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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5912053" data-attributes="member: 58197">I don't think any single one of those skills is required to be a good DM. It depends on your style and that of your gaming group.For example, take DM #1. She's a brutal, uncompromising "killer DM" who runs a dungeon hack for a bunch of hardcore combat monkeys. The players in this group yawn their way through social encounters and don't give a crap about story or worldbuilding, but they come alive when they hear the magic words, "Roll initiative." They're expert optimizers and tacticians who love to be pushed to the limit of their skills.Then take DM #2. He runs a long-term campaign for an artistically minded player group, who enjoy deep immersion and aren't much into combat. Whole sessions regularly pass without a single fight. Most PCs have extensive back stories and the players like to have events from those back stories woven into the campaign.Finally, DM #3 runs for a group whose players are restless and crave novelty. They craft interesting, exotic characters, who get dumped after 5-6 sessions because the player's had a new idea. For much the same reason, they can't keep a campaign going longer than four months--either the DM or the players or both get bored.DM #1 needs to be a master Field Marshal and Judge. She would benefit from skills as a Game Designer and Puzzle Master, though those are not essential. Demiurge, Writer, and Actor are irrelevant.DM #2 needs to be a Demiurge, a Writer, and an Actor above all. Now and then being a good Puzzle Master will come in handy. He has little use for Game Designer or Judge and none at all for Field Marshal.DM #3 absolutely must be a good Game Designer, Demiurge, and Puzzle Master, in order to keep creating new scenarios and systems for the players to explore. Being a Writer and Actor will help to sell these ideas, though it's not as crucial. Field Marshal is occasionally handy. Judge is mostly irrelevant, since any given game will have a monster stack of house rules anyway.All of these DMs are good at what they do and run satisfying, engaging campaigns for their players. They all qualify as "good DMs," even though there is no one skill set common to all three.</blockquote>

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