D&D General The DM Shortage

[Paul Farquhar]

Dungeons, for example, can have factions to interact with, and stories that are communicated in non-linear, non-expository form (through found items, for example).

Correct, but the published modules from the time period we are talking about did not have that information (generally).

I would be interested to track down where the first factional information first appeared in a published dungeon. I've a hunch that idea came in from other games (like Traveller) and 3PP (like City State of the Invincible Overlord). The World of Greyhawk had it's factions, but I don't recall seeing them incorporated into TSR dungeon modules. Danger at Dunswater perhaps as an early example?

 

[Greg Benage]

D&D was presented as pretty adversarial in the core rules back then. AD&D too. I think Gygax was an adversarial DM. There was material about in magazines, such as White Dwarf, that presented other approaches though. And I brought in things from other early RPGs, such as Traveller and Runequest.

AD&D, yes. Gygax contradicted himself at times, but he certainly did strike an adversarial pose on occasion. But Mentzer??? My impression of his books is that they were a kinder, gentler D&D. Right from the jump, in the DM's Rulebook, Page 3, he says something we hear a lot, and I think he puts it really well:

But remember — although the monsters may be fighting the characters, you are not fighting the players. If you try to entertain them, they will entertain you.

That's good advice, well stated, and anti-adversarial.

 

[Oofta]

When it comes to the great DM shortage of the 21st century, there are two things we do know. The game is still growing rapidly and you need a DM to play D&D. You can't have the former without the latter.

Could the game grow even faster if onboarding DMs was done better? Maybe. I think the DMG should be rearranged at the very least and I mentioned having a dozen or so intro modules made available. But people are comfortable with getting training and information online now, so there are plenty of options other than the DMG to improve your DMing expertise.

Until we have a D&D AI that can run engaging and challenging adventures we will continue to have spot shortages of DMs. Just like we've always had.

​

 

[Reynard]

Until we have a D&D AI that can run engaging and challenging adventures we will continue to have spot shortages of DMs. Just like we've always had.

​

So, like, next year?

 

[Greg Benage]

So, like, next year?

I dunno. Trying to get any kind of creativity out of it is rough. I tried to get it to write a five-room dungeon. It knows what a five-room dungeon is, and it knows the kind of stuff you'd fill it with, but getting it to actually do that was more than my attention span would allow. Coming soon, though, I think.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So, like, next year?

Who's going to teach the AI?

Checkmate, robots.

 

[Reynard]

I dunno. Trying to get any kind of creativity out of it is rough. I tried to get it to write a five-room dungeon. It knows what a five-room dungeon is, and it knows the kind of stuff you'd fill it with, but getting it to actually do that was more than my attention span would allow. Coming soon, though, I think.

I think it is inevitable and not particularly far away.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There are plenty of "Roguelike" computer games that can randomly create an OSR style dungeon already.

 

[Reynard]

There are plenty of "Roguelike" computer games that can randomly create an OSR style dungeon already.

Sure but the OSR style GM would be harder to emulate than one to run you through a modern module. There are rules and DC for the stuff you'll try in DotMM. Less so in Temple of the Frog.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Sure but the OSR style GM would be harder to emulate than one to run you through a modern module. There are rules and DC for the stuff you'll try in DotMM. Less so in Temple of the Frog.

You just need a set of rules for determining DCs. That's easy to code.

The only thing that's challenging for a computer is creating engaging story and characters (and even that might be close). You don't need that for an OSR game, that's the players' job, insofar as it happens at all.