D&D General Practicing DMing

[MGibster]

Er... I'm a professional musician, and I can definitely say that's not now how it works. There's definitely a difference in quality between the people who are spending time practicing their skills in between performances and those that don't. Sure, practice and performance aren't exactly the same... but my old choir director used to say, "proper practice prevents piss-poor performance" for a reason.

I was never a professional musician but I did play the violin for a number of years. I got better by actually playing the violin. I didn't play it in front of an audience all the time, but I got better by playing.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

I was never a professional musician but I did play the violin for a number of years. I got better by actually playing the violin. I didn't play it in front of an audience all the time, but I got better by playing.

Playing on your own, and not in front of an audience, is... practicing... right?

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Great responses so far. Thank you all!

To clarify: I already do plenty of reading and watching and testing things in play. I DM every other week - and sometimes more than that if time allows - so it is not a matter of "getting out there and doing it". Players are having fun when I DM - and I can occasionally get some feedback from them - but I don't really want to call it a day at that. I'm not concerned that anything is truly broken that needs fixing. I simply want to hone my craft through deliberate practice - if, in fact, that is even a thing that can happen outside of an actual session.

So far, among the other helpful suggestions, I'm really loving:
1) the Rulings Workshop +thread idea
2) online mini-session with other DMs to play out a single scenario with a feedback discussion afterward

 

[Krachek]

Review the setting, home brew or not, from the point of view of various characters that the PC usually encounter.
Usally a DM see the world as the Overseeker. In a game the limited point a view of various character is more useful.
So a DM can train himself to switch rapidly from one character point of view to another.
it will help social and even fight get better.

 

[aco175]

but my old choir director used to say, "proper practice prevents piss-poor performance" for a reason.

My old Army sergeant taught about the same- the 7P's of success, but I recall it being only 5Ps. Proper Planning Prevents Piss-poor Performance.

As far as the original post (OP), I would suggest being the DM for another group for a while or a few nights. Maybe a FLGS has Adventure League (AL) nights or a local school club. Might be hard to schedule time, but you may make new friends and players for when you need more for your home game. Seeing other players also helps you see how they play and what they may expect.

Another idea if to plan events and scenes for the game. Make them as varied as possible and come up with 'set pieces' to use as a major event in each game. Say that you play 3-4 hours and have 4-5 encounters, well make one a 'set piece' and focus on that one more than the others. I'm thinking that small steps add up to bigger ones and eventually each encounter is better and easier.

 

[GMMichael]

I did a quick skim, didn't notice these:

• Record your game and watch yourself afterward.
• Use pre-written descriptive text.

 

[Charlaquin]

My old Army sergeant taught about the same- the 7P's of success, but I recall it being only 5Ps. Proper Planning Prevents Piss-poor Performance.

I count 6, although I suppose two of them are connected by a hyphen.

 

[Charlaquin]

Record your game and watch yourself afterward.

That’s a great idea

 

[Scott Christian]

I have no specific advice of this kind, but I have found that running the same scenario multiple times for different groups, shaping it from what you learn each time and responding to the unique ways players approach the scenario is really helpful both with that (and similar scenarios) and in general.

When I would run the same one-shot multiple times for different groups at GEN CON, I always got something out of it to bring back to my home game for example.

This is so true it actually explodes the zone of truth spell.

 

[Stalker0]

If your having trouble with combats, you could run them yourselves. Aka play 4 characters and monsters, do all the rolls yourself, all the math, etc etc. Time yourself, and then see if you can beat your time.

This is more than you would do at a table, which is the point. If you get comfortable running 4 players and monsters and doing all the math and rolls, then "just" running the monsters should be a snap.