D&D (2024) Not enough DMs / new edition

[payn]

They are putting work into the DMG, but all you can do is lead gamers to Mt Dew, you cant make them drink.

 

[James Gasik]

Discontinue the esoteric technical jargon of "challenge ratings".

Instead use "levels" for both monsters and player characters, whose meaning is obvious.

In principle, it should be easy to create a monster of a specific level on the fly, using a chart. A DM can customize it with normal player character rules, plus a hit point boost and heavy damage for several rounds.

Establish a reliable sense of what level a monster needs to be for "medium difficulty" for the players to encounter.

Relatedly, establish how many lower level monsters approximate a certain level monster.

Xanathars has some useful approaches but I am unsure if its numbers pass the test of time. There seems to be different schools of thought among D&D commentators.


Making encounter building simple to understand and do, helps make DMing a joy.

Hey now, don't get too crazy, this is starting to sound like that one edition that shall not be named lest this thread turn into a battleground and was definitely not D&D.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So is this new edition going to be the one that finally makes things a bit easier for the Dungeon Masters out there?

Nope. CR is still there.

So is 'rulings, not rules'.

 

[Distracted DM]

I don't see how it could get any easier. there are 3 or 4 different introductory sets (depending on how you classify R&M and ST) as well as a tsunami of How To GM videos, both official and unofficial. And it isn't that hard to begin with.

The system. It could get easier if the system offloaded some of the burden onto the players.

I think you read @Ry 's post as "Will it be easier for people to learn how to GM?" I read it as "Will it be easier for the GM to run the game?"
Only OP can clarify the question for us

5e puts A LOT on the GM during a session. It's probably too late to lighten the load beyond what they've tried doing with monsters' statblocks, which has been a contentious thing (I like and dislike the changes )- they need to shift the load around so it's not so heavily on the GM. "Rulings not rules" is one aspect of this, it's also one reason that I moved to LU A5e: there are a few more rules for things, so I don't need to build a massive book of my past rulings on situations that come up semi-frequently; the rules are there, and the players can learn them.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Expand your horizons beyond just 5E and I bet you find a lot more chances to game.

 

[overgeeked]

The system. It could get easier if the system offloaded some of the burden onto the players.

Yeah, the system is bloated and not easy to handle in a lot of ways.

5e puts A LOT on the GM during a session. It's probably too late to lighten the load beyond what they've tried doing with monsters' statblocks, which has been a contentious thing (I like and dislike the changes )- they need to shift the load around so it's not so heavily on the GM. "Rulings not rules" is one aspect of this, it's also one reason that I moved to LU A5e: there are a few more rules for things, so I don't need to build a massive book of my past rulings on situations that come up semi-frequently; the rules are there, and the players can learn them.

I mean, you're only controlling everything in the entire world except for the PCs. That's not too much to ask.

 

[payn]

Hey now, don't get too crazy, this is starting to sound like that one edition that shall not be named lest this thread turn into a battleground and was definitely not D&D.

If you are looking for some of that, its well under way currently in another thread.

 

[payn]

Expand your horizons beyond just 5E and I bet you find a lot more chances to game.

IDK, if you cant find a 5E game???

 

[James Gasik]

If you are looking for some of that, its well under way currently in another thread.

Yeah, I'm wildly aware.

 

[MichaelSomething]

But there are plenty of 5E DMs on startplaying.games !