The Caller and the Mapper

[GMMichael]

But I'd still like to see our core books say, "But you know what? Here are these other game parameters and these are the means by which you might accommodate them."

Quite possible that non-D&D core books do this. Think about it for a bit, and you'll realize that GMing advice could easily take up 400 pages or more. This wouldn't leave a lot of room for random magic item tables, which I think is why D&D limits the content.

To me, the GM has too much on his plate. Even when he has computing tools to help. So player jobs just make sense.

 

[howandwhy99]

Caller is very much an older practice than D&D. It goes back to wargaming.

Mapper isn't something in wargaming, but then wargaming didn't hide the game board/table behind a screen for the referee to reveal based upon different actions in the game by the players.

Tracking that information is what the character log/record sheet was for. As well as recording the surroundings with a map, so the players didn't get lost. Mazes being at heart close to what it means to be a game.

 

[Prince Atom]

My group doesn't usually use encumbrance, but we generally ask for a volunteer to write down all the loot we've discovered, so the players don't get confused and wind up with duplicates if the fighters all call dibs on the magic sword and all write it down.

We haven't done mapping on graph paper since we started using a battlemat or white board. I have discovered that I like to replicate the maps on Roll20, and I spent a lot of prep time copying Tegel Manor and Castle Ravenloft when we didn't use more than a fraction of it.

 

[Lanefan]

My group doesn't usually use encumbrance, but we generally ask for a volunteer to write down all the loot we've discovered, so the players don't get confused and wind up with duplicates if the fighters all call dibs on the magic sword and all write it down.

This is a very useful role. Handy too is if the DM maintains a mirror list so she can easily reference what that magic sword actually does when all the players know is "it's magic".

Lan-"I usually take this role in games I play in"-efan

 

[Mark CMG]

Some things have always remained the same in D&D. There are always fighters, magic-users, thieves, and clerics. Everyone always has the six ability scores. But exploratory focus of the game when I first started playing has largely fallen by the wayside. Forget callers and mappers, people don't even want to keep track of light-sources and simple encumbrance. So, on the those rare times when I'm inclined to feel sad about modern D&D, it's mostly along those lines. It is a major disconnect between myself and players who've started since the late-90s. In the 80s and early 90s, whether one preferred D&D or AD&D, whichever of the many diverse playstyles one might have settled into, the great many D&D players shared the common experiences of playing B2 and/or hating Bargle, the experience of mapping, and a good chance of having used callers.

That most post-2000 players don't have those shared experiences is not a knock on them or even on post-2000 editions. It just makes me feel old.

Adrenaline addiction is hard to overcome with folks who know no other way. Many smaller, more immediate moments of satisfaction can seemingly outweigh the promise of a deeper, greater satisfaction, as long as a continual source for the lesser versions is in the offing. The need to sell more and more product increased the demand for more and more Referees, DMs, GMs, etc. such that the job needed to be redefined in ways that streamlined the required skills. In the long run, it is easier to require and train someone who can provide smaller, more immediate satisfactions than someone with the time and dedication to provide something greater.