I find that I enjoy the game more being the GM even when I would prefer to be a player, than I would being a player with a GM that lacks the skill or experience to do the job well. This bit of arrogance on my part typically gets bolstered by the fact that players that I have had typically are disappointed by the games run by other GMs and tend to beg me to run a game.

I do get to points where I really miss being a player and being able to go to a game without having spent my whole week planning for the game, and to just show up and do role-play with likeminded players who also can role-play. Playing is also a lot of fun and I haven't got to do much of it in like 25 years now.

 

[Scottius]

I DM for my groups approximately 90% of the time and I do so because I want to, I love running games, and because my groups want me running their games.

 

[Grogg of the North]

Because I wanted to.
Because I had a campaign/story I wanted to run.
Because I find GMing more enjoyable than being a player lately.

 

[TheSword]

I voted 3 because while we have another 2 GMs in the group it gives them a break to be able to play in a campaign if I DM some of the time. We normally have a couple of campaigns on the go at a time.

I’d be very wary of a DM that didn’t semi-regularly play the game from the PCs side. Perspective is important.

 

[LordEntrails]

First five. But it would only let me pick 3 and I couldn't pick so I didn't vote.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I wanted to get a group started.