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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 8861586" data-attributes="member: 6796661">I wonder if DM shortages may be caused by more modern long campaign/adventure path play and DMing seeing as more of a hobby role rather than a session role. Can this make existing DMs a hurdle that prospective DMs have to jump over?Say you have a group of 4-6 friends who can get together once a week for 4-6 hour sessions. How many opportunities arise to switch the DM? For DnD I only have two periods to compare: (1) late 70s through the 80s (Basic and AD&D) and (2) 2014 to now (5e). In my personal experience, the DM role switched frequently in the late 70s and 80s.  I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we almost entirely ran modules. Most modules could be completed in one to three sessions.The adventures published by WotC today need months to complete. Unless you play in multiple groups, you are likely going to be playing with the same person DMing for months at a time. Co-DMing is a thing, but doesn't seem that popular. I personally wouldn't find it satisfying to switch between being a player and being a DM during the same published WotC adventure.TTRPG streaming shows tend to etch into many new players that long campaigns focus on character development and grand story arches are the core to the D&D experience. There are lots of third-party publishers putting out short adventures but they aren't going to influence newer players as much as if WotC would publish one shots.I like WotCs slow-burn publishing of rule books, settings, and large adventures, but it would be nice if they would publish more short adventures on a regular basis. Not just expensive books collecting together a lot of adventures and not just DMs guild, but an adventure a two a month with the full DDB treatment. Really, all they would need to do is take the Adventurer's League adventures and put them into DDB and give more attention to a style of play where a group can get together a play an adventure in a session or two. Take their characters from one adventure to the next without worrying about story continuity across adventures. Taking turns running adventures. Make it as casual as getting together for a board game.Not having to take on the burden of familiarizing yourself with hundreds of pages of adventure material and creating an engaging "campaign" for all characters to develop satisfying character arcs, would be quite freeing for casual DMs who just want to get together now and then and play a game with no long-term commitment. It would even allow for you to cycle D&D into board game groups.Even for players, D&D seems like a commitment. Find ways to support casual gaming in D&D and far more people will be willing to DM.</blockquote>

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