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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wrecan" data-source="post: 5911904" data-attributes="member: 64825">I've created a <a href="http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/29120925/What_Makes_a_Good_DM" target="_blank">new poll over on the official website forums</a> asking people to opine as to what minimum levels of competency a DM needs to possess in seven discrete areas in order to be considered a "good DM".  Much like <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/320560-what-player-abilities-should-game-encourage.html" target="_blank">my previous poll on player skills</a> (now closed), while I'm happy to have a parallel discussion here on EnWorld, I'd like as many people to make their voice heard in the poll itself.I don't think we can ask what DM skills the game should reward, because  truly, most people want their DMs to be a master of everything.  Rather,  I think the more appropriate question is as follows:What is the minimum competency a DM should possess to be considered a good DM?I've  broken the DM skills into seven "professions" and created a poll for  each that asks you to vote for the minimum level of competency you  believe a DM should have in that profession.The polls will last for one month.  Please feel free to leave a comment below, on <a href="http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/29120925/What_Makes_a_Good_DM" target="_blank">the official website forums</a>, or at <a href="http://community.wizards.com/wrecan/blog/2012/05/16/what_makes_a_good_dm" target="_blank">the associated blog article</a>.ACTORA  Dungeon Master must embody a variety of different characters from regal  monarchs to leprous beggars.  The extent to which a DM can "sell" these  characters as believable, the more immersive the roleplaying experience  is for the players.  How much acting skill should a DM possess?DEMIURGEA  campaign world is crafted.  Even when a DM runs published adventures,  he must weave them into a coherent world.  The more plausible this  world, the more the players can anticipate events and participate in the  world's activities as full partners.FIELD MARSHALD&D  can be seen as a series of encounters.  A DM must often run a whole cadre of opponents who must act to counter a strategically advanced  party. In this milieu, it is one DM against four or more players.  How  much skill does a DM need to design and implement a challenging  encounter against a team of adventurers.GAME DESIGNERSometimes  a DM needs to make up a rule on the spot.  To do so, they might  consider all the traditional hallmarks of game design: elegance,  simplicity, balance, and flavor.  Some go outside the box and create  their own monsters and NPCs.  Some DMs go further and design their own  spells, skills, and classes for their players to use.  Whether you are  making an ad hoc ruling, creating house rules, or designing an entire  subsystem, the DM is taking on the role of a game designer.  but how  good a game designer must he be?JUDGERules disputes happen.  It's a fact of life.  The DM isn't an  advocate for the NPCs -- he is the referee.  Sometimes players will have  rules disputes amongst themselves, and sometimes a player will  interpret on if its powers differently than the DM.  Should rules  mastery be required of DMs?  How about rules lawyering?  Should the DM  be skilled wnough to exploit loopholes in the rules in the course of  encounters, if he so chose, even as players try to exploit such  loopholes for their own characters? PUZZLE MASTERDMs  present challenges.  Sometimes they take the form of combat and  sometimes they take the form of ethical decisions.  Sometimes, they take  the form of puzzles.  A puzzle need not be as obvious as sphinx'  riddle.  It may be more of a logic puzzle, where the players are  presented with a variety of competing interests and they must determine  who is right and who is wrong.  Murder mysteries, political thrillers,  social cat-and-mouse, are all types of puzzles that have found a place  in D&D at one time or another.  How adept must a DM be at crafting  intricate plotlines to challenge the players?WRITERAdventuring  is all about the story.  Whether you run a sandbox campaign or a  railroad campaign or something in between, you are still primarily responsible for crafting an engaging story.  Whether it's devising  interesting NPCs, or fascinating locations, or adventure hooks, a DM  writes the material to entertain the players.  Must a DM be  Shakespeare?  J. K. Rowling?  A dimestore novel hack?The categories in the polls are:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This Skill is Not Required to DM</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A DM Needs only Minimal Competency</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A DM Must at Least be an Amateur</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A DM Must be Competent in this Skill</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A DM Must Have Mastery in this Skill</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The DM Must be Better at This Skill Than Anybody Else at the Table</li> </ul></blockquote>

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